Category Archives: Have You Heard?

You need to hear: Dream Wife

July 31, 2018 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

Straight out of Brighton comes an old school band we’ve been waiting for. Dream Wife is the definition of badass and the girl band you strive to see on stages around the world.

They didn’t mean to be taken seriously when they formed which is possibly why they’re music is riddled with a sense of carelessness that translates to confidence. They are simply what they are, like it or not and LORD DO WE. Check out their song FUU from their debut album below.

Have You Heard?

Step into the dreamy nightmare known as The Shacks

March 10, 2018 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

Who are they? To put it simply, they’re pleasantly odd. A timeless psychedelic treat drenched in the old souls of the young make up, The Shacks. Saccharine sweetness sweeps through their music but you can’t escape the darkly pop undertone adding a slight sense of unease. Jazz and indie combine and create a subtly danceable sound with at times haunting vocals that mimic dark nightmares you’ll want to stay unconscious for. As sweet a as they are the band is riddle with daunting videos combining artistically odd antics from beginning to end which makes The Shacks just as interesting visually as they are audibly.

This is a band you NEED on your radar.

Their debut album, Haze, is out March 30th but if you can’t wait until then, take a listen to Strange Effect off of their latest EP below.

Have You Heard?

Locals Only: New Weaves – “#53”

August 9, 2017 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

Toronto’s own bad ass rockers, Weaves, are back mighty quick with a new release. #53 is the latest enthralling tale from the band. A new single isn’t the only news from the band. A new LP, Wide Open, will be released on October 6th.

Mastering the ability to tell stories while layering their quirky charm and hypnotic energy from the stage into each track, #53 is no different. Exploring themselves while taking their place in the rock world, the track comes with a new look at the band. While making their way across the globe and gathering international attention singer and songwriter Jasmine Burke takes the upcoming album as a chance to get a more personal look at the band.

Listen to the first release off of the new album below.

Have You Heard?

One to watch: Tash Sultana

June 26, 2017 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

Pressing shuffle on a new EP, a sweet guitar intro begins and a breathy voice confesses while the dominant guitar turns a shade darker. The heaviness of the title track, Notion, brings a delicate element to singer-songwriter Tash Sultana, the girl in the trucker hat.

Not putting herself in a box, Sultana spends, Notion, showcasing her abilities as an artist, without getting lost by trying to focus on too many aspects. The rest of the songs showcase the smoky voice artist with her magic guitar. After hearing the heart threaded into every strum, it’s slightly mind boggling to think Saltana taught herself guitar when she was a child.

The Melbourne artist began with home videos online. Wracking up millions of views she’s graduated to selling-out headlining shows around the world. Big Smoke pt. 1 & 2, a 20 minute experience put together, are live cuts filled with banter from Sultana that give a sample of the energy that flows into live shows. A flourish of guitar solos and her stamping foot. The overcoming the complexity of combining femininity into her sound is striking, in the live versions she gasps, yells and shreds her guitar for minutes before she’s sung her first note. There is no such thing as too many strong female leads, and Sultana is making her way up there with the best of them.

Album Review, Have You Heard?

For your Summer Playlist: She Devils

June 24, 2017 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

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Imagine taking a step into space, nothing is around you and you’re just there, whatever will happen, will happen. You’re unsure of everything aside from your fondness of it all, this album is pretty much that. For as long as I can recall, seeing She Devils on a show bill in Toronto wasn’t rare. Many times over the years the duo, Kyle Jukka and vocalist Aurdey Ann Boucher have graced various stages in the city, each sporting a dramatically different hairstyle each time.

“What’s this next band like?” Someone asked me once. My response was far from cohesive. Electro-layered-pop- indie stuff, seemed like a bumbling response, yet oddly fitting. Finally setting their debut album out into the world, the Montreal band has fully grown into their outlandish theme. Finding a cohesion through energetic layers and enticing melodies.

The first track on the album is their most enticing and catchy. Revamped, the album version of Come is a far cry away from how the single recently was released. Slower and more polished than previous heard on their self-titled EP. Each track has a reoccurring theme of Boucher confessing a heartfelt intimate story to another faceless being. Riddled over hushed and dominant tones, each oddity of electronic tones evokes the message further.

Can’t miss track: The World Laughs

Have You Heard?

Have you heard: The Coathangers

May 10, 2017 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

They started as a joke. A one time only performance at a house party was supposed to be The Coathangers one and only show. Minnie, Crook Kid and Rusty Coathanger all adopted personas for their genius little joke band. After their memorable performance they were asked to play again. Quickly it became obvious these women were no joke.

These feminist members adopt their outspoken personalities into their music. Fusing danceable drumlines with guitar riffs that will seduce you their sound lands them somewhere between indie and alternative rock from another decade. Their latest EP, Parasite, is a collection of these things described far better than the English language knows how. Somewhere between menacing and seductive Julia Kugel’s (aka Crook Kid Coathanger) voice will make you tingly in special places.

The star of the EP, is Down Down which embraces what the band does differently than most and how they do it best.

You need to hear, The Coathangers.

Have You Heard?, New Music

You need to hear: Moon Duo

April 13, 2017 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

Moon Duo’s newest two-part album,Occult Architecture, is giving a voice to light and dark. Recorded in Portland, the works embed contrasting sounds of soft and hard, dim and loud throughout the albums to create an other worldly sound. On the spectrum of their own, the experimental new albums are a completely shift in direction for the band.

The albums were mixed separately with longtime collaborator Jonas Verwijnen, in different locations further expanding the album’s duality further; Vol. 1 in Berlin and Vol. 2 in Portland. The albums are about how in differences everything is still an entirety. By emphasizing the hidden dark energies in light and the lightness in dark the band plays with tones and sounds layering them to create a melding of tones that shouldn’t work, yet do.

The band will be stopping by Toronto on April 23rd to play The Horseshoe Tavern, give their album a listen, because it’s not a show to miss.

Have You Heard?

The ones to watch: Middle Kids

March 29, 2017 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

Australia has so much talent it’s hardly fair. Meet the newest gems from down under, Middle Kids. Three kids from Sydney that make songs capable of making you lose yourself in a warm summer evening full of bad decisions, despite the fact that it’s winter and 16 was more than a few years ago.

Their self-titled debut EP made a strong step into the music scene. Edge of Town is the perfection introduction to the band. Smart lyrics, emphasized by the dizzying voice of Hannah Joy flirting with a guitar which is somewhere between rock and pop. The trio Tim Fitz (guitar), Harry Day (drums), and Joy (vocals) made one of the most underrated EP’s of this year with the most addicting songs. With a gripping emotional soundtrack reminiscent to teenage years, the emotionally driven EP seems to capture a scene in time perfectly, bring you and hold you there.

Have You Heard?

Meet your new obsession: Methyl Ethel

February 10, 2017 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

Why’d you have to go and cut your hair? Often us humans irrationally react to change, other times, we welcome and embrace it. Cutting our hair leaves us showcasing our changed selves to the world. The question featured in Methyl Ethel’s new single, Ubu, may be a symbolic note their completely altered sound.

Months ago, after a swift kick to the head from a stage diver set forth a concussion from hell, bed rest was the only option. After countless mind-numbing hours in bed searching for new voices to nurse me to health passed the time. A mistaken stumble brought me to the sweetly odd angelic voice of Jake Webb.

Shadowboxing was the tantric treat and gem of the 2015 album, Oh Inhuman Spectacle, named rightly so. Throughout the album an alien type of dream pop transcends you through each song. Intricately layered sounds, tones and instruments overwhelm your senses.

Off of their upcoming sophomore album, Everything is Forgotten, Ubu still has the essence of the band weaved through it. It’s a step back from alternative, instead shifting focus onto oddly endearing catchy numbers.

Take a listen to the addicting track below and fall in love with Australia’s hidden gem, Methyl Ethel.

Have You Heard?

Have you heard: Betty & Oswald “Stuck in the City”

December 10, 2016 Taija Anderson Leave a comment

New, yet something out of the ’80s, Betty & Oswald are back with a new track and mom jeans to match. Stuck in this City is a deep step into their new sound. Gone are the seductive-bluesy Australian beats. Now we’re introduced to a unqiue awkwardly perfect retro zeal many bands try to pull off yet can’t quite hit the mark.

The duo have hinted of new Canadian tour dates to come in early 2017, so do yourself favour and see them live. On stage they’re performances are hypnotic and always different experience. It will be interesting to see them perform as a four piece with new their lineup decked in pastels.

Check out the new track below.