Happy Canada Day from LeBrain HQ to you. I know this is rough one, a weird one, and a difficult one. I’m going to ignore the current goings-on and everything else that has to do with Canada Day, and present to you Eleven Canadian Songs You Need to Hear Right Now. Enjoy!
1. Helix – “Billy Oxygen”
2. Arkells – “Leather Jacket”
3. July Talk – “Picturing Love”
4. The Guess Who – “Albert Flasher”
5. Blue Rodeo – “Side of the Road”
6. Harem Scarem – “Slowly Slipping Away”
7. Rush – “Vital Signs”
8. Gordon Lightfoot – “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” (re-recorded version)
“Here We Go Again” with more WTF Search Terms! Everything seen below is an actual search term, that a real person clicked to somehow get here to mikeladano.com. As David Coverdale might say, “Here’s some rock and roll for ya!”
jon mikl thor arnold the beatles greatness (One of these things is not like the other)
From the snowy shores of Vancouver British Columbia came Jon Mikl Thor, cult favourite and man of remarkable physique! Keep the Dogs Away is his second album, but the first to be billed simply as Thor. (Prior to this, they were Thor and the Imps.) It’s corny, cheesy, not too serious and occasionally fun. According to Wikipedia, this thing even went gold!
I’ve certainly loved the title track for as long as I can remember. I used to see this guy Thor on MuchMusic all the time. Usually he’d be bending a steel bar in his mouth. Sometimes, he’d blow up a hot water bottle with nothing but lung power. In one mid-80’s Power Hour interview, I distinctly recall him explaining that he was wearing spikes before Motley Crue were (true) and that his spikes were bigger (also true). That’s the level we’re at here, just so you have an idea. Thor is now a B-movie thespian, and I remember seeing bits of one of his films, Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare (1987) on TV.
There’s nothing exceptional here in terms of vocals, musicianship or songwriting, but the tunes are entertaining enough. You’ll find yourself able to sing along to “Sleeping Giant” and “Catch a Tiger”, with its simple “Yeah you know!” refrain. “Catch a Tiger” distantly resembles Rising-era Rainbow.
“I’m So Proud” is just rock and roll, kinda lite and reminiscent perhaps of the lesser Gene Simmons’ solo album material. Thor wouldn’t be influenced by Kiss just a little, would he? “Tell Me Lies” might be Thor aping Alice Cooper. I’m sure Alice was an influence on young Jon Mikl.
Side two commences with the cascading piano of the pompous but fun “Military Matters”. What Thor does here cannot really be strictly called singing, but he sure is bellowing! “Superhero” is comically bad, but…I seem to find myself humming along. Is it the basic simplicity? “Wasted” is of similar quality, although Thor’s not even trying to sing at this point. “Rosie” isn’t much better, and then the album closes on “Thunder”, a resounding thud of mediocrity.
I don’t regret the $10 that I spent on this. I’d wanted “Keeps the Dogs Away” (the song) for a long time and now I have it on a physical product. As far as I’m concerned, I have all the Thor I need now.
1/5 stars. But almost in that “so bad it’s good” category.
Today, I was listening to some old-school Dio, and I had a thought. A sudden thought that I wanted to explore:
“My taste in music was 100% solidified by that month in 1986 that I had mono!”
Yeah! I think it’s true! I was sick at home for a month (at least) too tired to do anything except record videos on the Pepsi Power Hour! I was inundated with a steady intake of incredible songs, in many cases for the first time. And because I still have the old VHS tapes, I know exactly what’s on them. This brief but intense period of my life was rocked by this soundtrack, over and over again:
Spinal Tap – “Hell Hole”, the theme song that my sister and I dedicated to our old Catholic grade school!
These songs were first impressed upon me during that period, the visuals always cool and intriguing to me. Especially Lee Aaron. Ahem. Anyway. I watched these videos over and over again. I recorded the audio (in mono) (…hah, I made a pun!) to a cassette so I could listen to them on my Walkman. This came in handy at the cottage. We didn’t have a VCR or cable there, so the only way to bring my songs was to tape them from the TV.
That one intense period of being stuck at home with nothing but heavy metal heroes might have made me the LeBrain I am today. I’m glad something good came out of it! I couldn’t even go swimming that entire summer!
mikeladano.com 