Canadian bands – Page 2 – 7th Level Music

Teenager release “Trillium Song” from upcoming October album.

Toronto’s DIY scene purveyors, Teenanger have today shared their blistering new single, “Trillium Song“, the second to be lifted from the new record, Good Time – out October 2 via Telephone Explosion Records – which has so far earned praise from outlets like Paste, The Line of Best Fit, Exclaim, BBC 6 Music, So Young and more. The new record, which comes mixed by renowned Toronto musician, Sandro Perri, follows previous releases that have found the band share stages across North America and Europe with the likes of METZ, Ty Segall, Death From Above, Dilly Dally, Dish Pit and more.

“Trillium Song” presents another agile take from Good Time, drawing once again on striking melodies and a wiry new wave sound palette, this time utilizing a two-pronged vocal foray with both Melissa Ball and Chris Swimmings lending their voices. Whereas previous releases from the group have suggested a more abrasive post-punk approach, Good Time demonstrates a pop-leaning slant on the sound of Teenanger without removing their ear for social commentary.

Speaking about the new track, Swimmings says: “This song is about the province of Ontario where we all reside. Mainly about the current provincial government’s way of dealing with the education system and the environment. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Doug Ford (the song’s primary subject) was making good headway at polishing his public image by being hands-on. He made promises of people not losing their jobs and tenants not being evicted. They were timely promises in the beginning as we are now seeing many tenants in Ontario face eviction due to not being able to make end’s meet in the pandemic.”

——

Good Time arrives off the back of a turbulent few years for the group, a period filled with self-reflection, a restless search for creativity and more than anything, a need to rewire the very essence of the band. The four-piece had tied up the rinse and repeat promotional run for their 2017 self-titled record in the spring of 2018; their fifth album, which had started to find them some acclaim, also marked their first decade together as a group, quite an achievement by anyone’s measures in the current climate. The line-up was unchanged since Teenanger’s inception, and the members had become somewhat inseparable over their time together; whilst the album release and the corresponding tour was somewhat celebratory, it also brought with it a severe bout of writer’s block that unexpectedly placed their existence in jeopardy.

A testament to the rigorous DIY ethos of Teenanger that forges its core values, the band was rooted in the same rehearsal room that they had used since their early days together – a revolving door of local acts shared the space and it took fracturing this routine to find inspiration for Good Time. One Craigslist advertisement offered an apartment for rent with the words: “Music OK”, Teenanger seized the opportunity and thus “Studio Z” was coined, a basement flat that previously worked as a reggae studio/after-hours club was converted by the four-piece into a live practice room and adjacent fully-functional recording studio. The band went on to battle two major floods, a CO2 leak, vermin infestation and constant mould to record the new album.

Good Time is out on October 2nd on Telephone Explosion. It is available for pre-order here.

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New Fries’ newest single is a funky cut for freaky times.

New Fries are sharing their latest single, the mind-bending, genre-defying, tongue-twisting “Arendt / Adler / Pulley Pulley Pulley Pulley“, the second single from their new album Is The Idea Of Us. Out on August 7th through Telephone Explosion, it is the band’s first new material since 2016’s More, which saw them team up with Holy Fuck‘s Graham Walsh.

LISTEN: to New Fries’ “Arendt / Adler / Pulley Pulley Pulley Pulley” on YouTube

On the new track, the band offered, “Something about the women obscuring their gender and traditional roles (intentionally or otherwise) to do their work without interruption or expectation. Being contrarians, shrill. Seeking truth without taking care of emotions. Often their work is forensic, razor-sharp, and bright with clarity.“.

The Toronto-based experimental No-Wave inspired band are one of the best kept secrets in the city, and with their new album they delve deeper into their unconventional, ever-changing sound. They worked closely withCarl Didur (Zacht Automaat, formerly U.S. Girls), resulting in a new direction, focusing more on space and repetition, finding the in-between and reflecting on it, examining that transition. Is The Idea Of Us is anxious in its repetitions and unsure of genre, a reflection of musicians and non-musicians making music together; New Fries insist on doing it differently.

Is The Idea Of Us is out on August 7th on Telephone Explosion. It is available for pre-order here.

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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.

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New Fries announce new album and release a single named after a fish – “Ploce.”

here’s always been something perversely funky about New Fries’ freaky no-wave radiations
NPR

For New Fries, their goal isn’t to create a sound, but a spirit
VICE

The group’s frenzied energy sounds like the source for a mad scientist’s latest and most troubling creation
The FADER

New Fries has never been interested in being a band. Yet, the Toronto-based experimental No-Wave inspired band have become one of the best kept secrets in the city, with New Fries gaining legendary status for their unconventional, ever-changing sound, and their rapturous live show. Is The Idea Of Us, out August 7th on Telephone Explosion is the band’s first new material since 2016’s More, which saw the band team up with Holy Fuck‘s Graham Walsh. Today, to announce their new LP, they are sharing the single “Ploce“, and you can stream the animated video from Amy Lockhart below.

Never afraid of collaboration or change, Is The Idea Of Us is a product of working closely with Carl Didur (Zacht Automaat, formerly U.S. Girls), resulting in a new direction, focusing more on space and repetition, finding the in-between and reflecting on it, examining that transition. The album is anxious in its repetitions and is unsure of genre, so much so that over half of the tracks on the record bear that very name. “Ploce” is more sure of itself and more focused, one of cornerstones in the collage that is the forthcoming new album.

Is the Idea of Us is the situation of musicians and non-musicians making music together, perhaps completely illegible in the music on this record and to the random listener. There are enough bands out there; New Fries insist on do it differently.

WATCH: New Fries’ “Ploce” video on YouTube

On the new track, the band explained, “Ploce is the name of Tim’s fish who passed away—the figure of speech (not the place in Croatia). It refers to words repeated for emphasis. On the internet some examples provided are:

“I am stuck on Band-Aid, and Band-Aid’s stuck on me.”

“First she ruins my life. And then she ruins my life!”.”

Is The Idea Of Us is out on August 7th on Telephone Explosion. It is available for pre-order here.

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Partner release new single – “Good Place to Hide (at the Time”)

BandCamp // SoundCloud

“How could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?” – Plato

“You find yourself in a room with a locked door. You have always been there. It is all you have ever known. You have no reason to believe you could leave, no reason to believe you would ever want to. And then one day you hear the murmurs. Faint at first, you can’t make out the words. But their very existence tells a truth that you have always known. There is something else. And you search and search and just when you are feeling spent and the bright beam of hope has faded to a glimmer, it reveals itself to you, miraculously. The key. And so you cast aside your doubt and grin with victory. But when you slide the key in, behind the door there is another locked door. The search continues.

We wrote this song over the course of about a year. We had long wanted to explore the idea of hiding, of hidden truths. A chance phrase from our friend Alfred set this song in motion. We hope you enjoy our newest offering.”
– Partner 2020

Partner, the loveable guitar shredding Canadian stoner goofballs Lucy Niles and Josée Caron are back and ready to rock, with a new single for a new decade. The band spent the end of 2019 in the studio and have some surprises for 2020.

BandCamp // SoundCloud

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Review: Elephant Stone – Hollow

I first heard most of Elephant Stone‘s new album, Hollow, at the 2019 Levitation Music Festival in Austin, Texas when they played a good chunk of it on the inside stage at Barracuda. I’d heard a couple of tracks ahead of the gig and was intrigued by the heavier-than-normal sound. That sound was even heavier live, and the theme of the album – a story set in an apocalyptic future in which people are trying to flee a dying Earth to another planet – takes on even more weight when you hear it live and / or in its entirety.

The album opens with “Hollow World” – a track brimming with Elephant Stone‘s trademark psychedelia and lyrics about having to finally say goodbye to Mother Earth because the human race has succeeded in destroying it. “Darker Time, Darker Space” is a quick interlude as doomed Earthlings fly into unknown space in hopes of finding something better.

“The Court and Jury” decide who leaves, however. Lead singer / bassist / sitarist Rishi Dhir‘s vocals sound like they’re coming through a faulty intercom system on an old spacecraft and his sitar sounds like circuits working overtime as the ship lands on the “Land of Dead.” This was the first track I heard off Hollow. The bass and drums are heavy and the guitar shreds for just under two minutes of raw power.

“Keep the Light Alive” brings in a children’s choir to represent the new generation of Earthlings alone on what could be a hostile new world. “This place is far too cold,” Dhir sings on “We Cry for Harmonia.” The Earthlings are quickly realizing the new planet might end up as wasted as the old one (“How can you fill this space with air you cannot breathe?”). Gabirel Lambert‘s guitar solo on this track is top-notch, by the way, and the backing synths and hand percussion only elevate the song higher.

“Harmonia” is dreamy psych accented by Dhir’s sitar and more of that groovy hand percussion. Dhir’s bass takes center stage on “I See You” (and how about that wicked high-hat work by Mile Dupire, too?) – a groovy track with some light pop touches that could be a radio friendly smash if enough DJs give it a chance.

“The Clampdown” isn’t a cover of The Clash song (although that would be great), but rather a song about the Powers That Be coming after those of Earth living in underground communities. The dark synths underline the menace of the lyrics. The synths are bright on “Fox on the Run” – the title of which seems to reflect the hunted Earthlings making another run for it. “House on Fire” has the Earth, or is it the new world, burning while people try to ignore it. The guitar on it is like a distant warning klaxon, but the synths are still bright – giving us some hope while things crumble around us. The album closes with more hope on “A Way Home.” The Earth has been all but abandoned, but the ones who remain realize they can repair it and build something new while old karma continues to build new paybacks on the new world inhabited by the privileged few.

It’s a wild record, and I don’t think anyone expected a concept album with doom overtones from Elephant Stone, but it’s great that they’re pushing the envelope and exploring new avenues.

And, yeah, the new stuff sounds great live.

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Elephant Stone release new single, “Hollow World,” and upcoming European tour dates.

Elephant Stone has announced a new concept album, Hollow, about people fleeing the Earth after destroying it only to find the beliefs, biases, and illusions that drove them to ruin their first home have followed them to the new one. As frontman Rishi Dhir explains:

“This is a straight-up concept album. If social media has taught us anything, it’s that there are a lot of unhappy people out there who are trying to find a way out. They are looking for meaning and something to believe in… or nothing to believe in. We all want the same thing but are trying to achieve it in different ways. With this in mind, we wrote and recorded our 6th full-length, Hollow. I set forth writing a song-suite telling of a world of unhappy souls who have lost connection with each other.” The result is an ambitious, dystopian sci-fi concept album inspired by The Who’s ‘Tommy’, Pretty Things’ ‘S.F, Sorrow’ and Abbey Road side 2.

“From Side A (‘The Beginning) through to Side B (‘The Ending’), the story takes place immediately after mankind’s catastrophic destruction of the Earth and what happens when the same elite responsible for the first world-destroying climate disaster touch down on New Earth, a recently-discover planet sold with the same life of prosperity as the one they’d just destroyed. As soon as the chosen few step off the Harmonia ship built for the journey, it’s clear that all is not what it seems and humanity appears destined to make the same mistakes: the storyline touches upon the plundering/poisoning of their home, the elite, demagogues, false idols, the truth as seen by children, and, ultimately, the fight for the survival of their species.”

The album is available for pre-order with lots of neat bundles for your enjoyment (T-shirts, buttons, hot pink vinyl, and more). “Hollow World,” a new single from the album, can be heard here. The band has also announced a tour through Europe this winter, dates are below.

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Dead Ghosts release first single, “Drugstore Supplies,” from upcoming album.

Canadian garage rockers Dead Ghosts have released the first single off their recently announced upcoming album Automatic Changer. The track,“Drugstore Supplies”, is available to stream on all major platforms. Automatic Changer comes out April 24, 2020 and is available to preorder now on vinyl, cassette, CD. The album will be Dead Ghosts’ third release with southern California independent label, Burger Records.

“Drugstore Supplies” is an uptempo garage track with psychedelic undertones. A perfect blend of 60’s and 90’s wobbly garage power-pop. Fans can check out the new single, plus several other tracks from the upcoming album Automatic Changer, live during the band’s Pacific Coast tour happening right now. Tour dates are below.

Oct 31 – LA – Minty Boi Presents Halloween @ El CID

Nov 1 – Phoenix – Psyko Steve Presents @ Lunchbox

Nov 3 – SF – Folk YEAH Presents @ The Chapel

Nov 4 – Portland @ Star Theatre

Nov 5 – Seattle – The Crocodile presents @The Sunset

Nov 6 – Vancouver – MRG Presents @ The Biltmore

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Bike Thiefs’ new single, “Hockey Dad,” is a post-punk punch at drug addiction.

Toronto’s Bike Thiefs have premiered their new single, “Hockey Dad” through New Noise. Produced by Josh Korody (The Dirty Nil, Dilly Dally), it is pissed-off and abrasive, chatty and hook-laden, and follows the band’s previous releases: 2017’s Lean Into It and 2015’s These Things Happen All The Time.

LISTEN: Bike Thiefs “Hockey Dad” on New Noise / Soundcloud

Vocalist Marko Woloshyn explained the meaning behind the new single, ““Hockey Dad” is about a friend dealing with drug addiction. It’s heartbreaking to see how polarizing, and frankly exhausting the experience for them (and the people that surround them) can be. They vacillate between feeling like they’re king shit of asshole mountain or a has-been hockey dad trying to hold on to any semblance of past success. You watch as the drugs at times gives them the confidence to spin plates and hold court in crowds of strangers. At other times you watch the crippling anxiety start to dig paranoid foxholes into the middle of their box-spring.“

He continues, “It feels like a tired topic, but there’s an opioid crisis in North America, an inordinate amount of high functioning alcoholics and people being hand-fed pharmaceuticals as a band-aid solution to an incomprehensible depression. Maybe not a new idea, but maybe that’s why it’s still important.“

———-

Bike Thiefs absorb music as quickly as one would expect from a group of millennial audiophiles. Comprised of bassist Kris Pandierada, drummer Andrew Fasken and guitarist/vocalist Marko Woloshyn, they celebrates their fandom for early indie rock as well as 90s avant-pop and acid jazz. Pandeirada cut his teeth producing hip hop beats in his basement, Woloshyn holed up in his room wringing the ink out of Leonard Cohen sheet music and Fasken immersed himself in the world of 2000s punk rock; booking shows and playing in a handful of hardcore bands.

Now a chatty post-punk band, they have drawn comparisons to rock stalwarts Fugazi and Canadian-compatriots Constantines, as well as more contemporary acts like Parquet Courts and Car Seat Headrest. The band has been featured in several international publications including Exclaim!, New Noise and Impose, and have toured across Canada and the United States, opening for acts like Antarctigo Vespucci, The Dirty Nil and Moneen.

Hockey Dad is avaliable to stream here.

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Dead Ghosts announce new album, “Automatic Changer,” and U.S. west coast tour.

Canadian garage rockers Dead Ghosts have announced that their new album Automatic Changer, will be available on vinyl, cassette, CD, and streaming on April 24, 2020. The album will be Dead Ghosts 3rd release with southern California independent label, Burger Records.

Automatic Changer is a record that formed over the past half-decade, and
serves as a sort of collage of the band’s experience and changing songwriting
over that period. Vocalist/guitarist Bryan Nicol said of the writing/recording
process and the resulting album, ”parts have been recorded in a studio, our
basement, and a barn. Some songs are abstract, lyrically built around words
we like the sounds of and others are more personal.”

Formed nearly a decade ago in Vancouver, Canada, Dead Ghosts grew out of
founders Byran Nicol (vocals/guitar), Drew Wilky (guitar), and Mike Wilky’s
(drums) desire to hang out, listen to records and play music. After the trio
uploaded a few demos to Myspace, this was 2008, after all, the group were
offered the opportunity to release a single via a small Iowa-based punk label.
The single quickly led to the group’s first full-length self-titled album. By 2015
the group had joined the Burger Records roster and released two more
albums, Can’t Get No and Love and Death and All the Rest. With time the
band added two members, bass player Mauricio “Moe” Chiumento and
organist Craig Pettman. Playing a distinctive brand of swaggering, blues-
infused lo-fi rock, the five-piece quickly won over transatlantic fans and scored fresh fodder for their lyrics with their punk-rock antics.

In preparation for their upcoming release, the group has decided to embark
on a short West Coast tour starting in late October. The show set will include
several songs from Automatic Changer.
Oct 26 – Olympia – Cap City presents @ Le Voyeur
Oct 28 – Reno – HP presents @ The Holland Project
Oct 29 – Costa Mesa – Live Nation Presents @ Constellation Room
Oct 31 – LA – Minty Boi Presents Halloween @ El CID
Nov 1 – Phoenix – Psyko Steve Presents @ Lunchbox
Nov 3 – SF – Folk YEAH Presents @ The Chapel
Nov 4 – Portland @ Star Theatre
Nov 5 – Seattle – The Crocodile presents @The Sunset
Nov 6 – Vancouver – MRG Presents @ The Biltmore

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