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The Guthries's Blessings and Curses
By Michael Barclay
The debut album by Halifax country band the Guthries, 2000’s Off Windmill, seemingly came from nowhere, and the reaction was instantaneous. Their melancholic honky tonkin’ heartache made them immediately loveable, and with three lead singers providing rich harmony there was plenty of variety to keep live audiences guessing. Together with their friends in the Heavy Blinkers — Guthries’ Dale Murray plays guitar on the Blinkers’ latest, while vocalist Ruth Minnikin is a member of both — there seemed to be a new Halifax pop explosion on the new Brobdingnagian label.
It helped when all those bands started getting praise in British magazines, which in the Guthries’ case led to a three-week tour of the UK, where the good times continued to roll. “Reaction was probably better outside the country than in,” says drummer Brian Murray. “It opened our eyes a lot to not selling ourselves short, and putting out the word to different countries.”
The next year would throw some roadblocks in the band’s way, beginning with a business disagreement with Brobdingnagian that led to a severing of ties. That was followed by the departure of singer/songwriter Matt Mays, who had penned some of their best-loved songs, in the middle of recording their second, self-titled album.
The Guthries is being released this month, followed by a seven-week Canadian tour and four weeks in the UK. It features more elaborate arrangements, akin to the lushness of the Heavy Blinkers, and the recorded vocal debut of mandolin player Gabe Minnikin, whose deep baritone makes Johnny Cash sound like the Bee Gees. “After that first record came out, Gabe brought some songs to the table and they were good tunes and went over really well,” says Dale. “At that point Matt was in the band and we had four singers, and that was fine. It looks like one songwriter left and another one stepped up, but it’s just a coincidence and an evolution.”
“The label thing happened last April,” Dale continues. “All of that stuff together certainly doesn’t make you feel great about things, but it’s brought the core members together. Matt came in about a year after we started, so this is a return to the original members. We were a band before him, and we are after as well. Those are all the trials you go through, and they either put you out of your misery or they make you stronger.”
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Cornershop Collaboratorshop
 Hip-hop might bear the brunt of attacks on the ever-growing guest shot front, but the celebrity cameo is now catching on across the pop spectrum. While it often feels like a marketing ploy, on their latest long-player Handcream for a Generation, Cornershop manages to blend their collaborators just as smoothly on When I was Born for the 7th Time — which featured the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and hip Southern chanteuse Paula Frazer....Read More
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Blackalicious. Travelling Music.
 As part of the Solesides collective, MC Gift of Gab and DJ Chief Xcel, better known as Blackalicious, were influential players on the Bay Area independent hip-hop scene. After releasing two EPs and the critically acclaimed Nia independently, the duo, like fellow Solesides alum DJ Shadow, have gone the major label route with their sophomore effort Blazing Arrow....Read More
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Luna Wait of the World
 Years from now, when pop surrealist Dean Wareham looks back on the career of his band Luna, one of his most enduring memories will be waiting for albums to drop. The latest disc to be deferred was Luna’s new Romantica. Originally scheduled for a March release, the disc finally came out in late April after the 11-year-old band’s new label, Jetset, held things up for the sake of a co-ordinated European release that never even ended up happening....Read More
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The Promise Ring Suffer Nevermore
 The Promise Ring's Davey von Bohlen is good and ready to have his life back. After experiencing three years of health problems related to a brain tumour that was removed in 2000, von Bohlen has undergone the final surgery, which should signal a return to normal life. While the tumour's removal was a complete success, subsequent problems with infection left von Bohlen with a hole where a significant part of his skull should be....Read More
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Curl Up and Die Get Their Geek On
 “At first being geeky hindered us. I think we feel that we’re the nerdy goofballs into having fun and actually playing music, but it has helped us be ourselves, instead of following trends or paths in hardcore,” says vocalist Mike Minnick....Read More
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Taking a break at about the halfway mark of director Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq war drama, The Hurt Locker, I realized my jaw was sore. I had been unconsciously clenching it from the first moment of The Hurt Locker, which chronicles a three-man team of explosives ordinance disposal (bomb s...
Full Review
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