Canadian duo The Big East bring cottage rock to the party.
Canadian duo The Big East call what they do “cottage rock”; apparently, it translates as upbeat ‘70s fun.
James Jones and Kip Daynard come from North Toronto’s Lake and Cottage area. Their second LP, “Hungry Ghosts,” is due out in April, and if it’s anything like their first single fresh from the release, “The Wild Life,” you’ll enjoy it.
The mellow sounds feel like a band you would have enjoyed if you were in high school in the 70s because the lyrics feel like a teen running free but the melody and the pacing of the rock feel fitting with the carefree and loose jams of the time.
Don’t think too much on this one. Just have fun and mellow out and enjoy it - that’s the goal of yacht rock, right? That’s what this band also calls their mellow, chill, and comfortable tunes, which, considering their aura of freedom and feeling of a refuge from daily toils, feels right.
The band takes their new album’s name from a twist on a Buddhist concept: that humans are pulled by emotions like animals follow instincts. Says Jones of its influence, “We applied this concept to our intense need to create music”.
With that thought in mind, are they more like the narrator or the girl of the song who abandons the narrator to follow “the wild life”? Perhaps a little bit of both - which is where those who this is intended for will respond to - between the pulls of the everyday but with an urge to run free.
They are quite prolific - they created actually 40 demos before picking these 11, according to producer Andre Wahl. So take a dive, splash around, and play with the eleven that made the cut starting April 7.
Here’s “The Wild Life”. Enjoy.
The band’s second album “Hungry Ghosts” comes out April 7.