Review: Partner – Never Give Up

I don’t know if there’s an award for Most Fitting Album Title of 2020, but Partner‘s new album, Never Give Up, might win it if there is. It seems that everyone has shouting this for the entire year. Everyone is fighting a battle. This has been true throughout all time, of course, but internal and external battles seem, and often are, magnified in this year no one will be sad to see leave.

Thanks heavens we have bands like Partner (Josée Caron, Lucy Niles, Simone TB) to recharge our batteries with massive riffs and songs about sex, rock and roll, and being comfortable in your own skin.

I love that they open Never Give Up with an introduction song – “Hello and Welcome,” which has Caron and Niles sharing vocals about how happy they are to be rocking off our collective socks. The breakdown on it is like stomping the gas pedal on a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner. “We’re Partner…We’re not foolin’ around,” Caron sings. Those riffs certainly aren’t. “Rock Is My Rock” is full of power chords and hand percussion s Caron and Niles sing about how rock and roll not only keeps them afloat through hard times, but how it can shake us out of the funk this crazy year has dropped on the world like an oppressive net. “I wouldn’t want to imagine a world without rock,” Niles sings. Who can argue with that?

Caron’s vocals take on a bluesy swagger on “The Pit,” a song about letting go of anything holding you down. “Honey,” a song about Caron’s guitar is, appropriately, full of big guitar riffs. “This guitar sounds like honey going down,” they sing, and they’re right. It does. “Big Gay Hands,” a favorite in their live sets, is a strutting, sweaty, sexy track about hotties and the hotties who love them.

“Good Place to Hide (at the Time)” reminds me a bit of Rush, who are known influences on Partner, with its echoing vocals, switching time signatures, and space-rock riffs. “Roller Coasters (Life Is One)” is a piano-first rock opera ballad about navigating through the madness of 2020 and the world in general. “At the heart of each day lies a brand new, scary, sweet surprise,” Caron sings.

“I couldn’t remember my postal code if I tried,” Partner sing on “Couldn’t Forget” – a peppy song about memory and self-deception with some country twang for good measure. Simone TB’s drum lick on “Here I Am World” is slick, reminding me a bit of the opening beats on Blondie‘s “Rapture.” Caron sings about grabbing “each scrap of joy” and Niles reminds us that “each day is a precious gift.” It sums up the theme of the album, and the best way to get through this nutty year, quite well. The record closes with the chugging, powerful “Crocodiles,” in which Partner warn us that many beasts (often ones self-created) lie in wait around us to catch us up in their maws if we let them.

Never Give Up is the metaphorical shot in the arm we all need right now and easily one of the most uplifting albums of the year.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll never give up on the idea of you subscribing.]

[Thanks to Mar Sellers.]

Partner open up their “Big Gay Hands” with new single.

Partner have shared the video for one of their most anticipated songs and a natural queer anthem “Big Gay Hands.” A live favourite from the past 3 years, Big Gay Hands is the third single, from Partner’s Never Give Up (November 20th on You’ve Changed Records) the follow up to their break-out debut album, In Search of Lost Time.

BIG GAY HANDS

“This song is about a wild night on the town filled with queer desire. It is an important song to us because it expresses a feeling we know is shared by many. There are a lot of songs out there about women’s bodies but this is the only song we know about big gay hands. This song is dedicated to the hotties and to those who love them.”
– Partner

Never Give Up is Partner’s second full-length album, following 2017’s In Search of Lost Time. In the years since their first release, the band has developed their “post classic rock” sound, leaving behind 90s rock comparisons. The new album retains elements that will be familiar to Partner fans, such as guitar solos and humorous subject matter, but with more structurally adventurous songs and abstract lyrics. They have spent the last several years on tour with drummer Simone TB, and this is evident in the looser and more confident performances captured on the album. Never Give Up was recorded by Steve Chaley at Palace Sound in the summer of 2019.

The band described the process of making the album. “In October of 2018 we found ourselves in a dark and quiet rehearsal space. We were practicing for a two person show, the first one we had played in many years. We were at a crossroads as a band, and we had no idea what the future held. All we knew was that we were going to be making music together. We weren’t sure what this music would sound like or who would be playing it with us. And then the songs started to arrive. Some of them fully formed, like the first songs we wrote. It was as much a surprise to us as anyone else when we realized we had the beginnings of our second album.”

Not all the songs came so easily. Some took over a year to complete. Some taunted the band with their elusivity. Some forced Partner to rip them apart and build them back together more than once. Never Give Up was written in rehearsal spaces, in the band’s bedrooms, in a condo, in friends’ and strangers’ houses, Air BnBs, in a cafe and on Josee’s couch and in the studio, and in the booth. “We talked. We were honest with each other and honest with ourselves. Sometimes it was a lot. And when it got to be almost too much we would repeat to each other, first as a joke and then not as a joke at all, ‘never give up’.”

Partner Links
Big Gay Hands – https://smarturl.it/p8u9de
Website: http://www.partnerband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partner.music.band/
Bandcamp: https://partnerband.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/partner_band/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/partner_band
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/partnerband

Keep your mind open.

[Use those hands of yours to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Mar at Mar on Music.]

Partner “Never Give Up” with new album due this November.

The follow up to their break out debut album, In Search of Lost Time, is out November 20th on You’ve Changed Records and the band has released a DOUBLE single “Hello and Welcome // Rock Is My Rock”, with two incredible videos:

HELLO AND WELCOME // ROCK IS MY ROCK

Never Give Up is Partner’s second full-length album, following 2017’s In Search of Lost Time. In the years since their first release, the band has developed their “post classic rock” sound, leaving behind 90s rock comparisons. The new album retains elements that will be familiar to Partner fans, such as guitar solos and humorous subject matter, but with more structurally adventurous songs and abstract lyrics. They have spent the last several years on tour with drummer Simone TB, and this is evident in the looser and more confident performances captured on the album. Never Give Up was recorded by Steve Chaley at Palace Sound in the summer of 2019.

Partner Links
Partner Album – https://youvechangedrecords.com/product/partner-never-give-up/
Website: http://www.partnerband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partner.music.band/
Bandcamp: https://partnerband.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/partner_band/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/partner_band
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/partnerband

Keep your mind open.

[I never give up on the idea of you subscribing.]

[Thanks to Mar at Mar On Music.]

Review: Dead Ghosts – Automatic Changer

Dead Ghosts don’t waste time on their latest record – Automatic Changer. The Canadian psychedelic outfit gets freaky right away with opening track “Freak,” which is heavy on trippy guitars and most of the vocals are heavily reverberated shouts.

The first single from the record, “Drugstore Supplies,” has a fun, fast buzz to it that sounds more San Francisco than Vancouver. “Swiping Hubcabs” seems to bend back upon itself as swingin’ 60’s organ sounds swell around you. The beats, harmonies, and guitars of “Holdin’ Me Down” are positively Beach Boys, but with a lot more fuzz – which is not a bad thing.

“Blackout” packs a loud punch and brings in garage rock elements to great effect, and the breakdown on it (complete, I think, with coughing from someone smoking too much…something) is outstanding. “You Got Away” keeps the garage rock coming, and “Turn It Around” brings in some psych-country to the mix. Check out that lead guitar if you don’t believe me. “Merle” keeps this flavor, but also adds some groovy hippy road music to the mix. It brings to mind images of driving down a sunny road in your shaggin’ wagon with all the windows down and the 8-track blaring.

The weird, warped guitars on “Jerry’s Dead” are as liquid and thick as lava lamp goo, and that addition of distant saxophone squawks is a great touch. The chugging riffs of “It’s Been Too Long” push that shaggin’ wagon’s pedal to the metal as they sing about missing a girl (“It’s been too long since I saw you…”). Is it coincidence that the next song is called “In and Out” (a euphemism for sex in A Clockwork Orange), or that the song lasts under two minutes?

The opening drum fill on “Tell Me How” is worthy of a disco track and then the song becomes a booming psych-surf track. The title track moves along like a rickety but dependable truck hauling a bunch of surfers to the beach or hippies to a love-in. “Bad Vibes” is surprisingly upbeat with surf riffs hopping around the forefront of it. It flows (or perhaps, “oozes” is a better way to describe it) into the aptly named final track, “Say Goodbye” – a short, spaced-out fuzzy jam.

It’s a fun record filled with groovy guitars, indiscernible lyrics, garage rock drums, and solid bass that will automatically change your mood when you hear it.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

“Kids rock” rockers Feltworth return with new emphasis on power-pop rock.

FELTWORTH (Canadian Puppet Power-Pop)
*Premiere debut music video “Forget This Feeling”
*Release AA-side 7-inch “Forget This Feeling / You Turn Me On”

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FELTWORTH –“Forget This Feeling” / “You Turn Me On” 7-inch
(out June 02, 2017)

Share new video “Forget This Feeling” YouTube // Brooklyn Vegan
“Both songs are super-catchy pop, reminiscent of The Beatles or The Sweet, or Canadian bands who like The Beatles and The Sweet.” – Brooklyn Vegan

“There’s no Juno category for Best Musical Performance By a Puppet — but if there were, Feltworth would likely have it locked down.” – CBC
“Forget This Feeling” is a rollicking slice of pure power-pop built on an insistent piano part from Morris and stellar brotherly harmonies, all loving smothered in appropriately fuzzy guitars. For Feltworth the near future is bright…orange.”
– The Line Of Best Fit
Feltworth is a 4-piece rock band consisting of Dezi Feltworth (bass, vocals), his brother Manny Feltworth (guitar, vocals), Morris Katzenburd (piano, keyboards) and Cozy Balboa (drums, tambourine). You may, of course, know of them already if you have children at arm’s length. Feltworth has been an outrageously successful act on the children’s music scene for many years. They burst into the limelight early in their career with their first album of music for youngsters called Super Duper. They followed that smash record with both Felty, Felty Places and We’re Feltworth, a pair of multi-platinum releases that saw the “fabric four” begin to add more original material to their repertoire of tried and true children’s classics. Their game changing fourth album, Beanbag Town, was their first album of all original songs for kids. It’s still considered a high water mark on the spectrum of adolescent entertainment.

Though regarded as financially and commercially successful, the fellows of Feltworth didn’t feel creatively satisfied by being pigeon-holed as children’s act. So, against their manager’s wishes, they’ve embarked on making a real pop/rock record that reflects their own personality and their influences – be it The Sweet, Paul McCartney, Brian Eno or Rupert Holmes. With the change in direction, they are challenging their core audience and seeking new listeners. It’s been a tough-sell to their manager and label, so the band has decided to self-finance the new recordings that will be released via their own Dezman Productions label. The first release from this brand new batch of activity is a limited edition orange coloured 7” single featuring the rocking “Forget This Feeling” (lead vocals by Manny) and the longing romanticism of “You Turn Me On” (lead vocals by Dezi). There’s more music to come. The past is behind them. The future awaits-ish.

Feltworth – Forget This Feeling / You Turn Me On
Release Date: June 02, 2017
Pre-order: https://feltworth.bandcamp.com/

Feltworth Links
Official: http://feltworth.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feltworth/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/feltworth
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/feltworth/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Feltworth

Partner release new single from upcoming album.

PARTNER share new single and video “Comfort Zone”

Comfort Zone – YouTube // Clash

Official Statement
“A comfort zone does not have to be a place. A comfort zone is whatever makes you feel at ease. It can be a person, an object, a sensation. No two comfort zones are the same. We recognize that we have had the privilege and good fortune to experience comfort in a way that unfortunately eludes many. We feel that everyone deserves to feel the relief, however fleeting, that is offered by a comfort zone. We recognize that most people spend the majority of their time outside their comfort zones, and with this song we hope to express our belief that everyone deserves to feel comfortable and safe.

Whatever, wherever, whoever your comfort zone may be, it is our hope that you are able to access it as often as is necessary. Love and respect” – Partner

QUOTES

“Ontario-by-way-Sackville band Partner is one of the most exciting and brightest hopes for rock and roll in Canada.”
– Noisey

“Inspiring Canadian duo with a fetish for cold truth and hard riffs… ”
– Clash Magazine
RIYL – Weezer, PWR BTTM, Melissa Etheridge, Ween, Beavis & Butthead

Mixed by Grammy award winner Chris Shaw (Weezer, Public Enemy, Sum 41). Video directed by Colin Medley.

Partner is the “mature” effort of small town lesbians Josée Caron and Lucy Niles. Borne of their bizarre and fortuitous friendship, Partner boldly goes where few have even desired to go, moving effortlessly from topics like sex objects and gross secrets to more serious themes like intimacy, friendship, and existential unease.

Partner marries feminism and stadium rock riffage to produce a sound as queer as they are, and their arrival on the scene couldn’t be more timely: “Partner’s music is like what early 00s pop punk would be like if it was mixed with a reverence for classic rock era guitar solos. But unlike that generation’s insistence of straight white dude figureheads that traded a sense of humour for self-righteousness, Partner’s songs are funny as hell.”

After a freakishly productive year of writing, recording and touring, Partner are releasing a first single “Comfort Zone” to kick off 2017. Their enthusiastic and action-packed live set has led to them being named the “best new band in Canada” in the Globe and Mail, and although “Partner hasn’t even released an album yet, [watching] one of their sets, it’s clear right away that they’ve arrived fully formed.” Influenced by acts as varied as Ween, Weezer, Neil Young, and Sum 41, Partner promises to make you question everything you thought you knew about rock ‘n’ roll.

Tour Dates:
March 30 – Tender Trap, Brooklyn NY USA
April 01 – House of Targ, Ottawa ON (Juno Fest)
April 14 – Phog Lounge, Windsor ON
April 20 – The Casbah, Hamilton ON
April 22 – Long Boat Hall at the Great Hall, Toronto ON (CMW)
June 14 – Palais des Congrès, Montréal QC (Mondial de la bière)
June 15 – Saw Gallery, Ottawa ON (Ottawa Explosion)

Partner Links
Website: http://www.partnerband.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/officiallypartners
Bandcamp: https://youvechangedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/comfort-zone
Record Label: http://youvechangedrecords.com/portfolio/partner/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/partner_band

FELTWORTH –“Forget This Feeling” / “You Turn Me On” 7-inch (out June 02, 2017)

PARTNER share new single and video “Comfort Zone”

FELTWORTH –“Forget This Feeling” / “You Turn Me On” 7-inch
(out June 02, 2017)