Mardeen

Cape Breton natives Mardeen – cited by Alvvays' Molly Rankin as a major influence and whose pop gem Telephones was covered by Mo Kenney on her recent album – played smart power pop earlier in the night for a large crowd who only partially returned the love. Their insider-joke banter fell a bit flat but their hooky guitar rock is exceptionally muscular, brilliantly melodic and full of arrangement twists and biting lyrics.

Telephones and Silver Fang (from their recent Joel Plaskett-produced EP) were standouts, though the former is a good example of how they might be too smart for their own good. Whereas Kenney's achieves immediate liftoff, Mardeen's bare-bones, fuzz-bass-heavy deconstructed-pop version leaves us begging for a payoff that doesn't come. Destined to remain musicians' musicians forever? Let's hope not. Get on board, people. - NOW Toronto

Mardeen took the stage and caught everyone’s attention instantaneously. In terms of songwriting, they blew me away. Their lyrics were strong and their arrangements were enticing. The up beat and very danceable, beautifully melodic power pop had everyone alert and watching, but barely engaging. I think this was due in part to the strange stage banter. It might have made sense to the band – although I’m not sure – but it was totally lost on the audience. It felt like Mardeen played more at us than to us. Regardless, keep an eye out for this exceptional Cape Breton based four piece. - A Music Blog, Yea?

Cape Breton power pop band Mardeen set the tone for a night of indie pop and rock at Champions on Saturday night. The band, comprised of cousins Matthew Ellis, Travis Ellis and Jon Pearo, along with non-relative Archie Rankin, played as a slimmed-down four-piece without usual drummer Jason Burns. The power pop ballads were heart-on-your-sleeve style, where you sing along and say what you’re really feeling. The two guitars took a back seat and left all the catchy hooks in the vocals. Vocalist and bass player Matthew Ellis’s hair seemed like a physical manifestation of the bands sound, long emo-sidehair along with what we would classify as an indie hipster band. Emotional indie music, all in one tidy package.
Photo: Jonathan Briggins/Mixtape Magazine - Mixtape Magazine

It's been just two years since Cape Breton's amazing Mardeen, the Weezer of Canada, released their last album (Miss You Forever, 2012), BUT: with rumours swirling that Alvvays's hit song "Archie, Marry Me" is about Mardeen guitarist Archie Rankin, it seems Mardeen should be riding the wave with an "answer" song ASAP. The only potentially awkward part is that Archie is actually cousins with Molly Rankin, and related to at least one other member of Alvvays. What happens in the Maritimes stays in the Maritimes. Don't judge! Also: Mo Kenney's (no family relation) new single is a Mardeen cover. The time is now. - CBC Music - Grant Lawrence

Mardeen are one of Nova Scotia’s finest, and two years after the release of Miss You Forever seem poised to claim the Halifax by way of Cape Breton power-pop crown with Silver Fang, their new EP which we’re excited to premiere below.

Silver Fang jumps off almost immediately, transitioning from the title track’s early acoustic vibes into an energetic bounce that carries throughout the next two songs, riding through “DC Fan”‘s rolling percussion into the textured melodies of “Backroads.”

At just three songs, Silver Fang checks every box; it’s an EP that’s certainly short, but just as quickly leaves you wanting more. - AUX TV

It feels like forever and a day since East Coast indie stalwarts Mardeen‘s Miss You Forever rocked our world; in music industry terms 2012 is like the middle ages.

Alas, my fellow faithful followers of Halifax’s foot-stompin’ good-time rockers, Mardeen have returned, and it’s with tidings of glee I bring you music and words from a most recent development: “Silver Fang” will bear down on your ears with its fierce and frantic sing-song chorus and awaken your consciousness to the salty sensibility of our Atlantic-borne brethren.

“Silver Fang”, the title track of Mardeen’s new EP, premieres exclusively on Quick Before It Melts today. Guitarist Travis Ellis says the song was “…written about an experience during a writing retreat in a cabin north of Montreal that involved unexplained events and severed brake lines.” Apparently, beds were collapsing to the floor in the middle of the night in different rooms, and band member Matt Ellis had a vision of a ghostly silhouette carrying all their guitar cases standing outside his bedroom. On top of that, they discovered their van had been sabotaged in the middle of the night. - Quick Before It Melts