ALBUM: BIg Blue Sky (1987)
MVC Rating: 3.5/$$
There’s a lot of good things going on north of us. Canada has consistently over the years produced some fine rock artists. Such as?
Well, Gordon Lightfoot, Alanis Morrisette, Bare Naked Ladies, Neil Young, Beat Rodeo, Jeff Healy, Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, kd lang, the Guess Who/Burton Cummings, Crash Test Dummies, Leonard Cohen, Rush, Bruce Cockburn, Bachman-Turner Overdrive — and I could go on. (In fact I would be interested in hearing who your favorite Canadian artist is. (And Anne Murray and Celine Dion — God bless them, they have their good points– aren’t really very near the Rock/Folk/Soul/ that I’m focusing on. But if those are your faves, that’s cool. We are inclusive here. Oh, forgot a good one: Most of The Band (Robbie Robertson).
I received this Northern Pikes album from a Canadian relative; it was their first studio album with a major label. Since its inception in 1984, the Northern Pikes have put out about 10 albums and charted many times in Canada. But as far as I can tell virtually unheard of in the states.
I have to admit I haven’t followed them and I don’t know my own album very well. One of those that gets overlooked when thumbing through hundreds of records to play something.
I was pleasantly surprised. It took me back to the jangly guitart sound of the REM-styled New Wave and the power pop trip of the Plimsouls, the Nerves and the Beat, which were California groups that shared members over time. But none, I think are still going at it like the Pikes who are still cranking albums and playing live.
Here’s a video of Teenland off their first album, followed by one of their highest charting songs called She Ain’t Pretty.
teenland sounds like plimsouls
80s sound but not the bad synth stuff good Cars-like guitar