Shanies: EP of the Year

Alright, I'm the first who's happy to admit when my gut is wrong... especially when it results in one of my favourite bands returning to full form. I had my concerns about this band when they suffered a huge blow by losing half of the amazing female vocal equation that made up their sound. I had even bigger concerns when their drummer, part of the founding duo and the hard stomping drive behind the group, left to start a family.

I had my concerns, but this fall, they were put to rest.

When Little Foot Long Foot released their EP, Woman, my mouth was silenced and my jaw was dropped. Part of the difficulty with LFLF losing both Caitlin Dacey and Isaac Klein was that so much of the sound and pressure now rested on the shoulders of frontwoman Joan Smith. The band did struggle for a little as they settled into their new sound, however, in my opinion, their true transformation was when when Smith was able to step up and own the role... and own it she did.

Woman comes across as an album that stands in opposition. Sonically and lyrically, it seems to represent a backlash to a world, and even a music scene, that has traditionally been a boys game. Though far from being meek, apologetic, or conciliatory, Smith's songs cut through your speakers like this is the way that music has always been and has always supposed to be. It can't have hurt to have The Trews Colin MacDonald producing, but at the end of the day, it was the power trio of LFLF that pushed forward these 5 incredible tracks - each could be a single of it's own on a different day of the week.

In short, one of my favourite Toronto bands is back, in a way that makes me question whether they even left. Maybe it wasn't them... it was me.


-So I've stopped playing games someone else told me to play

Shanies: The Leftovers

Today is always a fun day since I tend to devote it to random awards that I completely pull out of my ass (as opposed to all of the others that undergo very rigorous scientific testing). Basically, this is the collection of awards that I simply have a strong opinion on, but likely don't really make sense outside of my own head.

You Fail Me: The Black Keys - Turn Blue
I really like this band... REALLY like this band, but I have no idea what the hell they were thinking when they went in this direction. I know bands have to evolve and grow both for themselves and their audience to keep things fresh, but Turn Blue was like the audio version of the movie Drive... so maybe I just didn't get it.

The Hell Did That Come From? The Tea Party - The Ocean at the End
Remember these guys? See, I even liked them enough in the 90s that I'd been keeping a passive eye on the fact that they'd disappeared to Australia, likely to have a lot of sex on nice beaches under the influence of heavy drugs. Then they dropped this album - which is actually half decent by the way - with almost no fanfare, promotion, or buzz. Someone needs to let Jeff Martin know it's not the 90s anymore and that he can't just release things and expect throngs of people (read: Canadians and Aussies) to flock.

Buckets Full of Win: Shooting Guns - Wolfcop Original Soundtrack
I'm sorry... could you repeat that into my good ear? Not only did someone make a movie called Wolfcop (it's exactly what you think it is), but my favourite prairie stoner band wrote an entire soundtrack for it? Yes, you heard correctly.

Got What You Deserved: Robin Thicke - Paula
Uncle bad touch took yet another juvenile step by naming his album after his recently-x'ed wife. The result? Less than 500 copies sold in the first week of release in each of the UK, Canada, and Australia.

The ADHD Award for...oh, look at that: Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
I know... I thought I could never say anything bad about the Foo, but let's call a spade a spade: the album isn't that good. It's not bad, it's just not that great. However, I don't blame Dave or any of the Foos, because the TV series was amazing and they undertook a massively difficult challenge, writing 8 different songs inspired by and recorded in 8 different cities. You could say it's gimmicky, but you could also say that they're at least trying something new... though it might just be because Dave is getting bored again.

That's Just Not Right: Michael Jackson - Xscape
Seriously, just let the dude die.

STOP TEASING ME YOU ASS: Reignwolf - ???
Yup, after Jordan Cook released his solo album, and eventually teamed up with a few buddies to form Reignwolf, he apparently decided that he liked touring more than recording. Even though there are rumours floating around the interwebs that Cook and crew have recorded a debut album for Reignwolf at Dave Grohl's studio 606, we are apparently doomed to simply have to fill our audio-spank-bank with grimey, short clips of their live performance.

Not Quite Dead: D'Angelo - Black Messiah
This album actually nipped at the toes of my top 10 for 1 main reason. After a 14 year hiatus from recording, one would have thought D'Angelo to have gotten stale, rest on his laurels and produce an album very similar to his best-selling Voodoo. However, Messiah is a progressive effort, with a lot of cool experiments going on, but unfortunately, not enough that really clicked for me.

Shanies: Concert of the Year

Another day, another award... today going out to the greatest live performance of the year. Almost without question, we knew this award was going to go to someone who played the Bovine, it's just always a question of who rocked that dirty little hole the hardest.

While I saw a LOT of shows at the Bovine this year, there was one band that stood ahead of the pack (ok, with Public Animal nipping at their heels). That band would be Moncton's disciples of rock, The Motorleague. I'm actually ashamed to say that for a band I've been following for almost 4 years, this was my first chance to see them live.

It was a Monday, and while the place wasn't dead... it was still a Monday. That said, for the ~25 people the braved the school night to worship our sonic overlords, The Motorleague played a show as though they were playing a sold out crowd at the ACC. It was in that set that I realized what makes a truly amazing live band: those who play for themselves first, regardless of who or how many are watching. It was 4 friends singing to each other and having fun on stage... everyone else was just allowed to watch if they please. They ripped through a perfect and aggressive set of tracks from both their debut, Black Noise, as well as their 2013 release, Acknowledge, Acknowledge.

But perhaps most noteworthy was how genuine and down to earth these Atlantic rockers were. After meeting a couple of the boys from the 'ol TO punk band Careers in Science, I was introduced to and spent the better part of an hour in hilarious banter with Motorleague frontman Don Levandier. To him, this was just another night on the road to meet new faces, smile at them, and then melt them with some of the best rock n roll Canada has to offer.

In short, next time these boys are in town, don't miss it.



-Use these waking hours to suck the life out of this world and swallow it whole.

Shanies: Video of the Year

In the past, my video award has gone to very serious, thoughtful pieces, and it has also been given to works of near cinematic genius. This year, I'm giving it to a bunch of duded who dressed up as zombies and chased athletes, because.... duh.

Destrage was one of my joyful finds of the year. In addition to producing one of the most frantically incredible albums I've ever heard by combining countless different music styles into a cohesive, catchy undefinable metal album, I quickly found out when they released the album's first video that these guys are bloody well hilarious. My Green Neighbour was already my favourite song on the album, partly due to it's head bobbing beat, but mostly due to it's insanity-infused breakdown, however, when they released the video... this was locked in as permanent gold.

Set the stage: people line up for a spartan race or something equally ridiculous. 3 fully made-up zombies appear in the back of the line with atheltic clothing and GoPros strapped to their heads and begin chasing everyone. The premise alone would have been enough to make for a great video, but it helps that these Italian shredders are also hilarious dudes that obviously had a lot of fun making this video.


And I suppose an honourable mention kinda has to go to Dave Grohl for the whole Sonic Highways thing... the album was meh, but the series was pretty damned incredible.

-I can't be blamed for craving more than I am

Shanies: Rookie of the Year

Holy shit, this thing still exists? Well, just because I've been neglecting this blog (holy shit, people still blog?) for the better part of the year, doesn't mean for a second that I'm about to pass up my opportunity to shoot my mouth off once again this holiday season and bring you what by my best half-drunken estimates is the SEVENTH annual Shanies. You know the rules: I'm right, that's really the only rule.

This year's Rookie award was a bit of a no brainer. In previous years, this award had started to feel like a cheater's field for supergroups and bands building second projects (see previous winners Mutoid Man, Them Crooked Vultures, and The Damned Things), however, this year we had a band do it right. If I would have asked you in 2013 what you thought of Royal Blood, you likely wouldn't have had much to say since they were only just forming and playing shows at venues my shitty bands had played before.

However, to make such a neglectful statement these days would either involve massive head trauma, a distane for music, or a 2-year straight binge on Jack Daniels and methamphetamines. Simply put, Royal Blood is the real deal. This Brighton 2-piece's volcanic rise to fame unquestionably involved a touch of luck, however, that luck was backed by talent and the most monstrous sound you've heard out of a duo since the Black Keys or the White Stripes.

They released an EP back in March to rave reviews and seemingly overnight began supporting some of the biggest acts in the world and playing festivals all over before finally releasing their self-titled LP to a number 1 position on the UK charts. Yes... at only a year old, this band hit #1 in the UK, and broke the top 30 for every major market.

But you know me, I've never been about the stats when it comes to music; I've always been about the riffs. These boys deliver them in droves, so sit back and enjoy your 2014 Shanie for Rookie of the Year.


An honourable mention must go out to the epic Napalmpom from Calgary.

-So I'll sleep when I'm dead and I'll live when I'm awake