If this band doesn’t get your pulse racing, then you don’t have one

Vancouver band No Sinner is equal parts gusto, bravado, and soul-baring intensity, rendering a “Blues, Rock, and Soul” spectacle that in a very short time has already caught the full attention of Music Insiders and Media on the West Coast, and is sure to cause a full-blown sensation in the nation and beyond, perhaps before the year is through.

With powerhouse songstress (and accomplished Canadian actress) Colleen Rennison at the helm, NO SINNER serves up an intoxicating mixture of Boozy, Roadhouse-style Soul Music that manifests as an amalgamation of Janis Joplin, Susan Tedeschi, Carolyn Wonderland, Etta James, and even early Big Sugar … and the unique chemistry of the band as a whole manages to tap into a uniquely visceral sensibility like few bands can (The Doors, Guns & Roses..)

No Sinner just recently released their debut 7-song EP called Boo Hoo Hoo on First Love Records, and for a band with no personal website or very much in the way of Press or Bio information, the mystique factor remains intact, allowing the music to simply hype itself which it certainly does. From the raucous, stray-cats vibe of title track Boo Hoo Hoo, to the rock n’ roll boogie of Runnin’, and the sobering, anthemic ballad That’d Be The Day, NO SINNER displays a depth and diversity in their ability to craft a song that leaves no question as to whether there’s adequate substance to back up their alluring style, in fact more than most bands can hope for. A good example is the bluesy rocker Love Is A Madness, when the dynamic transition from rollicking verse to heart punching chorus kicks in, instantly eliciting goosebumps as well as every little hair across your entire body to stand up. That is special.

The band was patched together largely through a series of chance encounters ‘jamming’ in the bars of Vancouver’s Gastown, but boasts a couple of high profile Canadian Music-scene pros such as Matt Camirand (Black Mountain) on Bass and Ian Browne (Matthew Good) on Drums, as well as collaborating with Parker Bossley (Hot Hot Heat). In the case of guitarist Eric Campbell, supposedly he was someone Colleen felt inextricably drawn to after seeing him perform in a bar one night, and on gut instinct she tracked him down by searching most of west-vancouver with nothing but a first and last name. It appears now to have been Destiny at work. Between Eric and Colleen the band’s persona takes on a certain outlaw-coolness and firebrand, “bad to the bone” stage presence, and as a whole NO SINNER appear ready and willing to summon up whatever volatile universe they can, just so they can be at the center of it … a place where only a chosen few belong.

NO SINNER:
Colleen Rennison – Vocals
Eric Campbell – Guitar
Matt Camirand – Bass
Ian Browne – Drums & Back-up Vocals

The Future Looks Bright For This Indie-Rock power-trio, cuz they kick some serious ass yo!

The three members of The Balconies are classically trained, Ottawa ex-pats whose uncannily refined pop sensibility and rock swagger belies their relative newcomer status since forming in December 2007. Fronted by the brother-sister tandem of Stephen Neville (Bass/vocals) and Jacquie Neville (guitar/vocals), and skilfully complimented on Drums by Liam Jaeger, this innately qualified power-pop trio appears comfortably poised for a long and substantive music industry run, particularly in light of the unlimited potential revealed in their debut LP, the only album from the group thus far.

Jacquie Neville’s manic stage presence embodies flashes of what could be a human experiment fusing the sultry pop-kitten playfullness of Zooey Deschanel with the unbridled, unwieldy menace of Courtney Love. The tempered virtuosity and naturally occurring nuance of this musical collective renders some wondrous results, at times resembling a surreal blend of The Raconteurs, early Elvis Costello, Hole, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Most compelling is the stark contrast in elements of the band’s creative arsenal, allowing them to alternate between the face-slap sonic assault of Kill Count, the poppy, melodically driven Serious Bedtime, or the classical violin performance by Jacquie on Television’s “The Listener”.

This is a band to watch and root for, because a promising career looms large on the horizon and is theirs for the taking. Mind you, the challenge of a group whose sum is greater than it’s parts, but whose parts are pretty damn special on their own, is preserving the collaborative chemistry despite the allure of individual ambition, because in this case the almost certain rewards of the collective are well worth preserving.

The Balconies are touring in support of their 2012 release Kill Count.

If their fourth album “Goodnight My Dear … I’m Falling Apart” is any indication, this band will be Transparent no more.

I must confess, it wasn’t until a few weeks I had no idea who Amos The Transparent was, but immediately after hearing this Ottawa band’s breakout single “Sure As The Weather” on CBCradio, I was compelled to learn more about this prized new discovery I’d never heard of.

At the core of this instrumentally diverse alt-rock band are the two founding members, songwriter Jonathan Chandler and drummer Christopher Wilson. Since 2005 they’ve collaborated with a virtual revolving door of talented musicians (as per Wikipedia, the number of former bandmates now stands at eight) which in the process has rendered Four albums that include “Everything I’ve Forgotten to Forget” (2007), “My What Big Teeth You Have” (2009, EP), “A Is for Amos” (2010, EP), and the latest release “Goodnight My Dear … I’m Falling Apart” (2012) . The songs are intricately woven and acoustically finessed with layers of string instruments, keyboards, sweeping melodies, hearfelt vocals, and on the latest album they’ve even incorporated a slightly more aggressive guitar charge. There’s a lot to absorb and appreciate here in terms of multi-intrumental craftsmanship and lyrical dexterity, so it’s no surprise they count “Elliot Smith” and “Wilco” among their major influences.

Besides their expanding body of achievement in the Studio, they’re no slouches when it comes to Live Shows either, having toured with mega-star Jeff Beck as well as a slew of high-profile Canadian Rock Bands such as Sloan, Mother Mother, The Dears and Tokyo Police Club, and then there’s the consistent appearances every year at the Big Show, aka the biggest Music Industry Festival of all, SXSW.

Just recently they were fetured on Canada’s most prominent Arts & Culture program, CBC’s Q w/ Jian Ghomeshi, significant international radio exposure capable of propelling them out of relative obscurity, even on the strength of the undeniably hooky “Sure As The Weather”, a song that managed to catch my attention .. finally.

And as great as “Goodnight My Dear … I’m Falling Apart” sounds, it was in their treasure trove of older recordings that I felt yielded some of the best rewards, such the acoustic ballads “Greater The Consequence” from 2009′s My, What Big Teeth You Have …, and “Here’s To New Beginnings” from Everything I’ve Forgotten To Forget (2007). Soulful, contemplative, rich in instrumental texture, and deeply deserving of your undivided affection.

Get The Band’s Music

Great Lake Swimmers release their 5th album New Wild Everywhere on April 3rd

The best joke on Canadian folk-rockers Great Lake Swimmers’ fifth album is that it sounds absolutely nothing like a New Wild Everywhere. Of course, jokes are fairly hard to come by on a record chocked with sleepy, lilting stomp-alongs like these, but fortunately the gaps are filled by warmth, quality and not a little fiddle-playing. Songs that contain enough of these things (even the fiddle-playing… especially the fiddle-playing) do not need to innovate – they need merely to be gorgeous and rewarding, and close to everything on New Wild Everywhere is perfectly that.

Though they’re often compared to the more sugary side of Will Oldham, it’s actually a deeper-fried Americana that Great Lake Swimmers are more closely aligned with. The much-missed rootin’-tootin’ country rockers The Anomoanon (led by Will Oldham’s brother Ned) and the equally fondly regarded The Butterflies of Love can easily be imagined hammering along to Ballad of a Fisherman’s Wife, all sharing an gentle, carefree abandon. Elsewhere, more seriously, the slowly circling Think That You Might Be Wrong gently coagulates into a glorious sort of melodic gloop, a worthy soundtrack to the harshest relationship breakdown.

On the Water is not dissimilar from Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues in both contemplative lyric and melodic shape, but GLS mainman Tony Dekker has learned tricks Robin Pecknold has yet to even attempt. Making a virtue of simplicity, Dekker becomes a man swimming for his life in slow motion, eventually drifting aimlessly. No attempt to be transformative or adventurous with the tenets of his influences is made, the result being an expression that’s totally without chinks. Neatly, that seems to be something that chimes across the whole of New Wild Everywhere.

Even a version of the band’s own Fields of Progeny sung in French (the lovely Les Champs de Progeniture) cannot hinder the album at its conclusion. Indeed, rather than adding even more ammunition to the idea that the Great Lake Swimmers’ appeal is singular, it’s proof that they’re able to make their music ceaselessly repeatable, open to gentle tweaking and subtle extension. Leaving the invention to others is the smartest thing they could do – sometimes it’s enough just to be good at what you do.

Said The Whale’s highly anticipated New Album ‘Little Mountain’ drops on March 6th !

Vancouver’s Said The Whale have now reached a point of setting themselves apart from the rabble of struggling rock bands, fortunate to possess a winning formula comprised of gifted songwriters with an uncanny knack for infectious and diverse melodies, complimented by a persistent fortitude as wandering Indie-rock minstrels on a mission.

Uniting in early 2007, the members of this prolific collective (whose odd name has no official explanation or profound meaning) are now at the height of an indie band’s typical 5 year gestation period, poised to take their musical journey to the next level in terms of larger venues, mainstream radio-play, and a commercially viable brand. If anyone’s deserving of mass appeal at this point it is Said The Whale, having toiled in the type of obscurity only dedicated artists willingly embrace, because the experience allows them to develop a uniquely organic sound all their own, in this case cultivated from hearts, minds and souls as fertile as any in the business.

Their three albums up until now have yielded several qualified hits, such as This City’s A Mess (Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia – June 3, 2008), Emerald Lake, AB and B.C. Orienteering (Islands Disappear – October 13, 2009), and most notably Camilo The Magician which brought them a lot of attention on Rock Radio stations in 2010.

In a relatively short time they’ve managed some rather high profile gigs and recognition, such as playing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and winning the JUNO award for Best New Group in 2011. Their first U.S. tour, which also took place in 2011, included being featured in a CBC Television documentary titled Winning America, which follows their journey to to the South by South West Festival (SxSW) in Austin, Texas. It’s a true story about the hardships and successes of a touring band trying to make it at the biggest music festival in North America.

They’re currently on tour throughout the U.S. and Canada to promote Little Mountain, but if you’ve never heard them LIVE you can check out a recent performance recorded at the China Cloud art space in east Vancouver. (CBC Radio3 Sessions podcast).