Jon McKiel - Jon McKiel EP (Headless Owl)
 |
| Jon McKiel - Jon McKiel EP |
Release Date: June 2014
Jon McKiel is your new favourite lo-fi
slacker indie hero from Nova Scotia, no diggity. This gorgeous new EP from the
Canadian songwriter on the charmingly named Headless Owl records and features
six of delightful melodies and a sense of delicateness. Opening with 'New
Tracy', McKiel immediately hits his stride with a Weezer meets the Beach Boys
track that strums and rattles along like a sunny afternoon in the suburbs spent
riding your bike around looking for something - anything - to do. 'I Know (I
Know)' has a reassuringly persistent thrum to it like Beck at his most hypnotic
or We Are Scientists during an introverted period. If you want some scratchy,
lounge style indie then look no further than 'Tropical Depression' which rocks
out in a room at the end of a long corridor while you come round from a heavy
night on whiskey and Valium.
So we're half way through and by
now you should be swooning over Mr McKiel but just in case you're not, how
about a bit of guitar played whilst riding a bike down some stairs accompanied
by lush vocal harmonies as on 'Twin Speaks'? Or maybe try a little 'Accolades',
garage-pop with a cheeky smile and a sense of menace in a brand new leather
jacket that just wants to be Liam Lynch, Albert Hammond Jr and Best Coast all
rolled in to one. Final track 'Chop Through' seems to be the soundtrack to a
hungover/still drunk walk of shame through the searing midday sun of a Monday
in downtown nowheresville past the salesmen and shoppers of the smug retail
quarter. McKiel won't win any awards for slick, dancefloor fillers but if
people are handing out prizes for knowing how to write a fantastic slacker pop
song and then make it interesting then you've found your winner. Seriously,
close the competition now and start issuing refunds for the entry fee. Game
over, man, game over.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jon-Mckiel/222541413082?fref=ts
Live Dates:
17th June - The Apollo, Thunder Bay
18th June - Studio 25, Winnipeg
19th June - Vangeli's, Saskatoon
20th June - Wunderbar, Edmonton
21st June - The NAAG, Lethbridge