Oakalla

604 Records

Oakalla’s debut album is a self-titled urban rock salute to family history, which showcases the talent of its blood-linked members (a first cousin and a pair of brothers count for three musicians in this quintet).

Oakalla’s consciousness of family roots shows in the folk-country accents embedded in the vocals and melodies that shine through each of the tracks like blades of grass through the cement of their gritty rock drums and guitar.

The band takes their name from the prison where their grandfather served two years. Accordingly, their lyrics often nod to their family’s storied past as Russian immigrants who came to Grand Forks, B.C. with conflict on their heels. Their single, “War,” is an infectious and danceable guitar-driven track that would sound at home in any earthy west coast brewpub, while “Take Me Home” provides reflective music suitable for those long road trips out east.

For their interest in the past and grander themes, Vancouver-based Oakalla hasn’t lost focus on the present: “Mr. Smith” is a plodding, tongue-in-cheek ballad about the dreaded screaming manager we’ve all had at one point, and the ensuing fantasies of revenge we all entertain. Next to “War,” “Give It” is the album’s best earworm, a lyrically repetitive and rhythmically compelling slam-piece about wanting sex.

“Darlene” highlights the sweeter side of Oakalla with a heartfelt breakup story well carried by Matt Lebedoff’s refreshingly masculine, no-nonsense voice which delivers each bar warmly and clearly. “Burn Me” carries the same thread of social disobedience, but shucks the loss and ups the ante with a strong drum and bass line beating out a rapid tempo, bridged by interludes of tranquil noodling.

Oakalla was made for the untamed, unpretentious city-dweller with an old-fashioned heart, and is accessible even to those who don’t like country bleeding into their rock. All 11 tracks have something to offer both lyrically and musically, making for a solid and promising debut for this west coast group.

• Marri Knadle

So Many Nights

The Cat Empire

Indica Records

The Cat Empire hails from Melbourne, Australia (one of the most liveable cities in the world) and their music is as multicultural and easygoing as the city that played handmaiden to the band’s development.

Active since 1999, The Cat Empire is no stranger to the music scene, and their fourth album, So Many Nights, debuted as number two on the Australian charts as just reward for their evolution of sound — a journey that has seen over two dozen guest musician contributors.

What makes So Many Nights special is not only the musical and compositional talent it contains, but also its cosmopolitan flair. Much of it is good background music for a soiree with tapas and friends. “Fishies” in particular, with its sassy trumpet line underscored by a ceaseless rumba, demands mohitos be sipped and smouldering looks be cast across a dance floor.

“Strong Coffee” takes the listner out of the lantern-lit cantina and into daily life with a kookier, quirkier beat than the rest of the album’s tracks — though it utilizes the same Brazilian and Spanish musical influences in brass and snares.

“Panama,” on the other hand, is a very North American-feeling track, most enjoyable during its suspended chorus (Felix Reibl cries above a sparse drum and guitar, “I love things that seem impossible!”).

Harry James Angus sings “Lonely Moon” and “Voodoo Cowboy” (among others), and these two tracks stand out as strong contestants for the most lyrically interesting pieces of the album. Their charm is brought to life by Angus’ distinctive voice, easily placed for its touch of AC/DC’s Bon Scott.

“No Longer There” is The Cat Empire’s single, a feel-good contemporary piece that totally mutes the band’s reggae influence (an inspiration in full force in “Till The Ocean Takes Us All”), and provides a more innocent lift of the spirits in contrast to the album’s more worldly themes.

Diverse yet not divided, So Many Nights offers enduring songs for many occasions. If you like what you hear be sure to check out their newest album, Live On Earth, when it debuts Feb. 12 of this year.

• Marri Knadle

Electro-pop isn’t usually my choice of music, but Hexes and Ohs duo Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam have produced a number of beats that I can’t help but bob my head to.

After playing their sophomore album, Bedroom Madness, on repeat for over a month now, the songs “H-H-HIGHSCHOOL” and “Little Bird” are now permanently ingrained in my memory. The light-hearted tunes inspired by their high school sweetheart romance have produced a number of absorbing tracks.

It’s been three years since the two sat down at home to record their first album Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover, and the couple has only progressed.

The rollercoaster ride that took Hexes and Ohs from their isolated love nest has seen their catchy tunes received with open arms as they performed with bands including Tokyo Police Club and North by Northeast.

Bedroom Madness has sharper melodies than Donnelly and Lam’s first home recording and includes a wider array of music as the two share duties on everything from vocals to working the laptop. The album is soothing, absorbing listeners with a series of similar pop beats.

The only issue with their recent release is that it’s sometimes difficult to tell if you’ve already hit the repeat button.

Still, their listeners are left grasping for more, hoping it doesn’t take the duo another three years to produce their next album.

-Andrew Smith

It’s difficult to review metalcore albums. Each track begins a new effort to seek out at least one element of the band that distinguishes it from the hordes of skinny-jean-wearing art school rejects vomiting into microphones.

It’s no doubt that Bring Me The Horizon delivers an absolutely crushing live show — if only the pit wasn’t full of scenesters trying to avoid ripping the plugs out of their ear lobes and cutting their gums on their matching labrets. But from a musical perspective, their newest album, Suicide Season, doesn’t really add anything more to the canon of core besides another layer of percussive kick drum, guttural cockney-tinted gang vocals, bass-heavy 5150 guitar crunch, and horrifyingly cliché “deathcore” lyrics.

“The Sadness Will Never End” is nothing more than a chance for the band to shamelessly suck up to much-more-talented UK brethren, Architects, and the title track might as well be a Johnny Truant song. The best thing about the album is “No Need For Introductions, I’ve Read About Girls Like You On The Backs Of Toilet Doors.” Despite the too-long overdone moniker, the track provides a comfortable and surprising 17 seconds of lounge music before launching into a blast beat hurricane that wouldn’t be out of place on a somewhat respectable grindcore album. It’s not exactly innovative, but at least it’s not more of the same.

Overall, Bring Me The Horizon knows exactly what they want to sound like and they do it — but so do Atreyu, Killswitch Engage, Darkest Hour, Poison The Well and everybody else on Hot Topic’s latest compilation album.

-Sol Kauffman