the black frame spectacle
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the black frame spectacle

Dorchester, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2009 | SELF

Dorchester, Ontario, Canada | SELF
Established on Jan, 2009
Band Rock Punk

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"The Black Frame Spectacle- Self Titled EP"

The Black Frame Spectacle – Self Titled EP
Posted by RingMaster on February 4, 2015


It seems like a life time since the release of their last album, but ensuring that the wait is swiftly confined to being a distant memory, Canadian punkabilly duo The Black Frame Spectacle return with a new slab of ferocious rock ‘n’ roll in the shape of their self-titled EP. Uncaging four tracks of their trademark adrenaline driven rockabilly, the Ontario band has an even bigger roar and snarl to their sound than ever before. You know what you are going to get with the band in many ways but never in the shape and colour it is going to unleash its persuasion in, and on the new EP it is fair to say it is in their most impassioned and accomplished style yet.

The band consists of Dorchester/St Thomas hailing vocalist/guitarists Ian Sullivan and drummer/backing Adam McNeill vocalist, originally work colleagues from 2003 who united musically six years later. Their sound is a maelstrom of fifties rock ‘n’ roll, punk, rockabilly, and hard rock, with plenty more additives spicing things at varying times. It is an attention grabbing proposition which has earned the band’s two albums, Grady Sessions and especially Grady Sessions II, strong acclaim and increasingly broader spotlights, including radio play in the UK. The release of the single The Vow last year set down a tasty appetiser of things to come, the latest EP realising its suggestion and more with raw and undiluted sonic enthusiasm.

Opener 100th Monkey instantly has the listener on familiar ground yet within seconds there is a freshness and spice to the thumping stride and rhythmic march of the song. McNeill offers thumps as potent and anthemic as ever whilst Sullivan’s riffs are eager and slightly steely, which only adds to the always impressive impassioned vocal delivery he sends roaring through ears. The track broadens with every note and beat into a blaze of fifties bred rock ‘n’ roll complete with swinging hooks and a great unexpected surf wrapped, country shaded relaxation, which of course is a0341831993_2only a breath’s worth of a pause before erupting back into the insatiable and irresistible charge it started with.

It is tremendous start quickly matched by Neverborn. Opening with a bluesy coaxing of guitar which just intoxicates senses and imaginations, the song leaps into a controlled but sinew crafted stroll with Sullivan laying his potent tones upon a more hard rock infused slice of rousing persuasion. Harmonies floating in the background of the tempestuous presence of the song, reveals more of the new adventure filling the invention of the band, an intriguing twist which does not distract from the heart of the great track but certainly earns keen attention.

The following This Train Ain’t Stoppin rattles down the EP’s tracks next where a hillbilly country flavouring merges with more traditional rockabilly tenacity as rhythms and hooks dig in with infectious and lingering revelry. Barely two minutes of sheer unbridled contagion, the song is simply what The Black Frame Spectacle does best, stomp with an energy and craft which crosses styles and decades.

As impressive here as on its original unveiling a few months back, The Vow brings the outstanding EP to a mighty close. It has a throaty edge to its opening guitar bait, a rawness which only intensifies as a scrub of riffs from Sullivan’s guitar explodes into another feverish romp driven by the hypnotic intrusive beats of McNeill. Catchier than a virus and just as hungrily virulent, the song is a creative agitation which refuses to leave until feet and passions are offering their own individual submissions.

The track is a glorious end to another inescapably impressive release from The Black Frame Spectacle. They with their EP again feed expectations and wants of their own sound, whilst pushing and stretching its borders just enough to be once more fresh and newly exciting. When will the world wake up to the band we have to wonder, especially fans of bands like Living End, The Peacocks, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, and even Volbeat.

The Black Frame Spectacle EP is available now @

http://www.theblackframespectacle.com/

RingMaster 04/02/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright - Ringmaster


"the black frame spectacle: Grady Sessions II"

Take two men, a guitar and drum kit, and a passion to turn big thumping beats and energetic rampaging sounds into something as essential as breathing, and you have the black frame spectacle. Fusing the feisty essences of rockabilly, punk, and psychobilly with expressive lyrical might and powerful inspiring vocals, the duo from Canada create music which could soundtrack a riot whilst persuading a thousand more eager hearts to join its passion. Their latest album Grady Sessions II is a breath taking storm of thrilling nostalgic sounds and modern heart spawn urgency and craft, a lo-fi adrenaline soaked surf through incendiary invention and captivating unpredictable imagination. It is outstanding, a record which lies somewhere between bruising the senses and sending them into orgasmic rapture, though in the end the result is the same as from both extremes.

The Ontario band consists of guitarist and vocalist Ian Sullivan and drummer Adam McNeill, two men who met as work colleagues in 2003 and came together as musicians in 2009. Their striking sounds soon found them with a constantly growing and strong fan base around the Dorchester and London area which with the release of their debut album Grady Sessions spread further afield. The new album takes all the impressive essences of the first album and explores them with greater depth for a distinctive and imaginative triumph. The release plays like a heady brew of bands like The Peacocks, Batmobile, and Living End distilled through the breath of Max Raptor and System Of A Down, it is a unique beast with at times familiar sounding sinews within devastatingly inventive and fresh creative muscle.

As soon as opener Patient Zero scurries through the ear with rasping riffs and disorientating rhythms, a tingle shoots through the heart. There is an immediate sense of something special raging alongside the driving vocals and shadowed gait of the teasing slightly abrasive maelstrom of ingenuity. The track stomps with electric tension and gnawing urgency aligned to unpredictable enterprise, a punk rock tempest spiced with a raw Gene Vincent swagger.

The following Bust Out The Boogie continues the mighty start, its rockabilly swing and challenging bite simply irresistible. The song makes it impossible for limbs and voice not to enter its affray, the energy and heart of the track a wild infection whilst the knowing romp of the vocals is an instigator anyone would follow whatever its intent.

As the album progresses the growing adoration towards the inciting sounds becomes an unbridled lust, tracks like Class Of Lonely Dreams and Use Your Claws, sensations to lose inhibitions to. The first is a caustic call to arms to match anything on the Roll On album from Living End, its instigation as contagious as the rough surfaced sounds, whilst the second with its waspish lilt to the guitars is a seductive tease to lose oneself within with ease. Their stunning might is followed up with the just as provocative and storming sounds within Up, Back, Or Off, an track to ignite the primal needs and greed with expertise.

Though at times the surface sound has an admittedly very agreeable but similar initial assault it does not take much effort to discover the inspired versatility and diversity to the ideas and sounds at play. Bored Of The Lie for example at first seems like a continuation of the previous track but soon lays an undulating passage which is continually mesmeric and constantly challenging. It is also quite brilliant as are all the songs and album as a whole.

Further highlights come with the likes of An Ode To Dogs Bollocks which starts as something Buddy Holly might have imagined and evolves through a snapping spicery of Calabrese and Reverend Horton Heat, the military surge of Marching Orders, and the emotive twisting glory of Oscar Mike. The last of the trio is immense, the vocals of Sullivan pushing the already striking range and depth of his ability to greater heights whilst the rhythms of McNeill frame the sensational track with a persuasive and invigorating magnificence.

Closing with the dazzling The Mob Awaits, a quite delicious track with a tin pot alley swagger and sweltering unrivalled passion, Grady Sessions II is simply brilliant. With ease it is one of the best albums to appear this year whilst taking the heart on the most genuine and inspirational journeys in a long time. If punk n roll is your favourite tease thanthe black frame spectacle will leave you drooling from every pore.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/the-black-frame-spectacle/288510844804

http://www.theblackframespectacle.com/ - audioburger.com


"The Black Frame Spectacle- Grady Sessions II 2012"

The Black Frame Spectacle like to make a lot of noise and Grady Sessions II is bigger, bolder and better than their debut album and that's saying something. Coming in with 10 original tracks this is truly a mud stomping, ass kicking, slobber-knocker of an album. Highlights include:"Patient Zero","Up,Back,Or Off" and the kool "Bust Out The Boogie". This is a band that can successfully fuse billy/punk and hard rock into a sound that fans of those genres and more will like .This is a killer rock album and highly recommended! http://www.theblackframespectacle.com/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/the-black-frame-spectacle/288510844804 - slams reviews


"Q & A with The Black Frame Spectacle"

Boasting a sound that is reminiscent of some of The White Stripes most energetic material, it is merely coincidence that Ontario’s The Black Frame Spectacle also only number two in the band. There is a rawness to The Black Frame Spectacle’s sound that would absolutely serve as a nice compliment to the Stripes, yet the band takes things a step further. They are carving out a fairly unique niche for their sound, mixing aspects of rockabilly with good ol’ fashioned rock n roll.

The Black Frame Spectacle’s Ian Sullivan recently took the time to take part in the MusicNerd Q&A:

Where do you currently call home?

Dorchester, Ontario

Why do you live where you do?

I’m not a big city person – the traffic, the noise, the stress of getting around. I much prefer the tranquility of small town living. Dorchester’s around 7,000 people and is quite peaceful…

What is occupying your time these days?

We just released our debut album, Grady Sessions, at the end of February of this year. We’ve been busy promoting it and figuring out what our path is going to be.

First record purchased and at what age?

I can’t recall the first album I bought, but I do remember picking out a few 45's when I was around 5 or 6 years old - John Lennon’s “Woman” and “Watching the Wheels”, as well as The Go-Go’s “‘We Got The Beat”.

When did you start to play music?

i took piano as a young child, but it didn’t resonate with me. i think the formal setting put me off and i found the theory to be too much like school for my liking. i got my first bass guitar when i was 15 and when i realized i could teach myself how to play, that’s when i really began to get into music.

If we took a look inside the bedroom of a 13-15 year old you, what posters would have been on the walls?

The Cult, Guns N’ Roses, The Northern Pikes

What three records could you not live without?

The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

System of a Down – Toxicity

Radiohead- OK Computer

Who or what is getting too much attention these days?

There are some pop stars whose faces are everywhere you turn. I think the coolest thing a few of them could do is disappear for a couple of years. Take your money, take your face, take your name and drop out of the spotlight for a while to give us all a rest… Madonna and Michael Jackson used this concept brilliantly.

Who or what is not getting enough attention these days?

The things that really matter. We’re so distracted by fluff in the media. There are a lot of people who are working hard to uncover truths about our food, our environment, and our society but the vast majority of people still don’t know or don’t care about any of it. Social media is changing that, but we’ve still got a long way to go…

What has been your most memorable show?

The one that really sticks out for me was playing at The Dogs Bollocks Scooter Rally in Pt Burwell (on the shore of Lake Erie) last summer. It was a cross between a bush party and a motorcycle rally (but with scooters) and it was brilliant. People jumping the bonfire on their bikes, naked people riding around, scooter jousting and we were asked to play a set on the Saturday night on a stage that overlooked the campsite and the lake beyond that. It inspired a song afterwards…

Worst career moment thus far?

Everything that has happened to us has lead us to where we are at this point in our lives. I don’t think there is a worst moment – they are all just steps in the journey and I wouldn’t change any of them…

- The MusicNerd Chronicles


"Fairly Reviewed: The Black Frame Spectacle - Grady Sessions [2011]"

What do you get when you mix the syncopated drumming of Queens of the Stone Age's 'No One Knows' with the vocal power of System of a Down's Serj Tankian?

'Bittersweet' is the first single off of Black Frame Spectacle's debut album, Grady Sessions, which is full of big rock songs by a duo who can make a lot of noise. This is just straight up electric guitar, drum set, fast tempos, and music with some balls to it.

Ian Sullivan (vocals/guitar) and Adam McNeill (drums) have put together an album full of the type of music that would make you turn your head in a crowded bar to listen to the unknown band on stage. Scratch that, they put together an album that demands you turn around, shut the fuck up, and drink your beer. And if your drinking some sort of 'lite' beer it will probably explode in your hand out of embarrassment; so when you're listening to Black Frame you'll want a jar full of whiskey or some brew that will put hair on your back.

The opening salvo of Grady Sessions, 'Salvage Operation,' is the type of song that sneaks up on you as it gives a taste of what Ian's voice is capable of. From 'Soldier On' through 'Bittersweet' it's the type of hard rock they used to play on the radio back when listening to the radio was cool and they still played good music.

'I Do, I Do' is the obligatory soft ballad any self respecting rock album would put in there - oh wait, they didn't. Ian's trigger happy fingers start riffing and Adam's cymbal crashes follow right along. It shows that these guys could make a soft, slow song, they just choose not to.

I had to listen to 'The Devil Don't Tie My Shoes' at least five times before I could put my finger on what it reminded me of - a stripped down version of 'Devil Went Down to Georgia.'

'Srsly' has some serious swagger to it and makes me feel like I shouldn't be listening to it unless I'm wearing torn up jeans and a leather jacket. 'Birkeland Thread' rounds out Grady Sessions with a more grown up sound, like the album was building towards something, and as the final notes fade out and it goes back to song one, you know this album is going to get some play.

You can hear 'Srsly' and 'A line in the Sand' on the bands facebook page.

Smash!
- fairly coherent


Discography

the black frame spectacle EP (2014)- Recorded at EMAC Studios in London, ON

Grady Sessions II (2012)- Recorded at EMAC Studios in London ON

Grady Sessions (2011)- Recorded at EMAC Studios in London, ON.

Look for selected tracks available for streaming on Bandcamp, Facebook, and Youtube

Photos

Bio

the black frame spectacle was formed in 2009 by members Ian Sullivan and Adam McNeill.  Inspired by the relentless energy of punk and the gritty realism of 60's rockabilly, they have released two full-length albums- Grady Sessions (2011) and Grady Sessions II (2012), and a self-titled EP (2014).

Band Members