CONTEST: Rural Alberta Advantage, Still Life Still and Rudely Interrupted @ Sneaky Dee's

Rudely Interrupted - Don't Break My Heart EP

In the early 80's, many talented bands found themselves at a serious disadvantage with the rise of music video requiring them to engage a certain look if they wanted to enjoy a measure of success. This was unfortunate and, perhaps more importantly, very unfair in the sense that many good artists were tossed aside simply because they didn't have the supermodel good looks of Duran Duran or the quirky sexiness of The Go'Go's. Thankfully, it appears that we have gone full circle now that MTV no longer shows music videos as they once did, and the playing field is beginning to be adequately leveled. And it's this truth of musical equality that allows bands such as Australia's Rudely Interrupted to exist and thrive.

To describe the band as unique is quite the understatement since 5 of the 6 musicians have a range of intellectual and physical disabilities (Blindness, Deafness, Autism, Aspergers and Down Syndrome.) However, about a minute into listening to their Don't Break My Heart EP made it clear that labelling these guys as a novelty band, is like saying that Stevie Wonder's popularity is a massive act of sympathy. I thought the EP was rock solid in the way that it showcased a set of hip shaking songs that would definitely get more than a couple of heads bobbing on the local dance floor. They describe themselves as "Joy Division having a Gary Numan party while eating pitch perfect cookies." That's a fairly accurate description, especially since all four songs on the EP are enthusiastic slices of new wave influenced power pop. Vocalist Rory Burnside's voice reminds me of Richard Butler from The Psychedelic Furs as it displays a divine mix of melancholy and confidence, that suits the honest (yet very simple) lyrics that accompany the EP's versatile instrumentation.

Myspace: Rudely Interrupted
Video: Don't Break My Heart on youtube
Download: Green Lights mp3


CONTEST: Rudely Interrupted are playing a show at the UN in New York for International Disability Day on December 3rd and while they're in the general area, they'll be stopping off in Toronto to play a show at Sneaky Dee's on Tuesday December 9th. Joining them on the bill are two bands that probably need no introduction for anyone who is up on the local music scene.

Rural Alberta Advantage has been receiving an enormous amount of buzz, with their Hometown CD being raved about all over the place. Still Life Still are a band that I had the pleasure of checking out a couple of months ago and I would describe their performance as nothing short of celebratory. Well I've got a pretty neat prize pack to give away that consists of the following:

1) A pair of passes to the show at Sneaky Dee's on December 9th.
2) A copy of Rural Alberta Advantage's Hometown CD
3) A copy of Rudely Interrupted's Don't Break My Heart EP
4) possibly more stuff...

If you're interested in winning this prize pack, simply email me at quadb2001 [at] hotmail [dot] com (with the at's and dot's filled in the normal way of course) with "I'd Love To Be Rudely Interrupted" in the subject line and your full name in the body.

Contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered and congratulations to Allison.

Myspace: Rural Alberta Advantage
Myspace: Still Life Still
Download: Don't Haunt This Place by The Rural Alberta Advantage mp3

Download: Frank, AB by The Rural Alberta Advantage mp3