Sweet and Lowdown

Toronto indie rock four-piece Sweet and Lowdown are gearing up to embark on a string of tour dates across the eastern half of Canada, but before they leave, Exclaim! has got your exclusive first look at the band's new video for "Carolina."

The song features bounce-along verses teetering on the edge of pop-punk, though there are moments of dark, spiralling guitar lines, pummelling drums and aggressive shout-singing that give it some extra edge. The named-after-a-name single for "Carolina" is currently available, and is paired with the thematically appropriate B-side "Last Name."

The visuals for "Carolina" find singer Kevin Appleby in a precarious position — splashing around in a bathtub with a bottle of whisky, though there's also footage of the band performing amidst a flurry of colourful strobe lights and video projections.

"The video, we shot in one day, in a small hot and sweaty apartment," Appleby tells Exclaim! "Lucky for me I got to chill in a cool bath most of the time and drink cider."

You can scroll past the band's upcoming tour dates — which kick off tonight in Toronto — to check out the video premiere below.

Tour dates:

08/04 Toronto ON - Horseshoe Tavern
08/14 Burlington ON - The Black Bull
08/20 Ottawa ON - The Rainbow Lounge
08/21 Montreal QB - Barfly
08/22 Halifax NS - Menz & Mollyz
08/24 Moncton NB - Plan B
08/25 Halifax NS - Bearlyz House of Blues & Ribs
08/26 Halifax NS - Gus Pub
08/28 Sydney NS - Governor's Pub
08/29 Charlottetown PEI - Fishbones
09/05 Toronto ON - Steamwhistle Brewery
09/17 Guelph ON - Jimmy Jazz
09/26 Hamilton ON - The Doors Pub - Exclaim

It wasn’t just the chill of winter that swept into town Friday November 14th, The Ataris’ You Call The Shots North American Tour was rolling through, making their Toronto stop at the one and only Lee’s Palace, with special guests Teenage Kicks and Sweet and Lowdown.

Kicking off the night were openers and Toronto based locals Sweet and Lowdown. The four piece band pumped out some extremely hooky Indie rock inspired sounds, and are definitely worth a listen if you haven’t already given them a shot. Check out their two releases on their bandcamp; “Is This Working?” and “Pomegranates”.

The second act to take over Lee’s stage was none other than Teenage Kicks. Founding members and brothers Peter van Helmholtz and Jeff van Helmholtz, make up the only seemingly permanent members of Teenage Kicks. Having toured with the likes of Sloan, and AWOLNATION, these Toronto based boys are no strangers to touring with big acts and surely know how to put on a great show, belting out songs that make you want to bob your head and sing along. The three piece played mostly newer songs off of their most recent release Spoils of Youth, which I would highly recommend checking out on their bandcamp.

To cap off the night, the act we had all been patiently waiting for finally went on at Lee’s, the Indiana boys, The Ataris. This tour definitely had high hopes from fans as the band decided to do an all request “you call the shots” set list, asking fans to vote for which songs they wanted to hear. Celebrating 10 years of the bands most successful album release, So Long, Astoria singer/songwriter Kris Roe brought together the former So Long, Astoria lineup, minus the most recent member addition of drummer Erick Perkins, who was still rumored to be learning the bands songs gradually while they were on the road in order to meet fans requests, pretty impressive and “rock and roll” in this reviewers opinion!

The band played songs new and old for a packed crowd, including fan favourites: “I Won’t Spend Another Night Alone”, “Boys of Summer”, “Looking Back on Today”, and “Summer Rain”. Singer Kris Roe let it slip that they’re last song was only pretend, and shortly after asked the crowd if they wanted to hear more songs, answered with a roaring round of applause. The band proceeded to play a two song encore consisting of “San Dimas Highschool Football Rules” and “All Souls’ Day”.

Another great show and lineup at Lee’s Palace, and another satisfied reviewer. Couldn’t have asked for a better way to kick off winter than an indie/punk rock fiesta. - The Heavy Press

Toronto’s Sweet and Lowdown shared a clip for "Carolina" back in the summer, and now they’ve followed it up with some new visuals for the song "Last Name."

The two tracks accompanied each other on a 2015 single, and now the B-side has been given a video of its own. Featuring black-and-white split-frame shots of the four-piece singing along to the angsty, pop-punk-tinged tune, things take a less serious turn when props like lipstick, shaving cream, juggling balls and a can of beans get introduced on the set.

"We just had a big shift in members before we shot this video," the band explained in a statement. "And doing this we got to know each other and share some laughs."

Sweet and Lowdown will play at Sneaky Dee’s in Toronto on February 8, opening for Household and the Obsessives. In anticipation of catching the band live, watch the band step up for their close-ups in the video premiere of "Last Name" below. - Exclaim