Love stories gone wrong, heart aches and other reflections on entangled relationships occupy Steph Mercier’s brain, as he writes songs with the Niagara Falls trio James Blonde. To his own admission on one of their songs, he is “hopelessly romantic”. And it shows. Mercier has a great talent for writing awesome pop hooks that simply transports the listener. The second song of their second album, entitled Heartbreak, has an infectious groove as efficient as hit songs from Crystal Castles or Imaginary Dragons. James Blonde wake up the neighborhood when they pick up the electric guitars on Cynical, another potential smash hit, this time for the alternative pop rock air waves. Bandmates Phil Taylor, on drums, and bassman Neil Carson create an efficient environment for singer and guitarist Mercier to express his feelings about frustrated love and complicated relationships. The three of them also have the talent to spin a song around, like they do on Sea of Hearts. Just as the song was getting a bit predictable, they bring in an unexpected twist which pleases the ears. Love it! Their eponymous album is a great record for a pop rock band that could follow in the traces of the likes of Arctic Monkeys… if they resist the call of pleasing kids with sugar pop songs. Way back in 2000, the band had released a first opus, “International Orange”. We’ll see how this Canadian band continues to evolve after this very solid start. JAMES BLONDE James Blonde (Independant, 2017) -Genre: pop rock -In the same style as Crystal Castles, Jason Bajada, Arctic Monkeys Buy the album on the band’s BandCamp page Follow the band via their Facebook page Listen to videos on the band’s YouTube channel Réagissez à cet article / Comment this article commentaires / comments
