I Can't Believe The News Today

No, it has nothing to do with the tornado/flood/storm insanity that happened in Toronto over the weekend. Although that was bizarre. And no, I'm not writing about the mass of shootings and missing persons that are all over the television. I'm thinking more local. Smaller. More personal.

We got our first cd review in Now magazine this week. Not a headliner by any stretch of the imagination, but just one more step on the road to realizing that this isn't just the hobby Alex & I thought it might be when we were drunk in a Winnipeg hotel room with a bunch of lovely waitresses (that's another story). We hoped it was something bigger than that. And maybe we were right.

The review is decidedly favourable. Although you wouldn't think that to read the first four or five sentences. This guy wanted to hate us. He wanted to toss the cd in the garbage. But he didn't. He made himself listen to it. And we won him over.

For me, this is a triumph. This is a publication that is in love with art rock and trendy Queen street music that I don't really have time for (although Alex & I are working on a side project called, "Battalion", which will have at least 13 members who all wear various pieces of revolution military garb and bang pots we found somewhere in Kensington market - but again, another story). If we can win over the snooty art rock crowd, then we're doing some big things very well. We're focusing on the right things. Well, the right thing. The music. Not how we look. Not how we dress. Not how many side projects we have. The music this band - The Free Press - creates, that makes it greater than the sum of its parts. And we did it ALL ourself. Our money, our time, our blood, our sweat, our swearing, our pain, our heartache and our dreams. I can only imagine how far we'd go if we had the time and money that bands like Coldplay & Radiohead & U2 have. I hope it's as far as I picture it in my dreams. And I hope we get to find out soon.

Ladies and gentlemen, read the review and enjoy. I hope to see you all on Wednesday at the Horseshoe when we play under our new moniker: The Uncoolest Band in the World.
Dig it.


THE FREE PRESS Storms (Russian Surplus) Rating: NNN

This band is so uncool that I almost don't want to like them. Their lead singer, James Dallas Smith, stars on Omni-TV's Metropia. Their press release proudly announces they've secured corporate sponsorship with shoe company Pony. And everyone in the group looks like the guys who graduated from high school five years ago but hang out in the school parking lot trying to date the girls in grade 9. Yet this six-song EP has an irresistibly beautiful Tragically Hip, Can-rock feel. Their earnest lyrics and attentive guitar playing suck you in no matter how many times you look at the terrible cover art. The songs are solid alternative rock on a par with anything the Trews or Constantines are dishing out.

The Free Press play the Horseshoe Wednesday (August 24).
chandler levack