Those other Americans.
Randy Bachman (Guess Who, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Frank Marino (Mahogany Rush), Alex Lifeson (Rush) are all Canucks. Each came from the frozen north to achieve rock stardom. There is a new Canadian rock band that somehow catches the classic tone of "Taking Care of Business", mixes it with a little "Juggernaut" and pours it out "Closer To The Heart" with its own distinctive sound, The Lad Classic, and they have released two five track EP's, "Thunder" and "Lightning."
The Lad Classic consists of the raspy vocals by Paul Stevens; loud, banging drums from Josiah Whitney; booming bass out of Mark Rynkun; and intense fuzz, buzz distortion rock guitar from Nova Scotian Ben Healey. Thunder is their second EP, an electric version of their first EP, Lightning, which was an all acoustic effort (and finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.) Between the two you don't get something "very, very frightening," rather, The Lad Classic cavort in a modern, almost grunge, sound steeped in pounding, classic rock. Here is the tracklist from Thunder (the tracklisting is the same for Lightning, except each performance is all acoustic):
1. Cadillac Jack
2. Hit Me
3. Another One
4. London Bridge
5. Blowout
Just like the classic Canadian rockers of yore, The Lad Classic couple melody with a rock music onslaught that makes the sound, well, classic. It is as if this band took the essence of heavy Canadian rock, put it in a blender and drank it while playing poker with a polar bear. Don't believe me - just check out the first Thunder track Cadillac Jack, but watch out for that polar bear. I think he cheats. What do you think? A?
- Old School
