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Devils At Their Best
Toronto’s Oil Can Boyd rock The Grad House
(Reprinted with permission from “The Lance”, the University of Windsor Student Newspaper)
The Toronto foursome known as Oil Can Boyd—an affectionate nod to a one time Montreal Expo pitcher of the same name—have just released what some listeners are calling a major league debut EP. Brothers Osborne (Drew and younger Mike) alongside long time friends Matt Zelsman and John Paul Gunn assembled their all Toronto band in 2006, and have impressively constructed a sound that one can already call "their own."
Real, rugged, and scrappy, the band's live performance rips out the true character of tunes from a slightly, and naturally, more polished five song EP. The tunesmiths’ bridge subtle countrified rock twang with pure rusty rock licks that have Crosby Stills and Nash meeting Matt Mays. Music that grabs in tandem with simply yet clever lyrics has the
players expressing mood, emotion and resolve in timely beat. When in "Setting Skies," Mike Osborne, who shares the bulk of vocal duty with guitarist Zelsman, calls out "You gotta find a love that gets who you be, but you don't know yourself without me," we know he has got it right.
Drummer John Paul Gunn and Bassist Osborne Senior make up a rhythm section that robustly serves as the backbone for most OCB numbers. But the band is just that—a band. The boys share musical responsibility and most notably enjoy doing so. Live shows illustrate just how much the band members dig their musical mandate as they rock out to a growing group of adoring fans from club to club and town to town.
By Andrew McKague
- The Lance
Discography
Oil Can Boyd (EP) 2006
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
From a Lawrence Avenue bungalow straight to your ears, Oil Can Boyd has clawed their way out of the basement and into the hearts of anyone listening. Heart-breaking melodies, sweet harmonies, blazing guitars, and a scrappy live show that pounds on your ears and into your soul, yep OCB can do it all.
Utilizing the time-tested tools of their boyhood musical heroes, OCB will take you back to a time when music was real and made you feel, of course with the added flair that only these up-and-comers can bring to the table. The boys’ hard work behind the scenes finally materialized with the completion of their 5-track, self-titled EP over the ’06 summer. Featuring the thoughtful ‘Setting Skies’, toe-tapping ‘Devil’s at their Best’, and the raw live cut of ‘Say Hey’, the OCB EP offers listeners a peak into what kind of chops these fellas have been blessed with.
With Osborne (Drew) and Gunn’s driving rhythms supporting Zelsman and Osborne’s (Mike) dual guitar attack, OCB’s sound is a soulful eruption of indie rock. From the first listen, it's obvious that they have that indefinable element that carries a group's music beyond the sum of its parts. "It's one of those things that you couldn't really construct with just anyone," claims Osborne of the band's chemistry. Make sure you check them out before the Oil Can takes over the world of rock n roll. It’s only a matter of time.
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