Nicholas Friesen
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Fucked Up
After the mammoth assault of 2011's perfect David Comes to Life rock opera, genre-defying Toronto punks Fucked Up return with the summer record you never knew you needed but always hoped you'd get.
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Cousins
The 10 deliciously lo-fi songs that make up Halifax duo Cousins' new LP are so infectious that you'll be singing along to them on the first listen, especially "Alone".
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Eamon McGrath
The second in a series of EPs from 23-year-old Edmonton singer/songwriter Eamon McGrath finds his Tom Waits-growl in full form on guitar-heavy opener "Canadian Shield".
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Melissa Payne
Not opening with Radiohead's "High and Dry", the second record from Ontario singer/songwriter Melissa Payne is filled with nine bubbly and pining country popsters in the vein of Blue Rodeo, Amy Millan or Whitehorse - lots of reverb-soaked twang and pedal steel, decorated with oohs and aahs. She also ventures into southern-fried baroque pop balladry ("Call Me a Fool") and her raspy warble is welcome on each and every track, no matter the style (the girl can do diversity).
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Bry Webb
The Constantines are back together(ish), but that isn't stopping frontman Bry Webb from releasing his second solo LP. These 12 tracks of early Wilco-meets-working man alt-folk are occasionally drenched in distortion ("AM Blues", "Free Will", bonus cut "Receive Me") but mostly exist to showcase Webb's haunting yet playful baritone over sparse, meandering arrangements.
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PS I Love You
A while back, Kingston duo PS I Love You unveiled a new single, the title track from the forthcoming For Those Who Stay.
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Rosie June
This dreamy little nine song offering from Lantzville, BC gets a hipster-ized re-release on Brendan Canning's new Draper Street label and it fits with the Broken Social Scenester's aesthetic.
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The Samson Show
The Samson show follows the misadventures of Samson (dog) and his owners (humans).
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Slow Dancers
It's fitting that each song on this record would fit nicely next to Greg Macpherson's "Remote Control" (or any of the singer/songwriter's mellower material) as this Winnipeg trio's debut full length comes out on his Disintegration Records label.
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Raine Hamilton
This new EP from one of Winnipeg's youngest folk vets, Raine Hamilton (Claire Morrison, Red Moon Road), serves up a healthy meal in just three tracks.
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Viet Cong
Ex-Women members Matt Flegel and Michael Wallace team up with Calgary compadres Scott Munro (Lab Coast) and Danny Christiansen (Sharp Ends) to deliver another lo-fi masterpiece in the form of a seven song cassette EP.
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Hearing Trees
There's a lot of diversity in Hearing Trees' simplicity - you could easily slot the local quartet's sounds onto rock radio, into a dark club, onto your favourite indie blog, or in the background of the scene where the teen lovers kiss from the first time - but it's focused.
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Sing-along-films
Whether or not Kanye West and Bret Easton Ellis are making a Yeezus film, we're anxious to get more bands making movies in the vein of The Beatles in A Hard Days Night, The Monkees in Head, Run-D.M.C. in Tougher Than Leather, The Clash and The Pogues in Straight to Hell and The Ramones in Rock n Roll High School.
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Shakin’ it up
It seems like there's a pastry and music related event every week in Winnipeg. There's … well, no. There isn't. There's just the Cake 'n Shake, June 7 at the Purple Room at Frame (318 Ross Ave).
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Secret Broadcast
Produced by Grammy-winner Adam Kasper (Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age), the debut LP from Calgary trio Secret Broadcast follows up 2012’s Hungry Ghost EP, and is consistent in delivering riff-and-radio-ready-rock that has just enough dirt on the vocals to trick the indie kids into liking ‘em, while delivering the “hits”.
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Timber Timbre
These guys just creep up on you, like Nick Cave’s little brothers (kinda moody, but quite harmless). Opening with “Beat the Drum Slowly”, a methodical dirge that surges and cuts, the listener is treated to nine other tracks of similar depth and attitude.
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Chad VanGaalen
It doesn’t have an immediately hooky opener (there’s no “Willow Tree” or “Clinically Dead”) but the warbly meander of “Cut Off My Hands” is warm and welcoming just the same.
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Unconsciously Screamin’
"I almost died last night," David Dobbs says as he walks into The Uniter office. He’s wearing a hospital bracelet. Seems legit.
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Micah Visser
This intimate little EP is the second in under a year from local boy Micah Visser.
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Kevin Drew
This one’s tough. We love Drew’s will-they-won’t-they Broken Social Scene project, but the man who is just as likely to jam with J. Mascis as he is to have tea with Feist’s mom is a bit of a mouthpiece.