Poor Young Things need no sympathy. The rock ‘n’ roll band, made up of five resourceful focused musicians, gave up a contented life in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and headed for Toronto without knowing a soul. Within a year, the band had recorded with their dream producer Jon Drew (Arkells) and signed a deal with Bumstead Records. Poor them, indeed.

Photography by Carrie Day. Their musical style has been compared to Sabbath, Sleep and Witch etc, but their influences tell a slightly different story. A better description would be more along the lines of Tony Iommi and Neil Young getting drunk at a Hank III show in Seattle circa 1994 while Elliott shoots up in the bathroom.

One of the newest Fraser Valley bands is about to release their first EP in March, but in the meantime the band just released their single, “Vacation”, a catchy rock pop song that flirts with punk.

The single is available on their bandcamp page, and if you like the tune, there are four versions of it for your enjoyment: A studio version, a raw demo, an acoustic and a Live Action Fezz remix, (which is very trippy by the way). The band is very interesting, while it is a new project, their members are “veterans” of the Vancouver scene ( You Say Party! We Say Die!, On No! Yoko, and GSTS!). The single with all its versions just makes you curious to see what their EP will have in store for the listeners. I can’t wait.

Influenced by singer Tom Waits & songwriter Daniel Johnston, “Jack Antonio” brings a fresh and original approach to song writing. Its raw and honest, with strong moral messages and high levels of wit and intelligence. There are also strong northern references and themes in the lyrics as Jack resides in Canada’s Arctic (Yellowknife!).

Admiral Akiba is an electro-rock band from Vancouver BC, made of Dan (vo/guit), Rhino (key), Ryan T, (bass), and Alfonso (dr). Formed and masterminded by Ray Bixon who is the godfather and the supreme leader of everyone at Valentine Records. Admiral Akiba is the brain child of this international playboy, war hero, ex-mercenary and music superstar. Playing this Friday Jan 27th at British Ex-Serviceman’s Association – 1143 Kingsway
$5 cover $2 beer Doors at 8PM

Cruel Young Heart, hailing from Vancouver, BC was officially formed in February 2010, and has recently come out of the legendary Mushroom Studio with their self titled EP. This project is written and produced by singer James Blackmon, engineered and produced by Chris Michel and mixed by Mushrooms legendary Rob Darch who has worked with artists such as Tom Cochrane, Bif Naked, and Delerium.

Vancouver´s indie pop band have won the Shindig competition last December. The music explores indiepop tropes with a backlog of literary, artistic and musical references to support the soulful lyrics. The group of friends came together in early 2010 featuring The Lion in Love on guitar, vocals with Julian Bowers on drums, guitar and Oliver McTavish-Wisden on keys. Having quickly amassed a selection of songs to be recorded 8 months later produced by Jherek Bischoff (The Parenthetical Girls, Dead Science), the music is now available on a limited cassette or download.

No Island delivers a new brand of rock that blurs the lines between genres and generations. With well-crafted original songs and a unique sound complimented by keyboards and saxophone, No Island’s approach to rock is catchy, powerful, and sophisticated all at once.
The five piece Vancouver band will play January 14th at The Railway Club with CRIMINAL CATERPILLAR, NO ISLAND, IVY LEAGUE BRAWLERS & DUBAI

When Shalini performs, the world stops to listen.

Following the footsteps of Vancouver bands like The Stolen Organ Family Band, Two Apple Tobacco and Redrick Sultan comes Quit The City to play the Indie Pop Vancouver Series presented by CiTR radio and VanMusic on January 6th. Also on the bill Karen Fowlie and Mouthful of Daisy. The band was formed in Calgary two years ago by two musicians eager to play music. It seems that a lot of Calgarians are coming to town to become part of the musical movement that is happening right here in our city. This exodus of musicians is benefiting our community by bringing new sounds and new energy, Quit The City is an example of that. Don’t miss the electrifying experience of their reverberations of their psyche.

Mouthful of Daisy will perform at The Indie Pop Vancouver Series Vol. XII with Quit The City and Karen Fowlie. 1143 Kingsway. 5 dollar cover cjarge. 2 dollar beer. Mouthful Of Daisy is a unique blend of female fronted alternative rock. Their upcoming album “Twice Renewed” is laced with melodic guitars, catchy melodies and driving rhythms that will playback in your head for days. They are the band to discover in 2012.

Don’t miss Ben Wilkins playing LIVE on The Morning After Show on December 27th at 11:30 AM on 101.9 FM www.citr.ca
But this credo stuck with Ben Wilkins, and provided influence for what will surely be one of the most remarkable debut albums of 2011. His self-titled full-length utilizes his vast array of influences and experience, creating a timeless and incredibly flushed-out debut that brings to mind the ‘70’s, a time when grand and orchestrated pop music was celebrated.

Sunny Pompeii is a Vancouver psychedelic pop band. Their music is like the weather – it’s hard to explain how it all works but it makes you feel good.

Joyce Collingwood was formed on April of 2009 in Vancouver, B.C by five girls with the goal of making raw, unpretentious punk. “What kind of music did we want to play together?”, we asked each other. Fast music. Short songs. Punk. Metal. Like the magic of music does, it happened almost instantaneously. The band member’s musical influences range from thrash metal to cumbia. This mix of styles has been an asset when it comes to songwriting and everybody participates in writing and arranging music.

This quintet quickly developed a loyal fan base by playing over 60 shows in their first year. They originally garnered much attention through their hugely popular weekly session at the Canoe Brewpub in Victoria, B.C.. The night quickly grew in popularity and soon consistently packed the 410-person venue to capacity. Before the close of 2009, the group had also enjoyed such highlights as playing to 12,000 people at Rexall Place in Edmonton, having songs licensed and used in an internationally distributed surf film, and a trio of sold out shows at fan favourite Sugar Nightclub.