Ontarians
Greatest Short Story Never Told
Self-Release/Bandcamp
Intricately Dramatic and Romantic Lo-Fi Canadiana.
Yet again, here’s an album that very nearly passed me by. When it first arrived the band’s name Ontarians intrigued me, as I have a soft spot for Canada and Canadian music ….. but, if I remember rightly it arrived on a day alongside 6 or 7 others so got lost in the swell, as you can imagine.
Jump forward a month or so and as I was scrolling through my Itunes for something completely different I saw this and thought “Aha!”
After twenty minutes I reckon it should have been “Eureka!”
Don’t get over excited; as Ontarians certainly don’t; this isn’t the second coming of The Beatles; it’s what we used to
call Lo-Fi …… the type Canadians do better than any other nation.
Opening track TIME left me totally gobsmacked; somehow merging a melancholic intensity with a laid back attitude.
Honestly.
Possibly it’s the production; but the way Frank Deresti delivers his lines in slow drawl while the band sound like a post-apocalyptic breeze captivates me every time I’ve played this song.
Whoosh! The band crank up the pace and anxiety levels on track #2 No Regrets; still on my Lo-Fi ouvre; but maybe I could call it Alt. Lo-Fi? There’s a lot more of a Country vibe here; but a lot nearer to Wilco than Waylon.
Just like their peers, this album was written and recorded separately over the last 12 months; with only one song finding all three band members; Frank Deresti. Jay Styles and Craig Smith in the same room at the same time; the darkly beautiful Photographs and Epitaphs; but you’d never have guessed when you hear the complex Coming To Me Now or Forest to The Trees; or anything else to be honest …… it’s like a 1000 piece jigsaw that appears impossible judging by the picture on the front; but by the time the final notes of the magnificent wheezing harmonica on Satellites drift from your speakers, you will sit back totally satisfied; as the work both yourself and the musicians have put in have come together
quite beautifully.
To the uninitiated some of these songs may seem a bit ‘wordy’; but that’s the point surely; this ain’t Pop Music; this is music for articulate and thoughtful Grown Ups like you and I; which neatly brings me to the two songs toying for my accolade of Favourite Song.
As usual any love song is always going to get my undivided attention; and Born To Love You certainly pays dividends the more I’ve played it; and on headphones I thought I may even well up and cry. A fairly simple and repetitive chorus feels like Deresti is slowly tightening your heartstrings without you realising it; until you find yourself unable to breathe.
T’other; Balloon, on first and second listening is another complex; almost poetic tale; with the Balloon being a metaphor for ……… ‘love’ and again; the more you listen closely it unravels like a ball of angora wool; soft to the touch yet as strong as steel.
I think I’m going to choose the latter; Balloon as my my Favourite Song; not least because of the stunning and understated pedal-steel that cuts through the rest of the misty instrumentation like a watery morning sun in Winter.
Now I’ve read the band’s accompanying bio I see Wilco actually get a mention …… so I was correct; of course, and I can clearly hear the quality in the bands playing, songwriting and song construction, which only comes from treading the boards from a lifetime on the road learning and listening from ‘the best’ and putting it all together on your own work. The overall ‘feel’ I got was similar to a long lost Canadian band called Ox who I loved and adored; but fell completely off my radar years ago.
In a blind tasting I’m sure 9 out of 10 Hepcats would simply ‘know’ that this was a Canadian album, even without seeing the band’s name …… and that’s meant as a huge compliment.
Released March 12th 2020
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https://ontarians.bandcamp.com/
The Rocking Magpie 