Archive for the ‘Worst Case Ontario’ Category
May 25, 2010
Worst Case Ontario
Smallcraft
Self Released
Spring 2010
Once again Sam Weisberg and company have sucked our faces back to the summer of 1994. Worst Case Ontario and their fan base may get tired of people saying this, but it is meant in the best possible way. The epic two part guitar melodies juxtaposed with Weisberg’s gas huffing garage rock voice shuttles me back to the sidewalk out of Duffy’s Tavern to listen to the Flaming Lips sing Pilot Can At The Queer Of God. This is the stuff of geniuses; it was a time when you either sided with Pearl Jam or Nirvana; it was a time made for Little Bastard, Semisonic, Sponge, and all the other pop wrought bands that emerged mid-decade, after the descriptive “alternative” no longer referred to otherness or alterity, but rather the very essence of the mainstream. Slacker culture had won out on top. The only thing known about irony came from that damn Alanis Morissette video. This was a time for Mall Rats and Swingers; a time for being money. Tucked within those days of corduroy and flannel, were debates pitting Doolittle against Surfer Rosa, or Slanted and Enchanted against Wowee Zowee. Worst Case Ontario cannot help but evoke these memories. This isn’t the same thing as the Williamsburg music scene or the Bushwick art scene. Who had time for fine things? This band might circulate within the New York music scene, but they do not supplicate the trends of the day.
While their last record Burning Politely was noted to have had the same effect, Worst Case Ontario has made a shorter more concise EP trimming off much of the fat that weighed them down in the past. Like Burning Politely, Smallcraft is both endearing for its saturated musicality of the late 20th century, and inspiring for its display of rawness and earnestness. Particularly salient in this regard are the songs The Complainer and Starve, which encapsulate the very spirit of the band, though the other tracks on the EP are not nearly as interesting. The entirety of the Smallcraft project is displayed a marked improvement. The band has harnessed that space in the garage, that love affair we have with our slacker selves, and has added to it the slightest promise that they aim to be better, that they aim to be more. This is at no time more apparent than the 5:22 minute marker of the concluding track Capricorn every member of the band draws their instrument out full throttle, it is the very second where an otherwise bland track is given life and the band asserts themselves, that they aren’t exactly about not giving a fuck about life. Though the band does need to figure out how to find their sweet spot a little more often….the EP is so far from perfect…it doesn’t need to be perfect.
6/9
-FF
http://www.myspace.com/wcoband
Review of Burning Politely
Posted in 2010, 6 Points, Bands, Collectives, and Artists, EP, Format, Frederick Foxtrott, Genre, Indie Media, Labels, Miscellaneous, Music, Music Review, New York City, Places, Rating, Self Released, Worst Case Ontario | Tagged 2007, Bands, Burning Politely, Indie, Music, Music Review, New York City, Pop, Unsigned, Worst Case Ontario | 1 Comment »
July 28, 2008
Worst Case Ontario
Pianos 10PM $8
July 28th 2008
Tonight at Pianos in Manhattan Worst Case Ontario will take stage at 10PM. The show begins at 8PM with It Is It comedy series. Afterwards the show might explode into a dance-fest, that is if they replace DJinn Toys whose show has been moved to August 11th. These guys are working the circuit and should prove to be a worthwhile show. It is always nice to see a band that works for their notoriety. As it stands now the show costs $8.
Lower East Side of Manhattan at 158 Ludlow Street at Stanton.
Worst Case Ontario- Burning Politely Record Review
Posted in 2008, Bands, Frederick Foxtrott, Indie, Music, New York City, Pianos, Uncategorized, Unsigned, Worst Case Ontario | Tagged 2008, Burning Politely, Music, Pianos, Show Alert, Worst Case Ontario | Leave a Comment »
January 31, 2008
Worst Case Ontario
Burning Politely
Fall 2007
Unsigned
Burning Politely comes out of the gate swinging. The first track, You’re Glib, is packed with melody laden pop-rock super senses. It is a short jolt of candy cane crafted guitar riffs melded with a vocal style reminiscent of lazy mouthed song writing demigods like Paul Westerberg and Stephen Malkmus. What separates Worst Case Ontario from the rest is the contrast between Sam Weisberg’s hands and his lips. His voice is a specter of late eighties college rock while his hands play heavy pop riffs as a zippy guitar solo fast-forwards the songs into late 90’s alternative rock radio. The contrast can be heard most explicitly on the track Discouraging Things Happen at Recess. It truly compresses an entire decade into a single song.
Eugene Levy Unbilled is perhaps the album’s best track because of its consistency. I am a sucker for inconsistent music, but Worst Case Ontario is at their best when they bust out their stuff under 2:35. They aim to satisfy the nerdy late eighties college student in everyone. Unfortunately, they interject that influence with trite guttural “rawk” in songs like Purge. The vomitous vocalizations are meant to illustrate the song’s vomitous theme. The illustrative effort leaves the overall splendor of Burning Politely muted and diluted, not slanted and enchanted. Worst Case Ontario’s lyrics are not particularly interesting, complex, or witty, and they could certainly drop a few tracks off the record for a condensed and delicious EP, but they have a style that sets out to reinvigorate a sound that once dominated mixed tape nights everywhere.
When this band signs a deal, they will certainly find that their strength is not the replication or echoing of the various artists who have come before them, rather they will remind us why the slacker spirit will never die. It is not who they sound like, but why they sound the way they do. This may seem to be a line blurred beyond distinction, but the difference is important. Although they will create new music and structure it in new ways, Worst Case Ontario is the kind of band that will charmingly never venture too far from the indie heroes of yester year. That would simply be too much effort. While that sentiment may not be unique, it will always have a universal appeal in the world of independent music.
5/9
http://www.myspace.com/wcoband
Posted in 2007, 5 Points, Bands, Indie, Music, Music Review, New York City, Pop, Unsigned, Worst Case Ontario | Tagged 2007, Bands, Burning Politely, Indie, Music, Music Review, New York City, Pop, Unsigned, Worst Case Ontario | Leave a Comment »
