Dave Hayden

Justin Rutledge knows his number one strength—his brooding, near whispered tenor—and like Hayden or the Great Lake Swimmers, uses it to its full romantic potential. He seems determined to be taken so seriously—Rutledge doesn’t approach a song without a minor key governance or anything more than a mid-tempo flow. On The Early Widows, he employs […]

Josh Ritter is a truly profound songwriter, but his broad toothy smile and chuckle beg not to be taken too seriously. Ritter possesses great storytelling skills, with a lyrical whimsy and musical versatility that (although rooted in Dylan, Cat Stevens and Van the Man idolatry) is constantly striving to bring greater breadth to his craft, […]

BSS at the core is a dual beast. Underneath its swollen membership tally and philosophical manifesto that promotes free will, universal love and respect, there is a finely tuned and thoughtful process to its music-making. All is not as chaotic as it seems—with nine to 31 members, there has to be some structure, or else […]

On La De Da, Joel Plaskett sang about being on the road, writing songs and recording with friends for the love of the process, not for the money. The song “Natural Disaster” is also a song about the security of home in the face of oncoming uncertainty, which is a theme Steve Poltz explores frequently […]

I was ecstatic when Dan Snaith, AKA Caribou, finally received long-overdue attention when he took the Polaris Prize for his album Andorra, two years ago. His work (especially his jaw-dropping, double drum attack, multimedia live shows as Caribou and Manitoba) has been drooled over by music junkies and critics for years, yet he always existed […]

What is there really to say about Pavement that already has not been said, except that if you own the band’s albums already than this low-priced career retrospective is redundant and offers nothing new (except maybe for the neato artwork). Not a single “unreleased” scrap or live recording—much of that came on the better deluxe […]

About 10 years ago, there was a thankfully short-lived movement to revitalize the mod scene, thanks to the likes of The Hives and a few others. While Hamilton’s Young Rival don’t go full hog trying it again, there is a more than a pinch of mod mixed in with the band’s garage rock-meets-melodic sensibility. “Got […]

If you were ever into the Glengarry, Ontario, pop-punk outfits The Stand GT or Camp Radio, then a new Chris Page solo record is something to get excited about. This, his first since 2004, is much like his entire output: all the melodic hooks and catchy riffs are there, except the tempo is toned down […]

OK Go is masterful at consistently creating the catchy pop gem. But the band’s albums to date have been a bit too glossy and thin for any satisfying longevity, compared with, say, Spoon, who display the same innate sense of “the hook,” but with much more breadth to their craft. But that has changed—this new […]