Music Reviews

“F*** the Real McKenzies!”

Not many groups can simultaneously be as kickass and self-deprecating—all while maintaining such a sense of humour that feels lacking in today’s age of far-too-serious punk—as the Real McKenzies.

One of Canada’s most iconic punk bands returns with their next offering to their already impressive catalog. The Real McKenzies kicked off 2017 with the release of Two Devils Will Talk, an album that continues their trend of Atlantic-infused Celtic punk. From the moment the bagpipes start playing, Two Devils works to reaffirms the ongoing legend status of the group.

Album: Intents and Purposes: New Sounds for the Music of Tomorrow

Artist: The Bill Dixon Orchestra

Year: 1967 (2016 re-issue)

Label: Superior Viaduct

Do You Really Love Me? is the latest release by Montreal's The Submissives, a project led by bedroom producer Deb Edison, who writes and produces these love yearning songs. The album has a DIY sensibility and aesthetic; a Sunday bedroom rock at work. The album strolls through a collection of 15 songs inspired by early rock 'n' roll, elements of surf and garage rock with themes dedicated to relationships, hopeless romantics, and heartbreak, but mostly just heartbreak.

Metalcore by design

Killswitch, Killswitch, Killswitch. What happened to you guys? Being one of the bands back in the early '00s to captivate the mind of a young (all be it much longer haired) Orin, I have a bit of a bone to pick with this latest entry.

All Things To The Sea, the sophomore album by Montreal's CTZNSHP, is chock-full of large sounding, arena-filling music. When discussing the scale of sound, the word "big" can feel like an understatement. The LP is produced by Jace Lasek, who has also worked with Wolf Parade, Young Galaxy, and Besnard Lakes. The album resonates with new wave and post punk sounds and aesthetics, the likes of which will have you hearing the influences of The Smiths and Joy Division.

Sub Pop 2015

The release of Blood Moon Wolf Head by Jim Demos, under his Hellenica moniker, coincided with el Dia de los Muertos - the day of the dead. According to Demos, the album is meant as an offering to the deceased. A preliminary reading about this holiday finds that it's meant to allow friends and family to congregate together, to remember those who have died, and to offer the deceased support through their spiritual journey back to earth. What kind of spiritual support to the dead is this album, an album described by Demos as the celebration of improvisation and composition?