Oh No Forest Fires Interview in Sudbury Star

Click Here to Read it!

They got some of the info wrong (they left out the fact that Life Size Dream is playing and they put that the cost of admission is $7 when in fact it is $5), but whatevs; still a good interview!

I'm pumped for Saturday, are you?

This Saturday

Last Saturday at Adanac was totally awesome! Malentendu, Ancestors, Lunchmeat and Bot all rocked Adanac with furious abandon. We had a great turnout, and I bonked my head off some other kid in the mosh pit. I was wearing my sunglasses at the time and I thought that the arm had broken in half and that it was sticking out through my ear, but as it turned out it was just the plastic tab from my earplugs. Why would I think that?

The after-show at the Millards' garage went really well too. Sadly, I missed Bunnies in Berlin's set because Carter and I went for coffee. By the way, check out their myspace; they finally have some songs recorded! (Just click on their name: it is hyper-linked with the HTML!)

However, I am glad that Carter got a coffee because he delivered the pumpinest drum performance I've ever seen him give!

I took Ancestors for Big Drippers at Sub City afterwards (a sandwich they won't soon forget, I'm sure), and I attempted and failed to eat an entire large vegetarian pizza. Annabelle showed up randomly, ate a slice, and then subsequently vanished into the night only to apparently fall over a fence into waist-deep snow while trying to take a shortcut home. (I offered her a ride but she wouldn't take it)

This Saturday, my seven-piece rock band Meadowlark Five and my band the Birthday Cakes will be playing a show at Adanac with the awesome band Oh No Forest Fires from Toronto. Also performing will be Life Size Dream and Lightmares.

Here is the poster I designed for the show. See if you can decipher the hidden meaning in it:










Just kidding, there's no hidden meaning.

Also, the Birthday Cakes were ranked at number 7 this past week on the CFOU campus radio charts for Trois Rivieres. We were also ranked number 8 on the CFBX campus radio chart for Kamloops, BC! So, good for us.

My Review of Oh No Forest Fires' album "The War on Geometry"

"Fighting Heidi" By Oh No Forest Fires (just click the play button, it will take a minute to load, but it will work I promise):



Oh No Forest Fires’ debut album/EP (is there any point in making this distinction anymore?) “The War On Geometry” shows the band is capable of some truly pumpin’ tunes. (Pumpin’-ness being my number one criteria for enjoying an album, and exclusion of gay shit being my number two criteria.) For the most part, Oh No Forest Fires keeps the tunes pumpin’, and the gay shit to a minimum. Softer parts serve to make the pumpin’ parts more pumpin’, but don’t descend into a morass of boring FM Radio wankery (which would be gay shit).

Like all good pop songs, Oh No Forest Fires’ songs are built around catchy choruses, but they take care to pay as much attention to the rest of the song and create interesting arrangements.

Fans of textured guitar work will find something to like on the album’s later tracks, and the rhythm section is constantly propelling the songs forward towards their barrelling, climactic conclusions.

If you like your music to spend the majority of its time jumping up in the air and trying to touch the ceiling instead of lounging around on the couch, you will love “The War on Geometry”. Plus, the girl who sings harmonies on the second song sounds hot and I’d like to meet her.

If you’re the kind of idiot who just listens to the lead singer in a band instead of the band as a whole, you probably won’t like Oh No Forest Fires, as front man Rajiv Thavanathan definitely does not adopt a traditional Bella Canto style of singing. But then if this is you then you’re stupid and so no one cares about your opinion anyways you stupid idiot. Rajiv has good pitch, and he spends the majority of his time singing in his upper register, which suits me just fine.

At the same time, even poor pitch can be forgiven if it serves the interest of the music, so quit being so rigid about singers there Hitler. If you liked singers so much you’d just buy all the American Idol albums dummy. I mean, the girl from SS Cardiacs has terrible pitch but holy shit does it make her sound vulnerable and endearing (another girl I’d like to meet). Plus, she’s on key most of the time.

Good lyrics are neat and everything, but unless lyrics are amazing (the second Shins album) or terrible (recent Weezer), they don’t normally have an impact on my enjoyment of an album. ONFF’s lyrics do not detract from the songs, and indeed add to them in many instances (like the album’s many shout-along hooks). If I had written their lyrics, I would not be disappointed with myself. Lots of them sound cool, and I’m pretty sure most of these songs are about girls so yeah, the lyrics are good enough for me. Why are you so hung up on lyrics anyway?

Listen, this is a good album and if you don’t like it you’re either stupid or ignorant or Hitler.

You can buy "The War on Geometry" here for just $3.99!

Visit Oh No Forest Fires on myspace here.

Birthday Cakes Featured in Toronto Independent Music Podcast

Check it out here