The Superfantastics

The Superfantastics are Matt MacDonald and Stephanie d’Entremont. I’m working on a post about good people and the type of people we like to work with - just in case I forget to include Matt and Steph in that list please note that they are indeed good people, maybe even great. I miss that they don’t jam at my space anymore but they still pop in every now and then and it’s always a welcome visit.

They’re music is just as great as they are, I’d like to think only good people make good music but….. for a two piece it’s never repetitive and you won’t find yourself listening to the disc feeling they’ve limited themselves with their set-up. I’ve failed to get to about 17 shows so far but I’m determined to make it tonight and fairly certain they will not disappoint live.

The Show
“what will you do now?” [formerly theodore tugboat What will you do now?] is the song they’ll be releasing a new video for tonight at Gingers. Go. Really.

If the Superfantastics and their new video weren’t enough they’ll also be giving out free popcorn!

Still not sold, well combined with the other two acts on the bill you’ll have 3 of the most talked about bands in Halifax right now - certainly some of the most popular duos. Also playing tonight are the Ghost Bees and Husband/Knife [who’s CD was listed by the Coast this week as one of the year’s best].

The Listening
Here’s a previously unreleased song that I particularly enjoy
The Superfantastics - Chorus Choir Forest Fire
The song was recorded by Andrew Gillis of the Echo Chamber and mixed by Matt

The Reading
The Superfantastics Are Superfriendz-Approved as written by Shannon Webb-Campbell

They were also part of the Coast’s best new music issue. - a quiet revolution

This is hopefully the first of many posts highlighting the musical talent found here in Halifax, and the Maritimes in general. Born partly out of spite due to the Ack's mocking of my love for many things Maritime, the main reason I'm doing this is because, as always, there's plenty of talent here on the Atlantic and there doesn't seem to be much blog coverage of the music scene here. So there.
Why start with The Superfantastics? Well even if you can't hear it up there in Upper Canada over the dull roar of all your money counting machines, The SF's have some buzz. They recently released an excellent EP, Like Letters, they have a nifty interview up on the Chart Attack, and they're premiering their new video tomorrow night at Ginger's Tavern. What else? Well their first single, What Will You Do Now? is a wonderful pop song, and it's original title was Theodore Tugboat, What Will You Do Now. Any band that can a good song about Halifax's favorite tugboat is good enough for me. Good enough for you too, I might add, don't argue.
The Superfantastics are the White Stripes-ish configuration of Matthew MacDonald on guitar and vocals, with Stephanie D'Entremont on drums and the vocals also. The White Stripes sans awkward relationship rumors I should point out, as the SF's are strictly platonic. Citing some of Halifax's past indie icons (Sloan, Thrush Hermit, The Superfriendz) as influences, The Superfantastics produce a minimal yet cheerful brand of rock & roll. Minimal though it may be, it's also uptempo and catchy. A full length album is in the works for the spring, and if their 11 minute EP is any indication, I'll be fantastically on board. - www.HeroHill.com

They'll be serving up more than turkey this Thanksgiving weekend in Sydney, Nova Scotia, as the 13th annual Gobblefest will feed the best in regional rock 'n' roll to the hungry masses.

The three-day event kicks off on Friday night at the Maple Leaf lounge with Madam Brown, Their Majesties, The Good News and Roundelay. The Charlotte Street venue is also the scene for Saturday night's spectacle that features The Lighthouse Choir, The Superfantastics, Carmen Townsend & The Shakey Deals and Catholic Gaydar. Sunday brings together 17 bands on two stages at the Steelworkers' Hall for an all-day, all-ages finale.

For festival co-organizer James Walsh, Gobblefest is an opportunity to showcase Sydney's vital and vibrant music scene.

"What started out as a fundraiser for the campus radio station 13 years ago has become our chance to shine a little. Other cities across Atlantic Canada have the opportunity to bring bands and fans together — Halifax with both the Junos and the Pop Explosion this year, Charlottetown had the ECMAs for 2006, and Fredericton has their Harvest Jazz And Blues Festival each autumn — and we have Gobblefest. In fact, this is the longest running indie rock festival of its kind east of Montreal."

Walsh says that, although the yearly musical gathering has had its share of challenges since its inception, the end results are always worth the effort.

"It has been tough at times. The sheer geography of where we are makes it difficult for some acts to get here, and most of our audience for the event comes from the immediate area. And then there is always the sad stereotype that music in Cape Breton is all about fiddles and Celtic kitchen parties.

"The truth is that this region has an incredible independent music scene, and Gobblefest has always strived to create an environment which supports young people and inspires further creativity."

Stephanie D'Entremont, drummer for Halifax-based pop-rock duo The Superfantastics, says that being invited to play Gobblefest is a real treat.

"We've only been a band for just about a year now, so getting this opportunity to hang out with other musicians and perform for hundreds of people is something we are very excited about. I've heard from others that have played there before that the whole spirit and flavour of this festival is ideal for showcasing up-and-coming artists in a fun and relaxed environment. That suits us very well." - Chart Attack

The Superfantastics are a two-piece from Nova Scotia. That’s in Canada you know. You probably do, but I didn’t until thirty seconds ago, so I’m sharing that with anyone else out there who may not know. Anyway, they play in the rather White Stripes like setup of Matthew doing the vocals and guitar while Stephanie handles drums and the occasional vocals. Unlike The White Stripes though, they aren’t shit. Hurrah!

These are solid, upbeat pop songs that are over far too quickly. ‘What Will You Do Now?’ (original title ‘Theodore Tugboat, What Will You Do Now?’) is their first single, from late last year. It’s pretty minimalist to start, as a band with two members often would be, but then seems to kick into high gear for the last third. All of which gives the whole exercise a far richer feel. I have no idea if these guys are getting much ‘buzz’ within their local scene, but I could only find one other blog that had written about them. Which is a shame, as these songs really do deserve some attention. - Another Form of Relief Music Blog

THE SUPERFANTASTICS
Pop-Up Book
Given the terminal twee-ification of indie-rock over the past decade (Joanna Newsom, Sufjan Stevens, every indie record made in Quebec – ever), it would be easy to classify Halifax's The Superfantastics, with their playdough videos and pop-up cartoon CD sleeves, as just another bunch of over-precious upstarts with more cute than sense. For once, however, here's a band whose songs are just as strong as their shtick. Combining Twice RemovedÐstyle pop with a White Stripes rock sensibility (handsome guitarist, thumping female drummer, no bass), Pop-Up Book could well be one of this year's best Canadian debuts. Bristling with amiable pop hooks and memorably comic lyrics ("You looked me up on ICQ / I haven't logged into that since 2002") and somehow including a song about Facebook that doesn't make you want to vomit out of your fingertips ("The Only One I C++ Is U++"), it's an easygoing blast from start to finish.

PAUL ISAACS
THE SUPERFANTASTICS PLAY THE boat (158 AUGUSTA) APRIL 25. $5. - EYE WEEKLY

Superfantastics New Video on the Wedge Tonight
Published December 8th, 2006 in Artists/Bands.
Posted about going to the video release show but then never got to posting the video itself.
Today would be a good day to do so as the video will be on Much Music’s the Wedge tonight.

The Wedge Playlist for Friday, December 8:
Belle & Sebastian - “White Collar Boy”
The Reindeer Section - “You Are My Joy”
The Concretes - “The Chosen One”
The Horrors - “Sheena Is A Parasite”
Mclusky - “To Hell With Good Intentions”
Sailboats Are White - “Let’s Set Up North On Fire”
Liz Phair - “Stratford-Upon-Guy”
Feist - “Mushaboom”
Mazzy Star - “Fade Into You”
Muse - “Starlight”
The Kooks - “Naïve”
The Superfantastics - “What Will You Do Now?”
Beck - “Nausea”
Beck - “Beercan” - A Quiet revolution

She's a legend on the Canadian independent music scene. She's a Polaris Prize nominee. She's sweet, fun, and can play any instrument.
She's the one and only Julie Doiron, and in her home of Sackville she chose The Superfantastics' Hali-power pop awesomeness to Fuse with. She also brought the fine musicianship of her friend and bandmate Fred Squire to the Brunton Auditorium stage.
We recorded this one live on Mount Allison's wintery wonderland of a university campus. Julie singing Oh! How You Used to Know Me Well (Back Then) with the Superfans and Matt MacDonald playing the seven foot grand piano on Julie's No More were the perfect ways to bookend a great show.
The above photo was shot post-Fuse at Ducky's. Stephanie lost 17 cents that night. She only bet 25. Fred came out the big winner with $4.80.
Fuse airs locally on CBC Radio One 3:00 PM on Saturdays. - CBC Radio 3

Early spring seems like a great time to launch new musical endeavours, and the Halifax-based duo The Superfantastics did just that with the release of their first full-length CD entitled Pop Up Book.
The twosome managed to get the full East Coast media treatment, with feature articles in daily papers such asThe Halifax Daily News and The Chronicle Herald. The duo also peered out from the cover of the popular and widely-read alternative free weekly, The Coast magazine.
All this attention helped launch the duo's CD in fine style. A tour towards Central Canada also took the group to the larger markets in the country, sparking even more attention from CBC Radio Three and other online outfits.
I first came across the duo--made up of guitarist/singer Matt MacDonald (no relation) and drummer/singer Steph D'Entremont--at the alternative-to-the-Juno showcases held at Halifax's One World Cafe just about a year ago. Responding to a tip from Pop Explosion head honcho Waye Mason who told me that if I wanted to see the best local on-the-rise indie ensemble, The Superfantastics were the ticket, I travelled to the crowded cafe to see the twosome execute a mini-set of sparkling original tunes.
While the band looked initially like a looser Halifax version of Detroit's sensational White Stripes with their stripped down boy-and girl/guitar-and-drums setup, their playing style leaned towards a slightly sweeter approach than the Stripes blues-powered raunch'n'roll.
In fact, The Superfantastics delivered a cool mix of alternative music that referenced two of Halifax's best-known international acts, Sloan and The Heavy Blinkers. Balancing touches of Sloan's smart-alec rock against elements of The Heavy Blinker's intricate, melancholy pop, MacDonald and D'Entremont clearly charted out a mainstream sound that marked them as the group to watch on the East Coast's vital and always shifting music scene.
Well, a year later and the fresh-faced duo have fulfilled that early promise with a smart 10-song CD produced by Charles Austin and Dave Ewensen at Echo Chamber Studios. The first thing that strikes you about the disc is the delightful artwork by Mike Holmes. The colorful, child-like drawings of animals and musicians against an ultra-green lawn sets up an expectation of both lushness and simplicity; it's a marvelous choice for album artwork.
And true to its title, Pop-Up Boo provides a pop-up of the two band members when you unfold the album insert. The light and playful tone of the design really does reflect the band's cheerful modus operandi: that this is a band about fun, first of all.
The music certainly doesn't disappoint. The tuneful melodies, simple but punchy arrangements and surprisingly wide rage of musical styles (alt-rock crunchers, piano ballads, straight-up pop tunes) come together in a tasty overall package.
And while some journalists have remarked that Matt MacDonald's vocals sound quite close to that of Sloan's Chris Murphy, I think--on repeated listenings--that he sounds more like one of Murphy's long-lost musical relatives. MacDonald sounds, to my ears anyways, a bit less calculated and forceful than his bass-playing Sloan associate.
Some of the highlights on the album include the exquisite pop tune Tonite Tonite and the reflective disc-closing tune Late Night Phone Calls. The band shows off some raucous humour on the tune Vantastic, which details harrowing tales of touring on the Canadian indie-rock circuit in a rickety vehicle that--according to the lyrics--may or may not get them to Ontario in time for their scheduled gigs.
The group has several cool websites, including myspace and facebook stops. You can catch up on their activities on their main site, thesuperfantastics.com.
Those in the Halifax area interested in purchasing the Pop Up Book album will find copies for sale at CD Plus on Barrington Street; outside the city the disc is available directly from the website. - aliant.net

Some record covers leave absolutely no doubt about what lies within, and that’s very much the case with the Superfantastics’ Pop-Up Book. The cute little squirrel and pretty flowers suggest this might be the second coming of Cub, and the little pop-up picture of the duo inside the booklet is just plain adorable. So it’s safe to say that despite relying on just guitar and drums, this is not Atlantic Canada’s answer to the White Stripes. Pop-Up Book is a fun little record packed to the gills with catchy pop songs and funny lyrics; it’s nothing particularly innovative but is an enjoyable album in the tradition of the Halifax scene of days gone by. With hints of the Super Friendz (whose Charles Austin helps produce) and early Jale, Matt MacDonald and Steph d’Entremont rely on wit and charm to get their point across and for the most part, they pull it off. They do walk that line between cute and too cute, almost ending up on the wrong side, but they are good at what they do. Whether the world needs a geeky love song that namedrops Facebook, ICQ and C++ is another question entirely. - Exclaim!

Some record covers leave absolutely no doubt about what lies within, and that’s very much the case with the Superfantastics’ Pop-Up Book. The cute little squirrel and pretty flowers suggest this might be the second coming of Cub, and the little pop-up picture of the duo inside the booklet is just plain adorable. So it’s safe to say that despite relying on just guitar and drums, this is not Atlantic Canada’s answer to the White Stripes. Pop-Up Book is a fun little record packed to the gills with catchy pop songs and funny lyrics; it’s nothing particularly innovative but is an enjoyable album in the tradition of the Halifax scene of days gone by. With hints of the Super Friendz (whose Charles Austin helps produce) and early Jale, Matt MacDonald and Steph d’Entremont rely on wit and charm to get their point across and for the most part, they pull it off. They do walk that line between cute and too cute, almost ending up on the wrong side, but they are good at what they do. Whether the world needs a geeky love song that namedrops Facebook, ICQ and C++ is another question entirely. - Exclaim!