Reviews
Review: Lake Street Dive - Side Pony
After listening to the first few bars of Side Pony’s opening track “God-awful Things”, it is incredibly difficult not to be hooked onto Lake Street Dive. The full sound flows with a positively energetic aura throughout the song. Rachael Price’s smooth and powerful voice empowers the audience, while drummer Mike Calabrese relentlessly pounds away and provides an exciting rhythm in the process. Side Pony was a wonderful experience to start the New Year with. It beautifully blends aspects of gospel rock, blues-rock and funk. Filled to the brim with blaring horns, animalistic drums, groovy organs and blazing bass lines, Lake Street Dive’s Side Pony is Under The Rockies' first “Must Buy” of 2016.
Review: Field Music - Commontime
Field Music’s Commontime is not another typical indie album. While it does have higher toned vocals and a production value lower than a Billboard chart topper, that’s where the similarities with other typical albums end. Commontime is not an album of a just a man and his guitar, nor is it one that layers every instrument known to man into its songs to distract from their mediocrity. Field Music’s unique album tries its hand at a variety of styles and techniques, and then adds a twist of its own to make it fresh. The strong and erratic drumming in Commontime carries the album to its success. Powerful and creative, the albums funky rhythms are never quite in your face, but they make their presence known just the same.
Review: James Supercave - Better Strange
Better Strange James Supercave’s debut album after the release of their EP, The Afternoon. Catchy rhythms and sharp vocals certainly set a unique sound for the band. Better Strange experiments with a variety of different sounds and styles. Simply using a guitar and drum-kit one moment, the group will try its hand at a much more synthetic sound the next. With similar singing styles to alt-J and Foster The People’s techno-pop tendencies, Better Strange is a great album for those who are looking for a fresh new mix of music. Borrowing elements of both alternative rock and techno, James Supercave uses Better Strange as a way to test different types of music and entertain its audience in the process.
Review: Walter Martin - Arts & Leisure
Walter Martin’s Arts & Leisure is his second solo album released after The Walkmen announced a hiatus in 2013. Capturing a much softer and more comfortable sound than those produced by The Walkmen, Arts & Leisure is a delightful album for any quiet occasion. The albums simple acoustic strumming is complimented by his adorable vocals and heart melting lyrics. The way Walter sings about his childhood stories and adventures wraps the audience in a warm blanket of calmness and youthful nostalgia. A pleasantly played guitar humbly rests in the background of every song in Arts & Leisure. Lost beneath a variety of instruments at times, and being the lone sound at others, the acoustic guitar never leaves the recording studio once throughout the entire album.
Concert Review: Vance Joy
Last night, Vance Joy, known for his hit “Riptide” and opening for Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour, brought his Fire and the Flood Tour to Calgary’s Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. The sold out show was definitely not a night to be missed.
Review: Cage The Elephant - Tell Me I’m Pretty
The fourth album included in Cage The Elephant’s resume has a lot to live up to. The group’s worldwide success, and catalogue of chart topping hits from previous albums left many impressive expectations to fulfill. How was the band supposed to live up to the success of Melophobia? What album could the Kentucky boys possibly create that would satisfy both the lovers of their heavier sounds, and the cherishers of slower paced masterpieces such as “Cigarette Daydreams” and still hold a voice of its own? Their answer to the hype was Tell Me I’m Pretty.
Review: FOXTROTT - A Taller Us
On up-and-coming Montreal based act FOXTROTT’s new album A Taller Us, not every one of the songs was a favourite of mine. The supporting rhythms and effects did not always impress but one thing is certain, lead singer, Marie-Helene Delorme, has incredible talent. Strong yet subtle when needed, her voice supports the album in a way that wouldn’t quite work had a different person been in her shoes. The vocals are the perfect counter balance between the harsh loops and the funky keyboards and synthesizers, which compose the majority of A Taller Us. Muddled and suppressed at times, while being sharp and abrupt at others, Delorme’s smooth voice remains the relaxing constant. A Taller Us will delight any electro dancehall enthusiast with its hip-hop themes and emotionally raw vocal deliveries.
Review: Thus Owls - Black Matter
I was chilled to the core. The unsettling chords that were played at seemingly random intervals did not complement the intense drumming pattern beneath them. Worried that I would have to write a bad review for the Montreal-based band, my anxious attitude was completely shifted once Erika Angell’s angelic voice broke out. Confident that I was going to be involved in something completely original, Thus Owls provided a new perspective on approaching music that thoroughly impressed me.
Review: City & Colour - If I Should Go Before You
Dallas Green’s latest album is not one to disappoint. Starting off slow and mysterious, If I Should Go Before You blossoms into the gentle coffee house music we have come to love and expect from City and Colour. Supported by upbeat catchy songs such as “Wasted Love” which is sure to be a chart topper, If I Should Go Before You also brings tracks that embrace the audience and gently lower them into total relaxation. Fortunately, many tunes from the 11-track album contain both of these qualities. It is an excellent album for people who are just beginning to listen to City and Colour and the perfect present for those who have been fans for a while.
Review: The Sheepdogs - Future Nostalgia
The Sheepdogs latest album Future Nostalgia has left me at a loss for words, although I will do my best to deliver the praise it deserves. My previous experiences with The Sheepdogs’ music have been very minimal. Songs such as “Feeling Good” and “I Don’t Know” were the only ones performed by them I knew of. It only took one listening of Future Nostalgia for me to realize that I had been missing out from something great. The southern influence is heavily represented in all of the songs on the album, which is expected from the group. With perfectly placed guitar riffs and radically refreshing blues licks on the piano, Future Nostalgia brings excellent southern blues tracks that never let up.
Review: Young Empires - The Gates
The Gates is the latest album from indie pop group Young Empires. Full of catchy synthesized beats and simple lyrics, The Gates is a groovy summer album released in the fall. I can easily see many of the songs from The Gates being played on dance playlists across the city. For those who are looking for brand new acoustic music from a talented street rat, this is not the album for you. If funky alternative pop is more of your cup of tea, The Gates is the album you’ve been looking for.
Review: Sweet Baboo - The Boombox Ballads
For me, listening to Sweet Baboo’s The Boombox Ballads was like a breath of fresh air. At times it seemed that every song made me want to dance. Although it’s not very hard to convince me to bust a move, I still have respect for artists that have the ability to put a spring in my step. Stephen Black’s voice was a perfect match for every track on this album. Soft and gentle, it added a carefree tone, on the edge of innocence at times, to the upbeat songs that made up the majority of the album.
Review: Sublime With Rome - Sirens
Sublime with Rome are back in action with their follow up album from their debut release Yours Truly in 2011. Perhaps some of the most grooving tracks I've heard in a long time, the album is its own brand of excellence from start to finish.
Review: Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface
Through promotion and the four music videos that Twenty One Pilots have released so far, it’s evident that Blurryface is the most relate-able conceptual albums in it’s simplicity: we all have Blurryface inside of us, representing our fears and our demons.
Review: All Time Low -Future Hearts
This album showcases their roots, but goes beyond to explore new aspects that they haven’t necessarily done yet, even if other bands have. This band will never reinvent the pop-punk wheel, but they can definitely spin it in new directions.
Review: The Maine - American Candy
This album stands alone as the fifth chapter of The Maine’s album progression; an adventure that just keeps getting better.