Tag: Halifax NS

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of founding members Erin Jenkins and Mathieu Blanchard and recent recruits Chris Dadge (bass), who has had stints in Lab Coast, Alvvays and Chad VanGaalen‘s backing band; and renowned singer/songwriter and guitarist Samantha Savage Smith joining a guitarist, Canadian band Crystal Eyes can trace their origins to the melancholic dream pop the duo wrote while nomadically bouncing back and forth between Tofino, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia — dream pop that the band’s founding duo has claimed has drawn from Francoise Hardy, Guided by Voices.  As a relatively constituted quartet, the band has continued to tour across their native Canada, including consecutive appearances at Pop Montreal.

The band’s latest effort The Female Imagination was written while the band spent time on a lake island in rural Ontario and was recorded on a Tascam 388. And according to the band, the album thematically focuses on and explores the other side of ourselves that we can never quite seem tor reach. The album’s latest single “Already Gone” consists dreamy and ethereal harmonies with layers of shimmering guitars played through copious amounts of reverb and delay pedal and a persistent, driving rhythm and in some way, the song sounds as though it were equally influenced by 60s garage psych — i.e., much like contemporary acts like Raccoon Fighter, The Black Angels, early Dum Dum Girls, Death Valley Girls and countless others but with a moody and sensual feel.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier this year, I wrote about Kestrels, a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based indie rock/noise rock trio comprised of  Chad Peck (guitar/vocals), Devin Peck (bass) and Paul Brown (drums). And with the 2014 release of The Moon Is Shining Our Way EP, the Canadian indie rock trio emerged both nationally and internationally as the EP’s title track received radio airplay on CBC Radio 3  and as a result of touring with internationally renowned acts including Speedy Ortiz, Ringo Deathstarr, Beliefs, Grays and Ash. Reportedly, the sessions that produced The Moon Is Shining Our Way laid the groundwork for the songwriting approach and sound the band would then take into the studio for their self-titled, third full-length effort, slated for a September 30, 2016 release through Hamilton, Ontario-based label Sonic Unyon.

The album’s first single “No Alternative” was a decidedly pedal effects-led power chord- are paired with thundering and propulsive drumming, a tight bass line, an anthemic hook you can hear kids shouting along to in a sweaty club and Chad Peck’s plaintive falsetto as the song reminded me quite a bit of Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins, Silversun Pickups, My Vitriol and others, complete with a swooning urgency. The album’s latest single “Waiting” sounds as though it owes a sonic debt to Brit Pop and shoegaze; in fact, to my ears, I’m reminded quite a bit of RIDE, as a motorik-like groove is paired with psych rock-leaning guitar chords, propulsive drumming, ethereal vocals and an anthemic hook.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

With the 2014 release of The Moon is Shining Our Way EP, Kestrels, a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based indie rock/noise rock trio comprised of  Chad Peck (guitar/vocals), Devin Peck (bass) and Paul Brown (drums), emerged both nationally and internationally as the EP’s title track received radio airplay on CBC Radio 3 — and as a result of touring internationally with the likes of renowned indie acts such as Speedy Ortiz, Ringo Deathstarr, Beliefs, Grays and Ash. Interestingly enough, the sessions for The Moon is Shining EP reportedly laid the groundwork for the songwriting approach and sound the band would eventually take into the studio for their forthcoming third full-length and self-titled album, slated for a September 30, 2016 release through Hamilton, Ontario-based label Sonic Unyon.

While the album features guest spots from Ringo Deathstarr’s Elliott Frazier and Alex Gehring, its first single “No Alternative” is a decidedly power chord-based 90s alt rock-inspired song as power chords are played through various effects pedals and are paired with thundering and propulsive drumming, a tight bass line, an anthemic hook you can hear kids shouting along to in a sweaty club and Chad Peck’s plaintive falsetto floating over mix. While sonically speaking, the song reminds me quite a bit of Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins, Silversun Pickups, My Vitriol and others, complete with a swooning urgency.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays CROSSS Return with Dark, Horror Film-Inspired Visuals for “Golden Hearth”

If you’ve been frequenting the site over the past 15-18 months or so, you’ve likely come across a post or two on JOVM mainstay act, Toronto, ON-based proto-metal/doom metal trio CROSSS. And although the band is rather […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Originally begun as a duo in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canadian band CROSSS after several relocations and lineup changes is currently a Toronto, ON-based trio who have developed a reputation for crating murky, sludgy and intense […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

CROSSS is a Canadian trio whose sound is heavily inspired by porto-drone, lo-fi indie, noise rock and metal. Originally begun as a duo in Halifax, Nova Scotia and after a number of relocations and lineup […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Album Review: Each Other’s Heavily Spaced EP

Each Other Heavily Spaced EP Crikey!/Prison Art Records Release Date: October 25, 2012   Track Listing Ash Mound An Instant Bad Neighbours Good Neighbourhood A Strong Spinning Finally Collided   Personnel Brad Loughead – vocals, […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Each Other, a trio of Brad Loughead (vocals/bass/guitar), Mike Wright (vocals/bass/guitar) and Christian Simmons (percussion/tape echo) hail from Halifax, Nova Scotia have developed a reputation for a creating a garage rock sound that manages to […]