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Check
out what’s going on
around Winnipeg tonight! |
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Check
out this week’s
online CD reviews by our
music staff |
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The
Catheters
Howling... It Grows and Grows!!!
(SubPop)
B-
Website: www.thecatheters.com
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The Catheters’
latest contribution of angry, noise-experimentalist punk takes
us back to the days when slammed bedroom doors led to loud,
music that we knew was guaranteed to offend our parents’
delicate sensibilities. What The Catheters offer here is the
squealing, screaming voices that helped us forget the hard
days of youth. Howling... It Grows and Grows!!! fires out
of the gate with an unstable, musical squall in Natural Law.
The disc later features the raucous, fever-pitched squeal
of vocalist Brian Standeford in Brave Drum and the pleasantly
chaotic Reaction. The only complaint here is the lack of a
message — or any direction at all — but what this
disc lacks in intelligence it makes make up in intensity.
Joseph Morton |
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High Holy Days
All My Real Friends
(Roadrunner Records)
B+
Website: www.highholydays.ca
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Great vocals. Great
lyrics. Great band. With a hard rock vibe and the raw emotion
of Default, it’s no wonder that High Holy Days is already
burning up the charts across Canada. But does this rock band
have anything new to bring to the music scene? After coming
together in North Bay, Ont., in 2000, the band has already
played with some of today’s most successful Canadian
rock artists, including Our Lady Peace, I Mother Earth, Theory
of a Dead Man and Sam Roberts. Their debut album intertwines
lead singer Marc Arcand’s thick vocals with passionate
lyrics and guitar instrumentals. On the title track and first
single, the band demonstrates its potential for honest and
heartfelt rock. The choruses are catchy and the sound is real.
The band’s upcoming tour will surely thrust it further
into the spotlight, but the real challenge will be differentiating
their sound from a slew of other bands that can offer the
same talent.
Jen Skerritt |
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Peter Himmelman
Unstoppable Forces
(Himmasongs)
C
Website: www.peterhimmelman.com |
Former Minneapolis
native Peter Himmelman delivers his plaintive, heart-on-sleeve,
troubled-troubadour musings to great effect on his latest
two-CD work. Nothing sets this guy apart from many others
in this style — he is as prolific as the day is long
and knows his fans will eat this stuff up with a hanky and
a sneer. Lyrically Himmelman captures all the deep feelings
of any middle-aged guy with a heart of gold. So Many Little
Lies has a great hook and a guitar figure at the bridge that
is at least as good as those by any other American folk-rocker
you could name. There’s at least one lyric or two in
every song that will ring true for anyone in any kind of relationship,
and for that Himmelman should be recommended. The second disc
features demos and rarities from across the man’s lengthy
career.
Jeff Monk |
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John and the Sisters
John and the Sisters
(Northernblues Music)
B
Website: www.northernblues.com
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John and the Sisters
is Canadian guitar heavyweight Kevin Breit and a very talented
backing band including whisky-voiced belter John Dickie. Breit
has been knocking around the Canuck music scene with his sibs
as The Breit Brothers, and when he performs on his own he
travels a kind of Ry Cooder-esque, songwriter/ guitarist path.
This album tilts its cocky cap toward the blues, but only
in the simple and direct vibe of the songs. The first half
of the album stumbles and shakes mightily with the kind of
gritty essence that makes Blackie and the Rodeo Kings so entertaining.
Breit is a consummate player, and when he puts his mind to
being really down and dirty it pays off. The Sisters shift
between mean and moody vibes easily, making this one cool
listen.
Jeff Monk |
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New Found Glory
Catalyst
(Geffen)
C-
Website: www.newfoundglory.com
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Catalyst begins a
chorus of punk yells over layered guitars, and then quickly
devolves into a modern version of the Minipops. The vocals
are the culprit here, with Jordan Pundik’s seemingly
pre-pubescent and helium-fuelled singing adding a dose of
sugar that removes all edge from this disc. It’s possible
this Florida pop-punk (emphasis on pop) quintet could rock
out, but it’s too hard to tell with Pundik singing lyrics
to the tune of nursery rhymes (see I Wanna Know). Occasionally,
some heavier vocals kick in and pique the interest, but these
moments are too few to matter. This band falls into the same
category as Yellowcard, and if that sort of fluff turns your
crank, then by all means pick this up. For those looking for
something with a little grit, bypass this and head for 1208
and Outlie.
Mike Warkentin |
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Panurge
Throw Down the Reins
(Nettwek)
B
Website: www.panurge.net
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Cover art aside, Panurge’s
sophomore CD (and first for Nettwerk) is a dreamy and psychedelic
trip into the far reaches of pop songwriting. Incorporating
samples, scratching and electronics into a mix of soft vocals
and guitars, Panurge joins Beck, Pink Floyd and others in
that edgeless fuzzy universe somewhere beyond the dark side
of the moon. Don’t be mistaken by the eclectic nature
of this disc; it isn’t one of those annoying non sequitur
conglomerations of various styles. Throw Down the Reins simply
fits together in a smooth package that works for easy pop
listening or consciousness expansion. Standout tracks Sweet
Fannie Annie and Mixed Cavalry represent the pop side of an
album that successfully charts a course all over the musical
map. Check Panurge out on June 6 at the Pyramid Cabaret.
Mike Warkentin |
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Slipknot
Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses
(Roadrunner)
B+
Website: www.slipknot1.com
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The latest offering
from Slipknot starts off in with a dreamy melodic track —
only to lull you to sleep so the rest of the disc can stomp
a hole in your skull. These guys are creepier members of the
gimmick-metal club, but there is no doubt that they can throw
down some heavy, heavy shit on tracks such as The Blister
Exists and Welcome. There are some melodic moments and changes
of pace here, but they only serve to set the table for the
feast of bass-heavy riffs, thunderous beats, screaming harmonics
and hoarse vocals. Behind the grim masks, there are eight
bangers who know how to turn heavy and tuneless sludge into
a head-thrashing slam-fest. This is the kind of metal you’re
going to want to be listening to when that mall-punk in his
daddy’s SUV cuts you off and then gives you the finger.
Mike Warkentin |
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The
Thermals
Fuckin A
(Subpop)
C+
Website: www.subpop.com
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The first two songs
(Air Trip and Every Stitch) are a continuous and seemingly
seamless segue of recycled drums and distortion guitars set
in overdrive — and that’s it. Musically, if you’ve
heard the first two songs you’ve heard most of what
this album has to offer. Aside from a few deviations in the
middle of the disc, the formulaic-sounding percussion and
guitars are predictable and monotonous. Said deviations include
A Stare Like Yours (a bit of catchy, lo-fi, feedback-laden
pop candy) and God and Country (which distracts from the band’s
formulaic instrumentation with thoughtful, bold lyrics). Despite
the occasional bout of catatonia, the raw sound (the band
calls it No-Fi) of every squeaky guitar bridge and raucous
bite of amp feedback gives some assurance that this could’ve
been recorded in someone’s garage.
Joseph Morton |
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Various
Artists
Modern Day Troubadours
(Nettwerk)
B
Website: www.nettwerk.com
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What a cool concept.
Collect some of the most name-checked, somewhat musically
connected singer-songwriters on one tidy compilation and donate
some of the proceedings to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Opening
track Beauty, by the angelic-sounding David Mead, sets the
tone of the album in a very lovely fashion. Sondre Lerche’s
stirring Sleep On Needles follows to complete a pretty inviting
tandem. Throw in a classic Johnny Cash weeper, a Jay Farrar
barroom lurch, some airy gold from Ron Sexsmith (From Now
On) and ringer Daniel Lanois (I Love You), and you have a
spot-on sensitive-guy listening experience. The clincher on
this collection is the mid-album appearance of Bob Dylan’s
One More Cup of Coffee from the 1975 classic Desire. Now you
can support a worthy organization and get some music schooling
at the same time. Nice.
Jeff Monk |
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