Red Handed Denial
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada | SELF
Music
Press
A beleaguered point has been made by me in my past few entries: pop music is stale, and someone’s got to save us. We need rock legends, stat! Contending (and frontrunners) for that honour are a band who has emerged from the burgeoning Torontonian hardcore music scene, an act that marries exceptional instrumental proficiency with extraordinary melodic range. They are Red Handed Denial, with their new offering, the new Eyes and Liquid Skies EP.
This is a band where every member is performing at the top of their game for the entire duration of the songs. No track allows a member to rest on their laurels while the others carry the song forward. If Red Handed Denial had a middle name, it would be Complexity. There are more tempo changes present on one track than some bands have on their entire albums. Guitar riffs fly wildly and then disappear, already having morphed into something new. Yet throughout all of this that core tenet of accessibility remains.
Think Paramore, but with talent. The tracks on here are visceral but laden heavily with melodic hooks made of titanium; none are easily forgotten in any respect. Drums thunder along and the band flirts with the hardest part of their sound without sacrificing musical sensibilities.
A particularly memorable moment is the standout track “Love Talks, but Action Walks”, this EP’s magnum opus. Simultaneously containing the EP’s most obvious anthem-ready chorus and book-ended with a searing guitar solo, it’s a six-minute dose of quote-ready lyrics and general face-melting action.
With all these intricate time signatures and meticulously planned vocal harmonies, there is little doubt that RHD will shoot to the top of Toronto’s hardcore scene very soon. Once they’ve reached the top of that tower, they will have a view of the land they wish to conquer, and being equipped with such an arsenal, they’ll be able to go wherever they wish.
For the Edge Intern Army, this is D-Man, signing out. - 102.1 The Edge Intern Army
Discography
Borne from the dark recesses of suburbia and forged in the steel furnaces of Toronto, Red Handed Denial are entering a new era of rock fully loaded. Loaded of course being a metaphor for the cohesiveness and singular vision of the group. However unlike that metaphorical biscuit, they are not aiming to excite your tastebuds but rather your eardrums. It's a new day for the band, and after a long journey, it's a welcome renewal.
The first incarnation of the band formed in 2006. The name arose from one of the members being on vacation in Egypt and putting his hands in the Nile when the rust-like algae was blooming, and it turned his hands all red-- "Red Hand in Da Nile" was ameliorated into "Red Handed Denial".
A climactic case of mutiny culminated in a lightning filled duel atop a Latvian fortress rooftop where the original vocalist was defeated. The band then brought current singer Lauren on board.
It was during this time that the band honed their sound into what would soon define them. A streamlined chimera of wild guitar licks, off-the-cuff tempo changes, and pop accessibility; their craft was fiercely imbibed by the masses at such venues as the Opera House, the Reverb, the Kathedral, the Blue Moon, and the Jam Spot. When it came time to contain that fury on a recorded medium, they chose Canadian Idol alumnus and vocalist of Brighter Brightest, Derek Hoffman, to smelt together the impeccably precise 'Eyes and Liquid Skies' EP.
Listening to that EP, it's difficult to trace the lineage that birthed the band; it's not often that you hear adamantium-grade hooks alongside virtuoso performances normally ensconced in Professional Music Observatories. It's like a team of Tiger Moms coached the band for 17 hours a day. But instead of indulging in neverending solos, they put laser focus on melody. Think Hayley Williams plugged into a nuclear reactor.
A brief hiatus occurred when guitarist Levar left on a sabbatical of self-discovery and enlightenment, a journey that took him down the gilded walkways of MuchMusic. Driven by litres upon litres of Coca Cola, he created unforgettable covers that earned him third place in the running to win a coveted MMVA. He may or may not have met Tony Danza in the green room. He then returned to the band wiser and ready to paint his hands red yet again.
Missing now was a bassist, as the old one decided to pursue the art of Tattooism. Neil Jones then descended from the mystic ether. Having trained for generations in ancient temples, he solidified the line-up and the latest make of RHD was thusly completed, like a latter day Megazord or something.
With a new line-up comes a new sound. Sources close to the band indicate that they are pumping up the guitars to levels not known to mankind OR womankind. Apekind maybe, cuz they had a really hardcore band with huge guitars, but RHD will probably beat them too.
Now, Lauren, Levar, Chris, Steven and Neil embark on a new journey. A more mature sound is driving the new RHD bus.
Feverish whispers rustle through the leaves and branches and twigs- "Have you heard? There's a new album coming."
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