 |
    |
   |
| Reviews
What's being said about Waiting for Luck to Come: Sometimes it’s good to be ‘in your own little world’. If you’re a musician going for originality, it’s a positive asset. Edmonton’s own Wilf Kozub - the ‘Wilfred’ of Wilfred N and the Grown Men - says he’s ‘quite aware’ his music doesn’t fit any of the usual pigeonholes. Except for maybe a Prairie Beach Boys’ kind of vibe, it is truly original. The band’s new double CD, Waiting For Luck To Come, could’ve been released 20 years ago or tonight, with a show at the Sidetrack Cafe, it turns out. This lush and accessible pop music transcends trends yet doesn’t sound dated. It is timeless yet timely. Neat trick. “I listen to a lot of stuff - I listen to a lot of new music, a lot of old music, but really all it comes around to is capturing what’s going on in my head,” Kozub says. “I’ve never tried to follow any trends, and yet I think I’ve got a modern sensibility and it’s just the way it comes out.” The title track refers to a common feeling among career musicians who have yet to hit the big time. The 56-year-old-singer-songwriter explains, “It’s about a person trying to do all the right things all his life, make the effort, knock on the doors, make the calls and do what you need to do and still things don’t come through. You’re still waiting for luck to come. You’re putting on a brave face for your partner in life all the time, with the hope that things really are going to pan out one day. You’ve come so close so many times, things are really going to happen sometime. But in your heart, you know that it’s not going to happen.” Of course, it is precisely through this ‘letting go’ of expectations that luck can come. It happens often enough among dedicated musicians that it can’t just be a coincidence. Expressing a desire to get his music into film soundtracks, a dandy idea, Kozub says he’s also well aware he’s “not going on world tours or anything like that,” but at the same time feels free to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to. This may help explain why it’s been nearly eight years since the last Wilfred N and the Grown Men album. Waiting for Luck to Come could be considered a ‘comeback,’ though these guys never went away since being one of Edmonton top original bands in the late ’80s. Kozub credits guitarist and longtime partner Jamie Philp for bringing ‘sparkle’ to the new recording. “Jamie’s a huge part of this record, maybe even more this time than any other time,” Kozub says. “He brings in lots of elements, like a lot of Hawaiian guitar just because that’s what Jamie’s into. He’s free to do whatever he wants to in any given moment and I’m kind of like a photographer in that I notice what’s good and I get it right now. I think we’ve got such a nice collaboration going on that he just goes for stuff in a free way and it comes out good.” Response to the new disc has so far been uniformly positive, Kozub reports, though “the difficult thing is to get people to listen.” Now that’s the real trick. - Mike Ross, Staff Writer, The Edmonton SUN For all the country, folk, blues, punk and metal spilling out of our town, there's a definite lack of genuine pop music coming out of local lips. Aha, but you don't think I'd be talking about this without illuminating an Edmonton exception, do you? Meet sensitive Wilfred N (the N subs in for Kozub, if you must know). Raised in the school of indie rock that brings us sweet, quirky and earnest music like the Super Furry Animals, Kozub has enlisted notable craftsmen like guitarist Jamie Philp and grinning drummer Marek Tyler (AA Sound System, Mr. Relaxer). Several family members are also involved in the production, including witty poet-painter Nik Kozub. Flowing around Wilfred N's airy singing is a deliberately electronic sound, mixed in equally with analog guitar and drums. Some might find the mix jarring, but I quite like it. A lot of unusual sounds leap out amid more predictable ones. And it's a double disc, so there's plenty of material to mull this fact over with. That could have been a curse, were Kozub's writing not up to it. But the themes of the songs go from the familiar, like Whyte Avenue thugs, to the bizarre, like the end of the world itself. Here's a slice of the former: "People of the summer street are acting strange. Some of them should be in a cage. I can't fix the weirdness in the world. I just wish that it would change." And, just for kicks, from The Last Beautiful Day: "And the news man has to stay on the radio. He wants to be with his family, I know. And I cry to my windshield for us both, this last beautiful day." Ah, Armageddon. Will you never come? For good measure, Daryl Kozub sings a sweet rendition of Lou Reed's Perfect Day, most famously resurrected for the Trainspotting soundtrack. All this talk of movies makes me realize something. If I were making a local movie, I'd definitely make sure a couple songs by this band were included in the score. The wild sounds have a lot of visual strength, and the emotions live on the front line. Seek this one out. - Rating: 4 out of 5 Wilfred N & The Grown Men's Waiting For Luck To Come is smart, crafty pop containing moments both unexpected and lovely: some stray Hawaiian guitar, a gentle bossa nova groove, melodies that recall Sparklehorse as much as the Beatles. Wilf Kozub and Jamie Philp have been at it since 1984, and their music sounds the way all great music does, playful, inventive and alive. The bloodline is impeccable, as evidenced by Wilf's son Nik, who took time from playing with Veal to help with this. - Tom Murray, Edmonton's SEE Magazine ...a few quotes about previous releases by Wilfred N & the Grown men ... "Marked by creative and gently subversive production, the music sort of sounds like the Pet Shop Boys meet Paul McCartney at a Pink Floyd concert. A few of the more pop-oriented tracks could definitely become hits in the right hands." "... you wonder what might have happened if Brian Wilson had met these guys before he jumped in the sandbox 15 years ago." "Wilfred N and the Grown Men, experts at rolling snatches of the familiar into something uniquely brilliant, have attached billowing, Beach Boy-ish harmonies to a loping cowboy beat on the single Indian Summer." "Lush melodies, whispy vocals - it's slick without resorting to any production gimmicks or conventional AM radio artifice. Very tasty, especially if you think that Katy Lied was a great LP. "What sets this independent release above most others is the execution: tasteful, very tuneful, and immaculately produced in their tiny Otari basement 8-track studio. It is commercial in the best sense of the word, and intelligent. Sound quality and musicianship rank with the best of the majors; they deserve national airplay for an effort of this calibre." "Displaying their enormous gifts for exquisite melodies and delightful harmonies, Lift Off is another high-quality, memorable offering from the Grown Men. Truly 'grown up' pop music, Lift Off finds Kozub in fine songwriting form. Kozub's quirky, slightly off-centre takes on relationships (and even bigger issues) are the perspectives of an 'ordinary' guy. Kozub's writing is refreshing and meaningful. "Written from the perspective of hip adults influenced as much by the frank and adventurous bent of Sting or John Hiatt as they were by The Beatles and The Beach Boys, songs such as Money Can Buy Strange Clothes, Say It, and Knockadoor Ginger are glistening jewels. "This impressive second release from Edmonton's Wilfred N and The Grown Men has the airy production of progressive-synth pop, with a blend of guitars, keyboards and electronic drums, weaving around the echoing vocal lines. Comparisons are possible - from Neil YoungÕs Trans to Tangerine Dream - but essentially, this is unique: an attractive mixture of space music and dance-floor pop. And from the www: This album is so well produced it's hard to believe it was done on an eight track recorder. The songs are filled with catchy vocal and guitar hooks, and groovin' bass and drum work. The instruments are used sparingly, never overbearing the listener, never overdoing their parts, but enough to keep the music interesting. They seem to draw their sound from a variety of influences, from The Beatles, to Country, to R&B. All thirteen tracks are addicting and will keep you listening to it over and over. If you like Wings (Paul McCartney), then I highly recommend this album. WILFRED N & THE GROWN MEN Diretamente do Canada este grupo tem arranco os elogios mais diferenciados da critica Underground, como realmente e impossivel classificar o som da Banda, fica o desafio de conhecer o interessante trabalho de Wilfred N & The Grown Men em seu nono disco: DAY OFF "I'm Satisfied is so eclectic that weird doesn't even begin to describe it! " |
 |
