CMF Day 2: The Novaks, The Waking Eyes, Matt Mays and El Torpedo

As is usually the case, I was not able to get out on Thursday night until after 10 or so, and I decided that I was just going to plop myself down at Lee's Palace and check out the lineup there.

I arrived there as Newfoundland's The Novaks were partway through their set. They played some pretty straight forward rock 'n roll that seems to be influenced by riff heavy rock like The Rolling Stones, while incorporating a mid 70's garage sound reminiscent of Teenage Head and the like. Their sound more likely would have better suited a smaller bar-like venue such as The Horseshoe, but they were very accomplished musicians who blasted their bluesy rockabilly vibe quite well. They played mostly original material, presumably from their debut album, and I did enjoy their set closing cover of Eddie Cochran's Somethin' Else.

Photos: My pictures of The Novaks @ Lee's Palace are on flickr.
Myspace: The Novaks

The Waking Eyes are a band that has been on my radar a lot in recent months, and this is mostly due to the incredible buzz that continues to surround them. Their performance did not disappoint. I loved the variety that could be heard throughout their music, and the fact that they refused to simply settle into one traditional style. Being only mildly familiar with their songs, it was incredibly exciting to watch a band that balked at predictability, and kept their artsy sound evolving throughout their set. Although all of the guys are obviously excellent musicians, it was the intensity of Joey Penner's bass playing that really impressed me the most. Almost all of the members however had their chance to shine, switching up their instruments regularly and all taking turns in presenting their own throat tearing vocals. A major highlight (besides the minor tribute to Heinz ketchup the culminated in Heinz t-shirts being tossed into the crowd) was the audience singalong that accompanied Wolves At The Door, a truly great song. It's going to be exciting to see them again in April when they open for The Weakerthans and The Constantines at The Phoenix.

Photos: My pictures of The Waking Eyes @ Lee's Palace are on flickr.
Myspace: The Waking Eyes.

Much like Sloan the night before, Matt Mays and El Torpedo are one of those acts that have been rocking out for years and are way past the point where they need to impress. Although his hard rockin', alt-country tinged East Coast sound is great on record, the live stage is really where Matt Mays shines the brightest. The band opened with two songs from their latest release Terminal Romance, namely Building A Boat and Tall Trees, both of which ensured us all that this was to be a performance of grand rocking proportions! Matt's got a pretty sweet White Falcon Gretsch, and he wailed on that thing several times throughout the night. The setlist featured a good number of songs from the latest release but was by no means limited to those tracks, as he even played songs from his solo album. The main set ended with his biggest hit Cocaine Cowgirl which really brought the house down. For the encore he did an amazing cover of The Stones' Wild Horses, which was followed by On The Hood from their self-titled album. For that song he invited the members of all of the opening bands onto the stage, which resulted in an onstage party that was only surpassed by the wild one that was taking place in the audience.

Photos: My pictures of Matt Mays and El Torpedo @ Lee's Palace are on flickr.
Myspace: Matt Mays and El Torpedo

Proud Simon - Night Of Criminals

A couple of years ago I had become quite smitten with Shoestring Universe, the alt country debut release by NYC's Proud Simon. I've found that their sophomore album Night Of Criminals had taken me a little bit more time to form an attachment to, but now that I have, I feel that it is a significant step up for the band.

The album is presented as a concept album of sorts, although the storytelling aspect is kept relatively dubious. According to Brian Keenan's official explanation, the album tells the story of a summer's night and ruminations on life, death and all that other important stuff that said night inspired in Brian. The CD is also divided in Acts, with Act I remaining musically straight forward, not straying too far from the alt-country pop stylings of the first album, while Act II finds the band expanding a little bit, both in depth and style. The first two songs, Newspaper Boat and Clockwork On and On are catchy songs, sounding rather mainstream in their delivery. It's on the third song, Tar Washed Ashore, where things start getting interesting. The opening banjo meets fuzz guitar meets psych-prog keyboards is something that you don't hear every day, although in this case it works very well, and surprisingly still leaves the song sounding accessible. Everyone On The Train Could Use A Little Change is a solid southern rocker, while Everywhere is a peppy instrumental that could possibly be my favourite song on the album. Act II begins with Tales As Tall, an eerie number that sets the stage for the menacing second half of the album, equipped with some very chilling cello work. Union Chains dips into a bit of a Fleetwood Mac area, while Second Hand Jackets has a more traditional folksy feel to it. One Night Stand on a Cadmium Yellow Avenue is the greatest pop song that the Counting Crows never recorded and the album ends nicely with Bled Red Wine, a beautiful harmonica laden number that recalls some of the great Harvest like songs of the 70's. Ultimately, I think it's great to see an artist who has the guts to step it up a notch and try something a little bit different from album to album, and hopefully we see Proud Simon continue to do so.

Night Of Criminals sees its official release on November 11th.
Above photo by Ivonne Loyola.

Myspace: Proud Simon

More stuff: Austin's Oh No Oh My releases a new EP today entitled Dmitrij Dmitrij. The songs they've got on their myspace page sound scrumptuous.

Myspace: Oh No Oh My

Although I haven't talked about them much lately, Amos The Transparent are as busy as ever as they head off to play the Halifax Pop Explosion with The Love Machine and The Golden Hands Before God. They've also been working hard on new material and they've been chronicling their adventures in video form. If you get a moment to watch it, do so 'cuz it's tons of fun.

Myspace: Amos The Transparent

Matt Mays & El Torpedo are currently rocking across Canada and in order to celebrate the fact that they're doing so, they're offering two previously unreleased live mp3's for all of y'all to enjoy. They're playing The Phoenix on November 6th.

Download: Long Since Gone (live) mp3 / Tall Trees (Live & Acoustic) mp3
Myspace: Matt Mays & El Torpedo

Noisy pop trio The Happy Hollows is releasing their Imaginary EP as a "pay what you want or nothing at all" type of deal. Personally, I find their brand of lo-fi hooky distortion to be instantly likable. Check out the widget on my sidebar.

Myspace: The Happy Hollows

R.E.M. is releasing a new double disc deluxe edition of Murmur, arguably their masterpiece. There seems to be a few opinions circulating about this one, and you can read all about it on Pitchfork, Chromewaves, Blurt and Imwan. It hits your favourite record store on November 25th.

Myspace: R.E.M.

Matt Mays + El Torpedo - Terminal Romance

After the relatively rapid northern success of Matt Mays + El Torpedo's debut album, he's pulled out the big guns and put together an album that's glossy and professional sounding, while still being raw enough to remain credible. For this one he's enlisted the help of producer Chris Tsangarides (Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, The Tragically Hip), mixer Mike Fraser (AC/DC) and then had the whole shebang mastered together by Bob Ludwig (Rolling Stones, Rush, Bruce Springsteen). With a roll call like that, Terminal Romance has the potential to be quite the heavy hitter. However, big names can only take you so far and ultimately, the material has to be top notch. While I don't feel that this is a particularly revolutionary release, it is a good rockin' summertime CD.

This time around Matt has tossed aside the alt-country, and kept this one pretty much a straight forward rocker. It opens strongly with Building A Boat, that starts out with a bit of a mid 80's ZZ Top driving riff, before Matt's voice kicks in sounding very Can-Rock. Tall Trees is the first single, and it's a decent enough song, although not offering all that much in the way of surprise. Still, a good song is a good song, and it's got a solid chorus and it's fair share of hooks. Snippets of Americana still eek their way through, most noticeably on Shining Eyes which has a cool sounding guitar solo and some nice shouting harmonies. Stand And Deliver is a Tom Petty-ish number, with a beat that reminds me a little bit of Tom's American Girl. The Hunter, The Hunted is one of my faves, a classic rocker that remains relatively subdued until it glides just past the halfway point and the guitar just starts shredding up my speakers, while Matt's voice acts in steady competition until he screams, "Until the sun goes down!", ultimately announcing his defeat. My unapologetic love of all things musically epic, makes the title track my favorite. It starts out as a simple piano ballad and continues to build in 70's Springsteen fashion, minus the marble mouthed voice. (My apologies to Springsteen fans but it's more of a personal thing wherein I have trouble getting past his voice. I assure you that ultimately I have nothing but the utmost respect for pre-Born In The USA Springsteen, I just struggle to enjoy it, that's all.) The song Terminal Romance is definitely the album standout, reaching a thundering crescendo that begs for repeat listenings.

In conclusion, I think that is a very good release that, although I can't see myself pulling it out all that often, is enjoyable all the way through. An album that contains no filler is a rarity these days, and for that reason alone, I feel compelled to recommend it.

Photo above by Kayla MacLellan

Myspace: Matt Mays + El Torpedo