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Blame it on Andre Skinner's frequent time-off trips burning the highway south of the border in between his many gigs across Ontario, or just his love for road songs, Canteen Knockout's long-awaited second release and first full length offering, NAVAJO STEEL, could easily be called or taglined "The Driving Album". An ample percentage of this CD's 13 tracks end up having something to do with "driving". Skinner and the boys cover much of everything that one driver or passenger can do while charging down the road to wherever: dreaming, speeding, crashing, drinking, smoking, ---and even yes, fucking. It's all here, in its refreshing raw grassroots/alt. country glory.L'ordre du jour on NAVAJO STEEL is definitely rock with generous twang, echoing The Flying Burrito Brothers and early 70s country-fied Rolling Stones, especially evident on the power acoustic strum-driven "Georgia", with its old school bare-effects electric guitar licks in between what seems to be one of Skinner's most comfortable and relaxed vocal performances. CK-O as a whole are not a chops players band perse, but this is actually a 'plus' for the more country-ish tunes like "Home" and "Dad Song" where the little imperfections help keep these songs this side of all-too-clinical Nashville, thank God. These are well crafted country songs performed by unpretentious rockers who appreciate their country influences.Many songs on the CD benefit from lead guitarist Alex Maxymiw, with him often, in addition to his stratocaster lashings, adding his beautiful pedal steel talents to the mix, either in the foreground or background. There is a good musical variety here. A tour de force track is the cool slow "Overnight Girl" with a nice flowing steel arrangement and good lyrics. "Balls Out Truckin'" is trademark ZZ Top. There's the fun back porch mock(or tribute)-Dylan "We Work", and the Davy Crockett theme-ish "Bill Cody", arguably as valid as The Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon" and "Bungalow Bill". And then there's the way-outta-left-field haunting and eerie title track.Should Andre Skinner get his license revoked? Should one feel safe travelling with him as a passenger? Should Mothers Against Drunk Driving start getting worried? Will Skinner end up playing 'chicken of the road' with Jeff Tweedy? We'll probably just have to stay tuned for Canteen Knockout's next episode for the answers to these questions. In the meantime, we can enjoy this strong, humble and honest effort by Toronto's unsung saddle riding heroes.Jeff Cole
I have seen several Canteen Knockout performances
now and this thing that they do is starting to take hold. I always thought
that bringing anything country
In spite of Toronto's heat wave and smog, as
well as a case of heat stroke, yours truly took a trip out east to check
out the North By North East (NXNE) music festival last month. The June 9 to 11 blitz featured independent musicians
of various genres from Canada, the U.S. and as far away as the Netherlands.
Nearly every venue had a decent sized crowd and more than 60,000 music
and film fans took in the festivities to catch some of Canada's best
new bands. Obviously, there wasn't enough time to check
out everything (400 plus shows were scheduled for three nights); some
weren't great and others were fantastic. Here's a rundown:Canteen Knockout at The Black Bull I was en route to C'mon but was drawn into the
Black Bull upon hearing Blue Rodeo/Wilco-type songs drifting out of
the venue. The venue wasn't the greatest but the Toronto Canteen Knockout made the best of what they
had. The band did a commendable job tugging emotional heartstrings with
their songs; there's something remarkably candid and sincere about frontman
Andre Skinner - no doubt he believes in and feels the lyrics. Overall,
a confident, polished sound.
2004The first spin through the Canteen Knockout self titled E.P. basically leaves you shaking your head after each song and thinking “What the f….?”Front man and lead singer/guitarist Andre Skinner, along with band members Paul Mates, Manrico Erasmi and Scott Whitmore, have combined to put together a five song E.P. that can truly be said to cover a large spectrum of musical styles.Song #1, Bent Out Of Shape, has a country/rock feel to it that would easily fit onto any Eagles tribute album! Song #2, Blue Girl, features a slide blues guitar and a distant sounding vocal track only. Song #3, Chords Ring, begins with a pop sounding acoustic guitar and vocals and then kicks into a good slightly grungy sound. #4, Plane, is a pleasant mellow rocker, and finally song #5, Hangers, is just a plain old good rock song. Throughout each of these songs interesting lyrics combine with the a unique sounding vocal style of Skinner to keep the song playing in your head long after it has actually stopped.Skinner is no new comer to the Canadian indie music scene, having played drums for the now defunct Pope Factory and the still active Slit Slot. In Canteen Knockout he has, however, set aside his kit and stepped into the limelight. Weather this is to insure his songs were reflected in the proper light, because he is a masochistic control freak, or because he was weaned too early as a child (ok, I think we can disregard the last two options) Canteen Knockout serves up a hardy helping of good music, minus the mosquitoes and grease. I think everyone should ask for seconds!!
You'd be hard-pressed to find a band more fittingly matched to the Silver Dollar Room's "anything goes" booking policy than Toronto's Canteen Knockout. By mixing country, rock, blues and other trace elements, CKO are the bastard child of Hogtown, just looking for a supple teat to nuzzle… or at least a shot of Piss Dru. Leadman Andre Skinner decided to pull back the reigns on this night, which meant that the band's set was awash in a more country-tinged approach than their recorded output would lead you to believe. Working backwards, lead guitarist Manrico Erasmi earned his keep by flashing some very impressive chops-the kind that make record execs and 14-year old girls from the suburbs buckle at the knees. Erasmi's twangy twiddling of his six-string was a definite standout yet it didn't overwhelm his bandmates efforts by a long shot. CKO were tight, taut and tested, allowing them to burn through such staples as "Bent Out of Shape" and "Sinner" with relative ease. Even the normally explosive clunker "Chords Ring" was castrated down to a mid-tempo groover. A cover of the Black Crowes' "Remedy" was probably the most obtrusive the boys got and it gave Skinner an opportunity to extend his vocals beyond his characteristic coo-something we hope to see a lot more of in the future. - Cameron Gordon
The Crash Kelly onslaught was to be a hard act
to follow, and it was up to Queen St. West's new roots rock posse Canteen
Knockout to pack a punch and prove they could sustain the crowd's interest
right after the curtain closed the main stage where an imprint of the
Kelly dudes was still etched on everyone's retina... --and Canteen Knockout
did so, damn it! Complete with a few foul words and the announcement
of prize pack giveaways, they quickly got to work and launched into
their assured set containing a mixed bag of song gems which they are
known for, with some straight-ahead strumming guitar melodies, kickass
grunge-style crunches, a untempo-ed Springsteen cover, and even a pseudo-country
closer that had all heads crowded at the front of their (smaller but
modest) stage boppin'. - Jeff Cole FEATURE - CANTEEN KNOCKOUTIt's only a few short blocks from
Chinatown to Queen Street, but for Toronto's Canteen Knockout and their
affable frontman, Andre Skinner, the distance between is symbolic. "Two
years ago, busking was my summer job. I'd grab my drums, go out to Chinatown
for six hours and play," says Skinner with a combination of pride
and jest. "Some days I'd make insane money, other days I'd just
do OK. I didn't have a permit but Chinatown's so crazy that it was never
an issue." A lot has changed in the years since,
namely Skinner had decided to pack up his drumsticks for the time being
and concentrate on frontman duties for Canteen Knockout, an erstwhile
collection of collaborators (singer/rhythm guitarist Skinner, lead guitarist
Manrico Erasmi, bassist Scott Whitmore and drummer Paul Mates) that
has been turning heads in the Toronto club scene since their inception
last summer. While the band has only played a handful of shows to this
point, Skinner is quick to recognise the difference between bashing
away at his skins and actually taking the mic. "I'm confident in
my voice but there are so many levels in singing and I'm trying to get
my voice to a point where I can get some additional vibrado in it,"
he says. "That and songwriting are what I'm concentrating on; just
getting up front and making a kick-ass show." The band's self-titled debut EP
(produced by Skinner himself and co-produced by Mark Doucet) was released
in the fall and is a good indicator of the band's range. Whereas tracks
such as "Bent Out of Shape" and "Hangers" are steeped
in twangy guitars and rootsy sensibilities, others such as the dramatic
"Chords Ring" stray closer to the dense, angsty sounds produced
by Skinner's former band Pope Factory, a band that toured extensively
within the US and was championed by Edge 102.1's Dave Bookman on a number
of occasions. However, Skinner hopes that with time, the band will be
able to smooth out their sound to the point where the dichotomy of their
collective influences will become a bit less obvious. "I want to
cut it down from such a wide range and have people come to expect a
certain type of music," he says. "But at the same time, I
look at a band like Wilco as my ultimate. They can go totally psychedelic
and then straight country, and then just rock out too. I want to craft
this 'Canteen Knockout sound' so when our audience hears the chords
and vocals they'll know what they're listening to." With a pile
of fresh new songs yet to be recorded and a number of gigs and contacts
already lined up, you can expect to be hearing a lot more from Canteen
Knockout in the coming months as they try to take advantage of the recent
good fortune that has blanketed the Toronto indie rock scene in the
past year. "I couldn't see any better time [to be in a Toronto
band] because right now is just booming," Skinner says. "Three
or four years ago I read an interview with an industry person in the
UK and they mentioned how amazing it was that nothing was coming out
of Toronto, because there were just tons of wicked bands just sitting
there, not getting signed. I think we're finally starting to catch up."
- Cameron Gordon Toronto, Ontario, Canada (PRWEB) December 20 2003--The Horseshoe. Dec. 17th. Frodo could wait another night.On an evening where it seemed that all of the planet's population was scrambling to catch the third installment of the Lords Of The Rings movie trilogy at their nearest Cineplex, I'm sure Andre Skinner expected fierce competition, being that this was the same evening his band CANTEEN KNOCKOUT was playing their big show at Toronto's Horseshoe on Queen St. West.But his loyal fanbase stuck it out and attended with anticipation his 'Shoe appearance, putting the hobbits on the back burner, and Skinner thanked them for this at the microphone before his band launched into what was a great impressive showcase.Compared to his first official appearance in Toronto at The Hooch this last October I had witnessed, which introduced his new music mission with the band sounding good but still in its infancy, this time at The Horseshoe, it was a quantum leap. Canteen Knockout was in top form and kicked some serious ass. And unlike the Hooch gig, this time around the sound mix was very good. A band like Canteen Knockout "belongs" at a venue like The Horseshoe. It probably didn't hurt that Skinner had reportedly just got back from a one-week vacation down south, and the dude was obviously looking relaxed and well-rested, -- and ready to take care of business! Alternating between acoustic and electric guitar, Skinner led his mates in delivering the goods. With "all" tunes coming off great, including three rockers from his current 5-song self-titled EP, "Bent Out Of Shape," "Chords Ring," and "Hangers," the songs that really had the audience at their most attentive were the newly penned "Sinner" and "Concentrate", both solidly atmospheric and well-written gems, as well as the surprise "alt-country" dabbling of "Time On My Hands" which closed the set.There was talk in the crowd after the show about Skinner and his boys holing up soon at his studio hideaway, The Exhaust System, in Toronto's Dundas/Carlaw studio district, to commence work on a full-length album. Let's hope this is true and that he can capture some of these new songs in disc while they're fresh and while the dudes seem to play them with feverish intensity. - Review by Jeff Cole, Antisocial Butterfly 'Zine.
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IN THE CAN MUSIC
Some of Canada's finest
turn up heat musically
Canteen Knockout
Canteen Knockout
