This was a good week for the Five Songs You Must Hear. Grandson is getting ready with a new album, The Vaniers have been all over the hockey playoffs, and a Happy Monday shot a video in Toronto.
1. Grandson, Brainrot
Single (Create Music/XX Record)
Recommended If You Like: Someone to commiserate with about the crappy state of the planet.
The world is definitely going off its axis. Toronto’s Grandson feels your pain. This is the first single from his third album, Inertia, which will be available September 5. Produced by Mike Crossey (he’s worked with The Killers, The 1975, Twenty One Pilots, and more) is a real truth-to-power banger. This needs to be a hit.
2. ogi-G and the Family Tree, Blind Man and the Monkey
Show Me the Truth (Independent)
RIYL: The Manchester groove of the early 90s.
Gaz Whelan is the drummer for The Happy Mondays and has been experimenting with a number of different bands over the last decade or so. (Hippy Mafia was one of my favourites.) He’s returned with a new band that also features the Mondays’ vocalist/cat-o-nine-tails wielder, Rowetta. Gaz lived in Burlington, Ontario, for a while, and we’d sometimes go for lunch. Note all the Toronto settings for the music video. I gotta call him about this.
3. The Vaniers, Painted Town
So Bad, So Good (Independent)
RIYL: Hockey songs—sort of.
If you’ve been taking note of the songs played during the Hockey Night in Canada playoffs, you may have noticed a couple of songs showing up: Triumph’s Lay It on the Line and this one from The Vaniers, a trio from Toronto. The band set out to write an anthem similar to what you might hear at a FIFA match. Not only did they get HNIC placement, but the song has also been heard during Blue Jays broadcasts.
4, Matt Berninger, Bonnet of Pins
Get Sunk (Concord)
RIYL: The National, obviously.
If you love Matt’s baritone with The National, then you’ll be interested in his second solo album, which was released this past Friday. The album features appearances by Perfume Genius, Beruit, The Walkmen, and more. Plenty of tour dates are planned.
5. Yukon Blonde, Colours of My Dreams
Single (Polydor/Republic)
RIYL: Overcoming challenges
More Cancon, this time from the West Coast. Yukon Blonde’s new single “captures the magic that happens when everything just clicks, even when life offstage doesn’t. “Songs are like jigsaw puzzles, and when the pieces click, it’s a brief, electric moment of collective joy. A shared spirit that hits hard and true.”
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