The Unintended - s/t
(Sonic Unyon 2004, VOID002-2)
The Unintended - s/t
(Sonic Unyon 2004, VOID002-2)
Uploaded to Aural Innovations: April 2004
This band is hyped all over the Canadian Internet Music Press as THE CANADIAN SUPERGROUP. The Unitended consists of Elevator’s Rick White (vocals, guitar, percussion), Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor (vocals, guitar) and all of The Sadies: Dallas Good (vocals, guitar, organ), Travis Good (vocals, guitar), Sean Dean (bass), and Mike Belitsky (drums). I’m sorry to say that I have not heard of any of these bands, but I’m old, so lots of music goes right over my head.
The press material I received did not mention a band website so I did a little searching. It was a little tricky finding anything about the band. I did find lots of websites with the words "the unintended" (fill in the blank). I also found out that the Sadies are very popular, with Elevator and Blue Rodeo not doing too bad either. Oh, I never did find a band website.
Like many of you, I’m not too impressed by the Next New Thing and getting hung with a title like THE CANADIAN SUPERGROUP, well that can’t be good. Of course if I was a serious writer (instead of the dilettante that I am), hanging that title on a band would make me awfully cool!
Let me just say that I liked this band on the first listen (see, I’m jumping on the band’s wagon already). I very rarely read the promo material until I write my review, so I had no idea that I was being given an opportunity to be a part of greatness.
Okay. I’m done. I always wonder if the people writing the hype actually listen to the cd. I did. I liked it. In fact, I liked it a lot. It’s a collection of very short songs (mostly 2-3 min), with a distinctive retro-sixties psychedelic vibe. When I finally read the liner notes, I was surprised at how many guitar players there are; this is not a guitar band. Ringing guitars, lots of reverb, perfect textures, cheesy organ, mostly chords, with oodles of swirling. Ethereal vocals, more reverb, and of course spooky background vocal effects.
This was recorded in six snowbound days in the Canadian northland, mostly live. My biggest complaint was (note: was) that the production values could be a bit more refined. It has an absolutely gorgeous live sound. It’s not overproduced and the guitars are just the right amount. I highly recommend this and if you live in Ontario, the Unintended will be touring April/May.
For more information you can visit the Sonic Unyon web site at: http://www.sonicunyon.com.
Contact via snail mail c/o Sonic Unyon; PO Box 5747; Jackson Station; Hamilton, Ontario; L8P 4X2; Canada.
Reviewed by Louis Hesselt-van-Dinter