Former NOW cover stars catl are back after a brief break. We reported in January that the juke-blues band was going on hiatus indefinitely, but they have returned for spring – though sans drummer Andrew Moszynski.
Real-life couple Jamie Fleming (lead vocals and guitar) and Sarah Kirkpatrick (keyboardist and vocals) have spent the winter working on new rock ‘n’ roll material that they’ll record this fall, with Kirkpatrick taking over on the drums. Three must be a crowd.
Sloan go hardcore
Long-running Toronto guitar-pop band Sloan recently announced the release of a limited-edition Hardcore 7-inch package. Available on sloanmusic.com as of Tuesday (May 7), it includes a 7-inch featuring two new Sloan tunes, a “Sloan circa 1985” T and, best of all, a digital album of a dozen hardcore punk covers, including Descendents’ Catalina, 7 Seconds’ Bully, lots of Angry Samoans and a CanCon entry with the Nils’ Fountains. While the package may come as a surprise to some, Sloan’s love of the genre isn’t a secret. Bassist/singer Chris Murphy frequently cites Descendents as one of his favourite bands, guitarist/singer Jay Ferguson loves Gray Matter, and guitarist/singer Patrick Pentland played in Halifax punk bands in the 80s. Plus, their Twitter background is a photo of the members recreating Minor Threat’s classic Salad Days EP cover (also the cover of Sloan’s new 7-inch).
A great (new) hall
Toronto, you have a fresh music venue. Located at 250 Adelaide West, near Duncan, the Adelaide Music Hall (formerly the London Tap House) is downstairs from the revamped Tap House Toronto. Vancouver rockers Japandroids will christen the space on June 17.
