Disc of the week

NOVILLERO

A Little Tradition (Mint/Outside)

A new album from Winnipeg’s Novillero every now and then is a little tradition worth upholding, what with their time-tested turns of harmony, melody and dynamics, charting paths from Motown to the Mersey, Piccadilly to punk squats. The unmistakable songcraft of singer/keyboardist Rod Slaughter, once of minimalist neo-mod outfit Duotang, shines brightly on numbers like punchy “Lost Possibilities,” his masterful balancing of major and minor keys adding such emphasis to fierce yet literate lyrics. His counterpoint is singer/bassist Grant Johnson, whose own tunes are ambitious ersatz Britpop gems that sound much like what Oasis keep striving to achieve-and failing.8.5/10 Trial Track: “A Little Tradition” (Rupert Bottenberg)

We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist. -Queen Victoria

This June, Mint Records act Novillero spent three days in Los Angeles on the set of Monk, playing themselves, as headliners of an outdoor rock festival. Tony Shaloub’s detective, Monk, jumps up on stage interrupting their performance. While Monk stands centre stage, trying to get the audience to co-operate in his investigation, Novillero yell out, “Forget this guy”, and crash into their song again.

Most of the band had never watched Monk until a few days before the shoot, except for Rod, who’s been a huge Tony Shaloub fan since his “Wings” days, but they were all very excited about the opportunity. “We arrived on set at 6:45 a.m. and there were about 250 extras already there, many of whom were wearing Novillero t-shirts. I didn’t really realize until then that we were the “headliners” of the fake festival. As if! ”

The band were asked to do the show after a music supervisor caught their SXSW set, noting The Flaming Lips were originally tapped to appear but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. A true SXSW success story!

Novillero’s Sean, Grant and Rod had the grand opportunity of ‘having lunch’ with Monk co-star Ted Levine (known to many as the serial killer “Buffalo Bill’ in Silence of the Lambs). Ted opened up to the boys, sharing his thoughts on one of his latest movies “The Hills Have Eyes” (‘a little too bloody’) and his favourite music (‘David Bowie’s”Heroes”’ is the tops) among other things. In return Novillero shared some of the Great White North’s secrets, for example why cars have to be plugged in during Winnipeg winters.

The world of TV seems to be catching up with them, as crowd sizes continue to build for Novillero from their intense live shows and busy schedule. A fall tour with The New Pornographers in Canada and their own string of dates in the USA is in the works to help celebrate this great opportunity for the band and a chance for audiences to see the dynamic live show in person.

“Embracing power pop harmonies, sunshine pop horn arrangements, and Krautrock-inspired synths, [a] near-perfect debut” - All Music Guide

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Novillero has three dates in Austin for the SXSW festival. Check the shows and tour dates page for more details.

Also, The Art of Carrying On video has just been edited and should be available soon.