Three Wolf Moon
W
Self-Released

It helps to think of Three Wolf Moon as something like an old Native legend and not, as you might be immediately tempted to do, an homage to Three Dog Night or the ironic, cult-folk t-shirt design (which I’m afraid it is). That way, when you drink in its hazy, star-filled, electric splendor, you can stare at the sky for hours with nothing but an affinity for wandering spirits in your mind. Indeed, W is a three-song brain-tickler, a delicate odyssey of garage-psych obsessed with alphabetical stress, and its trio of  doubled-yous (“Water/Wine,” “Wetbrain,” “The Worst”) are indelible gifts of indie-freak you won’t soon forget. You know, there’s no reason this Canadian band, which features members of Black Wizard, If We Are Machines, and The Best Revenge, can’t run with the likes of Black Mountain and Weird Owl to whatever cosmic finish line awaits ‘em. And I’ll be on the sidelines doing my part by handing out the Kool-Aid when they pass by…and wearing that t-shirt, no doubt.

Listen to W (and download it for free) right here!

Johnny de Courcy
Bad Teeth
Green Burrito Tapes

Not long ago, teenage dirtbag Johnny de Courcy parted ways with his brothers in the Canadian stoner/doom band Black Wizard, citing a dissociation with the band and its music. You see, Johnny, underneath all that greasy hair and through all that pot smoke, is a bit of dandy, and while the follies of indiscriminate youth were best experienced through heavy electric noise, it’s now his inner Ziggy Stardust that yearns to be free. Johnny’s heart, no doubt saturated with chemical fumes inhaled at his print shop hideaway, bursts with foppish psych-pop, and the five songs on this acoustic EP move about as though Syd Barrett is dancing a jewelry box ballerina all the way to Mars. It’s an incredible turnabout, but one that suits Johnny like a fresh string of pearls, and the sweet sounding truth of his weird and whimsical ways are beautifully inspirational.

Bad Teeth has been released on cassette, but if that’s too strange a format for you to get back into, go listen to it and download it for free right here!

Black Wizard
Mountain Bitch b/w Jesus 7″
Evergreen Records

It’s not enough anymore to say that Black Wizard are emerging as one of my favourite Canadian bands because that’s an unfair limitation for such a colossal stink of a stoner rock band. The patterns of abject abhorrence displayed by these dirty pastors of pot make ‘em young leaders of wrong morals; the fervor of their foggy franchise gets its momentum from wonderfully sketchy influences, and the wheel is really starting to roll. A hefty sum of hyperbole, sure, but Black Wizard is, flat out, the million dollar beast you want to keep secret lest everyone get hip to its bankable savagery. Truth be told, though, I’m not sure how long the chains would hold. If I was smart, I’d start a label right now and put everything I had into ‘em. Last year’s self-released, self-titled debut was full of raw, thick-necked goodness, and really got me excited about what was to come. Well, as good as their debut was, this here seven inch is better. Its two songs, “Mountain Bitch” and its backside “Jesus,” are huge statements; heavy, high-flyin’ slabs of mature (gasp!)  psych-doom that prove the band have found a retro-fuzz sound worth exploring and elevating. Now all that’s left for these dudes to do is ruin the freedom and reap the benefits that come with breaking out. Shouldn’t be long now.

Listen to “Mountain Bitch” from the Mountain Bitch 7″!