The Undesirables

B Borzykowski NOW Magazine| JUNE 21 - 27, 2007 | VOL. 26 NO. 42 Reviewed this week: THE UNDESIRABLES Doghouse Dreams (independent) Rating: NNNN There are intimate records, and then there's Doghouse Dreams by Georgetown, Ontario, duo the Undesirables. Sean Cotton and Corin Raymond have since moved to Toronto, but this stripped-down disc sounds like it was recorded right on their rural Canadian porch. Combining blues, ragtime and country with touching lyrics about their hometown, this disc is a great summer cottage listen – especially the boozy opener This Town. While the gritty, Kid Rock-like choruses and infectious harmonies are worth a listen alone, it's the warm production – it sounds like they're playing right in front of you – and simple arrangements that make this a memorable listen. The Undesirables play Hugh's Room June 23. - NOW

December 1, 2009

by Andy Frank

Fans of the Southern Ontario duo The Undesirables have surely heard poet and lead singer Corin Raymond introduce his musical mate, acoustic guitar wizard Sean Cotton, as “the band”.

To audiences, this term comes as no surprise as Corin’s introduction usually occurs an hour or so into an energetic and musical set, generated by a single acoustic guitar and a pair of soulful voices that feels significantly more potent than the sum of its parts.

And when a live act leaves this kind of impression on me, I usually spin the next studio offering with trepidation, for rarely does a record manage to capture the live magic, especially given the additional visual treat that the boys offer up with their passionate, sweating heat on stage.

However, Traveling Show is a record where the Undies truly reveal the stuff that hangs beneath the cotton.

It begins with a stroke of brilliance, the casting of violinist John Showman. The lads credit him as “a one man string section”, and just as Sean does on guitar, that is exactly what Showman delivers. The strings dramatically alter the Undies’ sound, to the extent that it jarred me for the first spin; I found myself alternately looking at the car stereo and CD sleeve with the expression my dog makes when he hears a new high-pitched noise. It is almost as though Corin and Sean added an equal third to the mix, a risk that proves to be both sensational and ballsy.

I quickly forgot the live vs. recorded comparison. The new sounds, complemented by the great bass guitar work by Joe Phillips and Ryan Menard and typically solid drumming from Adam Warner and Chris Carmichael swept me directly into the wild trip that Corin’s evocative lyrics invited me to take with him.

Add to this Sean’s groove, complete with occasional subtle Zep & Stones flavoured guitars, and a rare, risky but excellent duo-duet with the amazing Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther (aka Dala), and the final result is a record that is a work of genius.

- Andy Frank
- Roots Music Canada

A note to the people of BC, in anticipation of The Undesirables Western Canada Tour - September 2, 2009 to October 8, 2009:

Imagine it's 1961 and you live in New York and someone tells you to check this new guy playing songs - Bob Dylan.

Imagine it's 1975 and someone tries to drag you out to see this crazy mad poet bard guy Tom Waits with the scratchy voice and the full ashtray and the empty whiskey bottle.

Imagine it's 2009, and someone tags you in a note to check out The Undesirables, playing at the Intrepid Space on Thursday, October 1st at 7:30 PM.

The Undesirables' music speaks for itself - visit their myspace site and listen to This Town
http://www.myspace.com/undesirables

Watch them on youtube doing The Bus Stop Walk - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLb_7K5Fmq8

Corin Raymond sings, Sean Cotton plays guitar and sings. Corin's a master storyteller, the bizarre lovechild of Ray Bradbury, Sam Cooke, Rod Serling, Cormac McCarthy and Spiderman. Sean Cotton's fingers do cartwheels, round-offs, spinning kicks and pirouettes with the strings, and he sings harmony as if his fingerwork were no distraction to him at all. The two of them come together and never fail to do anything less than absolutely astound and transport their audiences.

I have no vested interest in you seeing this show. I didn't write their songs. They didn't ask me to write this note. I've just been blown away by them, time and time again. I've seen Corin play - either solo or as part of The Undesirables - more than I've seen any other musician. And I'm an audiophile. And I hate going out. I stay in as often as I can. And I venture out every time I can see these guys play.

This is The Undesirables' first time touring BC. They're Toronto based, and have toured the UK and Australia, but this is your chance to be the first to experience them in Victoria.

Your eyes will have that far away look the next day. Your friends will wonder what happened to you. You'll try to tell them, but they just won't understand. You'll keep muttering little bits of lyrics, fragments of stories, snatches of melody, a few beats of a groove that's become part of your DNA, but no one else will get it. Not till The Undesirables come back and you bring all those friends with you this time, writing long rambling notes of rapture like this one.

-TJ Dawe - Vancouver Actor, Playwright, and Fringe Festival Superstar!

Sean Cotton and Corin Raymond are the Undesirables. Together, they have the most riveting stage presence I've seen in a long time. Their live show is a perfect blend of Cotton's skilled guitar work, Raymond's unusually musical movement and the tight vocal harmonies they share.

Together and on their own, they have been around and writing songs for years. They formed the band 10 years ago and have recently come back together after a two-year break. I for one am ecstatic that they did. I was relatively new to their sound, having seen and heard only a short set of theirs prior to this show. What I was presented with, after local singer songwriter Scott B. Sympathy's short but satisfying opening set, was energy and passion and really original songwriting. It was a joy to experience, from beginning to end. With songs that ranged in style from blues/funk to folk to pop and beyond, the Undesirables presented something original and oh-so-sweet.

What struck me most about vocalist Corin Raymond is that he moves like music, as if he's plugged into the guitar and the harmonies and feels every note from head to toe. His expressive voice soared through songs like "Summer's Gone," "Fill Me Up With Sound," "Where Else Can You Go?" and "Up Above the Clouds It's a Sunny Day."

"The Butcher Song" revealed, with a quirky sense of humour, what happens when songwriters have day jobs. A standout in this set was "Travelling Show," a metaphorical portrait of the weather as a vagabond and a wanderer. "Live With You" and "The Dog You Forgot to Let In" told tales of new love and love a year later. On "Singing Bones," they put a northern Ontario spin on an old folk tale.

Cotton and Raymond were joined on stage by Joe Phillips and his double bass for the second set, adding fullness to the sound on "Round Trip Love Song," the bluesy cautionary tale "Night Train," "Asking Me to Give You the Blues," and two of my favourites, "Overwhelmed" and "Dancing on the Faultline." Raymond entertained with stories throughout, including one about the night they were kicked out of two different establishments, memorialized in "Bars and Billiard Rooms."

When the enthusiastic crowd demanded an encore, they obliged with "California Wine," inspired by the Rolling Stones' "Sweet Virginia," plus Leon Russell's "Out in the Woods" and "Thursday and Friday and Saturday Night," bringing a triumphant end to a triumphant night of music. I left after the show with all kinds of lyrics swimming around in my head, a smile on my face, and one question on my mind: "When's the next show?"

- Rambles
written by Rachel Jagt
published 6 December 2003
- Rambles.net

"A refreshing folk duo led by the inimitable Corin Raymond, a generous performer who, by the end of the night, you'll have known your whole life."

"...The Undesirables of Toronto feature the matchless tale-teller Corin Raymond..."

-Brad Wheeler - The Globe and Mail

"My favourite discovery of the festival. I haven't heard two voices fill the air so effectivley in a long time".

-Hal Brolund, Artistic Director of Trout Forest Folk Festival - Festival-end comments

"...lead singer Corin Raymond's easy delivery jumps between the irreverent and serious but always injects an uplifting and positive spirit into the music..."

-Crispin Giles, booker and promoter at C'est What? - C'est What?

The Undesirables are the Georgetown, Ontario, duo Sean Cotton on guitar and harmony singing and vocalist/lyricist Corin Raymond. Their debut disc is produced by the talented Trevor Mills and mixed and mastered by his father, Canadian folk legend Paul Mills.

It seems appropriate their first outing is shaped by the hands and hearts with that kind of tradition behind them, as the duo's music is in the very traditional singer/songwriter mold. It can be best described as folk blues and has the kind of simplicity that's deceptively tough to achieve. Cotton's guitar is concentrated and evocative. Their singing blends together nicely and is as convincing in that form as two white boys are going to get. Mills, to his credit, doesn't try to thicken their sound with backing instruments but showcases them raw, just as it would sound live, but with perfect balance. It is a nice debut and it'll be interesting to see where they take it from here.

-Barry Hammond - Penguin Eggs