Coming out of the Great Escape, one country that seemed to look better than ever musically was Canada. With bands like Young Rival and Fist City leading the charge, no shortage of emerging Canadians were able to crack out superb sets on their brief visits to this side of the pond. One band that can’t be excluded from this list is the Balconies, whose time in Brighton can be especially considered a resounding success. With the band now back in the studio putting the finishing touches on their new album, it’s as good a time as any to shine the spotlight on what they’ve produced so far.
The three-piece’s Kill Count EP is the first target for attention, and immediately at the centre of it is vocalist Jacquie Neville, whose lungs belt out the first selling point to distance the band from other emerging trios. Her guitar work isn’t too shabby either, and backed up on bass by her brother Stephen with Liam Jaeger’s drumming tying the whole unit together. The EP’s title track is a powerful scene-setter, with each cog showing off its best side in a piledriving effort to open the record. Almost a year ago now this column featured the dusty Americanoir vibes of Double No No, and for the first time since then there seems to be a vocalist with a similar sound and strength to what Danielle Maibaum brings to the Sheffield outfit. Neville’s back-up, however, is what thrusts the Balconies far ahead of many other bands in their periphery right now. ‘300 Pages’ pounds its way through Kill Count‘s half-way point, a viciously catchy way to cross over into the second half of the EP.
‘Battle Royale’ and ‘Serious Bedtime’ are both bursting with a rock and roll intensity that eventually explodes out from behind the almost poppy vibes of the two tracks. The last thirty seconds or so of ‘Serious Bedtime’ in particular are the product of minutes more of buildup to the record’s grand finale; a flourish in both the vocal and the instrumental to draw a line under the EP. The release was actually followed up with a French version of the title track, bringing a totally different attitude to the table, losing none of the English version’s replayability but picking up a whole new flavour for the band. If this is a trend that the trio can continue on, they certainly shouldn’t struggle in building an even firmer fanbase in French-speaking regions of Canada (such as their native Ottawa) and possibly within France itself.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Ottawa has spent a fair bit of time in the shadow of nearby Toronto, in terms of musical exports. Certainly, the Balconies are one of the best tastes we’ve had over here for a while of what Canada’s capital can do. With the upcoming album fully funded through PledgeMusic and set for a September release, you can mark the Balconies down as one band with an incredibly promising future. Keep your eyes peeled.
http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=4125029163/size=grande3/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/
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