... listing Canadians that ROCK!

I know I've spent a lot of time discussing Canadian things, and I realised that a lot of this might make me sound like that oddest of all creatures: The Self-Loathing Canadian. While there are some things that are considered distinctly Canadian that I actually do hate (hockey, maple glazed donuts, the compulsion to have to list all the reasons to be proud to be Canadian which often ends with the same two items : Humility, and the lack of a need to have to list of reasons to be proud to be Canadian), all that that really means is that there are some things I like, and some things I don't like.

If there is one issues that even the most self-involved and the most self-loathing of Canadians can find common ground, though, it's popular/rock music. We have a complex relationship with it. Part of that is attributed to the CanCon legislation and the belief (ill founded, but I won't get into that) that it encourages mediocrity. Part of it is cultural defensiveness - you can probably count in your head the amount of Canadians that have gone on to pop/rock stardom in the U.S. I believe, for reasons I won't go into here, that there are people that rock and people that don't rock (or try too hard), and Canada is a little more in the latter category than the former. There's nothing wrong with this, it's just the way it is. I also think that Canada's constant need to define something as "Canadian" is limiting, and creates horrible situations where a band way way WAY past any semblance of cultural or artistic relevance continues to put out disappointing album after disappointing album and lackluster tour after lackluster tour but they're so Canadian, damnit, that no one can say that the emperor has no clothes (See Hip, Tragically, tragically).

But I digress.

There are "CanCon" bands, for lack of a better word, that are very very VERY good on any scale, that are not self-indulgent or alienating in their need to be "different" for the sake of being "the other". And yes, I'll list a few here.

Sam Roberts
Sam Roberts does have a pretty good sized following in the States, possibly approaching cult sized. What's different is that in Canada his audience appears to be shrinking, at least from my standpoint. This is because each of his three albums has been a little more different than the one before without really changing their style. We Were Born in a Flame was Rock with a capital AWK, but also tossed in folky moments that made him beloved by the No Depression crowd. Chemical City picked up a lot of AWK moments, but really delved deep into them. It reminded me a lot of 1970's albums that would have two or three 3 minutes singles, and then the other 5 songs on the album would be 7 minute jams (Traffic is probably he band I'm thinking of here). Love at the End of the World picked this up, but dropped a lot of the idealistic vibe of its predecessor for something a little darker. All three albums, however, a real growers.



Blue Rodeo
Uncle Tupelo. Everyone talks about Uncle Tupelo starting No Depression, or at least being the ones who popularized it. Nay, I say, nay nay. This is one time where I will grab the labels of your vintage sportscoat and say "This, THIS is an authentically Canadian music, and I'm not talking about The Band" and then will sit you down with Outskirts, one of the best and most haunting debut albums of all time. Blue Rodeo were the first ones since probably The Eagles (man that hurts) to really bridge country and rock in the post Johnny Cash era. Some said when Bob Wiseman left they would lose some of the abandon that really made their sound, but instead a simple demo would become quite possibly one of the most heartbreaking songs of all time.



(And they might be the only artists not named Dylan to put "transfixed" into a pop song.)

The Pursuit of Happiness
Taking their name from one of the most distinctive American documents of all time, there's part of me that thinks that The Pursuit of Happiness is one of the great lost Canadian bands. Their first album was a hit and they opened for Guns 'n' Roses, but their second came out during the great Rock-to-Grunge shift and despite the fact that they had the chops and cleverness needed, their irony was just a little too sharp for even those times. The best way to describe The Pursuit of Happiness is to imagine that Elvis Costello was born in Edmonton and never had access to a thesaurus. Moe Berg is still around and is a type of elder statesman of Canadian Indie, but I still get the feeling that in an alternate universe they are the biggest band in the world.



Rush
Yeah, I said it. If there's anything I love more bombastic rock, it's really loud bombastic rock. Almost enough to make me overlook the libertarian and Ayn Rand poppycock that is in most of the songs. Almost enough. Geddy Lee, however, is a fan of the beloved Jays and has worn a Strong Bad hat, so they get a pass.


Dream Warriors
Before The Fugees, The Roots, Digable Planets and Lucas there were Dream Warriors. They managed to merge jazzy sounds, Carribean rhythms, a laid back style and sly references to Star Wars, role playing games and old game shows into music and never sound forced. It was a type of music that was adventurous and new that everyone could listen to, as I pretty much did with a dubbed copy of their album that one summer. Sadly, they fell to the second album curse of the early 90s, which was partially (1) taking too long to record it (2) watching the music styles change while recording it and (3) how many hip hop acts had a good second album at that time?



Mobile
As I've written in other places, the latest indie rock from the UK comes in a very danceable variety with Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand et al. Canada has this also, and the best at it are Mobile, tangentially part of the Montreal scene. Tomorrow Starts Today is a great album, once you get past the really unfortunate title (memories of Memories of Now on "Parks and Recreation"). It rocks, it's danceable, and its passionate. Sadly, because they don't have an attractive pretty lead girly singer who overshadows the rest of the band and is so self involved and craven that only defense she has for losing an award no one gave them a chance to win is petulant and inaccurate name calling (defining a band this way shall be considered measuring them on the Metric system) Mobile has lost some traction. But I think like The Stills (another great Montreal band) they have the potential to come back hard.

They've disabled embedding, so check out "Dusting Down the Stars" the old fashioned way.

So there's a little sampling, and there are others. There's The Stills, and The Arkells have some promise though I'm not sold yet. Hey Rosetta! have won me over with their first album, mostly for being the first band in ages from Newfoundland whose main goal wasn't to sound like a band from Newfoundland.

I'm sure someone will say "Yes, but what about Arcade Fire". See, it gets complicated - the band has as much of a Texas influence as a Canadian one. Also, it just seems too easy.

Now, bring me the head of Chad Kroeger. Metaphorically speaking, of course.