Mean
Red Spiders
Neck
Kid Sniper
Cedrumatic
The Co-operators
Pedestrian Status
The wall of sound they create on stage and on their recordings belies their number. Details, loops and oscillations hide in the outer reaches of the mix; hovering between loss and discovery; layering on top of layers to create an undeniable richness.
Circumstance often enters into the live Spiders performance, causing one member or another to take a primary or secondary seat in the overall sound,depending on the night. In fact, whole members have been known to disappear into the shadows; lurking - visually and sonically - making subliminal contributions to the creation at hand.
Eschewing four out of five voices, bassist Lisa Nighswander has become the live singer. Hers is the voice which melds playfully in the mix, sometimes coming out on top and taking shape in the form of words, other times dipping below the threshold of clarity, leaving only the ghost of melody and rhythm. MRS are most in their element when creating works of juxtaposition. Their considerable talent is the ability to force opposites together into the same space. Simple melodies are immersed in complex textures. Dreamy, spacious music is imbued with an urgent, chaotic drive. The fragile and tentative is placed against an unrelenting aural attack.
Similarly, their stage presence is at odds with their individual appearance. They at first seem a random aggregate of souls thrown together onto a stage,unaware of each other's existence. This distinction stops the moment they begin to play. Though they may appear to have a deceptively casual and subtle stage persona, it soon reveals itself to be impassioned, earnest, and at times, downright menacing. They are at the sound of a note unified inspirit and aesthetic. This sense of uniformity remains long after the last notes have sounded, leaving the careful listener sated, yet yearning for more.
At present, the band are near the completion of the follow-up to 1998's stellar debut CD Places You Call Home. The new material that the band has been previewing at their live shows of late has been showing a development and refinement of the style that garnered them some well deserved attention in the past. The next disc, the title of which this writer would not be so bold as to reveal, is expected to surface April of this year.
web: http://www.highschoolchampion.com/christiana.html
1-2-3-4! Verse, chorus, bridge, end!! Neck'st!!!
Upon first hearing Neck, most people comment on the shortness of their songs. In an age when radio hits are never less than four minutes long, a band whose compositions rarely pass the two-minute mark must seemlike an anachronism.
But Neck don't cut things short because they've run out of things to say, nor are they attempting some sort of '60s retro brevity -no, they'd rather not waste your time and instead get straight to the point.
For Neck, every part of the song is a hook. Once each hook has been stated,there's no need for unnecessary repetition. The song is over. More so than any other band I know, this is a band defined by songs and nothing else - okay, maybe ear-crushing volume. They don't jam. They just play the songs. These guys don't have the patience for anything else.
Since the band first started, it's always been a songwriters' summit. Back in the summer of 1993, singer/guitarist Dave Rodgers, a precocious tunesmith fresh out of high school who'd already written enough material to fill several albums, responded to a musicians-wanted ad at Rotate This.
This connected him with drummer Paul Boddum and singer/bassist Alastair MacLeod, who'd been playing together as the Michael J. Fox Tribute Band for a few years (yes, they had a song called "Teen Wolf"). At first, the split between Dave's sappy, pop-friendly numbers and Alastair's angrier, post-punkscreamers lent an interesting schizophrenia to the young band known as Neck.
But over the next few years, as the trio gigged more and begun a steady stream of independent releases - 1994's 5-song 7" EP 45 R.P.M., 1995's17-song cassette Christiana and 1996's 20-song cassette All September Long -these two opposing sounds crossed over and coalesced into something singularand unique. At the same time, Neck metamorphosized from underdogs to underground heroes.
Then, in spring 1997, for various reasons, Alastair left the band. The band was suddenly missing the force behind half its repertoire. Rather thangiving up though, Dave and Paul enlisted the help of Andrew McAllister, an old high school buddy of Dave's who also played bass and was an accomplished singer/songwriter in his own right - while attending university in Kingston, Andrew played in the bands Wholesome and the Black Mission Figs.
Though Andrew's playing and singing smoothed out the Neck sound, his songwriting aesthetic picked up where Alastair left off, and in fall 1998, the new Neck released their first CD, the Uncrated Distant Star EP, which was the band's most powerful statement yet.
Neck's now-sound employs a mathematical precision, yet their odd chord andtime changes overlay a pure-pop framework - all of which hit the listener in a rush of sound and speed. Few acts offer so much music in so little time.Fall 1999 saw the tight trio enter Chemical Sound to bang out a 19-song album, currently being shopped around to labels. Though the record is dominated by the ever-prolific Dave Rodgers - whose gems this time around include "I Counted Them All", "Numbered Company", "If I Could Fly" and the Gang Of Four homage "At The Same Time" - Andrew McAllister comes in strong with "Sub Zero" and the ass-kicking prog-rock of "Divided Loyalties". Let's hope there's a label wise enough to give it the wide release it deserves.
In the meantime, the
band has re-released the long out-of-print Christiana on CD for your listening
pleasure. Neck's super-flash website, featuring audio and video, can be
observed at
http://home.istar.ca/~andrewmc/neck
web: http://www.highschoolchampion.com/kidsniper.html
Get set for
activation.
It was autumn 1998, Jonathan Bunce watched his coffee flow from the filter to the pot. His old band, math-punk trio Secret Agent, had broken up earlier in the year and all of a sudden one of Toronto's most prolific musicians found himself without an outlet for a growing backlog of bizarre and catchy songs. He had just finished a 23 (!!!) song home recording, but copying a tape for friends and taking the stage to put on a show are two different birds entirely. A performer like Jonathan can only be happy in front of a crowd.
It had begun to snow. It was time to rock. He took his acoustic guitar and Dr. Rhythm beatbox and headed to Holy Joe's.
Fast forward to 1999. Word got around indie circles that Jonathan was on to something: something a little spooky, something bursting with pop hooks and mathematics. Originally backed by a Toronto indie supergroup comprised of musicians from Neck (Paul Boddum), Decoy (Bruce Lynn), and 4-Star Movie (Steve Shiffman), Kid Sniper has evolved from a collection of homebrewed songs into a fully functioning band featuring Jonathan, Paul, Alex Durlak (The Connoisseurs) and Dean Wales (the drummer from Secret Agent).
By the fall of 1999 Kid Sniper had already recorded a seven song EP, tentatively called Vantage Point, engineereed by Jeff McMurrich (Danko Jones, Deepspace, Rusty, all sorts of jazz) and are currently shopping it to labels. McMurrich did a masterful job on a complicated project. The bed tracks for the songs were recorded in one day on Jonathan's four track, then the work of overdubbing and remixing was done digitally over the next two months, resulting in a fascinating mix of cozy lo-fi and metallic hi-fi, a spacey sound that would have been impossible to create a decade ago.
Each of Kid Sniper's songs is distinctly influenced by an odd variety of styles, for instance Jonathan describes "Calista Flockhart" and "Former Child Star" as "dual bass math-pop", "Activation Sequence" and Urban Renewal" as "jagged drone-rock", "Site-Specific" as "paranoid dub", "Anyone Who's Everyone" as "smooth soul" and "Too Cute to Compute" as (and this is my fave description) "hip-hop circus music". To our untrained ears, I think the songs rock gratuitously like Elvis Costello and the Attractions in their heyday, and leave the listener with a vague and unsettling sense of impending doom. But in a good way.
Their live show is at the same time spectacular and engaging - aside from Dean, nobody seems content to play the same instrument for two songs in a row. Keep your sights aimed on Kid Sniper! They are Toronto-s multi-tasking pioneers of space-age pop.
- Doc Pickles
KID SNIPER CREW MANIFEST
Member: Jonathan
Bunce.
Instruments: Guitar, bass, organ, synth, vocals.
Ex/Currently/Also Appearing In: Mason Hornet, Secret Agent, A Tuesday
Weld, It's Patrick.
Secret Power: Can inject a caffeine-like substance into anybody's veins,
can also turn into either a Transformer or Voltron, but not a Go-Bot.
Member: Paul Boddum.
Instruments: Organ, synth, sampler, tapes.
Ex/Currently/Also Appearing In: Neck, The Michael J. Fox Tribute Band.
Secret Power: Can spot the difference between Merlot and Syrah, can also
fly (with magic umbrella).
Member: Alex Durlak.
Instruments: Bass, synth, backing vocals.
Ex/Currently/Also Appearing In: The Connoisseurs, Skirtchaser.
Secret Power: Knows what you look like naked, can talk to the animals.
Member: Dean Wales.
Instruments: Drums, maracas.
Ex/Currently/Also Appearing In: Secret Agent, Telejet, various jazz combos.
Secret Power: Shoots laser beams from eyes, invisibility.
CEDRUMATIC Intense waves of unrelenting rhythm surge forth from the sparest background of sound, just like vegetation creeping through cracks in an ocean of asphalt. Out of the grimy manufacturing-sector port town that is Hamilton comes Cedrumatic, four free-thinkers in their late teens who have been forging their unique brand of improvised prog-rock together for just over a year - though their group playing is so natural and unforced they sound like a much older band. Comparisons are usually drawn to the likes of Can and Tortoise, and though the similaries are there - expansive, open-ended song canvases and dynamic percussive interplay - that ain't the whole story. Cedrumatic's creative improvisations are led by duelling drummers Eric Hovius and Michael McGillivray, who switch back and forth between a full kit and a stand-up assortment of toms, snares and housewares. The duo's slowbuilding blend of simmering beats and unexpected accents bursts through the narcotic yet nervous mood set by the minimalist guitar of Damian Hornich and Carl Didur's droning synth. With no bass guitar grounding the mix, the Steeltown quartet's sound is much airier than that of the aforementioned Kraut/post-rock icons. Cedrumatic have already released two CDs, the self-released Cadencecandance, and the new one To Live In Paris, on happenin' Hamilton indie label Hot Tub Records. Expect more churning goodness from these boys in the future. For more info, contact Hot Tub, 75 Centennial Parkway, Hamilton, Ont., L83 2PO.
-Jonny Dovercourt
web: http://www.highschoolchampion.com/audio.html
The Co-operators Drivetime" lullabies... I don't drive. In fact, I hate cars. They're big, stupid, smelly and they always try and knock me off my bike. Still, whenever I do get in a car, I get the instinctive urge to take a roadtrip - to just hit the highway and start driving, with no destination in mind, just away. The car is no longer an enemy; instead it becomes a means to freedom. Maybe it's all those family car trips I took as a kid - to the Maritimes and back twice before the age of 8 - but there's something really comforting about a long drive, far from everything you know and take for granted. It's the same feeling you get listening to The Co-operators. I call their music "cottage-rock" - good-time tunes as relaxing and familiar as a weekend by the lake and the trees, and just as exciting as piling into the car for a trip up north. The trio was founded in the summer of 1998 as a vehicle for the songs of guitarist Sara Montgomery, a T.O. scene vet whose credits include The Schoolgirls, Chicken Milk, Naugahyde 5, and of course the amazing Venus Cures All. Sara's numbers possess the same rockin' melancholy as those of Neil Young, Husker Du and Guided by Voices. Cranked-up, heartfelt and proud (and good to raise a glass to, eh?). Easing off on the mathematical craziness of Venus, The Co-operators - rounded out by the able rhythmic assistance of bassist Greg Smith (Oxford County Circus, Orbital Action) and Chris Oliver (Adventure Playground) - play it straight, letting the songs speak for themselves. Live, Sara's sweet voice jumps out of the mix with astonishing clarity - yet look out; her words can cut like glass, or a knife for that matter (incidentally, the threesome has been known to run through "Summer of '69"...). So play safe and watch Greg's legs move him about the stage like a drunken Godzilla - though with his facial hair, plaid shirt and funky bass style, he more resembles Mike Watt's long-lost hoser nephew. The Co-operators are currently finishing up tracks with Andrew McCoffin of The Two-Minute Miracles at his miraculous eight-track studio in London, and a split CD with sibling band Wayne Omaha is out in late March. And in case you were wondering, they are named after the insurance group. So if you run into them at a club, don't forget to exchange information. 'Cuz there ain't a better band to get hammered with! (NOTE: None of the above is meant to imply that drinking and driving are at all a good combination, eh [hic]!)
- Jonny Dovercourt
Pedestrian Status Technology gone wild: at this moment a concept personified by an experimental rocket roaring out of control from the bowels of Ingersoll, Ontario. Created by the mind of an evil genius, Pedestrian Status embodies the quintessential "music of the moment", employing such tactics as "striking good looks" and "hooks that make your teeth rot" to achieve their dastardly aim of complete market saturation. A music that becomes a thunderous roar that denies all other sound. Brothers Bryce and Brad Clifford have spent the last seven years in a secret laboratory miles beneath the Canadian shield refining their secret formula for the great classic rock song. Testing their calculations on an unsuspecting Oxford county, they form unholy allegiances with such other musical alchemists as Wayne Omaha and Oxford County Circus, and under the cover of night quietly infiltrate the Toronto music scene, catching local acts napping and satiated by welfare cheques. After draining the pool of Nobel prize-winning bass players, the brothers Clifford quietly drugged scene style-setter and Euchre champion Sara Montgomery - in her young life she had been both sinner and saint but now at long last she has taken her place among the greatest of heroes. The debut CD from Ped Stat 2000 is being carefully created as we speak by 1000 monkeys with 999 guitars and one set of drums.
-Lovey Cravesit