Tag Archives: Alberta

Album Review- Calling All Captains – The Things That I’ve Lost

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Four casually dressed young men stand on a hill.

Like in many other instances over the years,  I had first found Calling All Captains through one of my sessions cruising through music news sites and blogs back in the early 2020’s.  There was an article about the band and their  Slowly Getting Better album.  I went back and tried to find this and am pretty sure it was the one still on the New Noise Magazine website.  

Track-By-Track: Calling All Captains – ‘Slowly Getting Better’

That had prompted me to check out some of their music (although I somehow never did get to listening to Slowly Getting Better) and I had picked up their 2019 EP Nothing Grows Here which is a solid five song alt-rock set.  My favorites are “Chasing Ghosts” and “Disconnected”  and they are definitely worth a listen if you have time.  On a side note, in the article I read it had referenced some co-writing by a friend of the band named Ty Elgie.  He also co-wrote some songs on Nothing Grows Here which led me to check out his band Norell and the very good 2017 album Careless which is another worthy side mission.  

The preview opportunity for this upcoming release from Calling All Captains came courtesy of Mike Cubillos at Earshot Media and it has been great to listen to for the past few days.   There is a lot of energy in the seven songs and some interesting arrangements that keep your ears alert …these are not dozing off compositions.  It opens with “Stay Away” which is hard drums and booming guitars right from go and that wall of sound is maintained at the front of this track all the way through.  They drop in a bit of a different groove on “A New Type of Grey” which has some subdued, melodic moments that rise up into loud choruses framed by anguished vocals.  As with much of their music the lyrical themes on this are about dealing with hard things in life and getting through those challenges.  They bring much feeling and power to their music and this entire album reflects that very well.  

You can check out the video for the single “Blood for Blood” off of this upcoming album (out January 9th on New Damage Records) here:

Musicians on this are:  Connor Dawkins (guitar, vocals), Tim Wilson (drums), Luc Gauthier (vocals) and Brad Bremner (guitar, vocals). 

You can get more of the music and information on the Bandcamp page https://callingallcaptains.bandcamp.com/album/the-things-that-ive-lost-2

And please think about purchasing this song after you listen – streaming music does not pay much even times a thousand…

Let me know you think! 

Song Review- Midnight Peg- “Swallow” from the upcoming album Skinnin

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2 women and 3 men, dressed in black, looking at the camera. In general they look either happy or defiant.

Having previously reviewed another release from this upcoming album (“Thirstland” on June 2nd) I definitely wanted to check this one out.  Given the energy and power of that earlier song I was curious to hear if those levels were sustained and how they both might give a sense of what that album will be like.  Well the answers to that would be: Definitely! And Skinning is very likely to be a real powerhouse record! 

“Swallow” breathes a little bit at the beginning, a gentle pulse rising and falling for about twenty seconds…you might find yourself getting into an introspective groove.  It then cuts abruptly to booming guitars, bass & drums before a vocal charged with fury joins up.  The bridge, which comes around 1:22 steps the tempo down and brings back that breathing space for a moment, a break that works nicely among the volume and speed of the rest of this track.  

Musicians on this are: Eric Neilson (guitar, vocals), Raquel “Rocky” Mann (vocals, lyrics), Brian Lin (bass), Jeffrey Sterling Brannen (drums), Jasmin Molnar (guitar). 

Check it out on your favorite streaming channel (link below) – and let me know your thoughts about it – music makes for good conversation. 

https://bfan.link/MidnigthPeg-swallow

And if you have the inclination …think about purchasing it if you can as steaming music does not pay well even times a thousand. 

And support your locals – community is powerful!

Song Review- Midnight Peg – “Thirstland” from the album Skinning

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This single is an early release from the upcoming album.  

So, before you push play on this just be aware – you are about to be blown away!  This experience kind of reminded me of the time I was chilling out at the bar, awaiting GBH to take the stage later, when Niice walked out and slammed into my mentality.  That was a damn good moment and this track has that same vibe and energy.  

A hot opening guitar riff here, a nice little 10 seconds of space and then the vocals from Mann (nicely supported at some points by call backs from Neilson) drop in to set a fiery tone for the remainder.   The fast pace set down by a deep bass line and thundering drums is nicely played against by guitars on high distortion.  Yes it is loud and in your face…and awesome!

This should be out there to check out on all of your usual streaming places.   

Remember to support your local bands – community is powerful!