Hailing from Halifax, Century Egg are a fun post-punk / pop-punk quartet whose new EP, Little Piece of Hair, is a fun romp.
You’ll want to answer, “Yes,” to opening track “Do You Want to Dance” as Robert Drisdelle‘s guitar swirls around you and Matty Grace‘s bass propels your dancing shoes. That bass, and Meg Yoshida‘s happily excited heartbeat drums, are a great combination on “I Will Make Up a Method” as Shane Keyu Song sings about figuring out a way to succeed despite everyone and everything trying to keep her down.
Their rocking cover of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu‘s “Ring a Bell” is delightful, and will instantly bump up your mood. The title track cranks up the fuzz and seems to be about never giving up your curiosity. “Riddle to Place” slows things down with a practical rock ballad as Song tells a potential lover to slow it down as well because she’s given up on making it work.
The EP ends with “Cornered,” with Song singing in Chinese as her bandmates bust out serious chops. Yoshida’s cymbals seem to roll and sizzle beyond the atmosphere, Grace’s bass seems to be doing a Tae Bo workout, and Drisdelle summons up some of his best post-punk riffs on the EP.
It’s solid stuff, and makes you want to hear a full album from them in the future – as any good EP should.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Gabriel at Clandestine Label Services.]
Toronto’s DIY scene purveyors, Teenanger have today shared their blistering new single, “Trillium Song“, the second to be lifted from the new record, Good Time – out October 2 via Telephone Explosion Records – which has so far earned praise from outlets like Paste, The Line of Best Fit, Exclaim, BBC 6 Music, So Young and more. The new record, which comes mixed by renowned Toronto musician, Sandro Perri, follows previous releases that have found the band share stages across North America and Europe with the likes of METZ, Ty Segall, Death From Above, Dilly Dally, Dish Pit and more.
“Trillium Song” presents another agile take from Good Time, drawing once again on striking melodies and a wiry new wave sound palette, this time utilizing a two-pronged vocal foray with both Melissa Ball and Chris Swimmings lending their voices. Whereas previous releases from the group have suggested a more abrasive post-punk approach, Good Time demonstrates a pop-leaning slant on the sound of Teenanger without removing their ear for social commentary.
Speaking about the new track, Swimmings says: “This song is about the province of Ontario where we all reside. Mainly about the current provincial government’s way of dealing with the education system and the environment. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Doug Ford (the song’s primary subject) was making good headway at polishing his public image by being hands-on. He made promises of people not losing their jobs and tenants not being evicted. They were timely promises in the beginning as we are now seeing many tenants in Ontario face eviction due to not being able to make end’s meet in the pandemic.”
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Good Time arrives off the back of a turbulent few years for the group, a period filled with self-reflection, a restless search for creativity and more than anything, a need to rewire the very essence of the band. The four-piece had tied up the rinse and repeat promotional run for their 2017 self-titled record in the spring of 2018; their fifth album, which had started to find them some acclaim, also marked their first decade together as a group, quite an achievement by anyone’s measures in the current climate. The line-up was unchanged since Teenanger’s inception, and the members had become somewhat inseparable over their time together; whilst the album release and the corresponding tour was somewhat celebratory, it also brought with it a severe bout of writer’s block that unexpectedly placed their existence in jeopardy.
A testament to the rigorous DIY ethos of Teenanger that forges its core values, the band was rooted in the same rehearsal room that they had used since their early days together – a revolving door of local acts shared the space and it took fracturing this routine to find inspiration for Good Time. One Craigslist advertisement offered an apartment for rent with the words: “Music OK”, Teenanger seized the opportunity and thus “Studio Z” was coined, a basement flat that previously worked as a reggae studio/after-hours club was converted by the four-piece into a live practice room and adjacent fully-functional recording studio. The band went on to battle two major floods, a CO2 leak, vermin infestation and constant mould to record the new album.
Good Time is out on October 2nd on Telephone Explosion. It is available for pre-order here.
Toronto’s Bike Thiefs have premiered their new single, “Hockey Dad” through New Noise. Produced by Josh Korody (The Dirty Nil, Dilly Dally), it is pissed-off and abrasive, chatty and hook-laden, and follows the band’s previous releases: 2017’s Lean Into It and 2015’s These Things Happen All The Time.
Vocalist Marko Woloshyn explained the meaning behind the new single, ““Hockey Dad” is about a friend dealing with drug addiction. It’s heartbreaking to see how polarizing, and frankly exhausting the experience for them (and the people that surround them) can be. They vacillate between feeling like they’re king shit of asshole mountain or a has-been hockey dad trying to hold on to any semblance of past success. You watch as the drugs at times gives them the confidence to spin plates and hold court in crowds of strangers. At other times you watch the crippling anxiety start to dig paranoid foxholes into the middle of their box-spring.“
He continues, “It feels like a tired topic, but there’s an opioid crisis in North America, an inordinate amount of high functioning alcoholics and people being hand-fed pharmaceuticals as a band-aid solution to an incomprehensible depression. Maybe not a new idea, but maybe that’s why it’s still important.“
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Bike Thiefs absorb music as quickly as one would expect from a group of millennial audiophiles. Comprised of bassist Kris Pandierada, drummer Andrew Fasken and guitarist/vocalist Marko Woloshyn, they celebrates their fandom for early indie rock as well as 90s avant-pop and acid jazz. Pandeirada cut his teeth producing hip hop beats in his basement, Woloshyn holed up in his room wringing the ink out of Leonard Cohen sheet music and Fasken immersed himself in the world of 2000s punk rock; booking shows and playing in a handful of hardcore bands.
Now a chatty post-punk band, they have drawn comparisons to rock stalwarts Fugazi and Canadian-compatriots Constantines, as well as more contemporary acts like Parquet Courts and Car Seat Headrest. The band has been featured in several international publications including Exclaim!, New Noise and Impose, and have toured across Canada and the United States, opening for acts like Antarctigo Vespucci, The Dirty Nil and Moneen.
