Exploring different genres can be an eye opening experience. I found myself going back to this album over and over again, tapping my foot to “Someday” on the bus and humming “Fail” while brushing my teeth.
This album is so diverse within its genre and all the songs have a distinctive sound. The Edmonton-based duo recorded and released their first self-titled album in July 2014. Power-Buddies have been touring across Canada throughout the year, and have since been home recording some anticipated new music. The album opens with a creeping smooth roots style blues riff, with the harsh garage style tremolo. The duo foreshadows the album’s themes of madness and uncertainty while giving you something great to really groove to. The lyrics are hard to make out on some tracks but there is so much to listen to that sometimes letting the vocals take a back seat to the rest of the song is awesome. I listened to the rasp and screams as an instrument, rather than a message, and it all works great together. From someone unfamiliar with the genre and weary looking at the album cover, this has definitely changed my view of what I thought garage rock was. I plan on ramming my headphones into ears across the city to get a taste of Power-Buddies. (Self-released, powerbuddies.bandcamp.com) Olivia Michalczuk