There are certain areas of the world that, for one reason or another, breed some of the best bands and best music. Japan is one, Denton, Texas is another and the entire nation of Canada seems to be yet another. Canada’s Steve Adamyk Band are back with their fifth full-length LP ‘Graceland’ and are providing the evidence to back up my opinion. The Ottawa outfit, this time around, includes guest vocals from Colleen Green and Mike Krol. The music is on that border between power pop and garage punk, inhabiting the same musical sphere as bands like Marked Men and Radioactivity. The music drives ever forward, in a frenetic sort of way. Not that all of the songs are super fast, but there’s a sense of urgency to them. They’re not grandiose or complex; they’re quite simple in structure and arrangement.
‘If I Wanted To’ is a super sparkly track, owing to the high-pitched guitars used in places. It’s a great up-tempo track, simple in structure, simple in lyrics, but it’s the kind of track that’s going to get you all sweaty and jumping around like crazy. All this energy is packed into under two minutes, and you’re spent. ‘Broken Arms’ is the slower track, which is classic power pop, with plenty of jangle in the guitars and a bit of a darker melody. ‘Die Dead Forever’ is another quick one that’s there and gone, in under a minute and a half. It’s got surf qualities in with the garage, but it sounds sort of menacing, like they’re shouting “locals only, brah!” at you and cutting your leash. Mean, pounding, and it’s done before you know it. ‘Lose Control’, which clocks in under two minutes, as well is very simple, very garage punk, pretty poppy and bouncy as hell.
‘Give It Away’ sounds too much like bubblegum pop-rock radio of the 70s. Yeah it’s more raucous than that, but the overall feel just falls flat, especially on the chorus. But, hey, out of fourteen songs in thirteen tracks (the final track contains two songs, the mid-tempo power-pop gem, ‘She’s On My Mind’ and ‘Heyday’, a track that’s kind of jazzy and funky, and really cool), there’s allowed to be one marginal track. Canada wins again!
PAUL SILVER