Artist: Northbank Stranglers
Title: Dead City Blues
Year Of Release: 2016
Label: Self Produced
Genre: Country/Alternative
Quality: MP3 320 Kbps
Total Time: 38:14
Total Size: 102 MB
Tracklist:
1. Lonely's Only Prayer (3:56)
2. Without A Trace (3:13)
3. Beautiful Heartbreak (3:03)
4. I Am The Breeze (3:10)
5. Rattlin' Bones (4:07)
6. Faceless (4:10)
7. Blue Jeans & Misery (3:34)
8. Just Like Me (3:05)
9. Dead City Blues (5:26)
10. Colorado Sunrise (4:25)
Forged on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River and shaped by the hands of small town Alberta, the Northbank Stranglers are the illegitimate children of old-school country and yesterdays rock n' roll.
"I think all kids go through a phase where they believe the music they grew up with isn't cool," Says frontman Ty Fletcher when asked about musical influences. "We were raised on country music, but there came a time when rock n' roll, punk rock and rebellion had a much brighter shine. When you grow up a bit, you realize that you'd been taking the songs of your youth for granted, and the mix is what has created the Strangler sound."
Guitarist Scott Melnyk, drummer Layne Eaton, and bassist Kirby Yarosh round out the Northbank Stranglers foursome, and the chemistry of the band is evident in the music they make. With each member bringing unique musical influences to the table, the Northbank Stranglers' sound can be described as a mixture of classic country and rock n' roll, with an undeniable punk rock energy.
"We did it just to say we could," says Fletcher of the Northbank Stranglers 2014 EP Born To Lose. "We'd only just recently started the band, and though, why the hell not. It was a snapshot of where we were at the time. It showed us what we could do if we put some work into it."
A year, and a mitfull of songs later, The Stranglers hit the studio, this time working with Scott Franchuk of Riverdale Recorders to make their first full length record. Dead City Blues is a natural transition to how far the Northbanks Stranglers have come in a short time. Songs of hard-luck, over-indulgence, loneliness and whisky soaked nights continue to be the theme of the Stranglers, but the maturity of the band is apparent. The Northbank Stranglers are in full stride.
This is clear in the 10 track, early 2016 release of Dead City Blues. The hard thumping first single, Lonely's Only Prayer, is a song about vulnerability and poor decisions, and the consequences that go along with them. A tale of shooting for the stars, striking out and crashing down, describes the college influenced tune, Without a Trace. The Stranglers' showcase their weighty side with I Am the Breeze, an anthropomorphic ballad of the void left in one's hometown after they have moved on, and the lost love story, Colorado Sunrise. The album is rounded out with the rhythmic, catchy title track, Dead City Blues, an autobiographical narrative about a rural kid blinded by the big city lights.
"These songs are relatable," says Fletcher of Dead City Blues. "We've all been in these situations or have shared the same outlook on life as the characters in the songs. Most of all, I just think they are honest."
Delivering a car wreck, bar fight, love gone wrong style of music, The Northbank Stranglers will leave your heart pumping, your feet stomping, and your soul begging for more.
