Effect & Cause

Kicking off with a catchy drum lick, the new Effect and Cause album shows the group's growth since its last studio work.<br /><br />
The funky opening track "The Suit" has a reggae feel achieved through driving percussion, interjections of the bass and lead guitar, and solid rhythem guitar lines and its hooks are hummable. (Thanks for that, guys!)

Next, "Lost," a hard-hitting rock tune that will get people up and dancing, continues to push with tons of energy.

Slowing things down with "Shindig," the band shows its versatility and introduces colour and texture with the two different but interweaving guitar lines and a drum part that successfully produces beautiful crescendi at the end of several phrases.

Returning to a more upbeat tempo, "Man of the Times" is a solid rock tune, while "See Spot Run" adopts more cutting-edge guitar playing -- the word "conversation" being embodied by the two guitarists -- and sounds like the most "indie" tune of the bunch.

The last tunes -- the metal-tinged "Revolver" and the introspective "Gulls" -- are not only as well crafted as the other cuts, but also show the band's range. The lyrics are quirky and original, but would still be commercially viable without caving to the Nickelbackesque norm that overcrowds the airwaves.

Since his work sets the tone for the album, I'll comment first on Cody Iwasiuk's playing.

After only one year in the music program at Brandon University, this young drummer is to be commended for his high level of musicianship.

His contribution to this project gives it a seamless, smooth and accurate quality.

Another musician I've often heard and seen over the years -- vocalist Katlin Mathison, who also plays bass -- has overcome the inevitable pubescent voice change and now has a unique set of pipes. Warm one minute, gravelly the next, with a great range, lots of power and a smoothness between his head and chest voices, his vocals are the product of years of plugging away in local musical productions and CP Express.

He also helps to set this band apart from other up-and-comers and establishes a thread between all the cuts. The two guitarists -- Darren Hebner and Lewis Parker -- whom I have only heard a handful of times, both show technical dexterity, innovative approaches to their parts and polish beyond their years. These guys have a bright future ahead of them.

The quartet, together since 2007, will be performing at the Double Decker Tavern tomorrow night, when they will launch this new, self-titled recording.
- Joanne F. Villeneuve

4/5 Stars - Jared Story

Effect and Cause’s self-titled EP, a follow-up to last year’s debut Gavroche, is a six-track collection that sounds like it comes from much further south than their hometown of Brandon, Man. While there are some interesting rhythm lines and a few catchy guitar riffs, the band’s best trait is lead singer Katlin Mathison’s appropriately raw yet surprisingly melodious voice. It’s not so much what he says, but how he says it. This isn’t a band winning fans over with their lyrics, but luckily their goal isn’t to whisper poetry in your ear – it’s to hit you with some good-old balls-out “southern rock from the north.” On tracks like Lost – when they actually embrace the foot-stompin’ sound that they only flirt with for most of the other tracks – it works, but it leaves you wishing they did it more often. - Alex Krosney

Effect and Cause’s self-titled EP, a follow-up to last year’s debut Gavroche, is a six-track collection that sounds like it comes from much further south than their hometown of Brandon, Man. While there are some interesting rhythm lines and a few catchy guitar riffs, the band’s best trait is lead singer Katlin Mathison’s appropriately raw yet surprisingly melodious voice. It’s not so much what he says, but how he says it. This isn’t a band winning fans over with their lyrics, but luckily their goal isn’t to whisper poetry in your ear – it’s to hit you with some good-old balls-out “southern rock from the north.” On tracks like Lost – when they actually embrace the foot-stompin’ sound that they only flirt with for most of the other tracks – it works, but it leaves you wishing they did it more often. - Alex Krosney

Brandon's E&C comes at their version of the young man’s indie rock from some­thing of a different angle.
Singer Katlin Mathison evokes his words most passionately using his unsullied and rather sweet voice in some uncommon and effective ways. He croons at times, and it’s obvious there is real emotion behind the words.
The band is tighter than a nun’s habit and provides some excellent and varied tones that range from jerky mall punk and basic roots rock to almost jazz-like passages. Drummer Cody Iwasiuk proves himself as one to watch with his creative fills and playing skills that are by and large miles away from mere timekeeping. It’s a short listen at just less than 30 min­utes but the effects are lasting. - Jeff Monk

Christmas is still a week away but it arrived early for local rockers Effect and Cause. Sure, they say its better to give than to receive but what this group of hard-working high school students gets to receive is more of a reward. Call it a hard-earned prize that will definitely add to the spirit of their Christmas season. But to tell the tale of the tape properly, we need to hit rewind.
Earlier this year, the guys had the wherewithal to record a few of their original compositions. These songs were then put onto discs intended for sale at their gigs. Just over a month ago, while face booking some friends, a contest was brought to their attention. It seems the people at black XS(a fragrance company) wanted to market their product to a new audience virally through one of the most renowned online networking entities – known the world over as Facebook.
The fragrance people put up a grand prize package consisting of:

-Professional compact disc publishing provided onto 500 blank recording compact discs including one-colour thermal print(custom designed) on disc, slim jewel case and double-sided insert of the winning band’s music;
-Professional studio time up to a maximum value of $2000; and
-A black XS fragrance package.

The total approximate retail value was $2,875. Not wanting to pass up this golden opportunity, the guys decided to submit one of their songs.
Going up against hundreds of entries, which were put through an online voting system, they wound up winning – with what I feel is one of their strongest tracks to date, titled “And.”
Initially, the band had a different idea behind the title of this experimental heavy number.
According to the group’s bassist and lead vocalist, Katlin Mathison, “that song was an acronym originally but now we mainly use just the conjunction.”
“And” was created right here in Brandon. “We wrote it in early summer (2008) and recorded it this summer at Faders Music and Recording. Our songs are generally written by all of us. I write the lyrics, and mostly the boys and I write our own instrumental parts, and we all toss around ideas, and very much share the writing experience.”
These group efforts created quite an experience for the listener that in a way, sums up the name of the group. The intro builds with cleverly placed explorative background sound effects, mixed with a rhythmically compelling drumbeat that pulls you in as you prepare for the onslaught of riff-laden guitars to bland in. upon first listen this will cause most listeners to think, “this sounds like something created by a group far beyond their years!”
That’s what I call an impressive effect indeed. This, combined with a major online contest victory, truly signifies that this group is well on their way to bigger and better things.
The timeframe for the Black XS contest recording starts soon, claims an exuberant Mathison.
“Both the Black XS crew and Effect & Cause would like to get cracking on it as soon as possible. We hope to record the album at Unison Studios in Winnipeg.”
Mathison says the group have been fairly busy writing for this project. “We’ve written approximately 10 songs and a handful of those are polished that we’re proud of.”
It sounds like they’ll never have a shortage of songs, according to the formula that inspires them to write: “A lot of different things. When we are just having a lot of fun playing together, the creativity just starts to flow. Our greatest inspirations: music and life. Which, for us at least, are synonymous.”
They’re quick to thwart any categorizations of their music and though they’re influenced by “tons of great musicians,” Mathison says they are weary of trying to model themselves after a certain group.
“I don’t know that we aspire to be much like anything that’s out there. Or even that we aspire for anything other than to create music and have fun. But the black keys have soul, chops, and a lot of great ideas, and they don’t conform to the mainstreamified misunderstanding like a lot of bands.”
Their sound has been compared to the likes of Rush, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and even the mighty Led Zeppelin. All those aforementioned heavyweights have created many a studio masterpiece throughout their storied existences but while Effect & Cause are stoked to dig in with the creative in-studio process, they prefer to be considered as more of a live, on stage type of band.
“Though the studio is fun, we definitely live for the stage. We love playing shows and having fun above all.”
Winning the opportunity to record an album and having most all of the costs covered could be considered a dream come true for many bands out there truing to make it. It could also be construed as the chance of a lifetime but Mathison opts to go with a take-it-all-in-stride approach when explaining what they hope do gain out of this whole experience.
“We hope to keep learning. We’re young, but were prepared to work hard. A bit of exposure would be pretty ideal though, and that’s what were hoping for.”

- Frank McGwire (The Brandon Sun)

A huge congratulations goes out to one of Brandon's newest bands, Effect & Cause, winners in the Provincial Exhibition's "Battle of the Bands" held at the fair last week. The competition was open to all high school students. In all, three bands took the stage for a shot at the $500 first prize. The other bands in the competition were Open Highway and Last Minute. Each group played for 30 Minutes. Local singer songwriter Kori Kameda opened the event with three of his original compositions performed on acoustic guitar.
Up next for the boys in Effect & Cause is part two of the semi-finals in the X-fest Rock Challenge at Clancy's tomorrow night (thats Friday, June 13th). They'll be vying for a chance to play on the X-fest Stage as well as a thousand dollars prize money and a video recording of their set that will be recorded at the finals, should they make it that far.
Effect & Cause, Flea Market Creep and Left of Center will all play sets in hopes of making it into the top three for the finals which will be held on Friday, June 20th at Clancy's. Last Friday, part one of the semi-finals featured Amid Valhalla, Fourth Street and Makin' Gravy. - Frank McGwire (The Brandon Sun)