Owen Sound, ON
http://radio3.cbc.ca/artists/group-of-seven
Everybody has to grow up sometime, and even Adam
Bell is no exception. After five years heading Kingston-via-Owen Sound
power pop band The Radical Dudez, Bell is striking out on his own as
Group of Seven. Without sacrificing the gift for a catchy hook that led
Chart Magazine to mint the Dudez as a “new wave Weezer, but with heart,
wit and intelligence,” Bell’s typical summer-and-girls focus has
broadened to include history, national identity, and the finer points
of beginning to navigate the world as an adult. It’s an impressive
development from a songwriter once caught idealizing his childhood as
“no work, all play, track pants every day.” The past two years have
seen his facility with recording and layering arrangements increase,
assisted by his work co-writing with and recording other artists (A Day
For Kites, Born To Busk).
Bell’s new material not
only concerns identity on the grand scale, but features characters
whose identities are changed by historical and economic forces beyond
their control: a WWII veteran experiences post-traumatic stress
syndrome after resettling in Chicago (“The War”); the 1972
Canada-Russia hockey series becomes the breaking point of a troubled
marriage (“O Kanada”); a worker laid off contrasts his declining fortunes to those of the victorious
1992 Toronto Blue Jays (“Golden Horseshoe”).
Bell’s
ever-increasing proficiency at compressing sun-kissed idealism,
self-scrutiny and a plain …
Everybody has to grow up sometime, and even Adam
Bell is no exception. After five years heading Kingston-via-Owen Sound
power pop band The Radical Dudez, Bell is striking out on his own as
Group of Seven. Without sacrificing the gift for a catchy hook that led
Chart Magazine to mint the Dudez as a “new wave Weezer, but with heart,
wit and intelligence,” Bell’s typical summer-and-girls focus has
broadened to include history, national identity, and the finer points
of beginning to navigate the world as an adult. It’s an impressive
development from a songwriter once caught idealizing his childhood as
“no work, all play, track pants every day.” The past two years have
seen his facility with recording and layering arrangements increase,
assisted by his work co-writing with and recording other artists (A Day
For Kites, Born To Busk).
Bell’s new material not
only concerns identity on the grand scale, but features characters
whose identities are changed by historical and economic forces beyond
their control: a WWII veteran experiences post-traumatic stress
syndrome after resettling in Chicago (“The War”); the 1972
Canada-Russia hockey series becomes the breaking point of a troubled
marriage (“O Kanada”); a worker laid off contrasts his declining fortunes to those of the victorious
1992 Toronto Blue Jays (“Golden Horseshoe”).
Bell’s
ever-increasing proficiency at compressing sun-kissed idealism,
self-scrutiny and a plain-spoken social consciousness into 4-minute pop
symphonies is testament to his growth as a songwriter and arranger.
Growing up never sounded so good.
| FANS |
PLAYLISTED |
TOTAL PLAYS |
| 17 |
34 |
1,483 |
