Ketch Harbour Wolves - Dead Calm Horizon

A couple of my Toronto Music Blog Collective colleagues have been relentlessly preaching the gospel of the Ketch Harbour Wolves for a few weeks now, so I figured it was high time that I check out this highly praised Ontario-by-way-of-Nova-Scotia-based outfit. To say that they have received high praise around these parts is somewhat of an understatement, as their sophomore EP Dead Calm Horizon has hit the top of no less than three best of 2008 lists. Add to that the fact that they're currently allowing you to download the whole EP for free on their website and you've got yourself a band that is doing everything they can to make sure that one cannot ignore them for too long. So is this a band worthy of such fanatical hyper praise, or should I simply call the Tokyo police this vampire weekend, clap my hands and say yeah, here's another overrated blog band for ya?

Well, overall I'm gonna say nope; Dead Calm Horizon is a very good album that is far and away better than most of the major label albums that you have to pay for. Admittedly, as the first few songs whizzed by, I thought that they were a little bit on the "yep, I was there for XTC and Interpol the first time around" side of the fence, and my enthusiasm was relatively reserved. I think the outrageously cold Toronto weather is turning me into a tougher critic than usual. But all good things come to those who wait and it was about a minute into Gold (track 3) that everything was starting to come together for me. Jonathan Tyrell's vocals are sombre and controlled, which I'd imagine wouldn't be easy to do when the band's playing is filled with such a fiery intensity. Each song gets better than the one before. Midnight Dark Water is the closest they get to rocking out, and it's presented with such an inspirational zeal that it harks back to some of the great punk inspired bands of the early 80's that have since gone on to become great big stadium rock bores. Tyrell should play that song for Bono and remind him of what he used to be. (That's right, I said it.) The last two songs on the album are my favourites. Animals is a lesson on restraint. The song is absolutely epic; not in length, but in style. The potential is there for the song to be lifted well into the stratosphere, with ringing guitars and keyboard solos aplenty, which admittedly would still have been kinda cool. But now that gives us something to look forward to when they perform it live, because the euphoric experience that this song could be on the live stage makes me giddy just thinking about it. And Letters, the last song, is beyond beautiful. It's the kind of song that makes it hard to listen to anything else once the album's finished.

I've listened to the album four or five times this week, and it just keeps growing stronger. KHW have definitely got a good thing going on and it'll be fun keeping track of their progress over the next little while. Do yourself a favour, and download the album now, if you haven't already done so.

Ketch Harbour Wolves are playing Holy Joe's at 651 Queen St West on Thursday January 22nd.

Myspace: Ketch Harbour Wolves
Download: Animals mp3


Download: Midnight Dark Water mp3


Other Stuff:
Left Of Zero is playing The Horseshoe tonight. [Myspace: Left Of Zero]

The lovely and talented Olenka and the Autumn Lovers is playing at Rancho Relaxo on Saturday night (Jan 17th) along with a slightly psychedelic band from Brampton called The Odyssey's and a dreamy band from Ottawa called That's The Spirit. [Myspaces: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, The Odyssey's, That's The Spirit]

Classic rockers The Joys have just released a video for Storm, from the Unfold CD. It was shot in Toronto at the Lakeshore. [Myspace: The Joys]

U2's 12th studio album is entitled No Line On The Horizon and it's out on March 3rd. The track listing has been revealed, (can be seen on Snob's Music,) as has the news that the first single will be Get On Your Boots, which begins streaming on the website on Tuesday January 20th. I wouldn't normally be very excited about this (and admittedly I'm not, actually) but the album is produced by Steve Lillywhite, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who produced all of their great albums. So, who knows? [Myspace: U2]

Animal Collective played a new song, possibly called Blue Sky at KOKO in London. The song is not on their latest album, the very weird Merriweather Post Pavilion (which can be streamed over at Rhapsody) but it is currently available for download over at Stereogum. [Myspace: Animal Collective]

Ex-band Be Your Own Pet's ex-lead singer Jemima Pearl talks about how fun it is to get in trouble in New York, karaoke-ing David Lee Roth songs and her new solo project over at Pitchfork. [Myspace: Be Your Own Pet]

And finally, this isn't exactly rock 'n roll news, but cinematic great Ricardo Montalban has passed away and Now Magazine has written a pretty interesting tribute to him. You can see his performance in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan at Fox Beaches on Tuesday night (January 20th) at 7pm. Altogether now: Khhhaaaaaaaaannnnnn!!!!

Left Of Zero - Self-Titled

Progressive soul? Math jazz? Neo-funk-folk? When I saw Left Of Zero play the Rancho back in August, I knew that if I ever hear their recorded work, it would border on the impossible to slide the band into any particular genre. And sure enough, despite the fact that I've been listening to their infectious self-titled full length relentlessly this week, descriptive terms continue to elude me. They have a sound that harks back to another era; an era of sophisticative musical arrangements and sultry vocals that melt your soul. The opening sweep of 3 of 4 eases the listener into a slightly progressive territory, not totally unlike Portishead only without all the studio noodling, giving them a unique sense of organic experimentation. The song concludes with some musically unaccompanied vocal work by all of the members that is sparse and ethereal. I'm In Love begins with some very subtle guitar work before crescendoing into a crazy jam that ends a little bit too soon, in my opinion. Compromise is more of a relaxed drone of a song, that really allows Jade Lamarche's vocals to shine, as they easily do. Estrella and Unsaid are the closest the band gets to just rocking out, showcasing the fact that guitarists Luis Figueroa and Derek Edwards play off of each other very well, while Adam Boyle may be one of the most calculated drummers on the Toronto scene today. And while many people will be talking about Jade's outstanding voice, I think it's her bass playing that is really the star of this band, as I feel it's the most immediately noticeable thing about their music and what really allows it to stand on its own.

If I have one criticism about the album, it's that the band really has the ability to challenge the listener, but they rarely follow through on doing so. That makes the album very accessible of course, which is likely what the band was going for, and probably appropriate for a debut full length, but it would be neat to hear the band push the boundaries a little bit more the next time around. Songs like You Make Me and the aforementioned I'm In Love sound as if they're going to propel into the stratosphere and make an epic statement, but then they choose to just end instead. I'd like to hear them get a little bit pretentious next time. Of course, nobody appreciated Spinal Tap's foray into jazz exploration so maybe my personal views are better left ignored. Still, Left Of Zero's latest release has accomplished repeat listenings on my end and will likely continue to do so which is a sign of a job well done.

Myspace: Left Of Zero
Video: I'm In Love on youtube

Other stuff: There are a few other shows coming up in the month of December that I forgot to mention yesterday that you might be interested in, all taking place at The Silver Dollar.

First of all, on Friday December 5th we've got The Two Koreas and The Hoa Hoa's taking the stage. Also on the bill are Picturesound, Daniel Kosub and Easy Targets. Cost is $6. I won't be able to make it, and that bums me out since I still haven't seen The Hoa Hoa's live and I've just got to, what with them being amazing and all. [Myspaces: The Two Koreas, The Hoa Hoa's, Picturesound, Daniel Kosub, Easy Targets]

About a week later, $100 is hosting their CD release party for their new Regional 7" Release. This of course is hot on the hills of their critically acclaimed release Forest Of Tears, which is apparently fantastic even though I still have yet to pick it up. The show is on Friday December 12th and it's $8 adv; $10 door. [Myspace: $100]

And for those who like the night life, and like to boogie, there's a late late show on Saturday December 20th beginning at 11pm featuring Rural Alberta Advantage, Ghost Is Dancing and Forest City Lovers. That's an amazing bill that is almost worth setting aside sleep for. Sleeping is overrated anyways right? Right? (I should clarify that this show seems to be mentioned on the Silver Dollar website but not on any the band's myspace pages. So pardon my sloppy journalism but you may want to double check the facts before taking my word on it.) [Myspaces: Rural Alberta Advantage, Ghost Is Dancing, Forest City Lovers.] UPDATE: Forest City Lovers has denied playing this show, so my guess is that it may not actually be happening, even though it's still posted on the Silver Dollar website)

There's many more where that came from but I'm saving it for tomorrow. So see you tomorrow.

The Primordials & Left of Zero @ Rancho Relaxo

I had mentioned earlier that I was unable to attend all of the shows that I had planned on attending last month, making it a quiter month than I'm used to. (This is in terms of concert goings of course. In terms of regular life and responsibilities however, now that's a different story.) Still, I found that I had this window of opportunity on Saturday night and although I was too tired to make a full night out of it, I thought I'd swing by the old reliable Rancho and see what they had to offer in terms of musical wonderment.

The first band was Left of Zero, a local band whose music is at once experimental, yet still very accessible. Lead vocalist Jade Lamarche has an amazing presence. Besides being quite the looker, she's also got a compelling voice and most notably, she's a dang good bass player. The band is incredibly tight and I think that in itself is their greatest selling point. I'll admit that the actual songs, although quite good and accomplished for such a relatively new band, didn't necessarily wow me. A big reason for that could've been the small and subdued crowd at that time of the night. Still, it was when the band jammed out that their music really started to impress. There are elements of jazz and prog and even a touch of folk making this one of the more interesting bands that are currently out there. The sonic noodling achieved by the rest of the band ( Luis Figueroa on guitar/vocals, Derek Edwards also on guitar/vocals and Adam Boyle on drums) come across as a strange hybrid of Sonic Youth and Portishead. I'm actually very curious to hear what the debut CD sounds like.

Photos: Left of Zero @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: Left Of Zero
Video: I'm In Love on youtube
Video: You Make Me and Unsaid live from the Rancho Relaxo show on youtube
(If you watch, I'm actually in this video, taking pictures with my crappy little point and shoot. No autographs please.)

60's garage rock was the theme for the next band, Toronto's The Primordials. This is the most 'up my alley' band I've seen for a while. They were a very hip looking, tie and vest wearing, good old fashioned rock and roll power pop band. The Kinks, The Sonics, The Smoke, any Nuggets-era band, you name it, these guys have solidified that sound, and captured that era with great authenticity. There is a certain measure of gimmickry involved for sure, but most of all, I think that Ryan, Dave, Shawn and Robbie are just big fans of the music. Their set was just a normal length, but they whipped through a ton of songs in the alloted time, keeping them short and sweet. The harmonies were impeccable and when the song called for a guitar solo, the band pulled it off with ease. I've got to see them again with a more enthusiastic crowd, because I'll bet that their shows usually result in a hip shaking, dance floor crazed little party. I also noticed that they were selling vinyl at their shows. Too cool.

Photos: The Primordials @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: The Primordials
Download: Keep A Hold Of What You Got mp3

They have a pile of songs for download on their myspace page.