Calgary based writer Brett Klassen doesn't only fit every
Canadian stereotype, but delivers blunt and honest takes on
punk, rock, and hip hop and much more in this column.
 Cat
Casual & The Final Word – “The Secret Self”
(sonaBLAST)
It’s pretty sad when a band takes the word “experimental
music” a little too far, and it’s a shame to
see it happen to psychedelic punk/rock band Cat Casual and
The Final Word in their second album, “The Secret
Self.” This is Cat Casual’s first album with
The Final Word, he was formerly with The Holy Midnight for
his first release.
The first half of the album is near flawless, it became
immediately compelling with the first track, “Introduction
(A Kafka Kiss,)” a song that has clean bluesy guitar
riffs from William Benton, who wears the name of Cat Casual
on the stage. The appeal continued on the next two tracks,
“Deconstruct Son,” and “Asphalt”
with a heavy bass and guitar riffs assisted by thundering
drums and Benton’s voice that is somewhat reminiscent
of Mick Jagger. The issue that plagues the rest of the album
kicks off in “Black Sun,” where the band’s
experimentalism got out of hand. It starts out great, with
a slow grooving melody plays while Benton goes on about
putting your faith in something, giving it your all, and
getting nothing in return. The last two and a half minutes
out of the six-minute song is just a synth repeating the
same notes over and over again while a plethora of random
pitches are playing in the background, it’s like they
just ran out of ideas and had to fill the time slot. The
song that showcases their overambitious style is the last
song on the album, “Floorhand,” where the last
half is just a jumbled mess of sounds, with the synth stretching
out the boring melody. The only exception to the last half
of this album is, “Glorious Life,” which is
fueled by abrasive guitar riffs and Benton’s powerful
voice.
I enjoyed the first half of this album, it really caught
my attention with their unique sound, but my interested
corroded when they decided to fly too close to the experimental
sun, ultimately anchoring the whole album. Hopefully they
tone it down in their next release.
 Unhappy
Fly – “Unhappy Fly” (Emotional Response
Records)
I was uneasy in my first listen of Unhappy Fly’s self-titled
debut album. It didn’t sit well with me, but after a
few more listens, I really appreciated the impressive work
they’ve done. Each track on the album contains a wealth
of sound that made each listen sound more different and unique,
there’s just so much to listen to. The soft but powerful
vocals from Xentos Fray Bentos and slick and smooth acoustic
guitar riffs are accompanied by Richard Dudanski’s amazing
drums and John Glyn’s superb work on the saxophone.
Vocalist and brain behind the harmonies Sarah Washington shines
in “Singing Flame” with her polarizing voice that
works in tandem with Glyn’s fantastic saxophone. Glyn’s
sax solos in “Singing Flame” and “Hit N
Miss” is a joy to listen to, you can feel his passion
with every note. “Feet of Clay” is the most intriguing
song on the album, it has this mysterious aura around it.
It starts off with a steady drumline and stunning clavichord
work by Bentos that’s assisted by his Bowie-esque voice.
It’s very interesting to hear a clavichord in modern
music, and Bentos executes it impeccably. I truly love the
versatility in guitar in “Angry In The Head,”
starting with an aggressive and unhinged acoustic guitar and
then having some electric bluesy notes supporting the acoustic
sound, it was unexpected but fantastic. This album is super
interesting, there’s such a variety of sound, like they’re
not locked into some genre. Their fluidity is remarkable,
original, and compelling, and I can’t wait to see what
they have in store for their next release.
 Attaboy
– “WILD” (Radiate Music)
Indiana-based pop/rock band Attaboy genuinely surprised with
me their sixth album, WILD, with stimulating beats
and invigorating lyrics that always had me tapping my feet
and bobbing my head. The album offers uplifting songs that
will light the fire under the listener with “Never Going
Back,” “Giving Up the Fight,” “Waking
Up,” and “Fire.” The feeling of wanting
to create perfect moments with the perfect people radiates
from “Overdrive,” with singer Ryan Payne saying,
“This feeling’s got me glowing, fireworks on a
perfect summer night, this feeling’s overflowing, cannonballs
and swimming in sunlight.” The song emits vibes of pure
happiness and the need to seize the day. This track was by
far my favourite, but what truly sold me on it was Melanie
Morris’ astounding work on the bass, and how it worked
impeccability in tandem with Payne’s lyrics. The album
never slows down, the fast paced, pedal-to-the-metal drums
and guitar intertwined with the captivating beats made by
Doug Weier was a joyful and full-throttle experience. Weier’s
work was constantly refreshing, he never failed to amaze and
made it impossible not have at least one of the beats constantly
on the mind. This album was incredible; I was quite shocked
about how much I like it. If Attaboy keeps releasing soon-to-be
hits like they’ve done on WILD, they’re
bound for success.
 Lone
Wolf – “Together Alone” (Stardumb Records)
Disappointing and boring are the two most accurate words to
describe Lone Wolf’s second LP, Together Alone.
The Rotterdam-based punk band's tracks sound good at first,
but repetitive and boring after multiple listens. Nothing
particularly sticks out, every track sounds similar to another
with stale guitar riffs, drumming, and so-so vocals from Merel
and Ox. It’s barely appealing and whatever interest
it garnered faded quickly. It’s a shame to see all their
passion amount to something that is adequate at best. The
one song that sticks out on the album is “Don’t
Know How,” but it only caught my attention for a second
and then it went back to the same old repetitive and barely
tolerable sound that has plagued the LP. “Together Alone,”
is not amazing or horrible, it resides in the gray area of
mediocrity. Hopefully more creativity goes into their next
release.
 WIVES
– “So Removed” (City Slang)
I was left somewhat unsatisfied with WIVES’ debut album,
So Removed. The band, who hail from Queens, NY delivered
the raw power of punk rock intertwined with the Bob Dylan-esque
voice of singer Jay Beach. Songs like “20 Teens,”
“Servants,” “Sold Out Seatz,” and
“The Future Is A Drag” drive the album with wild
and unhinged harmonies that make you feel like raising hell.
“The Future Is A Drag,” is a song that perfectly
caps the album off with a punk Buddy Holly feel to it. It
was a song that was irresistibly interesting to listen to
Beach talk about blowing it, missing second chances, and living
with those mistakes. It’s too bad the rest of the tracks
on the album couldn’t carry that momentum. “Why
is Life” and especially, “Even The Dead,”
severely missed the mark with flat vocals and a culmination
of instrumental mediocrity that was headache inducing. A lot
of the songs suffer from this abysmal trend, it sounds lazy,
sloppy, and overall careless. If WIVES just put more effort
into making each song as catchy and savage as their best tracks,
their debut would’ve been quite impressive.
 Plastic
Friends – “The Lookout” (Independent)
At first, I thought I was going to love Plastic Friends’
second album, The Lookout” but I was left
severely disappointed from the absence of one important
element that could’ve made this album amazing instead
of extraordinarily mediocre. The band is exceptionally talented;
Matt Long’s work on the guitar was beyond incredible,
seamlessly implementing a Motley Crue-esque solo within
a funk fueled melody on “From Here,” bassist
Phillip Ryerson’s ferocious bass work that helps drive
home Long’s heavy and aggressive riffs in “Mask”
is impeccable, and Nate Harrison’s ability to be a
constant powerhouse on the drums throughout every track.
Every song is tremendously appealing, but the vocals by
Will Perkins are exceedingly hit and miss, causing boredom
at a massive rate. The lack of power and abundance of vocal
flatness really killed my amusement, it just doesn’t
fit with the high intensity guitar riffs and the in-your-face
drums. In “White Mirror” there is a subtle note
of The Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” that’s
bombarded with stretched out lyrics that sucked all my enjoyment
out of the song, which is a damn shame since the track started
out so strong. The lack of exciting and electrifying vocals
that I thought were going to accompany the vigorous melody
brought down the whole album for me, it made every track
boring and frankly hard to listen to. It was a bummer to
see that trend throughout the whole album.
 LA
FLEUR FATALE – “Bound To Nowhere” (Lovely
Records)
It took me only one listen to be sold on La Fleur Fatale’s
fourth EP "Bound to Nowhere." The Swedish band delivers
a beautiful mix of Beatle’s Sgt. Pepper-type psychedelia
with the modern power of OK Go. Each song takes on a different
tone, sounding increasingly more different and unique than
the next, from fast paced abrasive rock, to melancholic pop
fueled by a jaw-dropping melody. “Suicide” kicks
off the EP with sharp guitar work and a rapid drum beat with
a hint of The Door’s psychedelic organ that had me unexpectedly
excited. The band spares no time to slow things down in a
surprisingly great way with the next track, “Wasted
Ghosts,” a gloomy and acoustic tune that’s accompanied
by the spectacular voice of Alexander Vibeck. Out of the four
songs, “Strange Flowers” was the one that stuck
out to me the most. The opening seconds to this track are
almost trance inducing due to the psychedelic key stroking
of pianist and organist David Drejstam. I fell in love with
higher pitch notes in the chorus, reminding me of the peaceful
melody of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” They
capture the essence of what psychedelic rock is in this track,
which is by far the most mind blowing song on the EP. The
first three songs floored me with the versatile and unique
sound they each presented, but their closing track, “Drift
Away,” misses the mark with a generic melody, and overall
plainness. It’s an alright song, but I was hoping for
something with the same energy as the previous tracks. Despite
the rather underwhelming ending to the EP, I thoroughly enjoyed
listening to it and can’t wait to see what they have
in store.
 SHREDDERS
– Great Hits (Doomtree Records;shreddders.bandcamp.com)
When it comes to rap, I usually don’t listen to what
current artists are putting out, since the majority of it
sounds the same, none of it particularly piques my interest.
Shredders’ second album, Great Hits, almost
gave me hope in the new age spitting bars, but gave me disappointment
instead. The album starts off strong with an aggressive house
beat and rhyme spitting that can only be compared to Logic
or Eminem in ‘Suburban Base.’ The group tried
to keep it going with the next track, ‘Vanilla ISIS,’
but misses the mark with a lack luster hook, which does the
opposite of what hooks are supposed to do. The flow that MCs
Sims and P.O.S deliver are in your face, hostile, and downright
irresistible, but gets separated by a hook that is less exciting
and attention grabbing than the build-up. The somewhat dull
hooks are a reoccurring theme throughout Great Hits,
but not with the third track ‘Ayeyayaya.’ The
song has a beat that reminds me of Kendrick Lamar’s
‘Opps’ mixed with the consistent rhyme intensity
from Lil Dicky’s ‘Bruh’ which instantly
grabbed my attention and was the only song that could do that
for its entirety. There was not even a second of this track
where I thought it would slow down, it was non-stop energetic
excellence. The last four tracks, ‘Shadap You Face Pt.
II,’ ‘Young Bros,’ ‘Chips,’
and, ‘It Was Written…Again” sound so similar
to each other and the previous three songs that I had to check
to see if I was listening on repeat. The beats dramatically
stay the same, making the rhyme flow painfully repetitive
despite having entirely different lyrics. Great Hits
was mainly a miss with only two songs that stuck out from
the rest.
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