Pitstop: The Elwins

(Photo by Rachel Lee Tentcher)

You might remember my mentioning Impressionable Youth Media's Sound Effects compilation that featured that brand new Wildlife tune "Year in the Dark", well indie-pop quartet The Elwins were also featured on that eclectic all-Canadian release.

Releasing their debut EP in 2008, this year will mark the subsequent debut album's release. What struck me about The Elwins, most notably in their new single "Stuck in the Middle" (featured on Sound Effects), was a jazzy pop style reminiscent of Sondre Lerche. They don't replicate his sound exactly, instead it's just an awareness of the style that's artfully filtered into their music. Even going back to their self-titled EP, there's hints of it "Dear, Oh My", "Kristy May", and "Larry Pastorus". Other than their jazzy coloring, The Elwins craft fun toe-tapping numbers teeming with high amounts of energy cradled by guitarist Matthew Sweeney's easygoing, tuneful vocals. Enough to hint at their debut, And I Thank You, being a highly enjoyable affair.

Get a taste of The Elwins with their debut self-titled EP, latest single "Stuck in the Middle", and recent live session they did for Exclaim!:







The Elwins debut album And I Thank You is out February 21st.

Wildlife releases new tune for charity.

I've essentially been lying in wait for Canadian rockers Wildlife to do something noteworthy enough to blog about it. Anything really. But they've essentially just been touring and after awhile talking about shows they're doing that I won't be at could get a bit tiresome. So when I read that Wildlife just contributed a brand new track to Sound Effects compilation, I got intensely excited. And then I hear the track and got even more so.

Sound Effects is an all Canadian compilation to benefit War Child Canada, an organization that helps children in war torn countries. Most of the tracks were done by the five young Ryerson University students that formed Impressionable Youth Media and put together Sound Effects. If that wasn't cool enough, Wildlife's track "A Year in the Dark" is a brand spanking new rare gem. It undulates like "Sea Dreamer" but not quite as balls-to-the-wall as the band is know to be. It's a nice change of pace. And also just great to hear anything from Wildlife.

Sound Effects drops January 31st so stay tuned on more info on that. Until it releases and you can (hopefully) get your hands on it, You can stream the album (along with the aforementioned new Wildlife tune here.