Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Mandates: In the Back of Your Heart (Album Review)




The Mandates are back with another killer endeavor in their latest album, In the Back of Your Heart. If you have not had a chance to give the album a listen, you can do so here.

In listening to the album, I found myself feeling reminiscent of times past when I was younger sitting in the back of my fathers Valiant cruising down the highway listening to classic rock tunes. The Mandates have infused their own raw form of punk rock and blended it with an in your face rock and roll sound that is sure to keep you tapping your feet to the rhythm.

An energetic start to the album, "Something Wrong" and "Messing Around" are great songs to introduce In the Back of Your Heart. Here, we have fast, clean and warm tunes to set the stage for the rest of the record. I love the way the vocals sound on this album. The doubling up on these songs makes it feel like you are listening to AM radio with a way more polished feel to it. 

"Saturday Night" is a fantastic song, packed with great lyrical content and excellent instrumental work from the boys. That is something that cannot be overlooked. The Mandates deliver on a tight set together on this album. The guitar, bass and drums are always working together and are consistently complimenting each other as the album plays on. A great example of this is on the track "Lookin' Up" which I highly recommend. 

Nowhere on this album do you feel like you are getting any less than the best from the boys from The Mandates. To close out the record, we have "Not My Problem" and "I Got Eyes" which are nothing short of excellent. Really, if you are looking for an album that you can play over and over and have fun doing so, then In the Back of Your Heart is for you. Steady, catchy tunes, The Mandates are the choice to make if you are looking for true, honest rock music to listen to. 

Check in with Calgary Punk Shows and your local listings for when they might be playing near you.

-Jay Caption



Masked Intruder: A follow up Interview with Joel and Jay. (Calgary Punk Shows)

Masked Intruder at The Republik April 16th 2015. Photo Credit: Jay Caption

The halls of The Republik in Calgary filled with eager patrons last Thursday night when Masked Intruder and Strung Out were scheduled to play solid melodic punk rock to a sold out show. We were able to catch up with the boys face to face (Or face to mask I guess) to follow up on our previous conversation. We talk touring, masks, baklava, and music. You can listen to the whole interview here.

 A few shots of the show:











































-All photos taken by Jay Caption



Sunday, April 26, 2015

The Creepshow: A Short Q and A with Jay's Topics



A well known name in the psychobilly and rockabilly scene, The Creepshow are back at it with a full Canada USA tour going on right now. Going strong for 10 years, The Creepshow are still rocking out, having fun doing it, and not slowing down. I took the opportunity to chat with Sean "Sickboy" McNab about the band and whats coming up next. Read on for the interview.


Jay: Thanks for taking the time for this interview Sean! Really appreciate it. 
So you guys are on the road right now, how long are you going to be away from home for? 
Sean: Yes sir! We are on our way to Saskatoon right now on the trans-Canada. Played a super fun show in Winnipeg last night. We are pretty much booked up until the end of September , so like 5 months I guess, with a few weeks off here and there.
Jay: Are you looking forward to playing a certain city in particular? (if there is) What makes that town/city stand out?
Sean: Hmmmmm that's tough, there's so many.. We haven't toured Canada in a while, so we are pretty excited just to do that, but Calgary at the Ship & Anchor is definitely always a favorite tour stop. What makes a town stand out is usually 3 things... Food, people, and the show... 

Jay:  It seemed like you were ready to welcome Kenda right away which is awesome. How did that change the dynamic of the band with a new frontman? Or frontlady I guess. Was it an instant chemistry? Big shoes to fill no doubt!
Sean: I would say it was pretty instant! After about 30 seconds of hearing her sing with us, we all looked at each other with excitement and knew she was the last piece to the puzzle. The dynamic changed in a way that we are all like family now, we've been through a lot of ups and downs together over the years, but it has made us stronger.
Jay: With the last release, Life After Death, you also welcomed Sandro and Daniel to the band as well. What was that like with all the fresh new blood?
Sean: It's great! Daniel is a longtime friend that we met on a Europe tour in 2007, when we decided to add a lead guitar player to the band , it HAD to be him, He's an amazing guitar player, songwriter, and person.  We had seen sandro play when he was filling in for The hypnophonics when we brought them on tour a few years ago, and he blew our minds! After that tour , we needed a new drummer and immediately called him to come play in Europe with us for a month, he's a maniac on the drums and brings a whole new dimension to the band.

Jay: Lets talk about nowadays for a minute. With this tour having just begun, can fans expect to hear new material at all? Have you been working on anything recently?
Sean: We are currently working on a new album which will hopefully be ready to record in October. We have a shit ton of stuff but nothing that is ready to play live yet unfortunately, but maybe by the end of the tour!

Jay: What can you say about the rockabilly, psychobilly scene now? It seems like alot of bands have decided to hang up the guitars so to speak in the last few years. Does this affect where The Creepshow is headed?
Sean: Our shows are always filled with such a mix of different scenes and we live that. Punks, psychos, rockabillies, ska kids, whatever, just people that want to have a good time and everyone is welcome. The rockabilly / psychobilly scene is so different in every city and is always growing and then shrinking, and then growing again, just like any scene I guess. Will bands hanging up their guitars affect us? Hell no! If it did we would have given up a long time ago, we are having way too much fun.
Jay: Thanks again for taking the time to chat Sean. One last question, any bands you recommend listening to these days? What are you currently listening to?
Sean: No problem, anytime! Currently I can't stop listening to every album of the Bronx. The dead Kennedys are always on my play list, minor threat, sick of it all, bombshell rocks...stuff like that.

The Creepshow will play the Ship and Anchor in Calgary April 29th

-Jay Caption

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Reminder: Of All The Things You Are (EP Review)


Canadian rock group Reminder have released a new EP entitled Of All the Things You Are. Having come from different backgrounds in the alternative rock scene from the Greater Toronto Area, the boys have developed their own sound and begun to make waves in the Canadian music scene.  

Of All The Things You Are takes a different approach to a few different genres of the alternative rock scene and blends it together. At times leaning a little more towards the melodic punk rock side, the songs also touch on elements of ska, emo, and at times hardcore. 

Reminder does not hold back from delving into different sounds even within the same song. While many bands have successfully bridged the gap between different punk sub genres within their music (Propagandhi comes to mind), Of All the Things You Are does come up short at times trying to pack in too much for one song, even sounding vaguely familiar to Jared Leto from Thirty Seconds to Mars, which you can hear on the track Head over Heels

However, where Reminder does excel on this EP is the harmonies and the melody. The guitars compliment each other quite well, and songs like Think Back is a great example of their utilization of vocal range and instrumental harmony. Other tracks, like Honest Things give us a dose of fast raw punk rock chords delivered powerfully. You can listen to the EP on bandcamp here.

With this latest release, Reminder has plans to continue performing live and being out on the road. Check your local listings for wherever Reminder is playing a show near you.

-Jay Caption


Monday, April 13, 2015

Masked Intruder: A short Q and A with Jays Topics (Calgary Punk Shows)



We were able to catch up with the boys from Masked Intruder recently and Intruder Blue filled us in on some touring, mask wearing, girls and of course about their current US/Canada tour that they are on with Strung Out. Making waves in the pop punk world, Masked Intruder is an act not to missed. Be sure to check your local listings for a show near you.

Jay: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! We know you've probably been busy getting ready for this tour you just started on. In light of that, how do you prepare for a tour like this? You guys gotta practice your on stage moves right?

Blue: To get ready for tour we usually get a couple of big bags and draw dollar signs on the side of them with sharpies. It can be hard to find a loot bag on the road, and you don’t wanna be caught trying to run with a buncha stolen loot without a cool looking bag to hold it. Other than that, you know, we don’t do much to prepare. We don’t really need to practice our on stage moves; we got that shit down.

Jay: You'll be joining Strung Out on the 9th of this month along with La Armada playing in San Francisco then coming up into Canada a few days later. We were wondering, have you been keeping up on your Canuck lingo? You'll need to brush up. Especially for the Saskatchewan folk.

Blue: Oh yeah? I mean, we know a couple things I guess. Like, we know the difference between a loonie and a toonie, and we know about poutine and denim jackets. Canada is cool.

Jay: We're super excited to see you roll through Calgary next week. What can fans expect to see at the shows upcoming? We know it wont be your faces!

Blue: Fans can expect to have a good time. And, if they don’t, they can expect to get hassled by officer Bradford, our court appointed chaperon. His mustache makes him look like a real asshole, which, you know, he is. 

Jay: Lets talk about outside the band for a minute. On an average, how many times would you say the masks get you pulled over? That's gotta be a drag eh?

Blue: Surprisingly, not often. We are pretty good at getting away from the cops, so it’s not like we would stop if they asked. But, as it happens, they don’t really ever hassle us. I guess it’s cause we’re white, and they’re racist, cause they’re cops.

Jay: Your latest album M.I was released last year through Fat Wreck Chords. We think its awesome. Are you finding the fans are digging it? Do you get more requests to hear the new or the old?

Blue: Thanks! Yeah, fans seem to have responded super well to it. As far as requests, it’s pretty split down the middle.

Jay: Back to the masks for a sec. You guys must reel in the ladies non stop! I know if we tried that with ski mask's, we'd somehow end up on in jail. How does that work? Is it the color? Is it the musty tour smell? What exactly do the ladies want guys??

Blue: I wish I knew! If we had any luck with the ladies, I would be happy to share the secret. I say that, but I actually probably wouldn't. If we got the girls, we would probably be too busy making out to do interviews.

Jay: You guys seem to be the experts on public ski mask wearing. Can you recommend a good place to be seen in public with a ski mask? My suggestion would be for somebody to withdraw money from the teller, but that's just my opinion.

Blue: You know, you’d think that you would be able to bank in the comfort of a ski-mask, but not so much. We like to think of our modern society as being all enlightened, but we face discrimination every single day. Try wearing a ski mask into a bank and you’ll see what I mean. It’s all “ahhhh!” and “he’s waving a knife around!” and we’re just like, fine, we’ll take our business elsewhere. You can’t let haters get you down.

Jay: I guess we should talk about music for a bit too. Are you guys working on new material while on tour? I would imagine you focus alot more on a killer set every night. Is there even downtime to write at all?

Blue: We don’t work on new material much on tour, that mostly happens when we are home. On the road, we’re more focused on the show, and then partying our faces off. It’s very absorbing work. 

Jay: You guys are playing at The Republik here in Calgary on the 16th. Should be a blast! I expect we will be having a good ol Canadian Beer together. What are we drinking??

Blue: Sounds good! We love beer! All of us except officer Bradford. He’s more of a whiskey guy.



-Masked Intruder plays The Republik with Strung Out Thursday April 16th-