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October 3rd, 2011

New Canadiana :: Ketamines – Line by Line 7″

Sugary sweet melodies and psych-punk explosions collide, creating a perfect distillation of Nobunny bubblepop and Wicked Awesomes-styled monotoned haunt-rock. You’re immediately drawn into a comforting K-hole, where you’ll ingest a lethal cocktail of melody and hooks that is 2011’s twee-punk single of the year, “Line by Line.” The deceptively sweet opener (Note: The lines they sing about aren’t lines of poetry) is just the start of a slippery slope. Hooks get buried, melodies get blurred and the atmosphere gets murkier as the 7” progresses, bringing a depth and range not normally seen on a debut. It’s time to let these Lethbridge abusers lead you through the Gateway. GRIP.

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Ketamines – Line by Line

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Ketamines – New Victims

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Ketamines – Dig

August 29th, 2011

New Canadiana :: The Shrapnelles – Asscalibur

This three-song debut EP by four gloriously greasy Calgarian trashwomen will remind you of all things dirty, bad for you and therefore irresistible: the burn in your throat after a shot of SoCo; the oily bartender with prison tats who pours your pint in a way that loosens your knees; your friend’s mom who wears too-short shorts, makes jokes about anal sex and always shares her menthols. Opener “My Mom is Hot” is a bristly beast, off and running with nary a word, but out of nowhere comes “Desert Furs”, which begins as a swooning ballad and suddenly lurches into a galloping, howling expression of hot-blood love (or maybe it’s hate). This record rips with a snarling beauty. Please mummies, I want some more.

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The Shrapnelles – Desert Furs

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The Shrapnelles – My Mom Is Hot

February 12th, 2010

Review :: Mess Folk – Something I Remember 7″

Mess Folk
Something I Remember / Give Me A Gun b/w If I Don’t Get Out
(HoZac Records)
Sydney, NS
::web/sounds::


From the solitary confinement of Aaron Levin:
Digging deep in the recesses of Sydney, Nova Scotia’s musical tar ponds, Mess Folk returns with a trio of serotonin-deprived hymns for the emotionally-challenged. Mess Folk’s HoZac debut will uproot your anchors and rip apart any notion of mental-stability. The aural spectacle sounds like lost recordings of Nirvana live in Hobbiton; a sparsely attended minor-key distortion-fest populated by meth-afflicted hobbits and rejects from Gummo‘s casting call. It’s all the more real because of its absurd projection, adding musical meanderings to ideas usually debated by stale academics. It’s uncomfortable, challenging, awful, and speaks to every secret plan you’ve made to escape the reality of being. You will hate it, but best of all: you will hate yourself. A+++.

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Mess Folk – Give Me A Gun

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Mess Folk – If I Don’t Get Out

November 12th, 2009

Review :: Sharp Ends – Northern Front 7″

Sharp Ends - Northern Front 7" Sharp Ends
Northern Front 7″
(HoZac Records)
Calgary, AB
::web/sounds::


From the cave of earthly desires curated by Paul Lawton:
No other band is able to convey the unease, trepidation and frustration of living within the booming Alberta economy like Sharp Ends. It’s true, Calgarians live the complete opposite material circumstances of, say, the early UK Factory Records scene (heh). Yet, extremes are extremes, and the destitute Manchester of the early 80′s and inane economic ante-upping of modern Alberta are equally as efficient at marginalizing the weak and powerlessness. And so emerges Sharp Ends, the voice of our discontent, music to soothe the general malaise. Their secret weapon is guitarist Danny Christiansen. Danny’s guitar skulks for the first half of “Ghosts of Chance,” bass and drum churning away with vocalist Chris Zajko lurking in the shadow, enveloping the room, and putting the listener into a trance. Waiting for its epic entrance, the guitar bursts into white light, from sepia tone to full technicolour before fading out and taking all hope with it. On “Northern Front”, the guitar meanders and constantly leaves you wanting (especially the mini guitar suite at the end of the song). Sharp Ends are the real deal: so much complexity stuffed into music so simple. Everything you want in a band.
[Levin's Note: Living in Edmonton makes the acuteness of it's being that much more powerful. A+]

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Sharp Ends – Ghosts of Chance

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