1. Propter Hawk – Theatre of the Whole World
Next time you see some old guy waving his fist in the air, rambling about how new music sucks and rock n’roll is dead, knock him upside the head — then apologize to try to avoid legal action — and bring up the fact that he’s missing out on Propter Hawk.
He’ll look befuddled but once you play him this tune from 2022, he’ll be begging you for more musical suggestions, and maybe he’ll even name his next cat after you. But that’s aside from the point.
Propter Hawk is a throwback to classic rock — think ’60s/’70s — whose tunes feature blazing horns, catchy choruses, and wonderful lines like, “I Got sepsis from a neck wound, where you sucked out my soul”.
What really grabs me about this band is the warm, attitude soaked voice of frontwoman, Malorie Blake.
It’s so distinct — like part country, part rock, all awesome. And it’s completemented perfectly by the composition and musicianship of the other bands members.
You can check out their other music here, and any upcoming tour dates here.
2. Belle Plaine – Laila Sady Johnson Wasn’t Beaten By No Train
There’s just some songs that grab your attention and don’t let go.
And so is the case with Saskatchewanian singer-songwriter, Belle Plaine’s Laila Sady Johnson Wasn’t Beaten By No Train, which tells the story of a woman who went toe to toe with a train and lived to tell the tale.
It’s a bluesy-country tune that, aside from featuring Plaine’s soulful voice, showcases her phenomenal ability as a lyricist.
“T’wards an unmarked intersection/Shaded by brush and pine/Came the pride of the Dominion/The Canadian Pacific line” and “A machine can bear no malice/Mercy, grief or wrath/And few can tell of how/They’ve crossed a locomotive’s path”.
I mean c’mon! It reads like an old well-crafted limerick.
Belle Plaine has three albums, been nominated for a Juno and is still kicking out great tunes.
If you dig this song, you can check out more of her work here, or see if she’s playing near you here.
3. Taxi Girls – Say It!
The “not so secret” secret gem of Montreal’s punk scene, Taxi Girls, have played with everyone from NOFX and Billy Talent, and it’s not surprising why.
Just listen to a few seconds of them and you’ll be in punk rock love. They’re melodic, bring a ton of energy to their live performances and are a real champion of the Montreal punk scene, saying in an interview with punknews.org, “It feels like there’s a new rebirth…and everyone is there for one simple reason: to have a good time. It’s really nice to see. There are so many new bands it’s really hard to keep on top of it. I feel like there’s a younger generation who are active and starting projects. I just hope it keeps going strong”.
Their lineup is a wonderful frankenstein monster of numerous Quebec bands, including the rhythm section of the punk band, Pale Lips, the guitarist of the metal band, Scare and the front-woman of the hardcore-punk band, WSHR/DRYR.
They have recently released an album, Static which you can learn more about here, and you can check out their other tunes here.
4. Dom Martin – Daylight I Will Find (live)
When an artists website bio opens with, “Dom Martin was brought up in the often tough, but community driven streets of Belfast Northern Ireland and has certainly paid his life and musical dues”, you immediately think Scorsese or Spielberg is making a film about this guy.
But once you get past that and hear the bluesy vocals of Don Martin — whose voice is like a warmer Stevie Ray Vaughn — you realize all those tough days and hours spent practicing as a child, have accumulated into an out of this world blues musician.
“My dad had five kids,” said Martin to glasgowbluesplayers.wordpress.com. “He should never have had any kids because he had no means to look after anybody, he couldn’t even look after himself. But…the music was always there while we were growing up. It’s all we ever did”.
He’s released over five albums along with a plethora of singles, and has won the UK Blues Awards Best Instrumentalist Award three times.
And while the studio recorded version of this song does a fine job of capturing Martin’s talents, I have to recommend the live version because here you feel the full power of him vocally.
Dig into the music here, and if you want more info about the artist, check out his site here.
5. Lachy Doley – I’m a Man
Lachy Doley plays the piano like it’s a percussive instrument.
He beats down on the keys with precision and ferocity, and well, I ain’t ever seen nothing like it.
I first discovered Doley like a lot of people, on social media when he had a viral moment for his live performance solo in Jimmy Barnes – Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye) — you can check out the clip here. It’s…something else.
Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, Doley has graced the keys in many bands, including Powderfingers, and Joe Bonamassa, but here we’re featuring some of his phenomenal solo work. In this case, the cover he did of the Spencer David trio song — I’m a Man.
In a radio interview with Ken Wallis of Blues Source International, Lachey said of the song, “I love that earlier Spencer Davis stuff. He was so young, but he could sing so incredibly well, and his playing was great. I’ve been doing Gimme Some Lovin for years and years, but I’ve never done I’m A Man, and I thought maybe this would be a great time to try that tune, especially with the backing singers and the horns”.
You can read more of that interview here at soundcafe.com (where they transcribed the interview), and you can check out Doley’s work here.