Author Archives: Justin

The flight and the blackness

By Justin | January 15, 2012

I was only seven at the time—though, in those lighter days, I would have no doubt told you I was seven-and-a-half, in the manner that all children do, so eager are they to grow up and grow away—and I wasn’t expecting it to happen. Really, I wasn’t. I mean, it seemed like it would be [...]

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Forest City Lovers’ “If I Were a Tree”

By Justin | January 15, 2012

I was on YouTube the other day and came across a very catchy song by a band that gets nowhere near the attention it deserves: “If I Were a Tree” by Forest City Lovers. This song, with its cute yet rather vindictive lyrics, can be played on repeat for an hour without it getting old. [...]

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“Little Mountain” due out March 6, 2012

By Justin | December 19, 2011

Vancouver, B.C. indie rockers Said The Whale—fresh off their latest tour across the United States accompanied by fellow Canadians We Are the City—announced that their next full-length album, Little Mountain, will be released on March 6, 2012. The first single from the new album, called “Heavy Ceiling”, is now available on the iTunes Store. In [...]

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SXSW 2012: Canadian indie invasion

By Justin | December 11, 2011

The third round of official South by Southwest 2012 showcasing artists was announced last week, adding another 400 bands to the roster for what’s become, in the somewhat modest words of SXSW organizers, “one of the largest, most influential, and most anticipated music events of the year.” Along with that third round announcement came a [...]

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Hollerado’s “Good Day At the Races”

By Justin | November 30, 2011

Sitting at a respectable #11 (and having peaked at #9) on the Canadian alt rock radio charts this week, “Good Day At the Races” is, in the usual style of Hollerado, catchy, quirky, and fun power pop-rock. Selected as the first single off their 10-inch compilation album, Margaritaville 2: The Reckoning—which, interestingly, comes bundled with a [...]

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Bruce Peninsula’s “In Your Light”

By Justin | November 27, 2011

Airy guitars and quick plucks of the strings open Bruce Peninsula’s latest indie-gospel choir-rock tour de force, “In Your Light”. The ten-piece Toronto band’s second full-length album, Open Flames, was released last month after the year and a half of anticipation and sadness that followed band member Neil Haverty’s being diagnosed with leukemia. (Haverty’s cancer has [...]

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Said The Whale’s “Love Is Art / Sleep Through Fire”

By Justin | November 20, 2011

I would always sing along to the end of this song whenever I was playing through my Said The Whale albums in iTunes—it’s ridiculously catchy, to be sure—but I never paid much attention to the rest of the lyrics until tonight. My, are they beautiful: She knows the secret of the way into a lover’s [...]

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Said The Whale’s “New Brighton” EP

By Justin | October 15, 2011

Vancouver indie-pop favorite Said The Whale is set to release a new EP, titled New Brighton, on November 8. The acclaimed 5-piece is also touring across the United States and Canada into December with fellow Canadian band We Are the City and—later in the tour—Tokyo Police Club and Born Ruffians. What’s more, the band has [...]

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Library Voices’ “Generation Handclap”

By Justin | June 4, 2011

Sometimes it’s the little things in a song that fuse it together into one glorious, electro-infused rollicking good time. Library Voices’ “Generation Handclap,” just released on 7-inch vinyl as an early single from the upcoming full-length Summer of Lust, takes lots of little touches and melds them together into one sonic whole. The song’s energetic [...]

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Rah Rah’s “Towers”

By Justin | May 10, 2011

Apparently, Rah Rah slipped out a new EP last month with nary a mention on their blog or MySpace page. In fact, if I hadn’t heard the song “Towers” on CBC Radio 3, I probably would never have discovered it! That said, I’m glad I did. The Sailors EP, a three-song set following in the style [...]

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