Friday 29 May 2009

Free Download Friday #12: The Trews

The Trews are a band that followed me on Twitter so I went to have a look at them on Twitter. From Twitter I went to their YouTube page, then to MySpace and finally to their official site. When I checked them out, I was impressed.

Their Twitter feed wasn't exactly enthralling but it did take me to the video for their new single: I Can't Stop Laughing. Enjoyably noisy guitars from the brothers MacDonald and Colin MacDonald, the vocalist, has a suitably gruff edge to his voice that sounds great. The drummer was good too (although I'm not sure about the hat). In fact, the band are all good. They work well together and seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves in this video. I must admit a slight bias to bands that look like they enjoy what they do - much better than bands that take themselves too seriously. As long as the music is seriously good, I'd rather watch a band having fun. Anyway, here's the video:



I especially like the comedy piper and the character drunk tapping the girl on the arm. :-)

Since I liked the video, I found my way to The Trews website where there are two tracks available for download.

The first track for download is Long Way From Freedom which is a track that didn't quite make it onto their new album. It's good though not outstanding, but I gave it three stars on my iPod making it as good as many tracks that have made it onto albums! I hope it's an indication of the quality of the album if this one wasn't good enough to make the cut!

The second track that can be downloaded from their site is Montebello Park from their Den of Thieves album - and it's a belter. I've already given it a good few plays and I think it's the kind of track I'll grow to like even more as I become more familiar with it.

Apparently they are fairly well known in their native Canada but I hope they make a big impact here in the UK too. I will definitely keep an eye on them.

My only problem is the dodgy graphic on the Twitter page and their new album!

7 comments:

JT said...

Nice find! I get a bit of a Pearl Jam meets Van Halen vibe from them - the music is straight ahead, no nonsense, rock & roll like Pearl Jam, but there's a fun/party vibe that I would expect more from Van Halen. I'm going to keep an ear on these guys.

JT said...

I love how life works. I had not heard of these guys before this post, but tonight when I was driving home (no more than a 15-minute drive), I had the radio on what I call the "modern rock" station when a familiar sounding band came on. Turns out it was "I Can't Stop Laughing" - very cool. :D

David said...

Grey Cortina Syndrome - you don't notice how many grey Cortinas are on the road until you buy one yourself. (The reference to Cortinas"shows how many years ago it was when a psychology lecturer described this effect to me when I was a student!

Glad you like The Trews. His voice definitely reminds me of someone... but not sure it's Pearl Jam. I'm going to keep worrying away at it and if I make the connection - I'll let you know.

rockgoddes said...

These guys are my favourite band so it's always lovely to read about someone else finding them.

Thank you!

Bar L. said...

Thanks for the fun band name generator....I love Savage Chicken!

David said...

Hello Rockgoddess

Really enjoying what I've found by The Trews so far. I think the purchase of an album is imminent.

Hello Barbara

Glad you liked the Savage Chickens. Despite a number of attempts, I've never mastered an instrument. If I ever did, I've already decided my band's name would be Nice Döggie. :-)

JT said...

Thought you might like to know that I've borrowed all of The Trews' albums from my local library. I've been listening to these 2 songs a lot, and I always turn up the radio whenever "Can't Stop Laughing" comes on - they're all so catchy. They're playing a festival not far from where I live in September, and if the rest of their music is as good as the 3 songs I've heard, I'm going to try and make it to their show.

Just another example of how giving music away for free - even if it's just a song or two - can pay big dividends for artists.