Big Rock Finish… reviews of independent music

Ivory Tree Observatory at Tattoo Rock Parlour

October 16, 2008

Alright, so I’ve owed Ivory Tree Observatory an album review for… probably many many months by now. They’re on my growing “to-do” list and I’m sure that I’ll be getting to it before… the end of the year? I’ve been staring at this list of albums to review for a while now, so I’m pretty familiar with all the names on there.

So what’s my surprise that when I walk into a bar because I’m there to see Nathan Down, that I’m staring down the business … end of a shrimp fork. I’ve been watching too much Futurama during my unemployment, that’s for sure. Anyways, I meant to say I’m at the ticket booth and seeing “Ivory Tree Observatory” having their own guest-list, and they are already on stage.

My first impression? (Before even knowing who was on stage) Good god these guys are loud. Good. But loud. My earplugs went into my ears before I even walked into the venue. Grabbing my standard coke (I must learn to carry change with me, because no bartender wants to make change for a $20 when ordering a coke, and I feel embarassed as hell not having any money to tip with) But parking myself at a ledge like thing I got to really get into the band.

Ivory Tree Observatory are CUTE. They even mentioned a few times between songs that they were pretty boys. And I don’t blame them for saying it, because at least it’s true. And a lot of the songs were real fun & rocking and made for great “I don’t care that I’m standing alone in a club full of people” type of music, and not all music can do that. I didn’t feel self conscious at all listening to these guys by myself, which when I realized it, shocked me. So, entertaining is a word I would have no problem using. Seeing a guy play a guitar and a keyboard, practically at the same time was awesome.

The one strange part of the show was the very last song if I recall correctly. It just started like a complete mismash of instruments and not very song-like at all. Suddenly it goes from what I would have deemed utter chaos, to a really catchy tune.

So I have to say, Ivory Tree Observatory are a band worth going out to see, whether you’re there with a pack of friends hogging the big tables in the middle of the floor, or you’re all by your lonesome trying desperately to not be socially ackward of not just being alone, but being sober. I’m sorry guys for taking so long to review your album, and you’ll definitely see it up soon! (And not soon enough, since their next one is due to release Spring 2009!)

Oh, and Ivory Tree Observatory will be playing at Rilleys on November 7th, definitely go check them out!

(Photo from The Stormalong’s Myspace page)

September 24, 2008

Third and last band of the night. The Stormalongs took to the stage at Rancho Relaxo to a very energetic grouping of people. And some not-so energetic people who really should have been in bed long ago (i.e. ME) I always want to watch as many bands as possible, seeing as how I write about these bands, but unfortunately there was not much I could do to keep myself awake.

I stayed for as long as I could, which was probably, I’m guessing, about 2/3 of The Stormalongs set. And the music was very pumping, and very rock. Somewhat surprising, considering both previous bands had a very electronic and “programmed” feel, that such a straight-ahead rock band would be chosen to close out the night. But I’m not the promotor, I’m sure it makes sense to someone else!

What I remember about the songs? They were rock songs. Plain and simple. Somewhat simple in how I describe all rock songs are put together, but well played and I can’t complain. Grabbing their myspace page and giving their studio recordings a listen, I can agree that The Stormalongs are a great band with talented musicians. My apologies for the half-hearted review, I seriously was VERY tired by the end of the night!

In… very… short, I did like what I heard. The Stormalongs are a very “together” band who sounded great even when the decor of the venue causes one to laugh quite loudly because it really just didn’t fit a “rock venue” But, you can’t blame the band for the venue, and you can’t blame The Stormalongs for being true rockers.

September 24, 2008

At some point, I had the pleasure of kicking back and enjoying the cool electronic stylings of Great Lenin’s Ghost! It was a balmy Wednesday evening above a Toronto taco stand, wafting it’s delights to the second floor bar. The idea of Pay What You Can was my indulgence, as was the fact my camera was dragged there for the earlier set of Senor Kasio.

I digress (as I so often do). Great Lenin’s Ghost! hits the stage, and I’m much too tired to continue standing. Thankfully there were people there to take my place in front of the stage, and I sat back and amused myself with my tired musicians while listening to music that greatly resembled the very old Nintendo 8 bit games that were oh so popular when I was 10.

A part of me couldn’t believe my ears, that such music would be popular, since it’s quite simple sounding. But judging by the crowd it couldn’t be denied. And the more I listened the more I started to get into the groove of things as well. You couldn’t really argue that Great Lenin’s Ghost! can’t entertain a crowd, because the crowd was definitely entertained.

Since this band was completely new to me, my favourite was definitely when they covered Rihanna’s “My Umbrella” because it was a song I recognized. And seeing everyone, the band, the crowd, and even the group I was sitting with, who wasn’t a part of the crowd, get into this new remix of such an over-played radio hit… was quite fantastic.

In short, geeky guys can be musicians too. And Great Lenin’s Ghost! are hopefully not offended by that comment

Name: Len’s Haulage
Album: The Hope Museum
Released: 2006
Members:
Michael Sbrocchi - vocals
Mike Novalski - guitar
Even Chochrane - bass
Pete Diculescu - drums

Website: www.myspace.com/lenshaulagemusic
Favourite Song: Underrated (Track 5)

Len’s Haulage is (another) rock band. With some very interesting graphic design for their album art. They don’t sound like an overly religious band, granted religion is hard to pin into one particular genere of music these days, but also the lyrics don’t strike me as particularly deep in religious overtones either. Yet looking at the artwork on the front & back covers and inside the liner notes, I see angels and Virgin Mary’s. Granted, I also see broken hearts, and pick-up trucks, so maybe I’m just pulling what I naturally gravitate towards. (I’m not a religious person!)

Len’s Haulage is a rock band. A pop-rock band perhaps. The first song definitely reminds me of the pop-rock genre, if only it’s peppy and up-beat and sounds a little happy. In the “glass is half full, not half empty” sort of way. I’m letting my imagination run wild here, and just picture that when the band is playing a show, there will be screaming girls in the audience. They sound like a band with screaming girls as fans. (the photo of the band under the CD also leads me to this belief by the way.) Even the slower songs (later in the album) make me think screaming girls would enjoy them. I have a lot of experience in what screaming girls would like to see on stage, seeing as how I spent much of my music-enjoying career being one of them!

Other then my diagnosis of a peppy band, even when the lyrics sound just a bit like it should be a slower song, they’re peppy. The second song, Hang On, reminds me of this the most. My interpretation is someone giving another person some advice. But… still peppy. Granted, I spoke too soon as I’m listening to the third (Limits) and fourth (Small Town Girl) songs, way to make me think something then throwing me a curve ball.

I would definitely want to see Len’s Haulage on stage, on tour, performing. A band that would sound great live needs to be heard live. I can’t figure out at this moment where to see them next is the only downer!

Name: Distorsis
Album: Distorsis (self titled)
Released: 2007
Members: Eric Bridenbaker, Jeremy Elliott and Tim Melton

Website: www.distorsis.com
Favourite Song: No Love Lost (Track 4)

Of all the very simple albums I’ve received through the mail (a CD shipped in a plain slim-line case was my copy) the artwork is amazing. They definitely used every square inch of the available space to their advantage, and if they meant to or not, it looks great with how the circle in the middle now looks like an eye due to the graphic design. It’s hard to tell from the image that’s been uploaded since that’s stolen from the band’s myspace page, but really, it looks cool. The font for the band name however, is really difficult to read and until I popped the disk into my iTunes, I didn’t really know how to spell the name.

Distorsis is a rock band. Plain and simple. Good steady beats and a strong melody. Catchy tunes and lyrics to make you beleive… whatever the band wants you to believe. (That one’s always a bit tricky to describe. How does someone intrepret someone else’s lyrics?) This is obviously a band of very passionate musicians that work well together to put together some music they really are into.

The individual songs are really awesome in a unique way. The songs are ordered in a way that you can definitely tell one from another, as they all have a different vibe, tempo, and all that other musical technical jargon I don’t always understand. But I do know that Distorsis has very catchy songs that are unique in their own way. Which is always fun, because it shows they are capable of being much more than a one-trick pony, even on one album. Also it’s refreshing when compared to commericial radio, where everyone’s songs sound the same, and everyone sounds like everyone else.

Driving tunes. Long drives need interesting music to keep the driver (me about 99% of the bloody time) from falling asleep. While I don’t yet have the lyrics memorized, I can always nod my head to whatever the tune is on the album. I could also probably listen to this many times before getting tired of it, seeing as how the songs are so different. I could probably learn the lyrics and still not be tired of listening to the same seven songs. Unfortunately I don’t know when Distorsis be playing next, but if I can check them out, I will!

Name: Unknown Component
Album: In Direct Communication
Released: September 16, 2008
Members:
All songs written & recorded by Keith Lynch

Website: www.unknowncomponent.com
Favourite Song: Between Guilt and Relief (Track 4)

From what I can tell so far, Unknown Component is a one-man band. Very admirable to say the least. Even more impressive is if you visit their website, you’ll find that Mr. Keith Lynch has released multiple albums, all with rave reviews and fan favourites.

Once again Myspace is my friend. Unknown Component list themselves as Rock, Indie and Pop. Thirty seconds into the first song on the album and I can’t disagree. This sounds a lot like what I grew up listening to. (Some would argue I haven’t really grown up, and I have a hard time disagreeing with that as well!) Listening to the songs, especially the lyrics, it’s a little hard to hear, maybe due to my headphones not working properly, but I also believe the music may be a bit louder than I had anticipated. And Mr. Lynch sounds like a pretty soft-spoken vocalist, if such a term exists…. interesting.

The songs on the lbum? They all have really long titles. Well, they seem to anyways. Perhaps it’s the font chosen, but all the titles seem pretty intellectual, like some clever play on words where you’ll have to really listen to the album to even understand where the song name came from. I know that song names are a very personal thing for most artists, and I can see Unknown Component putting in much thought into the naming of their songs.

I’d be interested in seeing Unknown Component on stage. For what’s seemingly a solo artist, there’s a lot of components… (not a pun, seriously) to the music that I would just love to see live. I can tell already that Mr. Lynch is a talented musician, and I think live is probably my best bet! So if you’re in Iowa, check out the second CD release party at the Basement of Jefferson Building on September 20th!

August 2, 2008.

Hello Beautiful is not a band I actually know a whole lot about. I’ve heard OF them, and from what the rumours say, they’re a good tight band that’s going to go places. And from seeing bits and pieces of their live show, I’d have to say the rumours are true.

Really, seeing as how I sort of just stumbled across them playing on the same stage as Awaking State a few sets later, I had no expectations and no real knowledge of what I was getting myself into. A part of me just thought “HEY! I have all-access and darn tootin’, I’m gonna use it!” and was able to get some pretty neat shots of the band (and the drummer too!) I’ll have to contact them soon about the photos, I like to show off, and I’m sure Hello Beautiful won’t mind that I use them to show off.

But really, they sounded really good, didn’t sound pretentious at all, genuinely seemed to love their time on stage and were having just a great time. The band loved it and the crowd loved it. I’m really happy I caught a part of their set, because it was really enjoyable.

I would definitely want to see Hello Beautiful again at some point, and maybe this time I won’t be so shy and actually introduce myself!