rockabilly

Take A Polka Doted Waltz Through The Cuban Country, With Some Rock and Jazz, Man (The Mavericks, Brand New Day review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

I think some of my favourite things about listening to music are when you can stumble across something you like but can’t believe that you didn’t already know about it. Or to put it another way, when you reconnect with music that you forgot you were a fan of.

 

The Mavericks – Brand New Day
released March 31, 2017
******* 8/10

The Mavericks have been making offbeat country music for just over 20 years, and that’s taking into account the break they took between 2005-2011! Known for their eclectic sound that combines latin and rockabilly influences. I first heard about them back in the 1990s, when I was still voluntold to listen to the country station in my parents house. Remember Here Comes the Rain and All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down? This is sound of The Mavericks that I still remember sitting in my parents faux wood panel station wagon.

But that doesn’t mean the ninth outing for these guys is out of sync with this generation.

There are high standards in place here.

The opening track Rolling Along reminds me of Ukrainian mountain music and features its share of accordion harmonies. A callback to their early work and very peppy to boot, also it’s about drugs. Just in case that wasn’t obvious. Quickly changing pace for the title track, The Mavericks present us with a more somber tone on Brand New Day, its upbeat though, and features some excellent caterwauling from Miami born Raul Malo. Then we get to hear some horns on Easy as It Seems, which is surprisingly easy going with its message of musical sambas from the 50s.

Then again, that sound does continue through on the next song I Think of You, and later with Ride With Me and closing track For the Ages, but the mixing in of early pop, jazz and true bread and butter are what they are known for. It’s comforting to see a group caring the torch along, without dragging it on the floor.

Staying true to their sound has always been important for The Mavericks, and I think that’s why they choose time and time again to stay independent, nobody messes with the production. They have fun with their music and it comes through – listen to Goodnight Waltz and tell me you don’t think of lounge singers, spaghetti, and cocktails. But with a country twang to it.

This music does not fit into any particular genre. I chose country as the prefacing statement because that’s where I heard it first in my youth, but this music reminds me of so many different things at any given moment, that they are eclectic is the really the best way to put it.

It never reaches a point where I’m listening and re-listening to the lyrics or pausing to reflect on ideas within, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.

Mavericks indeed.

 

theories Summarized

Do you want to take a trip through Americana, post-war and pre-war? Well this is your ticket and I wish you well on your journey, I think there is something of a history lesson and a demonstration that it all comes full circle when we listen to music.

An unorthodox or independent-minded person. The definition of a maverick. These gentlemen fit the bill, and that’s my theory for why they have staying power, not because there is something brand new here, but because they are inclusive and adventurous.

Tim!

Canadian Sweethearts (Arkells, Morning Report review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

The Canadian Sweethearts were a Canadian rockabilly duo that were popular during the 1960s and played together almost 20 years. They are probably best known for their song Eeny Meeny Miney Moe, but the most important allusion I want to make between them and the musical act being considered today is that both group were metaphorical Canadian sweethearts too.

And while The Canadian Sweethearts did break out into the US markets with their fun and high-energy track, I hope these gents can do it proper too.

 

 

 

Arkells – Morning Report
released August 5, 2016
******** 8/10

arkells-morning-report-artwork

Arkells are a Canadian indie rock band that have roots in the eastern coast. Yay for Canadian content! They’ve signed with Dine Alone records, and are now also on the Universal Records Canada label as well. Morning Report is their 4th album-to-date, and by far the most adventurous album they’ve done thus far.

I’ve been a fan of them since that first single Oh, The Boss Is Coming! was released back in 2008, but I didn’t pick up any of their records until I saw them live in January of 2015 with my sister and her beau. After that fateful show, when I decided to start attending concerts on the regular again, I immediately picked up their back catalogue which at the time included the still somewhat fresh High Noon, now a Juno award winner.

These guys are from Hamilton, Ontario and they are a fucking national treasure, they should have the international market dead to rights by now, but somehow they haven’t broken through that US wall just yet. In the fine tradition of acts like The Tragically Hip, Sloan, Sam Roberts, and April Wine, these guys are Canadian rock stars who should be bigger than they are.

Morning Report takes quite a few notes from that previous album, exploring more of a pop-rock tone, to ensure continued strength and representation ALA tracks like A Little Rain and Savannah, but this is not why I love this band. It’s because in between those harmonies, you find that they are still exploring and making music that makes them happy.

The first two tracks, Drake’s Dad and Private School do a great job of this, but by far the sweetest and most emotionally wrought song of the whole record is Passenger Seat. It breaks my heart EVERY time I listen to it.

This of course is followed by another pop-rock ditty called Making Due, proving that this album is all over the place with it’s tone. Produced by Joe Chiccarelli , Tony Hoffer, Brian West and Gus van Go, Morning Report flows in and out, sampling from Arkells spectrum of songs, but somehow making this an even more enjoyable effort than High Noon.

I suspect that it’s because every song plays heavy on the lyrics and instantly likeable voice of lead singer Max Kerman.

And then there is Come Back Home, which is also quite rough to listen to. Two guesses of what it’s about. But that song is followed up by a song of friendship in the form of A Little Rain (A Song For Pete). As I mentioned, while the tone is all-over the place, lyrically this album does a great job of dealing with those post-college years, the ones that no musician really wants to deal with. When all your friends long-term relationships either turn into marriage and family or fall apart.

In the most simplest of terms, and the most authentic of emotions, Morning Report is an examination of the after effects of your early twenties.

 

 

 

It’s tough being a Canadian musical act. Sometimes you get all kinds of proper attention on a global scale, and sometimes you fight for decades but never get to the open seas. I know that Arkells have the ability to reach higher and higher, and by playing festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, they are sure to gain more attention, let’s just hope whatever happens, they remember they are Canadian sweethearts.

Tim!