Chains Of Love

Although SouncCloud confuses me, I occasionally navigate my way around it just enough to discover something truly great. In my inbox there I found a single track by Vancouver band Chains of Love. Now the name Chains of Love would be a strange choice if the group was going for anything but a 1960’s girl group sound. Lucky for them (and me) that is exactly what they are going for, and believe me, they nail it.
Now before your thoughts go straight to bands like Vivian Girls or Dum Dum Girls or any other girls, let me stop you. Chains of Love doesn’t really sounds much like those bands at all. If I had to compare them to a modern band it would probably be The Bitters if they cleaned up and became a bit more accessible. No, their sound is pretty close to original 1960’s acts like The Ronettes or The Crystals, just with a lo-fi garage rock twist.
For proof, listen to the song I’ve included below. After falling in immediate love with it, make your way to their bandcamp and scoop up the other three songs that they have for download there. I assure you, they are just as good.
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holy crap this is good - CACTUS MOUTH

Arpenter les bars à la recherche de celle qui teintera à nouveau mon cœur noirci par le chagrin. Celle qui brisera mes chaines et redonnera goût à l’amer… Celle qui comme Chains of Love, chante cette nostalgie. Terrassé, tiraillé, égaré ! Je suis amoureux…

Thanks Clint !! - GRRRIZZ'LY

Old school sounding music still grabs me by the memory box and shakes me in ways I just can’t shake with new and modern sounds. So, when a band decides to emulate a mixture of old school rock and roll with dashes of soul and 50s boy band, my memory box goes gaga and shuts down for a little while.

But now it is back and giving you another New Narcotic, in the form of Chains of Love, a garage girl group from Vancouver who ache with the heart and soul only heartbreak and true love can instigate, break down and create. ‘All The Time’ is full of that snarky, revenge attitude, with scuzzy sounds and distant vocals aplenty, along with a wonderful bit of fairground synth that seems to spark into life towards the finale. ‘Breaking My Heart’ uses an old fashioned drum beat with precision and panache, resounding with the long lost sound of The Marvelettes and The Ronettes who decided to go garage, swigging whisky and pumping out rollicking jam after rolling melody.

Chains of Love are the highest calibre of retrotastic music, making their music sound like B-Sides to the best, brightest and boldest band of the 50s and 60s. And, just goddamn because sometimes life is wondrous, they have a bunch of songs for free to download right not from their Bandcamp…
- NEW NARCOTICS

Six-piece outfit from Vancouver Chains of Love, has put out 4 of their tracks to stream/buy in their bandcamp page, and I have to say, It’s been quite a bit since I didn’t enjoy in the same way all the tracks from a new band. But it’s true, this 4 retro and lo-fi jams are brilliant, loaded with vintage garage guitars, soul-style pianos, loud drums, and amazing and energetic female vocals.
Stream “All The Time” and take a tour on their bandcamp, recommended 100%.
- RETROBETA

Hey guys, it’s Chains of Love! They mix together soul, rock n’ roll and other now defunct musical styles with so much aplomb that I don’t want to tell my sister about them in case she runs away with some motorcycle fag bumming James Dean’s leather and cigarettes steez to prey on vulnerable young women. What? Homophobia’s retro too, you fucking wop. - VICE UK

Chains Of Love are a Vancouver band who play nostalgic garage-pop, brought to life by the ’60s girl-group style vocals of lead singer Nathalia Pizzaro and guitarist Rebecca Marie Law Gray. While musically there is little to separate the six-piece band from their equally atavistic contemporaries like Dum Dum Girls or Girls, there is a vitality coursing through ‘You Got It’ that makes it intensely appealing. Pizzaro’s voice in particular is great, while the bouncy piano of the melody will have you tapping your foot in time with the music for sure. Unashamedly retro and hella fun, check their Bandcamp page for some similarly sassy and awesome jams.
- WEARS THE TROUSERS

This sounds like a cross between BEST COAST, THE BITTERS and THE DOORS, which if you know means it’s retro, lo-fi, poppy, sassy and a lil psychadelic. CHAINS OF LOVE is at least as easy to dance with as anything the aforementioned crews ever produced, and that’s probably because of the bassline more often reserved for BEACH FOSSILS tracks than any of the others (BEST COAST doesn’t even have a bass, right? Guess THE BITTERS don’t either really. So…there it is). Regardless, it’s sorta beach blanket, sorta garage, sorta keyboard psychedelia. 100% good. - RIGHT HEAR

Today marks the first day of February, which, unless you’re really passionate about hokey Hallmark holidays or painfully cold weather, pretty much has the title of “Most Miserable Month” on lock.

In frigid times such as these, it’s more difficult than ever to stay positive. Luckily, this week’s Tuesday Track is here to shed some audio sunlight on you and start the month off right.

This week’s track comes courtesy of Vancouver six-piece Chains of Love. “You Got It” is a beautifully executed tune brimming with energetic retro awesomeness. The badass motown bassline is quickly greeted by crisp drums, fully-charged guitars, and vivacious vocals before the floating keyboard melody appears and lifts it all into the sky. There’s enough tambourine to wake up the whole neighborhood, and it carries the fun from the start all the way through to the hand clapping climax. Equally short, simple, and sweet, it’s the type of song that gets lodged in your head and begs to be played over and over.

Although it’s under three minutes in length, this spirited little ditty still manages to pack a considerable amount of delight. That’s valuable firepower when you’re on the front lines battling Jack Frost. Don’t let him get you down!

You can check out more of Chains of Love’s garage flavored soul tunes at their Bandcamp. - NYU LOCAL

Following in the footsteps of Girls or Smith Westerns, Vancouver residents Chains Of Love bring us a blast of expertly made, infectious retro-kitsch. Juxtaposing a motown bassline, a bluesy piano riff, some buzzy garage guitars, and candy shop lyrics, "You Got It" makes for a perfect crossroads between '60s rock and vintage soul at its most sophisticated. Check out their Bandcamp for three more tunes of equally glorious retro-stature-- all charged with the same unhinged, rollicking energy - ALTERED ZONES