Browsing Tag

Canadian Rock

Deully – This Long Road: A Resilient Journey Through Rock and Recovery

Posted on 18 April 2024

Deully, the solo project of the independent Canadian rock virtuoso, Darren Sawrenko, has added to his accoladed discography by releasing his eagerly-awaited latest LP, This Long Road, and this time, his stellar songwriting stripes are bolstered by a lyrical intensity which provides a candour-fuelled exposition on his ongoing battle with mental health and recovery.

Each of the singles on the LP is a reflection of his psyche at the time of writing. The title single is entrenched in the agony and the glimpses of hope of acknowledging that the road to recovery necessitates fortitude and endurance. You can hear every ounce of the resilience mustered to stay on the long road, which is reflected as much through the fiery vocal performance as the visceral rock instrumentals.

The guitars don’t play; they battle cry through the monolithic hard rock production, giving everyone else walking the same, often lonely, road a sense of kinship and determination to keep moving towards the destination of redemption.

With This Long Road LP, Deully isn’t solely battling his own demons, he’s rebelling against the expectations and rock n roll cliches that lead so many down a toxically glamourised self-destructive path. In our book, he couldn’t be more of a rock icon.

This Long Road was officially released on April 12th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pick up Propter Hawk’s seminal blues rock release, Telephone

Posted on 5 August 2023

Fill up your whiskey glass and pick up the seminal single, Telephone, from Propter Hawk – if you can lift the heavy with swaggering rock n roll riffs, that is.

As a born rock frontwoman, Malorie Blake on lead vocals knows just how to pay homage to bluesy overdriven rock with her authentically Americana high-octane vocal lines which effortlessly gel with the if-they’d-be-any-tighter-they’d-be-claustrophobic instrumentals as they weave through eras and genres with ease.

With influence from The Beatles, The Band, and Otis Redding feeding into their amalgamated free bird sonic signature, you’ve never encountered an outfit quite like Propter Hawk before, nor are you ever likely to with their commitment to authenticity and their devilishly distinctive use of distortion on their vintage gear.

If you’re desperate to hear more after Telephone, you only have two weeks to wait before the release to wait before the official launch of the debut eponymous LP, which is due for release on August 18th.

Telephone is available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify. 

For more info on Propter Hawk, check out their official website. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shift your perceptions in a brighter direction with ORCHAD’s riotously synthy call to arms, DAMAGED GOODS

Posted on 9 June 2023

‘DAMAGED GOODS’ is the latest hyper-cosmic feat of synth-driven alt-rock from Montreal’s most monolithic powerhouse, ORCHAD.

With pinches of pop-punk making the hooks even sharper, this riotous call to arms to everyone who knows how it feels to disregard themselves as broken and too idiosyncratic to love is enough to shift self-perception in a far brighter direction.

The riffs that will make you reminisce about Dragonforce are just a fraction of the hard-hitting impact of DAMAGED GOODS. With an entire generation at risk of being lost to entropy and apathy, ORCHAD delivered an upbeat anthem, fierce enough in its exhilaration to affirm that it is society that is royally fucked, not the people living through the fallout.

If you could imagine what it would sound like if the Black Parade was written today, you will get an idea of the heart-in-throat resonance you will sink your teeth into when you hit play.

“The song is about the struggles and challenges of life and mental illness, including the pressure to conform and fit in with societal norms. It encourages the listener to let go of the expectations that society places on them and to accept themselves for who they are, flaws and all.

We should all focus instead on finding solace through healthy forms of self-expression. Everyone is going through their own struggles and we really are all “damaged goods.” If we focus on loving ourselves first and “dance in the rain” you might just be able to ease the pain.”

DAMAGED GOODS will hit the airwaves on June 9th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The prodigal sons of rock n roll Midnight Miles kicked up dust in their latest liberating hit, Coming On

Posted on 19 January 2023
Midnight Miles

Purveyors of road trip rock n roll, Midnight Miles kicked up plenty of dust in their latest single, Coming On. With vintage tones and crooning blues rock vocals that give The Black Keys a run for their money around the socially conscious lyrics that make no bones about documenting the depths we’ve descended to, getting caught up in this reverently electrifying feat of rock n roll is compulsory.

While the driving backbeat takes control of your rhythmic pulses, the vocals affirm that you’re not alone in thinking that everyone’s gone mad. Everyone’s down with the sickness, but there are few as sonically maniacal as these Montreal-hailing prodigal sons.

The fervidly hot guitar solos that definitively earn the Midnight Miles guitarist a spot in guitar hero history is the perfect remedy. It’s impossible to feel disillusioned while getting caught up in their liberating turbulence. The next time I need a shot of riff-driven serotonin, I know where I’m turning. No review of Coming On could be rave enough.

Coming On will officially release on January 19th. Check it out via Midnight Miles’ website.

Follow the artist on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

TD Hutton – Down Howe Sound; a dark and stormy surf rock debut

Posted on 28 October 2021

‘Down Howe Sound’ is the  swaggy, dark surf rock debut from Canadian alt-rock artist TD Hutton, which immerses you in far darker water than what Dick Dale swept you up within. If you can imagine Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds as a surf-rock outfit, you’ll get an idea of the sonic picture drawn in Down Howe Sound that pulls bleak and hostile inspiration from the Pacific Northwest seas.

Between the grumbling garage rock discord, macabre lyrics versed through whiskey-soaked vocals and the gorgeous shimmers of the Gretschy guitars, the track takes a visceral grip from multiple angles, making it impossible not to get caught up in this pornographic feat of surf rock.

Down Howe Sound is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rise in Veins take us back to the 00s with their sophomore hard rock single, ‘Pieces’

Posted on 13 April 2021

Canadian hard rock powerhouse Rise in Veins followed on from their phenomenal debut single with the equally as captivating sophomore single ‘Pieces’, it’s a nice nod to early 00s rock, but with the trio’s influences scattered across the alt-rock spectrum, you’re treated to a brand-new experience of sonic veracity.

Pieces is a matured, nuanced evolution from what bands like Bullet for My Valentine and Avenged Sevenfold contributed to the airwaves. With the massive choruses, vocals that are strong enough to pull you into the soul of the single and the mind-bending guitar solos, Rise in Veins have all it takes to become the next big name in hard rock.

Pieces is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Down the Void has cooked up a grungy artful storm with their latest single Electric Beauty featuring Meg Rowen

Posted on 5 July 2020
https://downthevoid.bandcamp.com/track/electric-beauty-ft-meg-rowen

Toronto-based artist Down the Void has released yet another morosely masterful feat of genre-crumbling Alt Rock with their single “Electric Beauty”.

Fans of Pavement, Fidlar and Dinosaur Jr will definitely want to make time for the release which carries plenty of the trademarks of the Alt 90s style while simultaneously allowing Down the Void to stamp down their own signature sound.

The atmosphere which spills from the tight synergy of the instrumentals can only be described as alchemic while the raw vocals project plenty of rugged soul into the quite literally mesmerising soundscape.

Shimmering tones effervesce in the Grunge-laden Garage hit which will leave you with the compulsion to hit repeat to experience the stunning progressions once more. I can only imagine how mind-altering it would be to witness their sonic deftly-crafted walls of noise live.

Down the Void’s East Coast tour may have been cancelled and the official release of their album may have been postponed, but something tells me that in spite of lockdown, Down the Void’s success is inevitable.

You can check out Electric Beauty for yourselves via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast