Watch out for this five-piece band from Long Island…this is a HOT EP! Get out your over-mittens and push play on this set of five songs that blaze by all-too-quickly from Sir Cadian Rhythm’s new EP – this self-titled EP is STUFFED full of tight-hooks, supreme musicianship and an entire full-length album’s worth of good times. They certainly had a wordsmith like myself on their side with a band name like that…let’s make sure these tunes can back up this sharp wit!
I’ll say this much at first…when I was looking up the social media pages of Sir Cadian Rhythm I was secretly hoping to find they’d be a Canadian band…there’s a very distinctly Canadian sound you can hear in a lot of this…but alas, I must surrender them to the south. Like any amazing art…I shouldn’t have the right to lay a personal claim to it anyhow – I’m glad we all get to share in the music of Sir Cadian Rhythm cause these five guys TEAR IT UP.
It’s been another great week here at sleepingbagstudios with a lot of fantastic music coming our way to the point where it’s going to look like I simply ‘like everything’ again! And as much as I might even be searching for an ‘out’ of that somewhat myself…it’s not something I’d ever make up or force either…so believe me when I say this music from Sir Cadian Rhythm is as good as I’ll really tell you it is.
“Run Around Town”
https://soundcloud.com/sir-cadian-rhythm/run-around-town
“Ouroboros”
https://soundcloud.com/sir-cadian-rhythm/ouroboros
Like if there’s a band to make me question the mindset of the mainstream right now – this is probably the one – I am absolutely LOVING what Sir Cadian Rhythm is bringing to the table.
So…many…standout…elements…can…barely…type…fast…enough…
“Flood Of XIV” is an immediate hit with me. I don’t know at this point what stood out to me more upon those first listens…you’ve got the incredible bass of Sir Richard Cluxton right away captivating the ears; many of you bass players out there…you can sympathize with this next statement – how many reviews start off with talking about the bass player? This is definitely a performance worth talking about. Excellent drums from Sir Keith Miller also stand out as completely intense and reliable for massive sounds…but I don’t know if there’s anything that makes quite the impact that lead singer Sir Jack Weppler makes in this opening tune.
Because let me tell you about good ol’ Sir Jack for a moment…this guy is a completely uncovered sparkling GEM. Absolutely flawless tone, inventive delivery…like a massive combination of Brandon Boyd, Brendon Urie and perhaps a little of our Canadian Daniel Greaves of The Watchmen thrown in there…Sir Jack Wepper is incredibly HUGE in his performances on this EP. After the beautiful, soft-sounding guitar opening of “Flood Of XIV,” he breaks into a set of bright, charismatic vocals right away and leaves you with the feeling that you’re hearing a real professional on the microphone. I’m sure I’ll point this out again in the songs to come, but right from the opening – I truly couldn’t be any more impressed with this band than I already am.
“Holly’s On Fire” is undeniably close to the sound that Panic At The Disco! was onto when they released the Pretty Odd album…which, while we’re on the subject right now, I may as well mention just happens to be my favourite album from that crew. This song would literally slide right onto that album completely unnoticed if it wasn’t for the wicked guitar solos from Sir Alex Laudani…let’s face it, it’s rare for Panic At The Disco! to bust into a solo; chances are that’d be noticed. Otherwise, it’d be a perfect fit with Sir Matt Carlin providing excellent sounds from the keys from subtle effects to blaring horns…this song just works and works and works! Excellent swing-sound to the rhythm and tight guitars, melody bursts brightly to match the energy of the chorus…”Holly’s On Fire” becomes a dance-party happening right between your ears in the core of your brain and bound to be wonderfully stuck there for a while.
I love it when I have to look something up! Titles have become the unfortunate version of liner-notes for many of us old-schoolers out there that used to read their cassettes from cover to cover like they needed to pass a test on the contents somehow. A clever title can bring you more joy than simply serving to let you know which track you like the best…sometimes they help uncover the mystery…sometimes the investigation of it all can just lead to more questions. But it’s all part of the journey, and it’s all a beautiful dimension to the art of music that’s underused…so when I read a title like “Ouroboros,” my curiosity binds me to finding out what’s going on…
As it turns out, an “Ouroboros” is an ancient symbol of some sort that has a dragon, serpent or snake eating its own tail in a circle formation. Who knew? But perhaps it provides a little insight… Though the title itself isn’t mentioned, to me the symbol itself seems to refer to the repetitive nature of humanity and our own prevalent abilities to repeat certain patterns for unknown reasons. Holy Rorschach test! Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong…but “Ouroboros” to me sounds like a song built around personal struggle to break free of those patterns and into whatever else might come after. Sir Jack Wepper is once again electrifying in distorted-glory on this wild, exotic blend of rock; excellent vocal-flow and a memorable performance delivered with real emotion and impact. “Ouroboros” also has some of my favourite guitars from Sir Alexander Laudani as well – the dude lights up solos with precision and perfect tone and takes a small turn in the spotlight during this song that was certainly memorable to me. Big punching chorus to “Ouroboros” that goes straight for the throat.
The true secret in the sauce of Sir Cadian Rhythm is in the collective tightness of the band and how they write these amazing songs to showcase their very best. I love the keys & guitars that subtly fill the opening of “Run Around This Town,” and how perfect the beat supplied by the drums and bass becomes. It’s all happening in a very understated way, building and building until this song takes off into the chorus and explodes in a pop-rock frenzy. Excellent ideas on guitars and once again Wepper has found an incredible vocal-pattern to latch onto and take us all for a wild romp through this catchy track. The breakdown is completely awesome, the drums break loose completely and start bringing in one amazing fill after another, leading to one last explosive run through the chorus.
Somebody sign these guys before my head implodes please.
Ending on more emotionally-driven tones…”Villian Fear” is like the denouement after the climax of the story and brings their self-titled effort to a proper and definitive closing. It’s a logical departure from the energy and also allows us to hear another aspect of Sir Cadian Rhythm on the recording. Sir Jack Wepper once again recalls the sound & tone Brendon Urie with his fragile, frantic & emotional delivery. The music stands out with the clever addition of the horns & trumpets and fantastic bass also makes itself known once again on this final tune, bringing it full-circle on this EP, like some kind of Ouroboros…
Right on. Absolutely incredible passionate music, they seem like great guys, I love the wordplay on the band-name AND I got to learn and use a new word today…could an independent music journalist possibly ask for any more than this? I think not. Sir Cadian Rhythm is exactly what I want to hear right now with music that supplies real energy, enthusiasm and emotion combined with intense skill and insurmountable heart.
Find out more from the Sir Cadian Rhythm official page at: http://www.scrofficial.com/
Jer @ SBS – http://sleepingbagstudios.ca/