English Words

If you happen to have a desire to constantly hear/write about new music, one of the more reliable resources has to be recommendations from artists themselves. Now granted, if someone named Larry is referring us to a group fronted by his brother Darryl and his other brother Darryl (word to Newhart), well then we take that with a grain of salt. But if a couple of bands you enjoy point you towards the same group, chances are you're on to something.

This is how we first became aware of the five-piece PEI powerhouse known as Smothered In Hugs. We first heard about SIH almost two years ago, after the Ack chatted with Alec from Two Hours Traffic, and he mentioned that these guys were possibly his favorite band. Since then we've gotten similar recommendations from other sources, PEI-based and otherwise, and we've seen the band perform for an incredibly appreciative crowd at the Seahorse here in Halifax, which left us anxious to sample some recorded output from the band. Well now we have, in the form of their first full-length album - the very satisfying The Healing Power of Injury - which had been available in limited quantities from the band since last year, but will be getting a full release next month (Feb 10th).

As one might surmise from their GBV-inspired band name, the Pavement reference in Chest Protection, and from Collagen Rock, the name of their newly formed label/collective/posse, the boys in Smothered In Hugs are enthusiasts of the sounds one might've found being pumped from a transistor dialed into CKDU in the late 80's-to-middle 90's. But that's not to say their sound is strictly reliant on college-rock revivalism. Producer Charles Austin has clearly helped the band find some common ground between the peppy indie-pop of Collagen Rock teammates like Two Hours Traffic and The Danks, and the reverb-drenched goodness of the throwback sounds the band is clearly fond of. Lyrically this album also feels very much of this time, with big shiny hooks juxtaposed against introspective lyrics focused on the highs and fears of the day-to-day.

The Healing Power of Injury does something that seems to be becoming a lost art - it starts strong - with the riffs and harmonic urgency found back-to-back on Blank Test and Ghost Believah. Visa Problems is just as catchy, but piano is added to the mix, and a different, yet welcome, take on the SIH sound emerges. At The Coast Check has more than enough pep to propell the indie kids onto the dancefloor, but also has the grit provided by feedback-fueled guitars to satisfy those not interested in shaking their skin-tight pants. The placement of Money Came Through, track seven of thirteen, makes sense as it feels kind of like the album's centerpiece - and if I remember correctly, it was the song sung with the most gusto by the crowd when we saw SIH live. And even though this album is a little longer than today's average release, with thirteen songs, things stay strong all the way through, with songs like Young Flare and Cut Loose holding their own on the back end.

So here's the deal, we're absolutely in the doldrums of winter now, and you're going to need some music to help you chase the chill from your bones. In my experience, there's no better perscription for that than some good old indie rock & roll, and The Healing Power of Injury is one of the better slices of indie rock that I've been served in recent months. So when February rolls around, get yourself ensconced, not in velvet (punny tv reference in intro - check, punny tv reference in outro - check), but in the goodness of Smothered In Hugs. - Herohill

Smothered in Hugs‘ new album, “The Healing Power of Injury.” It’s marked by an irrepressibly, relentlessly happy rhythm section, strong pop vocals, and sharp and tight hooks. “Visa Problems” is easily as good a pop song as anything I’ve heard in the power pop genre, with its infectious, seamless movements from chorus-to-verse. I can’t image how this song can be performed live—vocalist Ryan Crane never seems to take a breath. And this is not the only great song on the record. “Young Flare,” “Die Trying,” “Ghost Believah,” and “Foundation” are other stellar standouts.
And have I mentioned the drumming? I can’t mention it enough. Aaron Crane percussion is extraordinary. It’s fast, but not frivolous. He knows when to provide support for the band, and when it’s appropriate to spread out, take over, and dominate. Which he can, on a dime and at any time.
Even the slower songs work—which is often difficult for a band who makes this kind of music. “Chest Protection” is almost entirely piano, it’s short, and it has no apparent chorus. Yet it feels like pop and I can’t stop listening to it. It’s wonderful to find a band that pays as much attention to craft as catch, to hook as verse, and to the overall quality of a song. This one of the best bands in Canada right now, and when I last checked, they were still unsigned. You can order their album directly, at their site.
And trust me, you won’t be sorry. These guys can’t stay underground much longer. - Berkley Place

Quotes:
"Hey SIH. I am listening to you on CBC Radio 3s satellite radio channel for the hundredth time and each time I ask who is this? and there you are sounding like one of the best bands in Canada.
You guys are really good. I mean it."
Mary-Anne Korosi
Producer
http://www.newmusiccanada.com


"This four-piece is being lauded as one of the best new Canadian bands around. Their playful up-tempo album The Healing Power of Injury is an extremely infectious dose of rock-and-roll perfection."
PopMontreal staff.


"Smothered In Hugs are definitely a band to watch. I think Young Flare is one of the best indie pop songs to come out of the Maritimes for the past year. I think it's a great song"
Phlys MacGregor
Arts Producer, CBC Radio Halifax


"Groups like Smothered In Hugs are turning out a brand of pop that feels totally uninformed by the Halifax Pop sound of old. They instead offer more epic compositions that revel in an optimistic melancholy. Driving rhythms and well calculated instrumental attacks make up the core of the sound, while the vocals offer a subduing layer of calm. "Young Flare" will be your new favorite song."
Matt Charlton,
Pigeon Row Public Relations


"Black bears in the forest, playing a rock song. Boulders in an avalanche, playing a rock song. 16-year-old best friends at the airport, hiding in the Duty Free, waiting to leave on a 2-week exchange in France... playing a rock song. There are a lot of ways to hear this great song but none of these ways involve me imagining some dudes in Prince Edward Island, shining out a hit while ankle-deep in red dirt. I can't figure out if this song is more influenced by the National, the Everly Brothers or Better Than Ezra, & that's all kind of good thing."
Sean Michaels' review of "Blank Test" in Said The Gramophone.


" One of the best bands in the region."
Lloyd Doyle,
Sandbar Music Group


"This is a band that yes, while having their foot set steadfastly in the 80s indie scene, they manage to do a lot with it, without coming across as pale imitators. (Fancy Demo) is a cracking EP from a band that is relatively new to me. They have a very retro sound, but have put a great spin on it.8.5/10"
Colin Meeks,
Indie Launchpad
www.indielaunchpad.com



- Various

Most will be excused for thinking the last time Prince Edward Island exported anything enjoyable that wasn't a potato was 101 years ago, around the time when people actually knew what a green gable was. And with apologies to Lucy Maud Montgomery, even that's debatable. In the process of changing that is Charlottetown five-piece Smothered In Hugs.

Pushing bright, cleverly articulated and occasionally manic rock of the angular pop variety, Smothered In Hugs will launch their full-length debut, The Healing Power of Injury, on Feb. 10 (a free download of the first single, the album-opening Blank Test, can be found at www.killbeatmusic.com/smotheredinhugs.html). Advance word on the album has been overwhelmingly positive, and the group is already up for four PEI Music Awards, having been nominated for Album of the Year, Group of the Year, Alternative Recording of the Year and Best New Artist.

The band showcased songs from The Healing Power of Injury at NXNE, Pop Montreal and the Halifax Pop Explosion this year, and fans on the East Coast will have a number of opportunities to catch the band in coming weeks.

Jamie O'Meara - The Hour(Montreal), Ottawa XPress, MyTelus

So listen to that opening melody (beginning at 0:15), remove the primal drumbeat, and think about what this sounds like: it's not merely based on the standard I-IV-V chord progression, but it's rooted in an early-rock setting of that progression--three successive ascending notes, each a whole interval apart, each accompanied, in order, by one of those I-IV-V chords. The verse of the hugely popular and evocative song "All I Have To Do Is Dream" uses this exact pattern, in a swaying, Everly Brothers soundscape, but this was hardly the only example. Enough other doo-wop era songs grounded themselves in this simple structure for it to carry forever an ineffable air of bygone times about it.
Which is what, to me, helps make "Blank Test" so satisfying, somehow: it manages to conjure the past while presenting the melody in not one but two contemporary frames--the opening, percussive section and then the sped-up version (first heard at 1:23), after the song's prominent tempo change. Interestingly, it was this second, faster version that first sounded most nostalgic, maybe because there was kind of a double-nostalgia at work, this speedier section likewise echoing the late '70s via the Ramones and Blondie, bands which also mined '50s and early '60s melodies and chord progressions for use in their faster and harder-rocking compositions.
Smothered In Hugs (named after a Guided By Voices song) is a quintet from the picturesque and music-laced island of Prince Edward, way out there in the Atlantic Time Zone. "Blank Test" is the lead track on the album The Healing Power of Injury, set for release next month on Collagen Rock Records, a local collective that Smothered in Hugs has established with three other bands from the Maritimes. - Fingertips

Smothered in Hugs
The Healing Power of Injury (Collagen Rock)
With a name lifted from a Guided by Voices song, lyrics that make mention of Pavement and written praise rife with comparisons to early REM and the Replacements, it should come as no surprise that PEI’s Smothered in Hugs are committed college rock revivalists. And they’re hardly hiding it, given the name of their label, co-founded with fellow Charlottetown band the Danks and Halifax’s Mardeen. But their sound is more classic than retro, with the kind of gorgeous melodies, urgent pacing and reverb-soaked arrangements of riffs, piano and keys that will make some people swoon while others bust out the air guitar. 8/10 Trial Track: “Ghost Believah”

(Lorraine Carpenter)
- Montreal Mirror

Most will be excused for thinking the last time Prince Edward Island exported anything enjoyable that wasn't a potato was 101 years ago, around the time when people actually knew what a green gable was. And with apologies to Lucy Maud Montgomery, even that's debatable. In the process of changing that is Charlottetown five-piece Smothered In Hugs.

Pushing bright, cleverly articulated and occasionally manic rock of the angular pop variety, Smothered In Hugs will launch their full-length debut, The Healing Power of Injury, on Feb. 10 (a free download of the first single, the album-opening Blank Test, can be found at www.killbeatmusic.com/smotheredinhugs.html). Advance word on the album has been overwhelmingly positive, and the group is already up for four PEI Music Awards, having been nominated for Album of the Year, Group of the Year, Alternative Recording of the Year and Best New Artist.

The band showcased songs from The Healing Power of Injury at NXNE, Pop Montreal and the Halifax Pop Explosion this year, and fans on the East Coast will have a number of opportunities to catch the band in coming weeks.

Jamie O'Meara - The Hour(Montreal), Ottawa XPress, MyTelus

morning all. i think you gotta have some big balls to name a band, website, etc after a guided by voices song. cause afterall they are my sacred cow, and any soiling of their good name will not be tolerated on my watch. luckily, and i repeat luckily, the men of smothered in hugs have not commited such a crime. in fact, their yet to be released the healing power of injury is pretty damn awesome. as you all probably know, i am a sucker for anything that sounds like it came from the 90’s, or anything from 91-95 to be exact. they got everything this guy craves; ringing/chunky guitars, sometimes half intelligible lyrics, sing-a-longs that shouldnt be, etc. if you dig the likes of archers of loaf, superchunk, early rem, apples in stereo, sebadoh, and of course gbv, you will find smothered in hugs to your liking.

the healing power of injury is out on 2.10 - Captains Dead

Growing up in a small town can make connecting with music all the more special. While brothers Ryan and Aaron Crane didn't come of age in a small town per se (Charlottetown's population tops 32,000), you'd be hard pressed to find a more endearing introduction to indie-rock on the island.

"It's a typical big brother hand-me-down record collection to the little brother. I remember when [Aaron] was 10 years old, in the summertime his friends would be outside playing baseball and he'd be home in his bedroom listening to Slanted and Enchanted by Pavement or a Belle and Sebastian record," says Ryan Crane in describing how he educated his younger brother.

Typical? Hardly. Fate? As one looks back on Smothered in Hugs' 2008, it seems certain the Crane brothers were predestined to catch the music bug.

Named by the younger Crane in 2002---after a Guided By Voices song---Smothered in Hugs have gained some serious attention this year within the Canadian music scene. They performed at North By Northeast and Pop Montreal, opened gigs in southern Ontario for Holy Fuck and released their first full-length, The Healing Power of Injury.

Wild to consider all this has come from a band whose lead singer was once unsure if he'd get a chance to pursue his primordial passion.

"I was hanging around Charlottetown [in 2002], and I really wanted to play music. I grew up loving music and idolizing all sorts of bands. It seemed like something I really wanted to do, but I couldn't find anyone I was comfortable forming a band with. As soon as my brother came out of the woodwork and said he wanted to do this...it seemed like something we could do, and it seemed like it could be fun."

Onwards they went, and with the addition in 2005 of cousin Todd MacLean on guitar alongside Ryan, Aaron on drums and the younger Crane's high school chum Josh Byrne on bass, Smothered in Hugs got serious. (Guitarist/keyboardist Andrew Murray joined late last year.)

The new album shares similarities with the ramshackle indie-rock stylings of Guided By Voices, largely due to big-time hooks and huge choruses. Comparisons made by other media to The Replacements seem even more apt. Ryan's vocals have a Paul Westerberg-esque combination of urgency and weariness, and coupled with the aforementioned melodicism of Smothered in Hugs' songs it wouldn't be hard to imagine some of their tracks fitting in on a mid-career Replacements classic like Tim.

Their propensity for big hooks and fun rockin' seems to come naturally for a lot of the island bands who've attracted attention beyond Confederation Bridge. Along with Two Hours Traffic, The Danks and Boxer the Horse, Smothered in Hugs are now one of several island indie bands creating a buzz.

"We're all really good friends with one another," Ryan says when asked about his fellow PEI rockers. "We party together, we hang out together, we go to lunch together, we drive around in cars and listen to music together and we give each other advice."

Does that advice ever revolve around the idea of relocating to a place with a larger, more renowned music scene, such as the ever-cosmopolitan supercity of Toronto?

"I don't think it matters as much where you're from anymore as far as geography---if you're willing to tour. With the internet and blogs and online publications you don't have to live in a particular town and actually buy a hardcopy of a magazine or journal, you can just get on the internet."

In fact, Ryan sees a lot of upside to sticking things out in Charlottetown. With less competition for the attention of audiences, they're given more opportunity to continually refine their craft. "You're not lost in a big swamp with other bands where you'll have trouble getting gigs. If you play a lot of shows and work hard you can develop a pretty strong following in your hometown."

With a national release of the album planned for next month and an upcoming spring tour, Smothered in Hugs hope the rest of the country will embrace them much like Charlottetown has. - The Coast, Halifax

morning all. i think you gotta have some big balls to name a band, website, etc after a guided by voices song. cause afterall they are my sacred cow, and any soiling of their good name will not be tolerated on my watch. luckily, and i repeat luckily, the men of smothered in hugs have not commited such a crime. in fact, their yet to be released the healing power of injury is pretty damn awesome. as you all probably know, i am a sucker for anything that sounds like it came from the 90’s, or anything from 91-95 to be exact. they got everything this guy craves; ringing/chunky guitars, sometimes half intelligible lyrics, sing-a-longs that shouldnt be, etc. if you dig the likes of archers of loaf, superchunk, early rem, apples in stereo, sebadoh, and of course gbv, you will find smothered in hugs to your liking.

the healing power of injury is out on 2.10 - Captains Dead

English Words
Customer Appreciation EP
Collagen Rock Records, 2010

Until very recently, Charlottetown rock pop outfit English Words ranked at the top of the “best bands people outside of Atlantic Canada have probably never heard of” list. The fiery four-piece spent the better part of five years living in the shadow of lablemates Two Hours Traffic, while under their old moniker of Smothered In Hugs. Whereas the former seemed to shoot into the hearts and minds of Canadian power pop enthusiasts, the latter turned inward in an effort to be the best they could be. Slowly but surely the guys honed their well crafted catalogue, all the while perfecting a sound that put power back into power pop. The Healing Power Of Injury was released in 2008, and garnered a slew of nominations, as well as some extensive tour dates opening for the likes of Holy Fuck. Most importantly though, the band’s debut album brought them onto a national level, which instantly multiplied their fan base and paved the way for further growth. Fast forward to 2010, when the quartet turned on a dime and announced that they were adding a new member and changing their name to English Words. Thankfully for listeners change isn’t always a bad thing.

While the guys could have dipped in to a back catalogue that contained exciting numbers like “At The Coatcheck” and “Ghost Belivah”, they chose instead to incorporate only one leftover into Customer Appreciation. It’s called “RD Prologue”, and the album fittingly kicks off on the memento of the band’s explosive past. That said, English Words is anything but a toned down reincarnation. Heavy guitar riffs, methodical, Spoon-esque keyboards, as well as rampant bass lines and driving percussion all still make up the band’s layered sound – the main difference this time around is the clarity of their material. Whereas Smothered In Hugs was all about a hazy alt pop feel, English Words accomplishes everything that SOH did, just in a more clear and concise environment. Public radio hit “Rope” as well as impromptu theme song “Cold Mercenaries” thrive in a precise pop atmosphere, and in doing so, have revealed the Crane brothers’ songwriting aptitude; an aptitude which shines from the start of the four song EP, all the way to somewhat lighter closer “Iceberg”. For a band that bet the farm on a musical decision, the care that went into this project shows that English Words has won – rather earned – their second chance. - The Ferocious Coast

Presenting the Top 10 reasons to change your band name if your band name happens to be, in fact, Smothered In
Hugs:
1) So people will stop thinking your mom named your band.
2) Defending the name of your band wasn't making you a better bar fighter, just a busier one.
3) Rhymes too closely with Covered In Bugs.
4) People will think you're from PEI.
5) As pick-up lines go, "I play in Smothered In Hugs" wasn't exactly burning up the bedsheets.
6) Got tired of requests to open for Sharon, Lois & Bram.
7) So never again will a publicist feel inspired to write something like this: "[Changing the name] is simply a desire to
be known as their own band, with their own name."
8) Only one in 10 billion people will get the Guided By Voices reference, which means there's a half decent chance
that person hasn't even been born yet.
9) Even Guided By Voices thought it was a bad idea.
10) Goo Goo Dolls thought it was too wussy.
Aw heck, we're just joshin'... no we're not. Anyway, word comes this week that proud Potatoes Everywhere Island pop
rockers Smothered In Hugs have decided upon a more dignified appellative for what one genius called "bright, cleverly articulated and occasionally manic rock of the angular pop variety." Couldn't have said it better myself, really. Henceforth, they shall be known as English Words which, while certainly no Anal Chinook or Dayglo Abortions, should do the trick nicely.
The timing for a change for the finely-tuned fivesome couldn't be better, as the band gets ready to head to Sydney, Cape Breton for the 2010 East Coast Music Awards (March 4-7). They'll be looking for a Rock Recording of the Year Award (which they are nominated for) to match the 2010 Music PEI Rock Recording of the Year Award they already have. You can hear what the fuss is about here.
In conjunction with the name change, the new English Words website is almost ready to roll, and when it's up and running, the band promises to give away free downloads of their new, very appropriately titled four-song Customer Appreciation EP, so keep a close eye on the site. Meanwhile, prior to the East Coast Music Awards, fans of the band will be able to catch them in action with similarly spit-shined indie rock outfit In Flight Safety (Halifax) when they play the Paramount in Moncton, New Brunswick on February 25, and Baba's in Charlottetown, PEI on February 27.

- Jamie O'Meara - The Hour (Montreal), Ottawa XPress, MyTelus.com

English Words
Customer Appreciation EP
Collagen Rock Records, 2010

Until very recently, Charlottetown rock pop outfit English Words ranked at the top of the “best bands people outside of Atlantic Canada have probably never heard of” list. The fiery four-piece spent the better part of five years living in the shadow of lablemates Two Hours Traffic, while under their old moniker of Smothered In Hugs. Whereas the former seemed to shoot into the hearts and minds of Canadian power pop enthusiasts, the latter turned inward in an effort to be the best they could be. Slowly but surely the guys honed their well crafted catalogue, all the while perfecting a sound that put power back into power pop. The Healing Power Of Injury was released in 2008, and garnered a slew of nominations, as well as some extensive tour dates opening for the likes of Holy Fuck. Most importantly though, the band’s debut album brought them onto a national level, which instantly multiplied their fan base and paved the way for further growth. Fast forward to 2010, when the quartet turned on a dime and announced that they were adding a new member and changing their name to English Words. Thankfully for listeners change isn’t always a bad thing.

While the guys could have dipped in to a back catalogue that contained exciting numbers like “At The Coatcheck” and “Ghost Belivah”, they chose instead to incorporate only one leftover into Customer Appreciation. It’s called “RD Prologue”, and the album fittingly kicks off on the memento of the band’s explosive past. That said, English Words is anything but a toned down reincarnation. Heavy guitar riffs, methodical, Spoon-esque keyboards, as well as rampant bass lines and driving percussion all still make up the band’s layered sound – the main difference this time around is the clarity of their material. Whereas Smothered In Hugs was all about a hazy alt pop feel, English Words accomplishes everything that SOH did, just in a more clear and concise environment. Public radio hit “Rope” as well as impromptu theme song “Cold Mercenaries” thrive in a precise pop atmosphere, and in doing so, have revealed the Crane brothers’ songwriting aptitude; an aptitude which shines from the start of the four song EP, all the way to somewhat lighter closer “Iceberg”. For a band that bet the farm on a musical decision, the care that went into this project shows that English Words has won – rather earned – their second chance. - The Ferocious Coast