ENTERTAINMENT ~ PANTHER POST

Wintersleep hits The Wave

Page 12 January 2009

Nova Scotia indie-rock act Wintersleep have gained great success, especially in the Maritime provinces, nabbing Juno and East Coast Music

Awards. Bysterveldt Photo

By Whitney Bysterveldt

Panther Post

Cutting their teeth in Yar- mouth Nova Scotia, Winter- sleep has gone from small town indie rock side-project to one of the biggest selling acts the East Coast has seen since the Sloan era.

Forming in 2001 this five piece outfit consists of Paul Murphy (vocals/guitar), Loel Campbell (drums), Tim D’eon (keys/guitar), Mike

Dinosaur Jr Béyond

By Ryan Merry Post contributor

Dinosaur Jr’s founding fa- thers reunited in 2005 to begin recording their latest piece of work after a hiatus of almost twenty years, Di- nosaur Jr’s three original members, J Mascis, Lou

Barlow, and Emmit “Murph”

Bigelow (bass) and Jon Sam- uel (backing vocals/guitar). Now three albums deep and into the fourth, Wintersleep is signed with Labwork and Dependent. Their heavy phantom sound coalesces with beautiful yet lonely lyr- ics sung by Murphy’s unique and haunting voice results in an astounding live produc- tion. A polished and promi- nent percussionist, Campbell is a show unto his own and frequently breaks into acute rock n roll solos that capture

Murphy rejoined to create 2007’s Beyond, their eighth studio album.

\If you ask me, it was well worth the twenty-year wait.

Let it be known that all three musicians are incred- ibly talented, each bringing their own individual musical personalities to the group. That being said, J Mascis definitely shines the bright- est on this album.

Every track on Beyond is solid and feature a relatively unique sound.

Vocally, Mascis is nothing

the audience.

Although Halifax is home, Wintersleep leads the no- madic life of a troubadour,

‘touring extensively for the

past two years touting their latest album Welcome to the Night Sky which led to their 2008 Juno award for Band of the Year.

The awards keep coming as they have recently been nominated for an ECMA Best Video Award for the first release off the same al- bum with Weighty Ghost.

spectacular but his seem- ingly unenthusiastic vocal style blends perfectly with the heavy hitting, highly distorted sound of the band. With Barlow’s fast, heavily distorted bass lines and the quick, heavy-handed Murph behind the drum kit, Beyond boasts a loud, in-your-face sound that doesn’t let up un- til the silence following the closing track.

However, Mascis’ lengthy, melodic, and distortion-lad- en solos are what truly sets Dinosaur Jr apart from oth-

As if the work involved with Wintersleep wasn’t enough, band members Campbell, Bigelow and D’eon take part in number of side projects. Perhaps most well known is the Polaris short-listed and pejoratively named electron- ica maestros Holy Fuck.

You may have also seen their faces at Contrived, Hayden, The Holy Shroud and The Remains of Brian Borcherdt shows in recent history.

For those who are fans er bands; his guitar solo on “Pick Me Up” is incredible and effortlessly holds the lis- tener’s interest for its close to three minute duration.

In my opinion, the album’s stand-out tracks are “Pick Me Up,” “Back To Your Heart,” and “Almost Ready.” “Back To Your Heart,” one of the two songs written by Lou Barlow, is an all-around ex- cellent song supported by an extremely catchy riff played throughout the chorus. “Al- most Ready,” the first song on the album wastes abso-

of Contrived you can find a new album released off a new record label, Hand Drawn Dracula, with the latest songs to be found on Myspace. But for right now the boys of Wintersleep are embarking on a new tour with Plants and Animals which will be making a stop at our illustrious campus pub The Wave on the 21st.

Sorry kiddies but this is a 19+ event and tickets go on sale Jan. 5 at Mickey’s Place and The Wave.

lutely no time introducing listeners to the distortion that the band has come to be known for.

If you’re loking for some- thing —_ out-of-the-ordinary, Dinosaur Jr’s Beyond is an excellent choice. Developing their sound over almost three decades, Mascis, Barlow, and Murph all managed to age like a fine wine.

With a sound that is en- tirely their own, Dinosaur Jr are essentially antithetical to boring, lackluster music.