SELF-TITLEDPirate FridaysIndie6.5-out-of-10
Pirate Fridays is a band out of Saskatoon with a sound I'm still trying to put a reasonable label on.Money But Monsters and Monsters are examples of songs which really mash several styles together into something which still works musically. There are strong pop and electronica elements as a foundation, although you get a little dash of Celtic somewhere in the undertones, and the band itself has tagged itself folk / hip hop on its MySpace page and that sort of fits too. (www.myspace.com/piratefridays)
Then we hit Aquaphonix and hip hop clearly takes the lead, although they sprinkle a dash of jazz into the mix.
The lyrics of Aquaphonix are interesting, and a long way from the suggestion of folk the band makes.
If it sounds like Pirate Fridays is all over the board on this seven-song debut, you'd be partly correct. The band certainly pulls from a lot of different musical covers, yet they do mange to keep it a cohesive effort.
In general terms I sense some Captain Tractor / Arrogant Worms musical mentality here, albeit less Celtic and more pop / hip hop at its heart.
The sound while, not completely unique, I doubt any music truly deserves that label anymore, is still quite different. For that alone Pirate Fridays is worth a listen.
This isn't going to blow to the top of any chart, with the possible exception of some college stations, but it's still a rather refreshing musical effort.
Check them out of MySpace and Facebook.- CALVIN DANIELS
THE END OF THE BEGINNINGJonathan SeetIndie6.5-out-of-10
Jonathon Seet has one of those mellow approaches to music which really relaxes the mind as you listen.
In some cases the music has a sort of classical / Queen-esque feel, such as the song Who Is The Man, but generally you can label this pop / rock, although the artist himself adds the adjective 'melodramatic' to his description of his music on MySpace (www.myspace.com/jonathanseet ).Born in Canada, and now living in London, UK, Seet's music is a tad heavy in mood, all of it rather like a cloudy day. Maybe the famous fogs of London influenced his writing.
That is not to say the music is bad. In fact the title cut and If the Last Kiss Made You Cry are fine tunes. The problem, at least the potential problem is that by the eighth song you are so far down the emotional scale you just crawl into bed and stay there for the rest of the day.
The lyrics aren't actually that dark, but Seet can compose some dark musical canvasses. In that regard you really have to credit Seet. There is something of a classical mentality to his writing, and that is encouraging.
The aforementioned title cut is the best effort on the disk, although there are no real weak spots either.
An interesting CD worth a listen.Check him out at www.seet.ca- CALVIN DANIELS
