SOUND BITES

  It's always kind of felt like The Sheepdogs came from an alternate dimension. The story of their rise to prominence as a group of Guess Who loving dudes from Winnipeg being chosen as the winners of a contest that immortalized them as the first unsigned artist to ever appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, then having their major label debut produced by Dan Auerbach while The Black Keys were arguably the biggest rock band of the world... well, it sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Yet, here we are, over a decade removed from their breakthrough and now seven albums deep into a career that's seen them become one of Canada's most cherished touring acts. Also, their discography is remarkably consistent, their reverent songs echoing classic rock staples while never sounding explicitly like retreads; truly, The Sheepdogs have remained eager students of the game, and each release falls into place among the rest with ease. Outta Sight , their first album in four years (although las...

On their fourth album, The Sheepdogs aren't too drastically different a band from the one that burst onto the scene in the early years of the decade; so as to say, they're still indebted to classic rock. They've slowly brought more influences into their sound as they've gone along, yet they remain easy rocking, melodiously minded children of that smoky seventies sound; of course this means you shouldn't expect anything too shockingly different from Changing Colours despite what that title may suggest. Ewan Currie remains the driving force here, handling writing and co-production duties; as such, his knack for juicy harmonies and throwback flair are once again in full effect. Changing Colours opens with a trio of top-down summer night winners, including singles Nobody and I've Got a Hole Where My Heart Should Be , as well as future single hopeful Saturday Night . It's a thrilling start to what turns out to be an overall pleasing record, though admitted...

It's a testament to the volume of quality music that's still being produced in 2012 that a mere fifty songs didn't cover all that I wanted to give credit to. While the ten songs contained in this post aren't as mind blowing (to me, anyway) as those that got their own little spotlight, there are nonetheless some definite gems worthy of your attention. When it comes down to it, this post is proof that there were at least sixty artists who released tunes I dug this year, which tells me that either there's still plenty of life in rock music or that I am a total rock music whore. Could be both.

THE SHEEPDOGS I Don't Know From: Learn & Burn (Deluxe Reissue) Released: September 27 Okay sure, Learn & Burn was technically released in 2010, but only independently; so as to say, not many people outside of Saskatoon had the slightest inkling who these guys were.  That is until this past August, when the Sheepdogs became the first-ever unsigned artist to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Okay sure, they did so by winning a contest, but they had to work their asses off to win that contest.  And in doing so, they also got major label support, which saw their album reissued continent-wide in September.  That reissue saw their popularity rise thanks to the massive boost in radio play for the perfectly-suited-for-summer's-end vibed single I Don't Know . Okay sure, radio only jumped on board after the album shot to #1 on the Canadian iTunes chart after their Rolling Stone victory.  Look, can I stop rambling about technicalities and ...