Rival Boys
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Rival Boys

Toronto, Ontario, Canada | SELF

Toronto, Ontario, Canada | SELF
Band Rock Alternative

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"An Untold City Holiday Party w/ The Darcy's & More!"

"This 3-piece is fronted by Lee Rose (who is actually not a boy), who has a big voice that commands the stage. She rocks out with brother Graeme Rose (guitar, vocals) and Sam Sholdice on drums. With passionate vocals and a sound heavily driven by high energy on drums, this band has the ability to sound sweet and rockin’ at the same time. " - Buying Shots For Bands


"North by Northeast Day III"

The idea was to see Winnipeg’s Boats, but (after a burlesque dancer did her thing on top of the bar) a trio called the Rival Boys tore into its set of strong, roaring pop, led by vocalist/bassist Lee Rose. As much as I was anticipating Boats, the Toronto band was one of those pleasant music festival discoveries that will have me keeping an eye out for a future Vancouver date. - Guttersnipe News


"This Saturday Get Sexy, Sweaty and Messy with your Favorite Toronto Bands at The Silver Dollar"

"My own personal pick for "The Next Arcade Fire", The Rival Boys." - She Does The City


"Rival Boys' Life Of Worry EP Brings Strong Songs For The Sad And Lonely"

There are many songs, especially these days.

Most are mediocre at best, though that's not a snipe at the folks who write them since penning - never mind recording - a good one is difficult to say the least.

Which is precisely what makes little-known Toronto trio Rival Boys debut EP so interesting: its songs are downright excellent.

The five tracks on Life Of Worry mark the city's first real introduction to the young group - which consists of brother-sister tandem Graeme (pictured top, right) and Lee Rose on guitar and bass and Sam Sholdice drumming.

The tracks are sweet, sad, melodramatic and melancholy in a way that conjures say, Hayden writing a record for the male-female harmonies of the New Pornographers.

"I don't really write throwaway songs anymore," Graeme says after a Lee's Palace set on the eve of Good Friday.

"I look back on the early stuff I did and I can't believe it. The stuff we write now takes more time - I just don't want to be embarrassed by it in 10 years."

The EP leaves little reason to assume that will be the case. The Roses' melody making aside - the group has one rather valuable constant: originality.

Familiar sounding perhaps, but watching the quiet, introspective threesome on and off stage it's difficult to conjure another contemporary group of their age and experience with a similarly refined sound.

"It's true, I think about that a lot," Graeme says on a night his band is followed by a jock rock foursome that sounds something like Nickelback. "We're not dance or heavy at all and at the same time, there's a real indie sound right now and we don't fit into that either."

Maybe it means Rival Boys will have trouble finding a bill with like-minded artists in the short term, but a probable string of spring dates starting in May and June will go a long way towards them finding out for sure.

Because there's no form of advertisement better than word of mouth and while they stand out on Bloor in front of Lee's more than one person approaches and heaps on praise, including a complete stranger-turned fan insisting they should've been given the next band's slot as well.

The group humbly absorbs the compliment, some merely nod. But what's clear is that even in a spacious, empty (on this night) venue like Lee's which the band admits was it highest (stage-wise) and most echo-y performance to date, the quality comes through.

Of course there's always room for improvement.

Three of the tracks on Life Of Worry - the heart-wrenching "Construction Work", soaringly sad "Good Man" and the title track, bear shuffling A-to-D guitar lines that do seem to step on each other's toes a little.

So right now the impression is that Rival Boys does one thing really well. The success of any forthcoming albums and ultimately, the band as whole, will be its ability to do one thing great and a few others pretty darn good.

Still it doesn't seem impossible that the group could spread its wings wide on a lengthier release, in part because the other two tracks - "Sober and Single" and "Lonely Heart" - take things in different directions.

That a couple of the songs are also older and by that logic, possibly from a 'throwaway' time when the band wasn't at its songwriting best, also buys it a pass and leads one to believe any concern over looking back in embarrassment is probably unfounded.

Then again they're already committed to a life of worry.

People on the street loving their songs might be the best that Rival Boys can hope for. - CityNews


"Rival Boys - Life Of Worry"

It’s rather unfortunate that there aren’t too many standard hard rock bands out there today. Too many bands are focusing on fusing genres and adding as many instruments as possible, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but some times its good to get back to basics. Well luckily there is a band in Toronto doing just that: The Rival Boys.

The Rival Boys first EP Life of Worry is a fantastic return to the straightforward rock, while still keeping it interesting and fresh. Their combination of riff based guitar along with a steady driving drum beats overtop soulful vocals works insanely well. The vocals stand out beautifully through the lo-fi rocky guitar with the drums pushing everything along. Although the EP has only five tracks Life Of Worry does a good job at showing each one of these aspects beautifully, especially on tracks like Sober and Single and A Good Man.

The EP has a fantastic flow begging with a steady strong song Lonely Heart, pushing harder with Sober and Single. The EP then rises with A Good Man, eventually climaxing with the slower and beautiful Construction Work and ending perfectly with the title track Life of Worry. It brings you in, rises you up, kicks your ass then hugs you goodbye. The only real complaint I can find is after seeing these guys live it’s a little disappointing that some of their faster dirtier songs were left out of the album, yet at the same time it would disrupt the flow of the album.

The entire EP can be streamed on their Myspace, along with Black Mold (a track that shows the dirtier faster songs I mentioned earlier. However The Best place to pick up one of the EPs would be to check out one of their shows. They will be at Lee’s Palace on April 9th, at The Pound in Montreal on May 7th, and at The Horseshoe in Toronto on May 12th. I would highly recommend checking out one of the shows to see how amazing three-piece band can be. - AW Music


""Top Canadiana of 2009""

listed among the top Canadian Artists of 2009 by The New Spin on CBC Radio.

http://www.nxew.ca/index2.html - NxEW, The New Spin


"On our set with Cuff the Duke"

"If you were to ask me to describe their sound I would have to state the obvious, in that they manage to bring both The Rock and The Roll to the venue, pumping adrenaline into the veins of everyone in the room, as was clear by the growing, bouncing crowd huddled in close to the stage. They emit a positive energy with each song they play, and as the night progresses you find yourself more intrigued and drawn into the set and the band as a whole." - The Locale, Guelph


Discography

Life of Worry - March 2009

Tracks from this album are available on:
itunes.com
napster.com
lastfm.com
cbc3.ca
thesixtyone.com

Photos

Bio

Rival Boys is a guitar/bass/drum three-piece rock band from Toronto, Ontario.

Rival Boys has been steadily making a name for itself since 2007. Through word-of-mouth accounts of their fiercely energetic live shows, Rival Boys built a dedicated and enthusiastic fan base in and around Toronto. In 2009, Rival Boys released their debut EP Life of Worry.

"The Rival Boys first EP Life of Worry is a fantastic return to the straightforward rock, while still keeping it interesting and fresh. Their combination of riff based guitar along with a steady driving drum beats overtop soulful vocals works insanely well. The vocals stand out beautifully through the lo-fi rocky guitar with the drums pushing everything along. "
- Jay, awmusic.ca

"The tracks are sweet, sad, melodramatic and melancholy in a way that conjures say, Hayden writing a record for the male-female harmonies of the New Pornographers."
-Citynews.ca
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_33718.aspx

Rival Boys play stripped-down, exciting rock music with interlocking guitar and bass melodies, propulsive drums, and aggressive two-part harmonies reminiscent of late-era Sleater-Kinney, but with the emotional earnestness of early Springsteen, and the cathartic melancholy of The Constantines. Rival Boys is a powerful three-piece act that delivers a jubilant blend of grunge-pop and anthemic post-punk.

Returning to the studio in early 2010, Rival Boys spent over a year crafting their debut album, Mutual Feelings of Love, which will be released in 2011. The album was produced by Mike Rocha (Dinosaur Bones, Black Pistol Fire) and engineered by Jay Sadlowski at Chemical Sound Studios (The Black Keys, Born Ruffians, Tokyo Police Club).