Young Rival
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Young Rival

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | INDIE

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | INDIE
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


"Great press quotes for Young Rival's debut album"

Quotes:

“Young Rival is an early contender for this summer’s must-have road
trip disc.” 5 stars out of 5 – Scott Bryson, CHARTATTACK

“the whole record is breathtakingly visceral and immediate, making the
live-off-the-floor excitement utterly contagious. Oh, this record will
be abused this summer.” – Ben Rayner, TORONTO STAR

“There’s a band in Hamilton that completely knocked us back called Young Rival. Completely blew me away. It’s like the Beach Boys meet the Sex Pistols. It was brilliant. It could have been 1968 or 2010.” -Happy Mondays’ drummer Gary “Gaz” Whelan

“Young Rival plays tight, four-minute bottle drainers, not quite
retro-Mod, not-quite punk. And they’re very good at what they do. If
the guitars don’t lead you to the edge, the bass and drums will push
you over. A very strong debut album.” – Graham Rockingham, METRO

“[Young Rival's] self-titled debut nails 60s garage rock – without the
use of old, rusty nails. The trio succeeds by not succumbing to the
artificial throwback throw-up danger faced by anyone toying with “like
your dad did it” sounds.” NNNN – Paul Terefenko, NOW (Toronto)

“Short, sharp, shaggy and scrappy.” 4 stars – Darryl Sterdan, SUN Media

“Don’t send the royalty cheque to the Davies brothers just yet-Young
Rival’s efficiency and enthusiasm will wear down even the most
staunchly iconoclastic avant-gardist.” – Erik Leijon, MONTREAL MIRROR

“If what you need is snotty, razor-sharp, too-good-for-the-garage indie
rock, then Hamilton, Ontario’s Young Rival has you covered.” – GEORGIA STRAIGHT (Vancouver, BC)

“With a gritty aesthetic that only could have been properly cultivated
by playing years of gigs in grimy bars, Young Rival’s debut is the best
album of the summer to drain your beer to.” – Mine Salkin, DISCORDER (Vancouver)

“The steel city three-piece has created a sound that is classic but not
backward-looking, a return to the roots of what made rock ‘n’ roll
great in the first place while not falling into the kitsch of
nostalgia, something that feels recognizable but fresh.” – Brian
Birtles, VUE WEEKLY (Edmonton)

“Now that the early-’00s garage-rock revival is behind us, Young
Rival’s refined blend of Vines-era grunge and sunny, Kinksy pop-rock
feels almost like it’s on the vanguard. Here’s a band that should step
out of the garage more often.” Chandler Levack, EYE WEEKLY (Toronto)

“In so many ways, the groovy Hamilton rockers long for the past,
evidenced by taut angst-ridden punk dunked in reverb and swirling
psychedelic soup. Like a shot of lightning, with a Red Bull chaser.”
Brad Wheeler, THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“Take a great song, a great website and a great idea for a video, and
greatness is all but assured. Such was the discovery of Hamilton-based
“wildcat” rock’n'rollers Young Rival (www.myspace.com/youngrival), who
on March 1 of this year performed one of their new songs, Authentic, on
the social networking site www.chatroulette.com – eliciting the
impromptu participation of many webcam chatters who happened to be
online at the time – and then uploaded the resulting video to
www.youtube.com a few days later where nearly 15,000 folks have since
enjoyed the band’s brilliance. (Helps that the song is a beaut, too.)”
- Jamie O’Meara, HOUR.CA (Montreal)
- Various publications


Discography

New, as-yet-untitled album due in October 2012 (Sonic Unyon)
YOUNG RIVAL - LP (Sonic Unyon)
YOUNG RIVAL - EP (self-released)

Photos

Bio

From Hamilton Ontario comes Young Rival.

This trio hails from a city most widely-known for its blue-collar work ethic - a quality that Young Rival have always proudly embraced. With a sound that is both raw and hazy, dark and melodic, this band delivers an undeniably unique brand of grit-infused, wildcat rock and roll. Their latest offering came to us in the form of an amazing collection of songs, recorded in June 2009 by Polaris Prize winning record maker Jon Drew (Fucked Up, Tokyo Police Club, Arkells).

"Jon has a total hands-off approach to recording a band like us," says drummer Noah Fralick. "We recorded in a high-ceiling room with mics scattered throughout. The result is an album that's bigger sounding than anything we've done before, because it captures the intensity of our live playing, while still highlighting the more subtle aspects of our band's dynamic."

With shows and tours alongside The Sadies, Born Ruffians, King Khan and the Shrines, and Tokyo Police Club, as well as remixes by Junior Boys, this young band occupies a unique - and important - position in today's indie landscape. They hearken back to a time where musicianship was primary; where a band's ability to collaborate and play well together was posited as the goal more important than any other. And yet Young Rival offer a sound that's both refreshing and current; delivering it with an uncompromising edge and swagger.

Critics have responded eagerly to Young Rival's efforts so far. Their self-released debut EP, recorded by NYC producer Emery Dobyns (Patti Smith, Battles, Lou Reed), was greeted with glowing reviews from press outlets across Canada, including 4 star write-ups in both major Toronto weeklies, NOW and EYE WEEKLY. Lead-off single "Your Island" rose to Number 2 on CBC Radio 3's weekly countdown and its video reached rotation on MuchMusic. Internationally, the band has received radio play on BBC Radio 2 and XFM in the United Kingdom, as well as features on trend-setting U.S. music blogs such as Stereogum and Pitchfork.

Their full length debut album, released in early 2010, also found critical acclaim across North America. Chartattack said the album was " an early contender for this summer’s must-have road trip disc” while the The Globe And Mail called it "taut angst-ridden punk dunked in reverb and swirling psychedelic soup. Like a shot of lightning, with a Red Bull chaser." The band toured extensively for the album: full North American and European tours with their friends Born Ruffians, multiple showcases at the Great Escape Festival in the UK and Canadian tours with Hollerado, The Pack A.D. and Yukon Blonde. The band recently played the Supercrawl Festival in their hometown of Hamilton ON along with Broken Social Scene, J Mascis and Frank Black.

After having so much success recording their first album with Jon Drew the band decided to not fix what wasn't broken. Their sophomore album was recorded in Toronto with Drew at the end of summer 2011. Young Rival's new sophomore album will be released Spring 2012 via Sonic Unyon Records.