Weezer – Weezer (The White Album) (Atlantic, 2016)
Weezer’s 10th studio album, their fourth self-titled release (this one being referred to as The White Album), is a perfect rock album to take you into the summer. The lyrics are simple and the melodies range from sunny upbeat songs to laidback beach tunes. The album has the inescapable feeling that it was crafted for a day at the beach. While some might feel that this album is stagnation for a group stuck in the ‘90s, it delivers a refinement of the Weezer formula. It might not be a step forward but it delivers what it promises. Like its titular colour, the album will no doubt be bland to some and comforting to others. If you are looking for a spiritual, complex and challenging experience, look elsewhere. If you are in the mood to have fun, relax or party like it’s 1999, don’t miss out!
For a band that has not even been around for two decades, Wolfmother feels vintage. It’s as if the band’s roots lie in the bedrock of rock itself and yet nothing about the group feels original. Their newest album, Victorious, never shakes the feeling that it is an amalgamation of great rock icons. These songs can best be summed up by listing their recipes; one track is two parts Jack White, one part Led Zeppelin with a pinch of Ozzy Osbourne while the next is three parts Deep Purple and one part Axl Rose with a zest of Franz Ferdinand. Victorious walks the fine line between genre love letter and stalker copycat. That’s not to say that the album isn’t good—just don’t be surprised if you get an overwhelming sense of déjà entenduwhilst partaking.
Tell Me I’m Pretty, the newest release from Cage The Elephant, has done away with its psychedelic acid flashback-inducing album covers of yesteryear in favour of a more rigid, standardized look. The music contained behind the stock picture follows this example by sounding a little more rigid and Black Keys-ish than what came before, courtesy of the band’s Dan Auerbach handling production duties in place of usual producer Jay Joyce. These indie darlings still know how to craft a good song but the marketability of the new tracks feels as if it is part of the album’s core DNA instead of by happenstance, as was the case with the group’s previous works. Cage The Elephant’s best releases have long been the ones that dance to the beat of their own drum; Tell Me I’m Pretty however dances to the metronomic sound of the cash register.
Protest the Hero are currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of their seminal debut Kezia, playing it uninterrupted and in full.
Two years after crowdfunding Volition, PTH are once again taking matters into their own hands
“Well I’d like to say it’s nothing against labels …” said Rody Walker, lead vocalist of Protest the Hero, “but labels suck.”
The Canadian progressive metal band is in the process of self-releasing their second independent album in a manner that, much like their music itself, is unconventional.
Protest the Hero are currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of their seminal debut Kezia, playing it uninterrupted and in full.
On Oct. 15, the band released “Ragged Tooth,” the first track in what is promised to be a monthly release schedule. For a fee, a minimum of $12 per year, subscribers will receive one track each month as part of a project the band has dubbed Pacific Myth, which will culminate in a physical release of the tracks in standard album format.
“When we were kids we wanted to do a kind of ‘vinyl of the month club’,” Walker said, “NOFX did it and we thought it was an interesting way to put out music back then.”
After coming to the conclusion that the subscription price for a vinyl club would be too steep, the band did the next best thing: “We found a way to do it without costing an arm and leg by going to a digital platform,” Walker said.
Pacific Myth is not simply a drawn-out release schedule for the band’s next album. “We’re recording the songs as we go along,” said Walker, “The second one isn’t even mixed yet and Nov. 15 is coming up fast. I also recorded some vocals for the third one.” The band hopes that this approach will satiate fans, while also giving them tracks that are “as fresh to the fans as [they are] to the band. The music will be as new as it can be,” said Walker.
When the band publicly announced they were leaving labels behind in January 2013 with an Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund their fourth album Volition, they were secretly unsure of what to expect.
“Our third record [Scurrilous] didn’t do so hot,” Walker said. “We were blaming it on the decline of record sales, but now I think that the truth was, people just don’t like that record so much.”
Fans did not know it at the time, but their support would determine whether or not there would even be a Protest the Hero.
“We were in a precarious position and [the Indiegogo campaign] was a last ditch effort. If it didn’t work out we would have put out the record and called it quits,” said Walker. After a successful campaign, the band felt a sense of rejuvenation. “It was really a surprise. It did really, really well and was breath of life into our careers,” said Walker.
While it may seem strange, this success was the reason the group decided against going with Indiegogo when it came time to fund Pacific Myth.
“We kept going back to the incredible memory of opening the page and seeing [the Indiegogo campaign] take off,” said Walker. “There was no way we could recreate or surpass that and we were too afraid of jeopardizing that memory.”
While he admits that leaving the corporate music structure has meant taking on more work, Walker has no regrets. “Even if it was the end of our band, it is the best thing you could do as an artist,” said Walker. “Record companies are usurpers; they drain you. It was an easy decision to leave. We’d all been broke for so long and knew exactly why.”
The band blamed their financial shortcomings on the corporate model. “How it works is that [the label] gives you a cash advance to make the album; it’s not a huge lump sum, but you’ll never make it back because albums don’t sell,” Walker explained. “You’re stuck in the label’s back pocket after that. So we found ourselves back in the same position after three albums.”
The vocalist has some advice for young musicians.
“If you are independent, stay independent. Sure, important labels can seem seductive and sexy, but there’s nothing wrong with staying independent. You know, I look at [the band] Intervals. They’ve always been independent. They’re a good example of how to stay independent and produce quality music in a way that’s beneficial for the band and audience. To any musicians who are with the labels, get the fuck out as soon as you can.”
On Aug. 30, 2005, long before their shift towards independence, the band released their debut album Kezia. Ten years later, Protest the Hero is celebrating the release with a cross-Canada tour, performing the full album at every stop along the way. “It’s a little peculiar,” said Walker, “stranger than what we’ve done in the past, because everyone knows the set list, everyone knows what’s coming up.”
A tour focused on an album that is over a decade old would not be complete without some deep cuts. “Some of the songs we have played ad nauseum, but others we haven’t played live since the album came out. I very much enjoy playing some of them, more than some of the new stuff, but hearing the same old ones over and over … it’s like a fart in a shit-storm,” said Walker.
One track that tour-goers will have to get their fill of is “Blindfolds Aside,” as they won’t hear it played live for a while; “I don’t think that there’s been a show we’ve played since the record was released where we haven’t played that song live. I’ve made them promise that it won’t be on the set list next tour.”
As for those who are wondering ‘which hero?’ the band is protesting: “Probably Superman, yeah Superman sucks.”
Protest the Hero will be at Foufounes Électriques with Mandroid Echostar on Nov. 21 for their “Kezia X Anniversary” Tour. The show is sold out.
City and Colour – If I Should Go Before You (Dine Alone Records, 2015)
City and Colour, the solo project of Canada’s favourite geographical and hue-named singer-songwriter Dallas Green, is back with its fifth studio album. Green mixes his time-tested formula of blues rock, country rock and acoustic ballads to create an album that holds no surprises for fans. The nine-minute track, “Woman,” stands out as the most perplexing track on the album; though it may test some listeners’ patience due to its repetition, the tune is mighty effective as a relaxing semi-psychedelic profession of undying love. The album’s title track is a smooth blues song that hits all the right notes, with dark yet romantic lyrics to boot. If you’ve been chomping at the bit for more cathartic indie folk, then this one is for you. If you haven’t liked Dallas Green since he parted with Alexisonfire, your time is better spent elsewhere.
It’s been four years since Codes and Keys was released, an album that strayed too far from the formula for many fans, and nearly a decade since Death Cab for Cutie released an album worth listening to. Kintsugi is named after a Japanese philosophy that encourages embracing flaws and imperfections. Rather than an inspiring metaphor for life, however, the name seems to be trying to garner sympathy for a flawed and imperfect album. Sure, some of the imagery invoked is interesting, but as a whole, the album is as bland as its cover. The lyrics are the album’s strongest asset, but many rely on clichés. It’s disappointing to hear a band that came up with dark and beautiful lines in the past now spit out upbeat meaningless verses. As a whole, Kintsugi tries to connect with the vibe of older Death Cab albums, making it slightly better than Codes and Keys, but the group has a long way to go if it ever hopes to recapture the talent displayed in Transatlanticism.
Fat Mike – Home Street Home (Fat Wreck Chords; 2015)
As the name implies, Home Street Home: Original Songs from the Shit Musical, is the score from a musical starring street punks. The songs are mainly written by NOFX frontman, Fat Mike, and performed by a slew of punk artists, namely members of The Descendants, Lagwagon and the Dropkick Murphys among others. Musically, the album sounds similar to many NOFX tracks. The vocals are raw, but this fits the themes of the musical. The lyrics are the highlight of the album, as they comically explore drug use, prostitution and BDSM culture. The album’s biggest problem is that without having seen the show, the tracks do not tell a proper story on their own. While the album will probably bring a smile to your face, if you are interested it would probably be best to save the tunes shock value for the actual stage show.
Vocalist and guitarist Kathryn Calder discusses songwriting and solo projects
When Kathryn Calder joined The New Pornographers nearly a decade ago, the band’s second album, Electric Version, had recently broken into the U.S. Billboard top 200. Only 23 at the time and nearly a decade younger than most of her band mates, they took to calling her “the kid.” Since then, she has not only outgrown the nickname, but gone on to contribute vocals and keyboards to four New Pornographer albums, all of which broke the top 50 in the U.S., and released two solo albums.
When Calder was asked to join The New Pornographers by Carl Newman, her uncle and a vocalist and guitarist in the band, she felt as though she had “been plucked out and put in the band,” a group she admits having been a fan of. Calder confessed that some of the early formative elements of the band, like where the name came from, are lost in time. “People like to say that the name came from a televangelist who said that ‘music is the new pornography,’ but other people say it’s because of a movie called The Pornographers—I don’t know.” Wherever it came from, Calder likes it. “It stands out,” she said, “it even offends some people.”
With seven full members as well as a touring member, many of whom also have ongoing side projects, the band is larger and busier than most acts. It is not exactly a chore to get everyone together, however: “It’s annoying in the way that it’s annoying to get eight people to decide on what restaurant to go to,” Calder said. Being part of such a large band also has its advantages. “There’s so many of us that there’s a good safety blanket,” she said, “I don’t really feel nerves purely due to the fact I’m surrounded by seven other people.”
There have been many memorable moments with The New Pornographers for Calder, but a few stand out: “We were in Mexico City around ‘07 doing this huge show and the fans were so excited,” she said. What really stood out for Calder in Mexico City was that, “outside the show, these people were selling all this fake merch with hijacked images; it was a really funny moment,” she said. Calder made sure to buy some of the counterfeits as souvenirs.
Before joining the band, Calder was a member of the now defunct Immaculate Machine. “I was in a group called The Reactions in high school, grade 12,” Calder said, “ but Immaculate Machine was the first band where we went on tour, and had fans, and people would come out to see us.” One of the biggest differences between Calder’s former group and The New Pornographers is that in the Immaculate Machine, “we all wrote the songs together, in the same room,” she said. “In The New Pornographers [Newman] and [Dan Bejar] do the writing.” Calder’s role in the creation of the group’s music is geared more towards arranging her keyboard parts. “I come up with ideas and then [Newman and Bejar] sort of decide what’s cool,” she said. “It’s a messy process and I never really know what they’ll keep.”
Being largely absent from the songwriting process is, in part, the reason Calder decided to start her solo project. “I started writing my solo album partly for my mother, who was dying at the time. I wanted to do it for her and I wanted to know what my own music sounded like,” she said. “I had spent all this time making music in a group and I didn’t even know what my own music was.” Whatever the project, Calder feels a link to all the music she helps create: “I feel connected with both [projects]. In The New Pornographers, I like to find my space within the larger picture,” she said, “they fulfill different artistic roles for me.”
Calder only recently started thinking of her future in music. “When I joined the band I had no idea. I never thought that far in advance,” the 32-year-old said. “You never really know. An opportunity would come-up and I would just take it without thinking ‘oh, this will be good for my career.’ I still don’t really know, but we just keep going,” she said. “I know I’ll always be making music, but it was only in like the last five years or so that I started thinking long term.”
The New Pornographers play Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre on Feb. 4 with Operators.
Centre stage, a place for the frontman (almost always the vocalist) to strut his or her stuff and hold the audience’s attention. Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Bono; as their band’s rise, their names go down in history. What’s harder, though, is being remembered without even opening your mouth. These 10 artists rose to a level of stardom that rivals their respected vocalists while rarely, if ever, singing.
10. Matt Freeman
This bassist rose to fame as a member of both Operation Ivy and Rancid. He played on arguably the best ska punk albums of all time including …And Out Come the Wolves and Indestructible.
9.Neil Peart
Peart’s drum kit is truly something to behold. The kit surrounds him with 360 degrees of percussionary bliss: cymbals, an electronic kit, toms and even a xylophone. It takes quite the drummer to wield such an overwhelming kit and Peart has done so masterfully for decades in his time with Rush.
8. Tony Iommi
Being a founding member of Black Sabbath, the group that almost singlehandedly invented metal, is impressive. If that’s not enough for you, he did it after having lost two of his fingertips in an industrial accident. Even more impressive, he managed to not be totally eclipsed by the massive shadow of vocalist Ozzy Osbourne.
7. Tom Morello
As the guitarist for the politically-charged Rage Against The Machine, Morello created new sounds with his instrument that had never been heard before. Look no further than “Killing in the Name,” the second song on the band’s first album, to hear why Morello stands above most.
6. Travis Barker
While most famous for his time with Blink 182, this drummer never sleeps. He’s a current member of The Transplants, as well as a former member of +44, Box Car Racer and TRV$DJAM. He’s also done collaborations with Yelawolf and other hip-hop artists. Barker even put out a solo album, Give the Drummer Some. Quite the achievement for a drummer.
5. Sid Vicious
Vicious is the only person on this list who doesn’t stand out for his extreme musical talent. He’s most famous for being a member of the Sex Pistols, yet he is only credited with having played bass on one of their songs, “Bodies,” off of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, the band’s only album. Vicious is a punk icon even though he wasn’t really a musician in the strictest sense of the word.
4. Angus Young
AC/DC’s schoolboy-outfit-wearing guitarist has written catchy guitar riffs for decades. “Thunderstruck,” “Back in Black,”” You Shook Me All Night Long,”—if these titles are new to you, where have you been living for the past 30 years? Young’s guitar work duckwalked its way into our collective ears and never left.
3. Flea
Even the most famous bass players often get the short end of the stick. Not Flea. This bass slapping, mononymous god is the exception to pretty much everything that you thought you knew about bass players. He’s been breaking conventions and bass strings for over 30 years with The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and has more recently been working with his supergroup, Atoms for Peace.
2. Slash
Another mononymous musician for this list, Slash has played on arguably some of the greatest rock anthems of all time. From his iconic top hat to his low hanging Gibson Les Paul, Slash is hard to ignore, even when he was sharing the stage with the extravagant Axl Rose in his Guns N’ Roses days. Since that band’s explosive breakup, Slash has kept himself busy with Velvet Revolver, Slash’s Snakepit, and a solo album.
1. Jimmy Page
It’s hard to be part of a group that is as famous as Led Zeppelin and not get a bit of attention. Page crafted his fair share of beautiful solos as the group’s guitarist. From heavier songs like “The immigrant Song,” to ballads like “Thank You,” his work truly runs the gamut.
The musician performs solo by looping harmonica, beatboxing, percussion, ukulele, trombone and vocals
Walk down Ste-Catherine St. on almost any day and you’ll see someone playing guitar, their case open, asking for change in exchange for a melody to brighten your day. Climb the stairs out of Guy-Concordia metro or pass by Place Jacques-Cartier and you’ll probably see something similar, maybe with a different face or instrument.
While we’re all guilty of ignoring some of these music makers at one point or another, some buskers are too talented to pass-up; buskers like Jan Dutler. His act, called Caravonica, is a one-man band. Using a looper, Dutler combines harmonica, beatboxing, percussion, ukulele, trombone and vocals to create his music live on the street corner or stage.
The 28-year-old multi-instrumentalist, who sings in multiple languages, is from a small town in Switzerland called Hütten, which has “more cows than people,” according to Dutler. His music career started when he joined a marching band as a percussionist in 1996 at the age of 10.
“I nearly stopped playing music when I was 15, but then a friend handed me an AC/DC tape and I thought, ‘Drums are actually a cool instrument,’” Dutler said. After spending a few years playing covers of metal songs with his friends, he shifted his focus entirely in his early 20s.
“I got into Blues and played in other bands, that’s when I started to play harmonica,” Dutler said, “ I’m a bit of a fanatic about harmonicas. I think I have about 30.”
Not simply a collector, Dutler explained that “every song is in a different key and what most people don’t know that there are different tunings than just the Blues Harmonica,” said the musician. “The different harmonicas open whole other dimensions.”
Shortly after discovering the harmonica, Dutler was introduced to the artist who inspires his current performance. “A friend showed me the music of a guy called Son Of Dave,” Dutler said, “I was blown away by just one person with his harmonica, boxing beats with his mouth, shaking a tambourine or a rattle, and stamping his foot. Recording everything in a loop pedal.”
From there, Dutler built a specialized suitcase, which doubles as his drum kit, and hit the road as a performer. Most recently, he passed through New Zealand, Australia, Massachusetts and even played at this year’s Halifax International Busker Festival in July, and Prince Edward Island’s Busker Festival in August.
“While traveling in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and P.E.I, people kept telling me how awesome Montreal and Quebec is,” Dutler said. “This, and the fact that I want to learn more about performing, [is what] brought me here.”
Caravonica will be in Montreal for the foreseeable future, as Dutler is currently taking classes at Francine Côté’s Clown and Comedy School. “I like the idea of one-man entertaining. It’s fascinating and challenging,” he said.
Dutler hopes that his music inspires others to “play music in the streets, share art in public spaces and try different instruments.” Anyone wishing to try different instruments can contact him in person or through Facebook for ukulele and harmonica lesson or to just “meet up and have a jam.”
If you want to see Dutler in action you can catch him at Le Dépanneur Café at 206 Rue Bernard Ouest, every Saturday at 11 a.m., or at Marché Jean-Talon on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
The band writes songs that cite their experience growing-up in middle class families
Eleven short months ago, The Glorious Sons released their first album, Shapeless Art, and their career took off from there. The five-piece band from Kingston, Ont., are still new to anything resembling fame, but after having won a handful of awards and embarked on three Canadian tours, people have really started to pay attention. Their newest album, The Union, dropped mid-September and the group is currently touring with Airbourne.
The Concordian recently spoke to the industrious band’s lead singer, Brett Emmons, about The Glorious Sons’ music and how he got to where he is today.
Many would say that rock and roll is dead — that it perished along with the musical relevance of MTV and the financial viability of the record store — but Brett Emmons thinks otherwise. The Glorious Sons don’t like to limit their music by categorizing it in a single genre, but Emmons would definitely prefer to be called a rock band than an indie band.
“A lot of indie bands are really just rock bands. They’re really just afraid to call themselves rock bands for some reason, but if you think of [a group] like The Beatles, they were a rock band. You could even call them a pop band,” Emmons said.
Photo by Jesse Baumung.
From an early age, the vocalist spent all of his money on AC/DC albums. Emmons was brought up on rock. “My brother [Jay Emmons, now the group’s guitarist] used to read me Led Zeppelin’s biography when I was like five years old. It was like a bedtime story growing up,” he said. To this day, Emmons’ favourite bands include many rock legends: “I look up to Bruce Springsteen and a lot of other people too,” Emmons said. “I don’t think you’d pinpoint the influence. You’d see hints of it– hints of The Doors, of My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, even a little AC/DC, but we never really believed in sounding like anyone else.”
When Emmons was in grade 10, he began writing music. Later moving to Halifax, N.S., for school, the vocalist dropped out to pursue his musical ambitions and began playing venues around the city. “I decided to take the leap and commit myself to music,” Emmons said. “I didn’t think to myself ‘if’ I could make it; I just went for it. I always believed if you work your hardest at anything, you’ll make it. My dad taught me that at a young age.”
At the same time in Kingston, the foundation of what was to become The Glorious Sons was being laid down.
“Andrew [Young, one of the group’s guitarists] and Adam [Paquette, the drummer] were jamming in [Paquette’s] garage and not having much fun,” Emmons said. “The other two were jamming in another garage. They knew each other, got together, and jammed once. They wrote a song on their first jam then became a band.”
Back in Halifax, Emmons was having a rough time following his dream: “When I quit school, I was getting myself into trouble, partying a bit too much — a lot, actually. Things weren’t working out when I was playing in Halifax. I hadn’t made a splash on any music scene.” That’s when, about three years ago, a phone call and a dash of fraternal love changed everything for the vocalist.
“When my brother called me home to join the band, it was a weight off my shoulders,” Emmons said. “My brother’s always been kind of my best friend. He’s been like my security blanket. We’d always said that we’d do this together one day.”
The band’s new album, The Union, is meant to pay homage to the members’ families and their own past struggles. “The concept is blue collar, it’s called The Union because we grew-up in middle class families who worked their ass off for their children,” Emmons said. “You can’t write about something that you don’t know. Chris (Huot) was a plumber before and we all had those kinds of jobs at one point.”
Every member of the band is a songwriter, according to Emmons. “We’re always writing — I don’t think we’ll ever be short on material for an album.”
Before going on tour, Emmons has created a ritual of sorts: “It’s kind of become second nature now: go to my vocal coach to tighten my voice and try not to drink for a week before we leave,” said the singer.
While many musicians have mixed feelings about the touring experience, the frontman seems to prefer life as a nomad to life at home. “I feel more restless at home than I do on the road. When you get home there’s so many people to see and so many things to do. When you’re on the road you can just settle in and do your job.” Emmons will get his wish of more time on the road, as The Glorious Sons will be touring straight through to December. You can expect, in Emmons words, “a sweaty, bloody, rock and roll show” when the band plays the Corona Theatre in Montreal on Oct. 16.
