It’s amazing to think that (as I write this, weeks later than I should have) our first single, “The Hedonist,” from our new album Darker Lights is already #47 this week on the Canadian Alternative Rock Chart. From our perspective, any attention at all is just AMAZING in this current musical climate where the Arcade Fire’s “Reflektor” is about to blow up into the mainstream and bands like Yamantaka // Sonic Titan have a firm grip on the so-called underground scene.   Truly amazing – and we thank YOU and the good people (music aficionados) out there in Blogoshpere, College Radio and Satellite Radio land (who give us the all our support).

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank EVERYONE who came out to our video shoot for “The Hedonist” – the editors tell me they should have a “cut” for us soon….

Way back on October 19th we had the pleasure of participating in this year’s CMJ Music Marathon in old New York, New York. We had a blast – not only playing our showcase which was at 12AM in a shifty little rock club in the Lower East Side called Left Field, but also running around the streets of Manhattan, hungry and sleep deprived all day long.  There’s no better way to experience the hustle and bustle of the Village.  For us, the Manhattan date represented the last official tour date of our first tour in support of Darker Lights and I couldn’t think of a better way to end it.

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And now for the controversial portion of our post …. on this tour we spent over 64 hours driving between shows (that’s almost 3 days).  We watched a few DVDs, talked about a number of subjects, both pedestrian and profound, and listened to a lot of CBC Radio3, but eventually, having exhausted our meager DVD collection and having heard every Canadian indie band currently working (including ourselves), we started listening to the nearly bottomless vernacular of classic rock. The topic of conversation turned to discussing the various echelons of rock. We developed a grading system, wherein a band such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd or Led Zep would represent the very top of the heap, these are examples of A and A+ bands, whereas a really good RnR band that didn’t quite deserve to be counted among these greats (but were still great and deserving) would constitute a B or B+ band. Also there was the tricky category of the B (cult A) bands – bands that were perhaps too singular to be true A bands but were nonetheless “A bands” to their rabid fan’s (thus forging their own sub-culture).   This was an elucidating and healthy topic of discussion that provided countless hours of entertainment for us and produced such memorable quotes as: “there are two types of rock: topless rock and shirtless rock. You want to be in the former category,” etc. Below I present the fruits of our labour – the classic rock report card- volume 1. Here (in our opinion) are the very best (and worst) classic rock artists (classic Punk, New Wave, and proto-modern music excluded from the game, in order to keep the debates far enough from the heart as to not damage morale). Also, please note there are certain moves that will denigrate an otherwise A band to B status, such as the use of the “talk box” effect in any guitar solo or hosting your own TV variety show…

Band Grade
Beatles A+
Rolling Stones A+
The Who A+
The Doors A+
Jimmy Hendrix A+
Janis Joplin A+
Pink Floyd A+
Frank Zappa A+
Led Zeppelin A+
Steely Dan A
The Kinks A
The Band A
Black Sabbath A
Neil Diamond A
Simon & Garfunkel A
Captain Beefheart A
Velvet Underground A
Lou Reed A
David Bowie A
ACDC A
Can A
Kraftwerk A
Harmonium A
Gong A
Queen A
Fleetwood Mac A
Beach Boys A
Santana A
Credence Clearwater Revival A
Everly Brothers A
Roy Orbison A
The Zombies A
King Crimson A
George Clinton A
The Birds A
Hall & Oates A
Neil Young and Crazy Horse A
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers A
Spinal Tap B with A potential (Portrayed as a C band in the Movie)
The Animals B+
Van Morrison B+
Judas Priest B (Cult A)
Deep Purple B
The Eagles B
The Turtles B
Mott the Hoople B
Grand Funk Railroad B
Blue Oyster Cult B
Chicago B
Peter Frampton B
Hawkwind B
Jethro Tull B
Doobie Brothers B
The Monkeys B
Aerosmith B
Alice Cooper B
Mountain B
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young B
Jeff Beck B
Traveling Wilburys B
ZZ Top B
Humble Pie B
Steve Miller B
T Rex B
Grateful Dead C (Cult A)
Ted Nugent C
Jefferson Airplane C
Nazareth C
Bay City Rollers C
Rainbow C
King Diamond C
Genesis C
Joe Walsh C
James & the Gang C
Ten Years After C (first C band ever)
Rockpile D
Europe D