The Perms - July/August 2007
Monday, July 16th, 2007Who: The Perms
Where: Winnipeg
What: nothing’s permanent
Contact: Bill Blair 204-782-6982; e-mail: theperms@theperms.com; www.theperms.com; www.myspace.com/theperms
Barroom rockers The Perms are working on a new album, tentatively scheduled for an October release, and what it will sound like is anyone’s guess now that the saxophonist/keyboard player has left. On the band’s third and most recent album, 2005’s Better Days, there’s just something about the sax that makes even the saddest of sentiments (such as the lyric “Leave her alone/ Stay away†on “Liesâ€) sound like a good time and one can tell this is a party band that would do well at a frat house gig or cottage party. One of the album’s two producers, Neil Cameron (The Watchmen, Christine Fellows), referred to The Perms’ sound as a “blend of modern rock and a taste of Motown groove.†For the next album, Shane Smith (bass, vocals), Chadwick Smith (guitar, vocals) and Marty Chapman (drums) will continue as a three-piece and are currently looking for a producer and deciding where to record. “We have been going for a while without the sax, so it’s not going to be that big of a change for us,†says The Perms Manager, Bill Blair. “We have even done a number of tours without the sax and people still loved what they heard. Remember, the guys started out as a 3-piece.â€
Proof that music has no language barrier, Vancouver-based Pacifika creates gorgeous Latin-pop, sung almost entirely en espanol, on its second album, Asunción, released on its own label, Watermark, distributed by Fontana North. The trio’s first album, Unveiled, came out in 2004, and had mostly English titles. The group spelled its name with a ‘c’ instead of the ‘k.’ Now, it’s the opposite. Peruvian-born singer Silvana Kane (who began her recording career in the early ’90s as part of teen pop group West End Girls); her long-time friend, Canadian-bred guitarist Adam Popowitz (ex Mollies Revenge); and newest member, Barbados-raised bassist Toby Peter (formerly of k-os’s band) holed up at Vancouver’s Rear Window Sound & Song last year, working on Asunción’s 10 songs. They self-produced and mixed everything. Only the gentle “Sweet†has some English verses. The others are purely in Kane’s native Spanish, including the percussive “Me CaÃ,†whose video can be seen on Bravo and MuchMoreMusic’s Clip Trip. The only lyric explained in the bio is “Más y Más,†a one-voice-one-guitar dark delicacy about “a butterfly flying across the ocean despite an inevitable end.†The rest could well be about the same thing for all we know. Doesn’t matter. The results sound beautiful. Can’t escape the city this summer? Throw on this album and be transported. After Pacifika’s European tour, the band will be back on home soil for fall dates.
Zuku’s seven-song EP, Here With You, is mainly a balance of the hard and the musical –we say mainly because the Toronto rock band throws a few curve balls, not the least of which comes from the splashes of mandolin, piano, Korg bass synth and mini Moog, which it doesn’t have live. Although Zuku would probably want to be known for its heavier songs, the lighter-by-comparison “The Wave Washes Away†is a smash hit with its altogether-now possibility “they won’t stop calling for you/foryou/for you/ for you,†while “Steelveins†is a country bluegrass clap-along that could be stepped up onstage into wild hootenanny. The rest are in a Foo Fighters vein, hard-voiced but big on melody, like the rock radio-ready title track. Lead singer/guitarist Brandon Kennedy devised Zuku in 2003, working on the sound while he was still in metal outfit Goat Horn. Flash forward to the fall of 2006, and he and Mike Conroy (guitar, vocals), Jordan Beard (guitar, vocals) and Chris Chartrand (drums) joined him at Toronto’s Hallam Studios for two months to record the EP. Kennedy co-produced alongside Uncut’s Jon Drew (Toyko Police Club, Magneta Lane). There has been a change to the Zuku line-up since, hence the incognito press photo, but now Matt Felske has stepped in to replace Conroy.
