Crop Circle

2004 was busy year for Vancouver Canada's Crop Circle as they were on the road pulling off shows backing up such bands as ZZ Top, Bif Naked, Swollen Members and Gob as well as touring along side Finger Eleven and The trews on the True Music program presented by Budweiser.

Well, apparently things haven't settled down for Brian and the CC boys. Currently putting finishing touches on their debut full length they gave WCI a taste of what's to come.

First off, I have had the opportunity to play shows with these guys in the past with various bands I've been in and based on those shows and what I have previously heard from them I can honestly say the boys are stepping it up a few notches. These new songs are meaty beaty big and bouncy. Heavy, grungy guitar riffs (ala Alice in Chains) and with the fairly recently acquired Sean McCormick on vocals Crop Circle has never sounded better. "Lonely" is a great ROCK track, reminding me of an old band from the late 80's called Little Ceasar. Getting away from the novelty niche of Mexican Cockfight (albeit well received on radio) is a good decision as this band has much more to offer.

When this full album is ready for human consumption I recommend all the fans of heavy guitar driven rock get on it.

--Wayne Stadler, West Coast Indie, April 3, 2005 - West Coast Indie

It is time to revisit the band Crop Circle, with their release "Six Songs". I think that's the disc name. If you visit their web site cropcircle.ca that's how the disc is listed, and yes, there are six songs on the disc.

The four man group Crop Circle calls Vancouver BC home. The band is comprised of, Sean McCormick : vocals, Brian Garbet: guitar, Marco Taliercio: bass, and Ben Darbey: drums. I had a chance to review their three song disc "Mexican Cock Fight" two of the songs from that disc are on the new release "Six Songs". The two songs from "Mexican Cock Fight" are the title track along with the song "Lonely". The songs on this disc are songs previously exclusive to Budweiser True Music.

Having reviewed this group before I was familiar with their sound, but after hearing more songs from Crop Circle I realized how tight this band really is. Nothing on this disc makes the listener feel out of place. Rhythms and melodies are right in line. Their sound pulls from the garage band sound and early alternative rock. If Crop Circle had formed in the early 90's you probably would be hearing their names along with Nirvana, and Pearl Jam.

The first song "Four Guy Wall" reminds me of The B-52's including the vocals, and driving bass line. This song gets you into the groove of the disc. I'm not sure what they are singing about but who cares, its just good music. The good music does not stop with the first song. It flows through the entire disc.

The engineering and sound work are top notch on "Six Songs". I liked the vocal power of Sean McCormick . His voice sounds clean I did not hear an effects package holding him up. The guitar, bass and drums hold their own. Listening to each part individually you feel if that musicians part was all you heard it would still be a good listen.

To break the mystery, Yes I really liked this disc. Plain and simple its good music.

--Bill Carrera, EvOR, March 2005 - EvOR

2004 saw Vancouver's Crop Circle perform for the first time outside of their natural habitat alongside acts like ZZ Top, Bif Naked, Finger Eleven and Gob. The band that made quite a name for themselves locally with the gimmicky "Mexican Cockfight" (re-recorded for this EP), has now returned with a new singer and a new six-song EP that's full of what they excel in. That being some nasty brooding rock full of grungy riffs.
The new disc boasts some re-recorded tracks from the abovementioned EP as well as songs that were previously made available thru Budweiser True Music and two more brand new cuts. It's a taste of what's to come as Crop Circle are planning to record their debut full-length this summer.

Thomas, Punk Rock Theory-May 2005 - Punk Rock Theory

Things are getting steamier out there in the Okanagan. April was a busy month and I certainly had my share of rawked-out fun. My epic night of the month was Saturday, April 23 at The Warehouse. Good sound = good times. Crop Circle headlined the show with fellow Van City rockers, Fear Zero.

Crop Circle was fan-freaking-tastic. Their "Mexican Cockfight" song always sounds best live. This band has incredible energy, excellent songwriting, and great lyrics. They're stage presence is very powerful. I wouldn't be surprised to see them at Prospera Place next time they are in town.

Rawk Talk by Sarah Willard-The Okanagan Musician, May 2005 Issue 28 pg. 16 - The Okanagan Musician

Some relatively unknown local groups have been selected to take part in a national promotion with big-name sponsorship. Budweiser True Music is a digital-music download service that features songs from a variety of Canadian acts. These include major signed bands such as the Trews and Finger Eleven, and indie outfits like Vancouver's Crop Circle, State of Shock and Krome. Crop Circle's Brian Garbet told the Straight that someone from Budweiser discovered the band on an obscure Internet site and got in touch. The guitarist admits he had reservations about signing on to a project with such obvious corporate tie-ins, but he said that benefits to the bands outweigh any flak they might get. "I looked at it this way: how they're basically functioning for us in a lot of ways is sort of like a record company. Like, they're getting us out there, they're getting promotion happening, opening up doors to different things that we might not be able to get on our own, most likely. And they're not asking anything from us other than to allow people to download our music, which we want anyhow." Bands participating in the True Music promotion will perform at Bud-sponsored concerts throughout the country this summer. "It's a big step for us," Garbet said. "I think it's going to help things, and I'm looking forward to it."

Music Notes by John Lucas-The Georgia Straight June 17-24, 2004 pg. 73 - The Georgia Straight

"Solid rock'n'roll...the way it should be."
--Mary-Anne Korosi, New Music Canada/Punkorama-June 6, 2005

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"meaty, beaty, big and bouncy with heavy, grungy guitar riffs... Crop Circle has never sounded better."
--Wayne Stadler, West Coast Indie-April 3, 2005

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"muscle and intelligence."
--Tom Harrison, The Province, Vancouver, BC-February 15, 2005

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"Lonely is one of the strongest indie tracks I've heard all year.
A straight-ahead, no-frills, rock melody that's sure to be a winner for 2005."
--Rick Baverstock, Station Manager-92.9 KICK-FM, Winnipeg, MB-April 13, 2005

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"Good straight ahead Rock is what 'Lonely' is all about!"
--Rob Robson, Programmer-CBC Galaxie Rock-April 14, 2005

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"With an infectious chunky guitar sound and harmonica parts that make harmonicas cool again, 'Lonely' is all about what straight-ahead rock should sound like."
--Poncho Parker, Drive Host/AMD-106.1 The Goat, Lloydminster, AB-April 21, 2005

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"Straight outta sunny Vancouver, Crop Circle mix twisty prog n' roll and post-grunge mope metal into a volatile stew of strangely compelling radio-ready modern rock."
--Sleazegrinder, Boston, MA-March 2005

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"We put 'Mexican Cockfight' on the air for a test spin....and the phones wouldn't stop ringing. It's been a favorite all summer long on Power 104!"
--Bob Mills, program director-Power 104, Kelowna, BC-Sept. 11, 2003
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"Instant reaction! Crop Circle's 'Mexican Cockfight' had the phones erupting from the first time we played it. Our audience just went nuts with requests."
--Trace Ventura-99.3 The Fox, Vancouver, BC-April 23, 2003

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"This is meat-and-potatoes rock--with the emphasis on the meat."
--John Lucas-The Georgia Straight, Vancouver, BC-Oct. 7, 2002.

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"Its obvious that this band isn't going to be fading anytime soon."
--Sarah Szloboda, Youthink October 7, 2002-v5 n2 pg.24

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"Thats Crop Circle, those are local guys, they've got a song in Cockfight, I like it. I think thats my new favorite song and we oughta play it every hour on the hour."
--Willy from the Larry & Willy Show-99.3 The Fox, Vancouver, BC-March 20, 2002.

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"Crop Circle's next release is going to surprise a lot of people - this band can write songs!"
--Anthony Benda, Die Popstar.

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"My foot was tapping through the entire disc."
--Bill Carrera, EvOR

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"Have to say...Mexican Cockfight... yeah...WAY TOO CATCHY!!! Woke up with it in my head a couple of times this week...wanted to punch people who look like chickens...completely defeats the whole 'violence against animals' thing..."
--Angela Muir-The Vagina Monologues, Feb. 15, 2003

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"If the Fox played bands like Crop Circle instead of Nickelback, then I'd feel some hope for the world."
-- Chris LaVigne-Vancouver Indie, Jan. 27, 2003

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"One other thing I like about Crop Circle is they don't have the sound of every other damn band out there. They have their own sound."
--Chad Bishop, Die Popstar - various

By Glenna Turnbull
Okanagan Musician Contributor

Its not every day that you get to interview the man with the biggest, meanest cock in town, but with Crop Circle coming to town at the end of last month, it seemed the perfect opportunity.

Brian Garbet, a member of Crop Circle, told me the band was really looking forward to returning to the Okanagan. We were there three times last summer. The first time was when they brought us up for Memorial Cup when Kelowna won, then we came back and got to open for ZZ Top. That was the concert of our lives, playing with ZZ Top, it was very, very cool. There were about 12,000 people there. The last one was at Whiskey Jacks as a Budweiser True Music show.

Crop Circle got picked up by Budweiser, who then took them on tour and promoted them. Brian said, They found us on the internet, actually. It was one of those obscure, put your link up, Canadian music websites. They liked what they read and liked what they heard and got in touch with us. They were looking for a specific kind of sound. It was nice to be handpicked.

Mexican Cockfight is probably the song the band is known best for, but on listening to their EP, its completely different from the rest of the songs on the CD. Yeah, its got a completely different sound. Believe it or not, that was actually the first song we ever wrote. It was what it was. It wasnt like we wanted to have that as our sound necessarily, but were diverse people and that song just kind of came about its kind of unique.

Brian said the song was done as a tongue-in-cheek and also as a metaphor for that
male one-upmanship that guys get involved in. But it really doesnt give you any idea of the bands sound. I guess were a modern hard rock band thats about as close as it gets, Brian said when asked to pigeon hole their band into a category. But back to that big cock thing

I laughed and asked if he got teased a lot about having the biggest cock in town, that it must come up a lot? It sure does, Brian laughed. We just had someone put in an order for a T-shirt from overseas last night we have T-shirts that say, I have the biggest, meanest cock in town on the back. Theyre popular sellers.

The name Crop Circle itself is an interesting choice. Brian noted, When we were first starting the band, it was a name we thought of that was kind of mysterious and crop circles were just really starting to become prominent, there were sightings throughout Canada. It was a fitting name for the type of music we wanted to write. We actually went up to visit the first crop circle sighting in BC up in Vanderhoof.

When it comes to writing songs, Brian replied, We all do the writing. Sometimes someone will bring an idea into the band, other times we just jam. Everyones really good at writing and we seem to compliment each other.

Since forming in 2002, there have been a couple of changes in the line up. Brian explained, We had a different singer and bass player. Last year, just going into the summer, we had a parting of ways. Our drummer and I wanted to be more hard rock, push the envelop a little more, and the other guys wanted to go in a pop-ier direction. Were all on the same page now. Sean, Ben and I all went to high school together at Mission Secondary and I knew Marco when I went to study music at Vancouver Community College. Then I went on to Simon Fraser University from there. Were a pretty close band, we kind of grew up together and I think thats partly why it works so well with the writing.

The current line up consists of Sean McCormick (vocals), Brian Garbet (guitar), Marco Taliercio (bass) and Ben Darbey (drums). Theyre just getting ready to cut their first full length CD, which Brian hopes will be out by the fall. For now, songs on their EP continue to get air time. Brian said, We have a new single now called Lonely thats in medium and feature rotation at some radio stations in the west and it seems to be taking off for us, which was kind of unexpected, so we may have a second song on our hands here."

For more information on Crop Circle, check out their web site at www.cropcircle.ca

The Okanagan Musician, March 2005 Issue 25 Pg. 10 - The Okanagan Musician