Bravestation: Devin Wilson, Jeremy Rossetti, Derek Wilson, Andrew Heppner

By Allyssia

The boys from Bravestation are not afraid of a little hard work. Since the band formed in June of 2009, they’ve successfully and single-handedly recorded an EP, performed extensively, and designed one hell of a logo. But all of that’s in the past. As the rockers down beers at Queen St. W fixture Java House only days before their last show until this summer, they’re focusing on the future, especially their next album.

“It’s going to be bigger and better than the last one,” says Derek Wilson, the band’s guitarist. Not surprisingly, the rest of the band seems to agree with him.

Bravestation has reason to be confidant. Their debut EP, which can be described as a mix of New Wave and garage rock, has attracted attention from many of Toronto’s music bloggers, and even caught the attention of Toronto Star entertainment reporter Ben Rayner, who listed their eponymous effort as one of his reasons to live when it debuted in July 2009. Not too shabby considering that, a year ago, the band didn’t even exist.

Bravestation came to be almost completely by coincidence. Though Derek and his brother, lead-singing bassist Devin Wilson, and drummer Jeremy Rossetti were jamming as a three-piece before, it wasn’t until Wilson met Andrew Heppner while studying at the Harris Institute for the Arts last year that the band took its current shape.

It all began with a homework assignment. As sound engineering students, university grads Derek and Heppner were required to record and master a demo for a band. Wilson volunteered his own band for the project. At first Heppner, who was the top in his class, limited his participation to mixing and mastering, but before long he was asked to contribute on the other side of the tables.

“It sort of became evident that he could do more than turn knobs, so we put him on keyboard,” says Derek.

With Heppner taking over the keyboards, Devin was able to start playing bass, an instrument that they couldn’t utilize as a trio. He also ended up replacing his brother as the band’s lead singer.

“He was my younger brother so I sort of cultivated his talented. Then I decided that it was time for him to take the spotlight,” says Derek, completely stone-faced.

“And you didn’t really like singing anyways,” Devin adds with a smile. The band laughs, and swigs are taken from beer glasses.

Fast-forward one month: the band has a polished EP recorded. Fast-forward one more month: the band is touring.

Though the band has done a lot in a short period of time, it has by no means been an easy journey. Being a new band without a label or a PR firm has forced the band to take matters into their own hands with every aspect of their careers. It also means that they have to learn some lessons the hard way, which happened when they first tried to perform the songs they’d originally recorded for their EP.

While rehearsing, they found that it was impossible to recreate the layered instrumentation that worked so well on recorded tracks. Instead of trying to rework the songs, or perform them differently, the band scrapped all eight songs and started from scratch. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“It morphed into a simpler, more straight-forward sound,” says Devin. This stripping-down of their songs is responsible for the low-fi, gritty sound that makes the EP so interesting.

This do-it-yourself work ethic also helped them market themselves. Devin, who is currently studying Graphic Design at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), designed the band’s logo (which, the band would like you to know, represents “growth and duality”). They enforced guerrilla tactics to get coverage from the press. To get attention from the nationally-circulated Toronto Star, they sent an email to Rayner with the subject “Bravestation EP review (Joy Division rocks!)” after reading on the journalist’s profile that he was a fan of the post-punk rockers. Clearly, their system works.

But after five months of touring and playing the same songs, the band is looking to put their old repertoire behind them.

“It gets a bit boring playing the same songs over and over again,” says Rossetti.

After playing at Toronto’s Rancho Relaxo on January 8, Bravestation won’t be performing again until they produce new songs and a new EP this summer.

Though they like their current sound, they’d like to change things up on their sophomore effort by featuring a lot more keyboard and taking more risks with their music to create a more experimental sound.

“Knowing ourselves, it probably won’t be too odd,” says Devin. “But who knows really?”

Check out Bravestation this Friday, January 8 at the Rancho Relaxo. They’ll be performing with Beta Porn, The Property Line and Cap Guns. Doors open at 9 p.m and tickets are $6.

Check them out on Myspace at www.myspace.com/bravestation.

reviewed by Michael

I remember reading an article on Exclaim! a few months ago which mentioned the formation of Novels, a Canadian supergroup of sorts. It consists of Graham Wright (Tokyo Police Club), Will Currie (Will Currie and the Country French), Luke Lalonde (Born Ruffians), Dean Marino (Ex-Po) and Jason Sadlowski (Jay Sad). These five guys locked themselves in a recording studio and produced this five-song EP in ONE DAY. You read that right.

If this doesn’t make you excited enough, here’s something else- their music is free from their website, www.okaynovels.com.

But is the music even worth the download? I give it a resounding Yes!

Each song is by a different artist, here’s some brief info on that:

• “This Wouldn’t Be the Last Time”- Dean Marino
• “Mr Foster’s Teenage Daughter- Will Currie
• “Big Run”- Luke Lalonde
• “Record in Hand”- Jason Sadlowski
• “No Hard Feelings”- Graham Wright

The style of the songs is upbeat and lighthearted rock and the album can be listened to a million times on end without getting sick of it. Each artist brings their own flavour to their songs, with the most catchy song probably going to Luke Lalonde’s “Big Run.” I’m now listening to this song for a third time through and am still swaying and shaking to the music.

Jason Sadlowski’s “Record in Hand” is a bit slower but has the power to make listeners go “Aww…” “And I can’t believe it’s the first time I met you/With the record in your hand so little and cute” is the chorus that will probably do just that.

The other three tracks are similarly solid, and just because I’m not going into a detailed description of them it doesn’t mean they’re any less stellar.

The next step after downloading their EP from the above url is to burn it onto some discs and give them to random strangers, or perhaps leave it on a bus seat and see what happens. The point of this is to share some great music, and great music it is. I know for sure that I’ll be doing a bit of sharing myself.

Top Tracks: Every single one of them

4 Hoots (out of 4)

by Michael

2009 was a momentous year for music, and an even more momentous year for Grayowl Point. Why? Because Grayowl Point just came into existence. What started as a blog made totally for rambling about nothing transformed into a blog completely focused on the Canadian independent music scene. On August 4th, 2009 the blog’s name changed from Unlikely Inspirational Flash to Grayowl Point, and on August 5th the blog’s first review was up, which was a review of The Ghost is Dancing’s album Battles On.

Shortly after Grayowl Point had a few reviews, it began to gather a team which helped the blog stop crawling and start walking. The lovely team members are as follows:

Allyssia: Did a bunch of reviews and even a few band interviews.

Rhombus: Reviewed metal albums which would have otherwise not gotten exposure on the blog.

backdrifter: Wrote primarily Concert Alerts, but also a review of Elephant Stone.

Erin: Wrote a review of a Toronto show featuring Spiral Beach. Expect more reviews in the years to come!

2009’s Best Albums

It was a good year for music, as several albums managed to pull off a perfect score of 4 Hoots. Here are all the stellar albums of 2009:

Nice, Nice, Very Nice- Dan Mangan- This album received acclaim from every reviewer who got to listen to this. It also gave Mangan huge exposure, nabbing him a $25000 prize from the Verge, as well as 2 CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards, one of which was for Best Song, for his amazing track “Robots.”

Beacons- Ohbijou-The album by this Toronto orchestral pop band is characterized by its intensity, as well as the love for Toronto evident in many of the songs’ lines. Each and every track is stunning, with lead singer Casey Mecija’s beautiful voice backed up by an equally beautiful assortment of instruments.

Islands Disappear- Said the Whale- This Vancouver band released a great record that had some music critics even calling this the band’s career masterpiece. It is full of charm, pop/rock hooks and love for the country of Canada. The album may even create an increase in tourism in Elkhorn, Manitoba and Emerald Lake, Alberta.

Three- Joel Plaskett- Plaskett has already been in the music business for quite a while, starting out with the beloved Thrush Hermit and then moving onto music with his backup band the Emergency. Three is his finest work to date, and a hugely ambitious one at that- three albums, nine songs each, with many of the track titles being repeated three times. This is what can easily be referred to as a “must listen” of 2009.

The Balconies- The Balconies- Ottawa’s newest sensation delivered a fantastic debut album complete with great guitar driven and percussion-heavy tracks which probably helped them sweep up at this year’s Ottawa Xpress’ Best of Ottawa poll. They won in three of the four categories they were nominated in. Definitely a new band to watch out for.

Seeing as the blog is so new and stuff, there were also several albums reviewed in 2009, but which were released in previous years. Here are the albums from before 2009 that also received a perfect score of 4 Hoots:

About a Girl- Winter Gloves

City- Strapping Young Lad

Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers- Bend Sinister

Soft Airplane- Chad VanGaalen

We here at Grayowl Point also pride ourselves on the fact that we review EP’s and LP’s of unsigned independent artists, or those who are just starting out in their hometowns. We have reviewed the likes of The Break Down, Ainsley McNeaney, Bri-anne Swan, and The Runaway Catholics. But this year, the best album to come out of this category (not to say that any of the above listed artists are anything short of awesome) is People With Places to Go by Matt Henderson. This album is impressive in that it produces such a cohesive sound even though it is all done by only one guy. The combination of synths and guitar make this album a real standout.

And of course, I am human and make mistakes with my judgments on occasion. And I think the biggest error in judgment I made was towards Halifax’s Acres and Acres. I gave this album 3 Hoots and said that there were not any seriously catchy instrumentals. I couldn’t have been more wrong. From the great harmonica in “Money” to the great guitar riffs of “The Joker” I found myself listening to this album numerous times amongst the other albums I got this year. To that, I apologize, Acres and Acres. You’re awesome.

Finally, some new years resolutions for the blog:

• Review more hip-hop albums
• Feature more interviews and show reviews
• Find albums to review by artists in every province and territory (we are currently missing, to the best of my knowledge: New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Nunavut)

reviewed by Michael

Not too long ago I did a review of the Dudes’ latest album (Blood Guts Bruises Cuts) and little did I know that The Dojo Workhorse is also a project of the Dudes’ Dan Vacon. The album is all about hopeless romanticism, which I admittedly take part in quite a lot. I already wanted to listen to this album just by reading the inside of the cover of the CD. It reads:

WARNING: The music embedded onto this compact disc is not to be taken lightly. The truths involved may be disturbing and/or dangerous. Do not listen with an empty heart, or while operating heavy romantic machinery.

Anyways, this album is not entirely unlike a Dudes album in some regards, which is of course not a bad thing. The percussion and electric guitar can still be heard, but this offering differs in that it includes other instruments like a harmonica and a cello. You heard me right.

“You Heartbreaker” is the first song, and it quickly sets the mood for the rest of the album. What follows is a plethora of stories about lost love, found love, and lost love again, loneliness and despair, and all the other emotions involved with love.

This album distinguishes itself from just being called a Dudes album under a different name because there are a few songs on the album that are actually slow, and that certainly doesn’t mean that they’re not great. “Laval Street” is a good example of a slow but effective song. It features an orchestral arrangement, additional female vocals, and the heartwrenching lyrics: “I’ve been in love six time for sure/Still keep regrets for three or four.”

The album ends with “Road Prayer” which is again slow but melodic. Overall, if you have experienced any of the pains of love, this album will appeal to you. If you haven’t experienced these pains, you’ll still enjoy the great sound.

Top Tracks: “I got Life”; “Late for Life”; “Laval Street”

3.5 Hoots (out of 4)

By Allyssia

Even after several listens, it’s hard for me to find the words to describe Oh No Forest Fires’ 2008 debut EP, The War on Geometry. It’s chaotic, but controlled; it’s heavy, but fun; it’s simple, but it’s intricate. Clearly this isn’t your typical album.

The songs on this album are definitely very energetic and fun, but not enough to make you want to dance. At best, they earn some enthusiastic head-bobbing and an occasional hip-sway, but that’s necessarily a bad thing. I mean, we can’t always listen to fun music that makes us want to take up break-dancing.

Though most of their songs rely on intense guitars and drums, the Toronto band’s creativity and range when it comes the small details are what bring the songs to life. The syncopated vocals on “It’s Not Fun and Games Unless Someone Loses an Eye” stood out for me, as did the full harmonies and church-like organs on “I Gotta Tell You Fellas, This Is Pretty Terrific.” In both cases, these small details turned descent songs into great ones.

Another one of the album’s strengths is the simple songwriting. The band doesn’t make use of complex figurative language or try to impress the listener with obscure allusions to things nobody cares about. The band delivers their message in the plain English, like on the campy “You Know What That Is…Trouble” when frontman Rajiv Thavanathan soulfully croons “Things are going okay, I guess/ I talk to you once a week or maybe less.”

But simple doesn’t mean stupid here. In some cases, the lyrics are really poignant and meaningful. One song that really got to me was “New Cove”, which is a lover’s speech to a past love who’s now getting married. I thought it was a great alternative to the typical post-breakup song. (Please check out Eamon’s “Fuck It” for a great example of this and for a few laughs.)

Overall, this album is a stellar debut. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start. Luckily, the band is still together, so I’m sure their best tunes have yet to be created.

Top Tracks: “New Cove”, “I Gotta Tell You Fellas, This Is Pretty Terrific”

3 Hoots (out of 4)

reviewed by Michael

The Runaway Catholics are a Toronto-based band which have a decidedly light-hearted tone. What I received from them was their debut EP, and a pretty good one at that. It made my heart warm seeing the liner notes that were all handcrafted and handwritten.

According to their fact sheet they have been together for just over a year, but for being together for such a short time they sound surprisingly solid. The two vocalists, Brodie Dakin and Shawna Sormin already seem to know what vocal styles suit them best.

The two’s voices really work well together, with Sormin’s vocals reminding me a lot of Sheryl Crow in “Soak Up the Sun” but not nearly as annoying as that song was.

The lightheartedness comes from the instrumentals, which usually consists of gentle guitar chords and a light drumline.

The music is really hard to dislike- I can only imagine this album played during a day at the beach, or maybe on a picnic in the park somewhere. And those are both great activities to think of during the winter time.

The most upbeat songs are probably “Charmed Life” and “Ghosts In Memories,” with “France” being more slow and melodic.

“Ghosts in Memories” is a great start, with the characteristically light guitar riffs and drums, as well as Sormin’s sunny and pleasing voice. “Melody of June” goes a little more slow with an added piano and absolutely beautiful vocal harmonies.

The final song, “Charmed Life” was recorded live from a show at the Horseshoe Tavern and shows that the band has some great talent and a live show worth seeing.  

Give this band a listen- or better yet- go and find them playing a show at the Horseshoe Tavern or Lee’s Palace- you’ll definitely find them. Their sunny folk-rock is a pleasure to listen to.

Top Tracks: “Crazy Sorrows”; “France”

3 Hoots (out of 4)

As 2009 draw to a close, Grayowl Point brings you the year’s last Concert Alert, guiding you to Toronto’s year-end indie concerts:

Saturday Dec. 26:

Styrofoam Ones [http://www.myspace.com/styrofoamones] @ Drake Hotel, 10:00 PM

The Change [http://www.myspace.com/thechangetheband] @ Silver Dollar Room, 9:00 PM

Sunday Dec. 27:

*silence*

Monday Dec. 28:

Spookey Ruben [http://www.myspace.com/spookeyruben] @ Drake Hotel, 10:00 PM

Tuesday Dec. 29:

Colleen and Paul [http://www.myspace.com/colleenandpaul] @ Dakota Tavern

Wednesday Dec. 30:

*silence*

Thursday Dec. 31:

The Schomberg Fair [http://www.myspace.com/theschombergfair] @ Horseshoe Tavern, 9:00 PM

Holly Andruchuk [http://www.myspace.com/hollyandruchuk] @ Imperial Pub, 8:00 PM

A Primitive Evolution [http://www.myspace.com/aprimitiveevolution] @ The Hideout, 10:00 PM

The Warped 45s [http://www.myspace.com/thewarped45s] @ Mitzi’s Sister, 9:00 PM

Catl + Bradleyboy [http://www.myspace.com/catlmusic, http://www.myspace.com/thewarped45s] @ Dakota Tavern, 9:00 PM

Friday…..JANUARY 1, 2010!!!

Cathartic [http://www.myspace.com/cathartikmusic] @ Hard Luck Bar, 9:00 PM

And that’s all. Now I need to go write up my resolutions for 2010 – the Grayowl Administrator has insisted that one of them be more regular Concert Alerts

Wishing you all a happy new year, here’s Backdrifter, signing out.

reviewed by Michael

This album by Calgary’s the Dudes is a first for the blog (as if every post doesn’t seem to be something new or unique). This may well be the very first post on the blog which is a review of a cursed album.

Since the album has been released, singer Dan Vacon has broken both sides of his collarbone, and drummer Scott Ross has lost three teeth, part of his awesome mustache and has hurt his legs as well. Here’s hoping their next album doesn’t have the word “death” in the title anywhere.

With that out of the way, this album is a really awesome collection of good old-fashioned rock. Vacon has a good tone as the singer, and there are many great accompanying guitar riffs and drum beats.

The subject matter for the most part deals with love in many different ways. “Mr. Something Else” will appeal to the hearts of hopeless romantics everywhere- a classic tale of a girl dating one guy, and another guy thinking that the same girl should be with him.

“Girl Police” talks about love in a rather humourous way- it starts with the lyrics “The girl police are coming over/Comb your hair, pretend you’re sober.” It then goes on to tell of a huge love polygon- I call it that because it is a huge mess of a bunch of people who like other people who like other people. Maybe that’s called a love web?

The album is not all about love though- some of the songs will appeal to the heart of classic rock n’ rollers, particularly the song “Ever Been to Taiwan?” Despite the title, it delivers with the vocals. It is all about the bar show experience- getting on the guest list, watching a bunch of bands who may or may not suck, and getting wasted regardless. Please not that Grayowl Point will not be held responsible if you decide to follow this song’s advice.

If you’re looking for a great rock experience, definitely give these Dudes a listen- you’ll probably like this album a hell of a lot.

Top Tracks: “Girl Police”; “Mr. Something Else”; “Ever Been to Taiwan?”

3.5 Hoots (out of 4) +*swoop*

Check out the video below that won the Dudes a Bucky Award for Best Off-Stage Performance:

To keep you informed on Toronto’s winter break indie activity, here is…Grayowl Concert Alert! This week’s alert extends only to Wednesday, due to the lack of concerts on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as music venues and performers take some holiday time off. But here’s what’s happening in between then and now:

Sunday Dec. 20:

Bentroots [http://www.bentroots.ca/] @ Gabby’s Bistro, 7:00 PM

Monday Dec. 21:

La Casa Muerte [http://www.myspace.com/lacasamuerte] @ Horseshoe Tavern, 8:00 PM {food bank fundraiser}

Peter Eastmure[http://www.myspace.com/petereastmure] @ Dave’s Gourmet Pizza, 7:30 PM

Tuesday Dec. 22:

Signe Miranda’s Veranda [http://www.signemirandasveranda.com/] @ Oriental Taste, 9:30 PM

Holly Andruchuk [http://www.myspace.com/hollyandruchuk] @ The Imperial Pub, 7:00 PM

Wednesday Dec. 23:

Hinterland Band [http://www.myspace.com/hinterlandband] @ Horseshoe Tavern, 8:00 PM

Dodger [http://www.dodger.ca/] @ Sound Academy. 8:00 PM

Dirty Inputs [http://www.myspace.com/dirtyinputs] @ Method Lab, 8:00 PM

a couple or so shows are food bank fundraisers, and it is encouraged that you take something along to donate. After all, it’s all about the giving! Concert Alerts will be back next weekend to update you on Toronto’s end-of-year indie festivities. Till then, goodbye, and have yourself a very happy holiday!

reviewed by Michael

A few months ago, Calgary, Alberta’s Chad VanGaalen released a free EP featuring eight b-sides from his 2008 album Soft Airplane. Soft Airplane was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and I also wanted to do a rather different review- a review which encompasses an album and EP.

Having not heard anything by VanGaalen before, I had no high or low expectations when I first began to listen to Soft Airplane. I ended up being absolutely blown away. The album was so genre-defying and thought-provoking, to say the very least.

It begins with the simple song called “Willow Tree” which won Best Song at the 2008 Bucky Awards. It features a very simple chord progression and the lines “And you can take my body/Put it in a boat/Light it on fire/You can use the kerosene.”

It progresses to “Bones of Man” which is less acoustic and more rock. I was beginning to put the album into a genre.

“Cries of the Dead” disturbed me a little because of the lines “I can hear the cries of the dead/Maybe it’s your neighbour beating his dog in the basement.”

It wasn’t until the sixth song, “Phantom Anthills” that my idea of VanGaalen’s main genre was blown through the roof. “Phantom Anthills” is a very electronic song, with a steady beat of electronic beeps.

The album continues to mix rock, electronica and some acoustic for a winning formula. What I found most astounding is that VanGaalen, during certain songs, actually sounds very similar to Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Whether or not he meant to doesn’t matter- in case anyone was wondering, I am a huge Radiohead fan and for me to admit someone sounds like them is a compliment of the hightest degree.

After being blown away by Soft Airplane I moved onto the b-sides EP and after finishing listening, saw it as a great supplement to its counterpart.

The EP begins on a rather chaotic note with the song “Stuffed Animal” which starts with the chatter of children, dogs barking and a heavily synthesized vocal performance at the beginning. It sets the tone for the rest of the EP- you just never know what to expect.

As I moved through the EP I began to get the feeling that there may have been a small amount of drugs involved, particularly in the song “Pyramids Float” (listen and you’ll understand) but I thought it only added to the atmosphere.

The EP and album are an absolutely fantastic combination- you have no excuse for not listening to the EP- it’s on www.softairplane.com so go and download it now. And if you can find Soft Airplane, drop everything you were doing and purchase it right away. You won’t regret it.

Top Album Tracks: “Willow Tree”; “Phantom Anthills”; “TMNT Mask”; “City of Electric Light”

Top EP Tracks: “Stuffed Animal”; “Twisting Magic Up”; “Corvette”

4 Hoots (out of 4) +*swoop*