Ghost Woman – Hindsight is 50/50
Despite Hindsight Is 50/50 being the third album from Ghost Woman in 18 months, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Evan Uschenko believes that this is the first album that “finally captures the true nature of the band”.
The album was recorded mostly live in three days at the analogue Kerwax studios in Brittany, France by Christophe Chavanon (The Good Damn).
Uschenko states that “the first two albums were never meant to be albums: they are like pages from diaries that have long since been burned. With the introduction of Ille van Dessel as co-writer/drummer, the project feels like it has a direction”.
There is a confidence and assurance that feels built upon the 2022 eponymous debut and the follow-up ‘Anne, If’, which was only released in January 2023. This urgency to progress and keep moving forward is reflected by the band: “We prefer to keep busy. But we’re lazy too. We still feel like we could be doing a lot more.”
Overall, there is a darker, denser feel compared to previous releases, but the sound and vibe of this album is more akin to what the project was supposed to be when it started in 2016, finally realising Ghost Woman’s creative vision.
The immersion into the album is immediate, locking in with the incessant riffing of ‘Bonehead’ setting the scene for what follows. Next up is the echoey, garage-surf twang of ‘Alright Alright’. The opening line “take a little walk with me…” has a sinister, gothic hue that wouldn’t feel out of place on Murder Ballads or Peaky Blinders.
Sonically the album holds itself together within a warm, analogue soundworld, but with few digestible vocal melodies steering the tracks or easily giving up their meaning. This is a conscious decision, with Uschenko claiming that “there is never a concept when it comes to creating something, and no intention behind anything we create, other than to make noise and complete an album”.
‘Yoko’ reverts to chugging boogie, spitting into life in bursts of squalling guitars, and a mid-song breakdown that infers the live version will far outlive its three and a half recorded minutes.
Most songs are similarly restrained in their running time, indicating a strong sense of focus and editing, rather than letting the songs run away with themselves. Only ‘Juan’ really breaks the five-minute mark and feels like the album’s centrepiece; an exuberant amalgamation of the themes and tones surrounding it. The band say that “these songs were made to be played live”, and the closing build will work perfectly in the darkest, noisiest club you can find.
The title track continues this positive curve. The title is a play on the saying “Hindsight is 20/20,” based on a friend’s drunken tattoo gone wrong. “Maybe it means life is all chance. Maybe it means common sense isn’t so common”, say the band.
Vocals come drenched in reverb and meaning is often suggested rather than explicit. The guitars are heavier and the vocals are less easily discernible, but Uschenko believes that “vocals are not important. We prefer to not be understood. If you’re looking for meaning in these lyrics, might I suggest buying a Lenny Bruce record instead?”. Sound advice indeed, so immerse yourself in this album and tell your friends about it without the benefit of hindsight, 20/20 or otherwise.
Overall, Ghost Woman appreciates that they have arrived at where they always wanted to get to: “It is the sound it was meant to be. It is the band as a whole.”
The album is released on vinyl, CD, and digital on 24 November 2023 via Dine Alone Records in Canada.
You can pre-order it HERE and listen to the released singles HERE
Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple
EKKSTACY ANNOUNCES SELF-TITLED NEW ALBUM
SHARES NEW DOUBLE SINGLE “BELLA” AND
“I CAN’T FIND ANYONE”
EKKSTACY OUT JANUARY 19TH
Photo Credit: Jason Nocito
“bella” & “i can’t find anyone”
https://symphony.to/ekkstacy/bella-i-cant-find-anyone
Fast-rising Vancouver, BC native EKKSTACY announces his new self-titled album today, along with a pair of new singles. EKKSTACY, the followup to his 2022 album Misery, will be released January 19th via Dine Alone Records in Canada, and both new songs, “bella” and “i can’t find anyone” delve further into the calculated and dynamic new direction EKKSTACY is taking his music with his new album.
Sonically, it’s fitting that this third body of work from EKKSTACY is a self-titled album. It’s an autobiographical reflection on his life as a musician and the highs and lows of the solitude that comes with creating art and touring. Recorded with frequent collaborators Mangetsu and Apob between long stints on tour and festival plays over the course of the last two years, including his Lollapalooza debut earlier this year, EKKSTACY is the most dynamic version of the raw and frantic sound he first emerged onto the scene with on widely-celebrated debut NEGATIVE and breakout single “i walk this earth all by myself.” He’s continued to hone that sound alongside Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, The Drums, etc), who mixed his new self-titled LP and his previous album Misery. His songwriting is resolutely solemn, but there’s a maturity behind the meandering thoughts in his head that blossomed into powerful post-punk, jangly surf-rock, and big, brash shoegaze moments on EKKSTACY.
He first teased the new LP with his previous single, “Problems,” featuring Trippie Redd, which embraced a more reflective and somber tone than the rowdy goth and post-punk tracks he belted out on Misery. On new single, “bella,” he describes a mysterious girl who has captured his heart at first sight with a bouncy amalgamation of the surf and garage rock influences that are at the heart of EKKSTACY. “i can’t find anyone” signals a dramatic shift in tone to the wider spectrum of emotion he shares on this album, with a track that sonically mirrors the feeling of spiraling into a pit of despair. His self-titled LP is set to push that to the next level — a natural evolution that was predicted by the Alternative Press who dubbed his 2022 album Misery, as, “the mark of an artist who’s come out of his shell, stepping boldly toward his future.”
This past summer, EKKSTACY embarked on a summer European tour, including performances at Reading & Leeds, that saw the artist come into his own as a live performer, playing shows that saw his post-punk, dream-pop, and indie blend translate across the globe. Next month, he’ll be back in Europe touring alongside Bakar, with a run of dates including shows in Glasgow, Paris and London.
Check out “bella” and “i can’t find anyone, see below for more info on EKKSTACY and his forthcoming self-titled LP, and stay tuned for more from him coming soon.
Upcoming Tour Dates w/ Bakar:
11/21 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
11/22 – Dublin, IE @ Academy (SOLD OUT)
11/23 – Belfast, IE @ Limelight
11/25 – Paris, FR @ Le Bataclan
11/27 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
11/28 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo (SOLD OUT)
11/29 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall (SOLD OUT)
11/30 – Manchester UK @ Albert Hall
EKKSTACY album artwork shot by Jason Nocito
EKKSTACY
EKKSTACY
January 19, 2024
i don’t have one of those
luv of my life
i guess we made it this far
alright (feat. *** *** ******)
goo lagoon
bella
shutting me out
problems (feat. Trippie Redd)
get me out
fuck
chicago
headless horseman lost his way
i can’t find anyone
More about EKKSTACY:
Since the release of EKKSTACY’s aptly titled, goth and post-punk indebted sophomore record, Misery, the Vancouver-born indie star has been touring basically nonstop. Between shows and festivals across Europe and North America, including his Lollapalooza debut, EKKSTACY found time to work on a third album, the self-titled EKKSTACY, forthcoming January 2024. EKKSTACY’s new project is more expansive and dynamic than anything the 21-year old musician has yet made. EKKSTACY came up on his brooding, raw sound — epitomized by his breakthrough single “i walk this earth all by myself” — but here we find him, increasingly involved in the music’s production, leaning into brighter indie rock and surf punk sounds.
It’s giving 2010 — the year of Wavves’ King of the Beach, Surfer Blood’s Astro Coast, Beach House’s Teen Dream, of Girls, MGMT, and Japandroids, all of which can be felt within the sonics of EKKSTACY. Despite the fact that, at the time, the artist was still a few years from learning guitar. Songs like “fuck,” “luv of my life,” and “goo lagoon” have the energy of garage rock shows on the waterfront. “goo lagoon” in particular, a marquee track written in a hotel room in L.A. and one of Ekkstacy’s personal favorites, is guitar-heavy, lively, and a little bit sticky: At the start, a wacky B-horror voice informs us we’re about to enter “A stinky mud puddle for you and me,” in which we get drunk by the water and get lazy by the coast. Heck yeah. Meanwhile, “i guess we made it this far” and opener “i don’t have one of those” are low-key jangly, dreamy and drum-driven tunes that are melancholy in a sunny way. It was music that became EKKSTACY’s outlet after battles with mental health. It’s clear why: There’s joy in the music that shines through the goo of gloom.
Though EKKSTACY and friends and collaborator Mangetsu [and TK?] wrote and recorded this third record in fits and spurts, during tour downtime, and though EKKSTACY is accustomed to and prefers the speedy release process of his SoundCloud origins, EKKSTACY really feels like an album. (The album is made up of a few “little rolls,” EKKSTACY says.) It’s not surprising that EKKSTACY and co were listening to lots of Ramones, The Strokes, and My Bloody Valentine. You can feel the playful punk, the indie rock power chords, the celestial production. It’s a rollercoaster-esque sinking-rising feeling all the way through the ups and downs. Wanting to cry, causing problems, rather drink than fuck. Remembering trips in the backseat of the car, needing to be alone with a guitar — it’s alright, haunted, quickening heartbeats, reminiscing about Chicago, clouds and rain and sunshine at the same time — and all the while these chords that go from languid to swift, and the sweet stretchiness of EKKSTACY’s vocals.
“I think everything is cool,” EKKSTACY told Office magazine in 2022. “Sometimes I’ll be listening to rap, and I’ll be like, Oh fuck, I want to be a rapper. And then I’ll hear a metal song, and I’ll be like, Fuck, I want to do metal.” That all-inclusive, eclectic creative drive is what makes EKKSTACY’s music what it is — and it’s what makes this new chapter so much fun. EKKSTACY’s got everything. ADHD-core but make it cohesive. It’s big, it’s reflective, it might even make you wanna mosh a little. There’s the soft pensiveness of “Problems,” to which Trippie Redd contributed (EKKSTACY “came up listening to Trip,” so it’s notably special), the windy riffs of “the headless horseman lost his way,” reminiscent of the emo-post-hardcore of Title Fight, the dulcet, bouncy moodiness of “alright,”. And there’s the one EKKSTACY calls The One: “bella,” which is like if you took all of EKKSTACY’s faves and influences and rolled it into one 2:30-minute banger. Picture EKKSTACY’s fans packed into one of the huge rooms he plays, all pogo-ing.
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple | SoundCloud
CITY AND COLOUR ANNOUNCES CROSS-CANADA ARENA TOUR
With Special Guests
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Ruby Waters
TOUR KICKS OFF IN VICTORIA, BC ON FEBRUARY 6, 2024
Includes Performances in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
The Love Still Held Me Near Available Now
Stream/Purchase HERE
City and Colour, acclaimed singer, songwriter and performer Dallas Green, has announced a Canadian arena tour kicking off in Victoria, BC on February 6, 2024 and wrapping up in Halifax, NS on February 27. The tour is in support of Green’s critically praised seventh studio album The Love Still Held Me Near released earlier this year and will be his first cross-Canada tour in five years. Joining City and Colour are special guests Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and Ruby Waters. Last month, Green performed to a sold-out crowd at Budweiser Stage in Toronto. The evening marked his 12th performance at the iconic venue, the most for any Canadian artist with the exception of Blue Rodeo, and the only independent artist to do so.
City and Colour is proud to partner with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold will go towards local organizations safeguarding people experiencing homelessness and ending the cycle of homelessness and poverty. See a list of organizations below.
City and Colour Canadian Tour Dates 2024
Feb 06 – Victoria, BC @ Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
Feb 08 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Feb 10 – Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place
Feb 12 – Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
Feb 14 – Saskatoon, SK @ SaskTel Centre
Feb 15 – Winnipeg, MB @ Canada Life Centre
Feb 18 – London, ON @ Budweiser Gardens
Feb 20 – Oshawa, ON @ Tribute Communities Centre
Feb 22 – Laval, QC @ Place Bell
Feb 23 – Ottawa, ON @ Canadian Tire Centre
Feb 24 – Quebec City, QC @ Videotron Centre
Feb 26 – Moncton, NB @ Avenir Centre
Feb 27 – Halifax, NS @ Scotiabank Centre
Photo Credit: Vanessa Heins
City and Colour: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Still Records
About City and Colour
Over the course of seven studio albums, Dallas Green has compiled a canon ripe with songs born of adoration and devotion amassing a legion of fans worldwide and garnering him 5 JUNOs, including 2 Songwriter of the Year awards, plus 4 Double Platinum, 1 Platinum, and 1 Gold certification at home in Canada. Alongside these accomplishments, Green has been awarded Platinum-certification for four of Alexisonfire’s full-length records.
His latest album, The Love Still Held Me Near, spawned a #1 hit at Alternative radio with “Underground” and debuted at #2 on the Alternative Albums chart, #2 Digital Albums, and #2 LP Vinyl Albums. The release also enjoyed chart success in the U.S. debuting at #8 on the Current Rock Albums chart, #15 Digital Albums, and #18 Vinyl Albums.
City and Colour’s sixth album A Pill For Loneliness – released on Green’s Still Records, an imprint of Dine Alone Records – debuted at #1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart, his 4th consecutive chart-topper in Canada. His previous #1 LP If I Should Go Before You made serious waves internationally debuting at #16 on the U.S. Billboard 200 Chart and #5 in Australia where Green’s LP Little Hell was certified GOLD. In 2014, Green collaborated with international superstar Alecia Moore (aka P!nk) on a new project titled You+Me. Their debut rose ave. went Platinum in Canada, topped the Canadian chart at #1, the Australian chart at #2, and soared to #4 on the Billboard Top 200 culminating in memorable performances on The Ellen Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
In 2022, Green was honoured with the SOCAN National Achievement Award at the JUNO Awards in recognition of his philanthropic contributions to music education in Canada.
About Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
It took Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats less than five years to become one of the most recognizable new forces in contemporary rock ’n’ roll. Since 2015, Rateliff has led his denim-clad, horn-flanked Night Sweats, supplying the zeal of a whiskey-chugging Pentecostal preacher to songs about this world’s shared woes. They’ve had hits, sure, but their combustible mix of soul and rock quickly cemented them as the rare generational band who balanced ecstatic live shows with engrossing and rich records. To wit, is there any other modern act capable of revving up stadium crowds for The Rolling Stones while also appearing on Saturday Night Live and CMT Crossroads and at NPR’s Tiny Desk in short order?
When Rateliff returned from his pandemic-truncated solo tour in March 2020, he struggled with the same question that vexed so many of us then—what now? Fortunately, he returned to his Colorado homestead and penned a set of songs that synthesized his introspection with his anthemic inclinations. The result is The Future, the third Night Sweats album but the first to capture this octet’s true depth and breadth. An instant classic of 11 songs, the album presents something more sustainable, interesting, and indeed open—a songwriter and band growing into bigger questions and sounds, into a future that allows them to remain recognizable but be so much more compelling than some denim-clad caricature.
About PLUS1
PLUS1 is an initiative that channels the collective energy of a concert to catalyze social change. By partnering with performing artists, PLUS1 raises and grants millions of dollars to high impact nonprofits addressing our most serious global challenges around Access, Equity, and Dignity. The work begins with a $1 per ticket add-on that makes fundraising simple and seamless. Beyond the dollar, PLUS1 supports artists as educators and advocates, fuelling their passion, reach, impact. To date, PLUS1 has raised and granted over $7 million, and served as the connective tissue between over 100 artists, millions of their fans, and 100s of leading social justice organizations tackling global injustice.
Vancouver artist EKKSTACY has joined the Dine Alone Records roster and today releases his debut single for the label, “problems (feat. Trippie Redd).” Fans are eagerly awaiting his next move. In just 3 short years, EKKSTACY has amassed a growing cult following — one that’s all too familiar with the same kind of mental health struggles and grinding gig work he’s experienced — and his eagerly-anticipated third LP is sure to make it even bigger. 2022 was a pivotal year for EKKSTACY, with nods from Complex and Kanye producer Mike Dean, Purity Ring, AFROPUNK, Pitchfork, and fans globally with his viral hit “i walk this earth all by myself” and well-received sophomore LP, ‘misery’. The next chapter is about to be written, with sold-out headlining shows globally and a new album on the way.
EKKSTACY’s new single, “problems (feat. Trippie Redd)” is out now. Stream it HERE
Stay tuned for more news on EKKSTACY releases for Dine Alone Records.
“problems (feat. Trippie Redd)”
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple | SoundCloud
NOBRO ANNOUNCE DEBUT FULL-LENGTH RECORD
PRE-SAVE SET YOUR PUSSY FREE HERE ON DINE ALONE RECORDS
RELEASE ROAD-DOG PUNK-ROCK ANTHEM “WHERE MY GIRLS AT”
STREAM + SHARE HERE | WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO HERE
UPCOMING SHOW IN MONTREAL AT MTELUS
TICKETS HERE
“…currently one of Canada’s most incredible punk bands…” —Exclaim!
“…driving, stomping rhythm section with wailing guitar solos and gritty, hollering vocals… comes at you fast and hard. Packed with electric adrenaline…chant-worthy lyrics, these women are challenging sexism in the genre with their fun ‘get the fuck out of here’ attitude…” —NEXT Magazine
(September 15, 2023) – Due out October 27th on Dine Alone Records, Montreal modern-punk outfit NOBRO’s debut full-length record Set Your Pussy Free is a caustic, celebratory, glorious party-punk firework show. Produced by Dave Schiffman (PUP, Rage Against The Machine), it’s a record about the ecstatic pursuit of personal escape and liberation even as the walls are closing in, a 21st century power-punk analog of Born To Run that rages against modern life’s restrictive pressures and dares them to a game of chicken. If a hurricane is bearing down on NOBRO, they’re spitting into it, arm-in-arm, with middle fingers raised.
Pre-save Set Your Pussy Free HERE
The latest single is road-dog punk-rock anthem “Where My Girls At” which recounts the band’s formation and early days playing the dive bar circuit, selling t-shirts out of garbage bags and building the bonds that have taken the band to where they are today. “Where my girls at, where my girls at?/Gonna start me a rock and roll band!” vocalist and bassist Kathryn McCaughey calls on the jubilant chorus.
“It’s an upbeat anthem where heartbreak takes a backseat to girl power and rock ‘n’ roll,” she explains. “Instead of wallowing in love’s disappointment, you can pick up a guitar and call on your girls. This celebration of sisterhood and female empowerment is a reminder that with friends by our side, anything is possible – even starting a band on a whim.” Through the weeks of 12-hour studio days, McCaughey was still working full-time at a bar at night. The desperation in my voice on the record is real,” she grins. “It was a struggle, but I felt like I stayed true to myself, you know?” NOBRO’s collective joy is just as palpable, showcased in their new music video.
Stream “Where My Girls At” HERE | Watch the official HERE
Bandmates Kathryn McCaughey (vocals/bass), Karolane Carbonneau (guitars), Lisandre Bourdages (keys/percussion), and Sarah Dion (drums) make clear that they aren’t interested in playing by whatever rules have been set around them. NOBRO were playing a show the day after the United States Supreme Court overturned the right to access an abortion in the country. The four women were shaken and furious, but that night McCaughey led a righteous toast against the decision: “This next song is dedicated to setting our vaginas free!”
It was a spur-of-the-moment response to the news, but the phrase stuck with McCaughey. It began to feel like something more than a throw-away slogan. It felt like something deeper, a defiant rallying cry to kick against the exhausting struggles of life. “As a musician or artist or even a woman, you have to throw off the weight of societal pressures and expectations, especially as you get older,” says McCaughey. “You have to take risks and chances.” NOBRO is the space where the quartet gets to take those risks and chances. It’s a place for cultivating power and happiness in a hard, mean world. That means the stakes are high. “Music is where we lift each other up,” McCaughey continues. “I wish it was more like a fairy tale. We just want this fucking thing to work. But we’re all gonna succeed together, or we’re all gonna fail together.”
NOBRO wrote most of SYPF with Toronto-based producer Thomas D’Arcy (July Talk, The Sheepdogs, Yukon Blonde), and Schiffman joined the band in Montreal for nearly a month to prep and record at Mixart Studios in the dead of winter. “We allowed ourselves to go in crazier directions, just to see where it would take us,” says Bourdages. She adds that because of how it was recorded—live off the floor, all four members playing at the same time, mistakes and all—this new LP represents who NOBRO are more than any other release.
L-R: Lisandre Bourdages, Kathryn McCaughey, Sarah Dion, Karolane Carbonneau
Credit: Daniel Esteban
“Where My Girls At” follows tongue-in-cheek romp “Let’s Do Drugs” which has crashing percussion, gnarled guitar lines, and raspy vocals. “A ‘dumb’ rock song about getting older,” McCaughey states that “it’s about wanting to have one more wild night, while having no business doing so and failing miserably. Musically it’s a middle ground between maybe ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)’ and ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ but only the dumbest bits of those songs, distilled into something even more dumb. It’s like shotgunning a beer then immediately puking on yourself.” It’s accompanied by a raucous music video.
Accumulating years of work, hundreds of shows, and thousands of miles since 2014, McCaughey, Carbonneau, Bourdage, and Dion have been building NOBRO into one of the most fierce and exciting bands in Canada, now riding the momentum from a string of blazing singles and EPs, capped with 2020’s Sick Hustle and 2022’s Live Your Truth Shred Some Gnar. Listeners big and small have been taking note: Iggy Pop played their track “Bye Bye Baby” on his BBC Radio 6 show, and a fictional band in the Netflix series The Imperfects covered their songs. Aside from taking their raucous live shows to every dive bar across Montreal, the band has also toured across North America and Europe with PUP, Alexisonfire, Billy Talent, Fidlar, and The OBGMs. In May 2023, they opened for Blink-182 at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
Upcoming Show:
Nov. 10 – Montreal, QC @ MTELUS w/ Vulgaires Machins – Tickets HERE
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Apple
SPENCER BURTON RELEASES NEW SINGLE “GOING FISHIN’”
STREAM HERE | WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO HERE
FROM FORTHCOMING LP, NORTH WIND
OUT JANUARY 2024 ON DINE ALONE RECORDS
(August 24, 2023) – Spencer Burton releases “Going Fishin’” today, the lead single from his next full-length album, North Wind, anticipated in January 2024 on Dine Alone Records. It’s accompanied by the music video shot at his farm by Southern Souls, capturing the beauty of sincere intentions, his animals and surrounding scenery. “It’s about getting away from it all,” he explains about his inspiration. “Sometimes it’s nice to just feel a little free and do something you love. The past few years have been real hard. Times were tough and it seems that times are even becoming tougher. Most days I wake up concerned and stressed. I think a lot of people do. I could have written about this, but I wanted to write and release a song about something that made me feel good. Something that helps me take my mind off of it all. I think we all have the want and need to escape sometimes.”
Already living quietly in a slow country town, a period of intense world isolation prompted Burton to leave the city even further behind. An overload of negative information and fear left him feeling hopeless and uninspired to create music. He sat back for a couple of years watching what felt like the world crumbling around him. Retreating to a small off-grid cabin in Northern Ontario, Burton reconnected with nature and found peace and comfort in isolation. Taking a step back from the realities of life let him step back into making music. “I always felt this need for importance, this need to be poetic. It came, but it felt mandatory at times. I struggled with that,” says Burton. “But then I found beauty in the simple things. A bird’s song. A rustling gale. A ripple in the water. With the beauty of those simple things came importance and poetry in an unforced, natural way.”
The majority of North Wind was written in the north woods, in solitude and reflection. And while the songs have a spiritual importance, they also speak to ordinary life away from it all—fishing, an encounter with a coyote, sitting with your own thoughts. “It’s really interesting what pleases the ear, musically, when isolated for a few weeks at a time. The only inspiration being yourself and the beauty of true untampered nature. It’s a different atmosphere than what we’re accustomed to. It really helped bring these songs to life.” Recorded again in Nashville with Andrija Tokic, like 2021’s Coyote (Still Records), North Wind fits sonically with the rest of Burton’s catalogue, but the tone is noticeably different. The songs are easier, more comfortable, at ease. They encapsulate that same feeling he had out there alone, of singing by the campfire into the woods. “I’m not really trying to write music these days,” says Burton. “I’m trying to write good feelings.”
He elaborates, “the north wind really saved me over the past couple of years. It brought to me a new sense of life and a new urgency for it. I had thought my songwriting days were over, but with the help of this little guitar and a strong want for expressing my gratitude towards the north, I found myself writing again. Almost every song on this coming album was written on this guitar and in the north itself. A beautiful breeze it breathes and with every breath a song. I’m thankful for these wild places. I hope they never leave us. I’ll be here until the end of my days.”
Credit: Vanessa Heins
Website | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Twitter | YouTube
About Spencer Burton:
Hailing from Southern Ontario, Burton has toured nationally, and in the United States, with City and Colour, Daniel Romano, Jenn Grant, and more. From his punk rock roots as part of Attack in Black to the darker country-inspired sound of his two first solo albums under the name Grey Kingdom, Burton’s multifaceted musical trajectory has branched into indie and rock aesthetics while maintaining his folky sound. In 2012, Spencer dropped Grey Kingdom in favour of his own name, moving towards a more natural country-folk sensibility.
NOBRO RELEASE TONGUE-IN-CHEEK ROMP “LET’S DO DRUGS”
STREAM HERE VIA DINE ALONE RECORDS
WATCH + SHARE THE RAUCOUS VIDEO HERE
“…currently one of Canada’s most incredible punk bands…” —Exclaim!
“…driving, stomping rhythm section with wailing guitar solos and gritty, hollering vocals… comes at you
fast and hard. Packed with electric adrenaline…chant-worthy lyrics, these women are challenging sexism
in the genre with their fun ‘get the fuck out of here’ attitude…” —NEXT Magazine
(August 11, 2023) – Montreal new-age punk outfit NOBRO are back with their first single of 2023. “Let’s
Do Drugs” is a tongue-in-cheek romp with crashing percussion, gnarled guitar lines, and raspy vocals. “A
‘dumb’ rock song about getting older,” vocalist and bassist Kathryn McCaughey explains that “it’s about
wanting to have one more wild night, while having no business doing so and failing miserably. Musically
it’s a middle ground between maybe ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)’ and ‘Dirty Deeds Done
Dirt Cheap’ but only the dumbest bits of those songs, distilled into something even more dumb. It’s like
shotgunning a beer then immediately puking on yourself.” It’s accompanied by a raucous music video.
Stream “Let’s Do Drugs” HERE | Watch HERE
The quartet, comprised of Kathryn McCaughey (vocals/bass), Karolane Carbonneau (guitars), Lisandre
Bourdage (keys/percussion), and Sarah Dion (drums), make clear that they aren’t interested in playing by
whatever rules have been set around them. NOBRO is the space where the four women get to take risks
and chances. It’s a place for cultivating power and happiness in a hard, mean world. That means the
stakes are high. “Music is where we lift each other up,” says McCaughey. “I wish it was more like a fairy
tale. We just want this fucking thing to work. But we’re all gonna succeed together, or we’re all gonna fail
together.”
Accumulating years of work, hundreds of shows, and thousands of miles since 2014, McCaughey,
Carbonneau, Bourdage, and Dion have been building NOBRO into one of the most fierce and exciting
bands in Canada. The quartet is riding the momentum from a string of blazing singles and EPs, capped
with 2020’s Sick Hustle and 2022’s Live Your Truth Shred Some Gnar. Listeners big and small have been
taking note: Iggy Pop played their track “Bye Bye Baby” on his BBC Radio 6 show, and a fictional band in
the Netflix series The Imperfects covered their songs. Aside from taking their raucous live shows to every
dive bar across Montreal, the band has also toured across North America and Europe with PUP,
Alexisonfire, Billy Talent, Fidlar, and The OBGMs. In May 2023, they opened for Blink-182 at Toronto’s
Scotiabank Arena.
L-R (Clockwise): Sarah Dion, Karolane Carbonneau, Lisandre Bourdage, Kathryn McCaughey
Credit: Daniel Esteban
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Apple
YUKON BLONDE
NEW ALBUM SHUGGIE OUT OCTOBER 12, 2023
PRE-SAVE / PRE-ORDER HERE
Share New Single “You Always Get What You Want” Here
L to R: Graham Vincent Jones, Brandon Wolfe Scott, Jeffrey Innes, James Younger
Photo Credit: Raunie Mae Baker
(August 9, 2023) – Canadian indie-pop powerhouse Yukon Blonde will release Shuggie – their first full-length album since the 2020 critically acclaimed LP Vindicator – on October 12 via Dine Alone Records. Along with the announcement, the band share the irresistible new track, “You Always Get What You Want”. Listen here.
Pre-save / pre-order Shuggie HERE
“Sometimes when I’m listening to records, I get stuck on a particular letter of the alphabet and will repetitively listen to artists in or adjacent to that particular section,” says Jeff Innes about the new single. “I think it’s because when I’m returning a record, it’s just more efficient to select something right in front of me. Anyways, I was on an “F” kick. I was listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac and The Flaming Lips in a kind of loop around this time, and I got really inspired by both bands ability to use the same chords throughout the whole song and just change the melody around. It was a fun challenge that I ended up using for quite a few songs. And while it’s not anything new for us, you really just have to go with whatever inspires you in the moment. The lyrics for this song came out of thin air.
Spending lots of time in the suburbs and rural parts of BC, it really started to get to me how much of people’s lives are absolutely consumed by consumerism. It’s a bit less obvious in the big city but out there, the only thing to do is go to the mall or drone out on your phone all day. Boredom is a thing of the past, and yet depression is at an all time high. I’d like to think the antidote to all this is probably being around people, doing absolutely nothing. Communities are formed that way – doing nothing, together.”
Hypnotic and hyper-compelling, the upcoming Shuggie takes Yukon Blonde’s mastery of pop music in its many forms and anchors it in psychedelic synths, wiry guitar licks and bass lines, and of course, a chorus of inviting voices.
“There’s a real openness to this record both musically and lyrically – sort of wide reaching exploration of trying to find that something out of of all this isolation,” says Jeff on behalf of bandmates Brandon Scott (guitar, vocals), Graham Jones (drums, vocals), and James Younger (bass, vocals)
“Being in a band for this long, we’re talking our entire adult lives here, I’m not sure it’s a healthy thing,” says Younger. “Out on the road you miss births, funerals, birthdays, and back home over time even the strongest relationships come and go. This is all happening in our van somewhere on The Canadian Shield and all four of us have been through it.” This sense of self imposed exile undoubtedly contributes to the uniquely expansive and ever changing sonic spectrum Yukon Blonde has refined over their years.
One can call them many things, but never predictable or complacent. From the bouncy indie rock that defined their first half decade together – culminating in 2012’s Tiger Talk – through their experimentation with slick 80s inspired pop elements on 2015’s On Blonde to the seductive synth heavy psychedelic mood making of 2018’s Critical Hit – the band’s back catalogue is incredibly diverse.
“We’re a pop band, so everything first is rooted in that,” Innes offers, “but when you’ve been together as long as we have, and been through as much as we have as friends, you have to find ways to protect yourselves and push forward together.”
Very much continuing that trend with, “the favourite of our albums,” 2020’s Vindicator, Yukon Blonde embraced a new workflow – one that found them taking full ownership of the record-making process from writing to recording, from production to mixing.
With Shuggie, they’re bountifully building atop that foundation, further distilling Vindicator’s fruitful approach with a sharper focus on their compositional prowess. Innes maintains his title of “primary songwriter,” but notes, “Everyone really upped their contributions this time out, it’s like the more we go through, the more we’re driven to get together and create things.” After all, “community” and “insular” needn’t be mutually exclusive.
Indeed in their now-signature form Shuggie marks the next stage in Yukon Blonde’s evolution and while their sonic aesthetic is ever changing, some things stay the same, namely the achievements and accolades that follow each new release and the notoriously vivacious live shows that support them. Fortunately for us, Yukon Blonde clearly have not given up on themselves.
Shuggie Track list
01. Shuggie Come Back
02. Every Single Time You Fall In Love 03. Up 2 U
04. Not Interested
05. Txt Me Plz
06. Lovers In A Crowded Room 07. So Original
08. You Always Get What You Want 09. I Don’t Believe In Love
Upcoming Tour Dates
August 5- Nestfest – Kelowna, BC
September 15- Between The Peaks Festival – Rossland, BC
October 1- Cicada Music & Arts Festival – St. Catharines, ON
About Yukon Blonde:
From the buoyant and bouncy indie rock that defined their first half-decade together – culminating in 2012’s incomparable Tiger Talk – through their experimentation with emotive ‘80s pop on 2015’s On Blonde to the seductive, synth-heavy Critical Hit in 2018, the band’s back catalogue is incredibly diverse. Since dropping their debut EP in 2009, the band has earned a JUNO award nod, a SOCAN #1 song award for “Saturday Night”, and held the #1 spot on !earshot for several consecutive weeks with their LP Tiger Talk earning them a cover feature in !earshot Magazine.
Yukon Blonde notably has had tracks featured in major series like Grey’s Anatomy and Revenge. More recently, the single, “Summer in July” was featured on episode 2 of the Amazon Original hit series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, which garnered the track over 2 million streams. The band’s 2020 single, “Get Precious” hit Top 10 at Commercial Alternative Radio, while “Saturday Night” and “Love The Way U Are” both went #1 on the CBC Music Top 20. In 2022, the band was handpicked by Modest Mouse as direct support on their summer 2022 tour.
Monk’s “ROCK” EP (Dine Alone Records)
Monk is an LA via Sudbury, Ontario hardcore band incorporating moments of mindfulness into their pummelling blitz. Their first release consists of Frank Bach (Vicious Cycle, Designer at Headspace) on vocals, Daniel Romano (The Outfit, Ancient Shapes, Attack In Black etc.), Ian Romano (Career Suicide) on guitar and drums respectively, and Scott Sorenson on synthesizers.
Inspired by the aggressive sounds of classics like 86 Mentality and Knife Fight and contemporaries like Gel and Bib, Monk sprinkles in wisdom, exploring themes such as impermanence and existentialism while encouraging the importance of being present and acknowledging both positive and negative emotions.
The EP was recorded at Camera Varda & Headspace Studios. It was entirely produced by Monk and engineered by Ian Romano. Mixing & vocal production by Scott Sorenson and mastering by Monogram Sound.
Artwork by Jack Rogers.
From the band…
“I wondered, what would it sound like if a monk made a hardcore record? After spending years in the Himalayas meditating, confronted by the ills of modern society, how would they respond? With anger and rage, or peace and quiet? Maybe a little bit of both? The record is a mixture of two of my passions, mindfulness and hardcore with themes of mortality, impermanence and While both seem at odds with one another, they actually have more in common than you think. There’s a little surprise for those who listen through to the end on the b-side of the record. It feels great to finally have this collaboration with the Romano’s be fully released, ready for the world to listen.”
– Frank Bach
Order Monk’s EP, “Rock”
https://www.dinealonestore.com/collections/monk
Pressing Information:
•12″ 180g Partly Cloudy Vinyl. Dine Alone Store Exclusive, Limited to 100
• 12″ Half White / Half Black Vinyl, Limited to 200
• 12″ Gold Nugget Vinyl, Limited to 200
Tracklisting:
1. Nothing Matters
2. Cool and Collected ft. Daniel Romano
3. Only Way Out
4. Monk Stomp ft. Liam Cormier
5. Brutal (Olivia Rodrigo cover)
6. Everything Within You – meditation
LINKS
