The Eatons - Firestarter

I've been in a bit of a good old fashioned power pop kick lately and The Eatons from Scarborough are exactly the type of band you're supposed to put on when you're in one of those moods. I use the descriptive term 'pop' pretty frequently these days, which is odd since I'm not even sure if use it in the right context. Just so you know, when I use it, I'm usually referring to an artist or song that makes good use of catchy hooks and memorable melodies. I am not referring to 'pop' as the short form of 'popular' as in Top 40 schlocky crappy boy band with ridiculously white teeth, mid-drift bearing young chick with the word flava on her jogging pants type of pre-programmed prepubescent overproduced happy time music. Got it?

The Eatons are definitely the former, and they do it extremely well. Their first EP is entitled Firestarter, and at 3 songs and 12 minutes, it's definitely a blink-and-you-miss-it affair. However, the perfect remedy for that is to just play it over and over and over again. The quality of the songs make this very easy to do. The title track is the opener, and it begins with a subtle da-da-da that quickly bursts into an infectious pounding drum part that is very effective at getting things started before settling into a perfect pop formula: simple verses + bombastic hooky chorus + solid guitar solo + very effective sing along moments = a truly catchy song. They keep this formula going for the next song Give Me Something To Go On, which was featured on the TWM Mixtape compilation. Lead singer Boris Chan gets a bit more emotive in his vocals on this one, and the harmonies are subdued but flawless. The CD ends with Holiday which showcases Boris' best Ric Ocasek impersonation on the vocals before settling on an almost whiny but effective vocal attack on the chorus. I really appreciate that the band obviously put a lot of work into the production on this EP, with every song sounding very professional and radio friendly without being devoid of the all important human factor. I anticipate that the band will likely have to mix things up a little bit when they're ready to launch an album past the 15 minute mark, but if they can do so without sacrificing any of their natural song crafting abilities, then I'm definitely on board for the next one.

The Eatons are playing a FREE show at the New Era Toronto Flagship Store at 202 Queen Street West as part of Nuit Blanche with a whole whack other bands. For more details go to urbanebloc.com

Myspace: The Eatons
Download: Give Me Something To Go On mp3


The Dears, whose Gang Of Losers was my favourite album of the year in 2006, will be releasing their new album Missiles on Oct 21st. Of course, the inevitable has happened and the album has been leaked all over the interweb. They're not happy about it, and they address such here. They're playing two shows at The Music Gallery on October 9th and 10th.

Myspace: The Dears

The Wallscenery Demos debut CD, which I reviewed back in April, has recently been added to the archives by Library and Archives Canada. The purpose of this group is to collect and preserve documents reflecting Canadian heritage. I don't know if this is a big deal or if this is something that happens to everybody, but it sounds pretty cool to me. The thought of future generations being exposed to this amazing, yet still pretty unknown, recording makes me kind of giddy.

Myspace: The Wallscenery Demos

Ireland's Vesta Varro is going to be all over Toronto during Indie Music Week, which runs from October 9th to 11th. They're playing Rok Boutique on the 7th, Tattoo Rock Parlour on the 8th, The Rivoli on the 9th, The Hideout on the 10th, and they're on Edge 102.1 on the 11th. Whew. If I make it to one of these, I'll let you know.

Myspace: Vesta Varro

Also, I was planning on checking out Land Of Talk at Lee's Palace on Saturday night, but it looks like Liz Powell's laryngytis is forcing her to take a little bit of time off. Ah well, next time. Hope you're feeling better soon. Looks like this means The D'Ubervilles also have the night off. For now.

Myspace: Land Of Talk