dear yanks,
I know there's a lot going on and times is stressful. so why not take a little gander up north at some new-to-you MOR / AM gold and perhaps unlock the secret to Canadian chill?
From the late 80s to the late 90s (and I assume still, on our more adult-contemporary leaning stations) these guys were totally inescapable - essentially a roots-rock act heavy on hooks ("Rose-Coloured Glasses", "Rebel", "Trust Yourself", "It Could Happen to You") with occasional dips into jammy psychedelia ("Diamond Mine"), Cowboy Junkies-ish slowcore ("Dark Angel") country (their excellent take on the immortal "Til I Gain Control Again"), and plenty of aching torch songs (karaoke killer "Try", "House of Dreams", "Falling Down Blue"). for some reason - is Canadian radio more permissive? - a bunch of their key singles are really long and often played in their entirety. they have two vocalists - Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy - and though Cuddy has the more obviously radio-friendly voice, the vocal split between the bigger singles is surprisingly even. their least commercial and proggiest album, Nowhere to Here, is smeared, drugged-out, and occasionally beautiful - it's sort of the Canadian No Other, though obviously not as transcendent as that label would imply.
they have ties to hipper acts like the Sadies and Wilco, but AFAIK nothing they did ever made a dent in the States. Kathleen Edwards collaborator (and ex-husband) Colin Cripps is a current member. the brilliant songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Bob Wiseman, who deserves much greater recognition, is all over the first couple albums.
they've always been one of my favorite bands (though I did disavow them for a time thanks to stupid punk influence) and I think ILMers who participated in the Eagles listening thread, or enjoy MOR-ish stuff in general (Cuddy's crystalline pipes often bring Neil Finn/Crowded House to mind for me), should absolutely check them out. I put the singles cutoff at 1998, but added "Bulletproof" from the aughts because it's my poll and it's a perfect slice of contemporary AM gold with a sneakily cutting lyric.
I've made a Spotify playlist for these singles, and tacked on a few of my favorite deep cuts as well, like the spooky and gorgeous mostly-instrumental "Frogs' Lullaby", which imo is worthy of (insert yr fave New Primitive guy here) in its scope and intricacy.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0BeaIN1TRjoXoiqfgjmbCT?si=O2KwFxniQle8r2MQRoU2og
Poll Results
| Option | Votes |
| "Til I Am Myself Again" | 3 |
| "Falling Down Blue" | 1 |
| "5 Days In May" | 1 |
| "Hasn't Hit Me Yet" | 1 |
| "Head Over Heels" | 1 |
| "Trust Yourself" | 1 |
| "Outskirts" | 0 |
| "Bad Timing" | 0 |
| "Dark Angel" (ft. Sarah McLachlan) | 0 |
| "'Til I Gain Control Again" | 0 |
| "Side of the Road" | 0 |
| "Better Off As We Are" | 0 |
| "Blew It Again" | 0 |
| "It Could Happen To You" | 0 |
| "Already Gone" | 0 |
| "Flying" | 0 |
| "Angels" | 0 |
| "Try" | 0 |
| "Rose-Coloured Glasses" | 0 |
| "Rebel" | 0 |
| "Diamond Mine" | 0 |
| "How Long" | 0 |
| "House of Dreams" | 0 |
| "Love and Understanding" | 0 |
| "What Am I Doing Here" | 0 |
| "After the Rain" | 0 |
| "Lost Together" | 0 |
| "Rain Down on Me" | 0 |
| "Bulletproof" | 0 |
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Thursday, 8 October 2020 14:56 (four years ago)