SELF-TITLED
Portage & Main
Indie
8-out-of-10
Portage & Main sounds like a band which might call Winnipeg, but they actually travel Canada out of British Columbia sharing their folkie-influenced brand of music.
On the disk the roots of this band's music is rather obvious. On a song such as The Morning After you can hear The Eagles at a time when the world thought them rock, but they were more folk on their softer songs than most admitted.
Neil Young is also quite apparent in the material.
John Sponarski and Harold Donnelly are the writers behind this folk-rockband, but Portage & Main also includes the talents of Georges Couling on keys, Ben Brown on drums, and Mike Agranovich on bass.
The band, which was recently in Yorkton at 5th Ave Cup & Saucer where they performed as a stripped down three-piece acoustic unit, have a laid back, relaxed style that is completely satisfying.
The 12-song CD has several notable cuts, including I'm Going Down Tonight, Nothing (Take What You Need) and I'd Never Climbed A Mountain.
This is a disk from a band not yet garnering headlines, but listen to this disk and you will believe they should be better known than they are.
Check it out at www.portageandmainband.com
- CALVIN DANIELS
KARATEKA
Texting MacKenzie
Indie
6.5-out-of-10
Coming out of Guelph, Ont. is the band Texting MacKenzie.
This is a three-piece indie rock band which has a definite tongue-in-cheek approach to its material.
Robin Jools Wright pens most of the band's material and he mines a definite humour vein for his music.
Indier Than Thou and Lemonade are a couple of examples of how Wright works with lyrics which turn phrases and use word play to good effect.
The resulting body of work is catchy, although admittedly it may not be an approach appreciated by all. This is music which works in a live venue, such as the band's recent visit to 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer in the city, but past some college stations the material may not find a ready radio audience.
Texting MacKenzie might never earn regular play in a collection it does suit a particular mood, when you want some indie rock which makes you smile.
Check it out at www.myspace.com/textingmackenzie
- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/
