Am I Ulysses? Am I Ulysses?

Reviews of Franz Ferdinand, Grizzly Owls and The Craft Economy

As you've likely already noticed, I haven't had a lot of time for posting this week. Work has been quite busy (which is a good thing) and Canadian Music Week / Fest is well under way. Saw a great show on Wednesday night, another one last night and will likely be doing so again this evening. Reviews and pictures and whatnot will be posted steadily over the next week or so, but in the meantime, here are a few brief words on some of the CD's that I've been enjoying recently that have nothing to do with CMW.


Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

I never think about Franz Ferdinand. I don't know why, I just never do. Their music has always been very fun and accessible, and I really can't think of anything that I dislike about them. It just seems that whenever they come out with a new album I listen to it, like it, put it away, and never listen to it again. Will things change for album number three? Only time will tell. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand features more of the same quirky new wave pop that made them such a hit with fans, and their jaunty melodies coupled with their humourous lyricism remain as fresh sounding as they did on their debut in 2004. Nothing revelatory, just good clean dance-infused mirthfulness. Things become particularly interesting towards the end of the album, beginning with Lucid Dreams. The first half of the song contains some very solid radio friendly material, but the song's second half turns into an instrumental electronica breakdown that is as adventurous as it is invigorating. Dream Again is a slow groove, with an appropriately dreamy synth line, while album closer Katherine Kiss Me is a solid acoustic number that has Alex Kapranos doing a pretty dead-on Ray Davies take in the vocal department.

Sony Music is running a contest where you can win 'Tonight: Franz Ferdinand' on vinyl, 'Franz Ferdinand' on vinyl, the Franz Ferdinand DVD, a vinyl carrying case and four autographed FF posters, each with individual designs. Contest rules are here.

Franz Ferdinand are playing a sold out show at the Kool Haus on Monday May 4th, 2009.

Myspace: Franz Ferdinand

The Grizzly Owls - The People Have All Gone EP

The follow up to California's The Grizzly Owls twangy debut By Night On My Bed showcases the band offering forth even more lo-fi country twang. The last time around, Joseph and Jenny Andreoti combined the classic syrup of Kris Kristofferson with the experimental nature of The Cocteau Twins. This time around things are more honky tonk, and less eclectic, allowing the band to master a specific sound which works very well in their favour. The band used the film The Last Picture Show as inspiration, as well as some found pictures of Jenny's father during The Korean War. This no doubt contributed to the EP's overall authentic sound. Jenny's voice still displays a raw emotion that is swooping and cinematic, but also seemingly more controlled. The guitar sound is mired in echoey beauty, while the banjo presents a unique uptempo contrast to some of the more sinister lyrics that it accomanies, such as those found in The Legend Of The Ghost Man. That song comes across sounding like an old traditional folk tune. Another highlight is Madman, Hysterical Woman which combines cheatin' and hurtin' lyrics with twangy vocal harmonies (featuring Raymond Richards) and some sweet resonation, making this a truly perfect country song.

The People Have All Gone EP is available at CD Baby and iTunes. The non album single 'Whiskey and Clyde' is a free download at RCRDLBL.com

Photo by Ty Rose

Myspace: The Grizzly Owls

The Craft Economy - Is On Your Side EP

I've made no secret about how I feel about The Craft Economy. I am a huge admirer of their creative approach to music distribution, releasing their albums under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share Alike license. But, more importantly, I'm also a huge fan of their fun and, oftentimes hilarious stab at retro 80's dance rock. This EP has been on regular rotation in my iPod for several months now, and it's perfect. It's one of those albums that puts a permanent smile on my face every time I listen to it. The stop-start melody of Menergy! along with its hyperactive keyboard work and shout along vocals makes a point of attacking you right away. The first time that I listened to The Tonic when they started singing the chorus from 80's french pop siren Mitsou's Bye Bye Mon Cowboy, I'm pretty sure that I laughed out loud on the subway. And not every song is a simple energy infused dance song. Colpoy's Bay, for example, while still very dancable, has a wonderful melody that enables the song to make even more of an impact and it grabs you with it's irresistable hookiness.

All of their albums are available for free on their website.

The Craft Economy are playing Beth In Battle Mode's CD release party (a CD that I will be telling you about shortly) on March 20th 2009 at El Mocambo.

Myspace: The Craft Economy

CONTEST: The Craft Economy Sampler CD Giveaway

It doesn't get much more fun than Toronto's own The Craft Economy. They manage to take insanity to a whole new level with their brand of 80's tinged new wave post punk party music.

Their new EP is currently in the process of being pressed, printed and released to the public but in the meantime, they have two new songs available for your listening pleasure. Menergy is going to be the first single from the upcoming release and Big Purse, Lil' Dawg is described as a two-and-a-half minute candy-pop romp.

The actual CD will be available shortly, but in the meantime, the band has sent me 3 sampler CD's containing both of the new songs, as well as the entire All On C EP, which comes highly recommended by yours truly. So...you want 'em?

I'm basically just going to give them to the first 3 people to email me at quadb2001 [at] hotmail [dot] com with "I Want The Craft Economy" in the subject line, and your full name and address in the body. Sounds good? Cool.

Myspace: The Craft Economy
Download: The Kissing Song mp3

The Craft Economy, Karma Controllers, The Dress Whites w/The People of Canada @ Rancho Relaxo

It's hard to believe that the Two Way Monologues Showcase has already reached #19, but here we are, ready to enter adulthood, as Friday night showcased one of the Rancho Relaxo's most eclectic lineups yet.

This time I'll start at night's end and work my way back. The last time that I saw The Craft Economy was back in December when I was incredibly enthused about checking out Amos The Transparent and the excitement from having seen them must have overshadowed any memory I have of these guys. I remember liking them, but that's about it. Apparently, they have only played one other show since that performance and, with very little time to jam, one might wonder how solid this one was going to be. No need to worry.

This was one major broohaha of a party, as the band turned up the mega-fun and blasted out a spazzy set of new wave energy. Once again, I definitely heard a major B-52's influence, and the chemistry between vocalists Linda Lu and Kostaki reminded me of an indie rock version of the Wil Ferrell and Cheri Oteri cheerleader skit on SNL. The Rancho was a sweat heap of tangled neurosis that night, and the way those two were jumping around with such hyperactive zeal made me wonder how they kept themselves from passing out. I loved it! All the songs sounded great, but one of the most memorable performances of the night was The Kissing Song, which Kostaki declared to be the shortest song ever. Not true, but he was the undisputed king of exaggeration that night, from his dance moves to his facial expressions to his between song banter, he, as well as the rest of the band, did not let up for a minute.

Photos: The Craft Economy @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: The Craft Economy
Download: The Kissing Song mp3


I've been really enjoying Karma Controllers' Sirens CD, and I've been wanting to catch a live show for quite some time, but due to circumstances, I've been unable to. So, it was quite a treat to finally get around to seeing them play.

First off, it should be noted that Helen Kuan's voice is flawless. I really appreciate that she never oversings, which shows a maturity that some vocalists who have been around for a long time have failed to display. It's a unique contrast to Jack Jamieson's slightly harsher vocal delivery, making for a perfect complement. The band seems to draw just as much influence from boy/girl bands like Stars and Young Galaxy, as it does from past and modern day troubadours like Brian Setzer and Johnny Favourite. This was their first time performing with a live drummer, and when listening to the first few songs of their set, I wondered how they ever survived without him. The drums really were the backbone of this performance. However, there was a moment where the band's chemistry was lost for a little bit, making for a slightly awkward attempt at completing that particular song. Still, minor setback aside, I appreciated that they forged their way through it, and then followed up with the strongest song of the night. Good on ya Karma Controllers!!!

Photos: Karma Controllers @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: Karma Controllers
Download: Whisper Sister mp3


Filling in for The Hots, was Toronto's (by way of Montreal) The Dress Whites. The band had recently moved to our city after having made it big in their hometown, with the intention making it in both markets. They're an incredibly busy group of guys, moonlighting in The Maydays as well as several other projects. They usually play a very straightforward style of classic pop music, along the lines of The Odds or early Fountains of Wayne. This was a bit of a different night for them however, since their drummer was apparently sick in bed with the flu. Not having a drummer, the band decided that they would perform an acoustic set of mostly country covers as well as a few originals. If this was to be a montage of Garth and Shania songs I would have ran out of there kicking and screaming, but this set was all about authenticity, and man, did they ever sound good! They included covers of songs by George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Gram Parsons, including one of my favourite songs of all time, Hickory Wind. It was absolutely breathtaking, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I could have listened to them all night.

Photos: The Dress Whites @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: The Dress Whites

As an added treat, the first act of the night was The People Of Canada (aka Alexander James Squire.) Alexander and his ukulele was on a quest to perform at as many different clubs as he could throughout the course of one weekend. Basically he was performing these 10 minute impromptu sets all over the place, and filming them as part of a documentary project about the experience. His songs were quirky and wacky and very very short, and I thought it was a gut wrenching way to begin the evening.

Photos: The People Of Canada @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
(The lighting was really bad and I was too far away to get a decent shot with my crappy point and shoot so I did a little bit of a Warhol-like photo editing job so that the shots could at least look semi-cool. I'm not sure that it worked though.)
Myspace: The People Of Canada
Download: Life mp3

Two Way Monologues 7.0 @ Rancho Relaxo

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have had to miss seeing Amos The Transparent every time they've come to town. This is highly unfortunate since Everything I've Forgotten To Forget is easily one of my most listened to CD's of the year. So imagine my elation as I found out that, not only are they coming back to the T-Dot, but they are performing as part of Dan Wolovick's awesome Two Way Monologues series. This made me as giddy as a schoolgirl.

The first act of the night was The Craft Economy. If Devo and The B-52's joined forces and transported themselves to 2007, they would be The Craft Economy. Catchy, fun and with just a slight hint of the theatrical, it's clear that they are actively campaigning for the title of world's greatest party band. I came in just as they were starting, and for some reason I didn't notice it right away, but they all had little glowing electronic bar graph type things on their chest. Like Twiki from Buck Rogers. That made me laugh. (OK, looking at the Twiki link I just posted, I guess it's not even remotely similar. But that's what it reminded me of anyways.) Their energetic brand of new wave indie pop kept the crowd dancing and, if you get the chance, I highly recommend downloading their tunes. In fact, their entire EP can be downloaded for free on their website. It's quite good, but seeing them perform live is way more fun.

Photos: The Craft Economy at Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
(I think the lighting may actually be getting darker at Rancho. It's getting increasingly more difficult to take a good picture with my Sony point and click at that venue. Please look at my shots, but make sure you look at Frank's awesome shots taken with a good camera on Chromewaves.)
Downloads: The Lives of Captured Scientists mp3 / Drag-On mp3
Myspace: The Crash Economy

I think Oh No Forest Fires is one of those bands you're going to be hearing a lot of over the next year because they seem to be playing their brains out. I saw them only but a month ago, however, their show has improved in leaps and bounds. Not that they weren't good before, far from it, but their ability to keep a crowd interested has been honed and is reaching near perfection. The greatest challenge in reviewing their show is thinking of new ways to describe the spasmodic powerhouse that is Rajiv Thavanathan. Well, this time around I'm going to refrain from such descriptions so as not to overlook the rest of the band and, most importantly, the music itself. This time around I became far more aware of how experimental and varied their musical style actually is. The songs are layered in tons of atmosphere as they rise well above your typical indie rock fare. I love the instrumental powerhouse voyages that some of the songs veer off into, always encouraging the listener to expect the unexpected. Speaking of which, they evening ended with a rollicking cover of "Footloose," that brought the house down, as any good Kenny Loggins cover should.

Photos: Oh No Forest Fires @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: Oh No Forest Fires

Finally it was the moment I had been waiting for, Ottawa's Amos The Transparent. Obviously the Rancho stage is not conducive to their typical 8 or 9 member lineup, but the stripped down four piece was just as exhilarating to experience. Sadly, much of the audience had cleared out by that time, but hey, it's their loss. I loved the show that I was watching. The band had been dipping into the sauce during the course of the night, which made them positively giddy, but thankfully it didn't have any negative effect on their musical performance. They opened the night with the title track from Everything I've Forgotten To Forget and played most of the tracks from that album throughout the course of the night. The between song banter was hilarious , and oftentimes downright silly, but in the hands of charismatic lead Jonathan Chandler, you couldn't help but have a good time. Some of the funniest moments came when their keyboard player told a really lame joke about Metallica that he had heard on Conan O'Brian. The rest of the band mocked him, and then broke into a 30 second rendition of "Enter Sandman." An audience member asked if they could play any good licks, and they obliged with a little bit of tapping, Eddie Van Halen style. It was this type of laid back demeanor that made the band so endearing, and the fact that the songs themselves still sounded strong made for a very balanced night of pure showmanship. Can't wait to see them again sometime in the upcoming year.

Photos: Amos The Transparent @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Download: After All That, It's Come To This mp3
Myspace: Amos The Transparent
Purchase: Everything I've Forgotten To Forget at mymusic.com
Video: Interview with Jonathan and Christopher on Rogers TV on youtube