Tin Bangs

Speaking of Franz Ferdinand, I'm going to do the utterly unprecedented and recommend another baby band I stumbled across the other day -- Toronto's Tin Bangs.

They're wonderfully derivative in the most sharply perfect way, sounding like a cross between Franz Ferdinand and Interpol -- you know, big, big hooks and melodic basslines? Oh yes! (They're vaguely reminiscent of Dallas pals The Hourly Radio, actually...)

Anyway, we can't speak for The Tin Bangs' live shows, obvs., but based on message board comments and the pictures -- sounds like a darn good time.

Their debut EP, Heavy-Handed Darling came out a few weeks ago, and well, yes, it's true. I kind of can't stop listening to it.
- therichgirlsareweeping.blogspot.com

Tin Bangs are from Toronto, you know, the new Montreal. To be honest, I didn't like the EP when it first landed in my iTunes. Maybe I'm jaded. Maybe the EP doesn't really do them justice.

What sold me on these kids was the live show at Annex a few weeks back. An 8pm show at Annex usually doesn't make me dance (who dances in New York anyway?) but my friend and I grabbed ourselves the PBR special and shook our asses to the self-proclaimed '...' (their 'sounds like' on myspace is blank) until it was 10pm and time to go to my friend's art show to decompress from the Heavy-Handed Darlings sex infused rock assault (assault in a good way) on my ears.

The song 'The Skinny' sounds like Editors meets the Strokes, but really, can't you say that about every band now-a-days? If it isn't influenced by the Cure, you're ripping off Bob Dylan or someone else and you're a damn liar if you say you don't secretly love Wolfmother's blend of other folks songs.

Highlight song for me is 'City Lights', lovely but accessible lyrics and a fun guitar line (and you can download it for free on their page, bonus!). Second track 'He's so Pretty' is super catchy too, good 'pre-going-out-dance-party-at-your-friend's-house' mixtape fodder.

The stiletto heel with blood dripping off is an appropriate image to represent the collection of songs on the disc, rocks hard but maintains the sexy, just like Justin Timberlake.

Overall, Tin Bangs is A-OK in my book.
- New York to London (ny2lon.com)

Tin Bangs are a passionate and driven four-piece based in Toronto, and as usual I am not going to bother describing what they sound like, just download the track up there ^ and make your own description up.

Tin Bangs are:
Ben Taylor as vox and guitar
Bryan Dunlay on lead guitar
Phil Darling on bass and vox
Shane Francescut behind the kit.

The Details on Tin Bangs:
Based in Toronto, Ontario
www.tinbangs.com
www.myspace.com/tinbangs

Ben did an email interview with me at the end of June/06.

VZ: Tell me about how the EP, Heavy-Handed Darling, came together.

Ben: Well, we were rehearsing and playing a few shows at the end of 2005, and we had what we thought to be a good bunch of songs together. We wanted some kind of release to give people who were coming to the live shows, so we got a really great producer in Michael Mackenzie, went into the studio, and were emotionally and mentally beaten into submission until we played something that sounded like music. Really. And we can't wait to do it again soon.

VZ: How did the release show at Rancho Relaxo go?

Ben: Fantastic. We had a packed house, we had a great opening band in our friends Clydesdale, and we played the sweatiest 35 minute set yet. It was wicked.

VZ: What are your promo plans for this disc?

Ben: The promo stuff is really just about playing tons of shows here and outside of the city, and then the mailouts to really anybody who is interested including labels, radio stations etc etc. I guess the thing is just getting it out there and really getting into anybody's hands, as well as the "right people's".

VZ: I can feel the Pixies influence here, what else has been an inspiration?

Ben: Yeah, definitely Pixies. We come from all over the map. I mean, we draw from a lot of different places ranging from early punk bands like Buzzcocks and The Damned more intense stuff like Joy Division to metal bands like Motley Crue, and then around again to The
Who at times. Basically rock n'roll I guess, most of it British.

VZ: How did you get involved with Pop With Brains, and can you tell me more about the project?

Ben: Pop with Brains just sounded like a good idea, you know? I mean, play for free, and all the money goes to help treat people with mental illness or addictions or whatever the reason people have to get help from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. It's mostly ignored in terms of healthcare dollars compared to other diseases, so we thought it was good cause.

VZ: How important is it for you to be hands-on about all the aspects of Tin Bangs, from CD art to promo?

Ben: Pretty much the whole deal is a very hands on group effort, but for the things we can't do ourselves we've been lucky to work with really talented, committed people ( e.g. Catherine Allen who did our CD sleeve). For the rest of the stuff around promo, our management company Constant Crush is amazing with a lot of the administrative things, freeing us up to put up posters, do flyering, etc etc. I guess to answer your question, we are very involved the whole way, so if you see someone putting tin bangs posters up, come and say hi, because it's one of us for sure!

VZ: Are you looking for label support? What are some of the things you're looking for in a label?

Ben: Absolutely. I mean, the idea is to do this full time, for real, so yeah, some money to help that out would be great. In terms of what we're looking for, I guess what's really important is that we feel like the label supports what we're doing. It would also be wicked to have a tour bus instead of our van, but we're not looking for that now!
- Virus Zine (viruszine.com)

Self-described as "Canada's premiere unsigned act", Tin Bangs have a lot to live up to on stage. But having already opened for The Killers, they’re also a group that could have a shot at reaching the heights of international fame to which they aspire.

Tin Bangs are based in Toronto, but you would think they hail from London, Manchester or Liverpool by the anthemic Britpop-ish music they make, which brings to mind Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs or Arctic Monkeys.

With a small army of industry reps descending on the city for the festival and Tin Bangs doing their darndest to generate the critical mass needed to push them into the mainstream, there was even more on the line than usual Friday night as they headlined the eccentrically decorated Bovine Sex Club on Queen West.

Playing to a full house at 1a.m. Friday with a hefty line-up outside, the last song of the set was easily the best. Lead singer Benjamin Taylor handed out a round of Jagermeister shots to audience members in the front row. After raising their glasses in a toast, Taylor downed the better part of a beer with lucky fans at the front, before dumping the rest of the bottle on his head and finishing the song.

Though the songs don’t necessarily stand out as classics, they went out on a high note. All round it was an entertaining performance, and well worth the wait in line. - Ian Munroe (UKULA)

This young, fresh Toronto band rocks hard like the entire last third of the 20th century. Blending top-notch pop-rock vibes from '60's surf-pop, to a broad spectrum of New Wave influences with a 21 st century modern rock sensibility, Tin Bangs is fast being realized for they are, and their popularity is resultantly achieving exponential growth. They're set to open for The Killers on Oct. 20 @ the Kool Haus, the latest in a string of increasingly high profile gigs. Excitingly catchy, impassioned and swaggering vocals, up-tempo high energy riffing for ears at play; Strong wafts of New-Garage, Punk, Surf, and persistently driving rhythms makes this all-too-short five-song EP an introduction to a band that's sure to be launching a full length in the not-too-distant future. Tin Bangs is a strong positive indicator for Toronto's happily bourgeoning rock scene. Constantly catchy, but never annoyingly so, these local boys know how to vary up sounds and melodies with a persistently high-energy exuberance that'll keep impressionable fans of The Killers rocking out hard later this month to their new favorite band. - Jesse Kline (Spill Magazine)

Friday September 14, 2007
Tin Bangs

If you ask Toronto's Tin Bangs how they measure success, you'll get a very different answer than you would from most bands. While conventional wisdom would point towards a make-CD-sell-CD approach, this inventive foursome have decided to see if giving away music might work better.

Quirkiness seems to suit Tin Bangs, from their name — which started as an anagram of the initials of all the girls the band members had slept with — to their recently announced concert plans.

Once a month for the foreseeable future, the Brit.poppish quartet will be taking over a Toronto bar for Sweet Release! — a recurring party where they'll perform and give away a new three-song EP. They also plan to make the EPs available as free downloads from their website.

"We didn't want to spend two years and 20 grand making an album," grumbles singer/guitarist Ben Taylor. "We figured if there's music that we have, we should just release it.

"We can do it cheaper and in limited runs, like 300 CDs. Each CD is that month in our career — our lives — as a band. When something's ready, we'll record it and give it away.

"We're not in a position to sell tons of records, so we figured the best thing we could do is give our music away and people can share it. It costs us a little bit of money, but hopefully people will pay a bit to come to the shows."

Because Tin Bangs are currently unsigned, the monthly discs will truly be do-it-yourself projects. The plan may seem risky, but they're counting on the truth of the old adage that you have to spend money to make money. One of their goals with the Sweet Release! parties is to attract label attention.

"We figure if we can stand out a little bit, hopefully we get noticed," Taylor explains. "We just want somebody who's behind [our music] and wants to put it out.

"We're not looking for million-dollar deals. I don't think they even exist any more."

Tin Bangs are also after new and current fans with this monthly promotion. What better way is there to attract audiophiles, they concluded, than to give out free EPs?

"You do something a little different and a little cool and you put on a good show, and people will remember it," Taylor asserts. "And if they have something they can take home at the end of it that we did completely by ourselves… then maybe they'll come back for the next installment."

Tin Bangs' first Sweet Release! party takes place on Saturday night at Toronto's Mod Club. To find out when or where future shows are happening, you can check the band's website.

Or if you live in Toronto, just take a walk down Queen or Bloor streets. "We poster like hell," Taylor reports.

—Scott Bryson - Scott Bryson

Everything about Tin Bangs is tight. Their music is tight, their performances are tight, hell even their pants are tight! They have obvious band camaraderie, hilarious stories and a ton of insight about the music industry. It’s an old school approach to rock and roll, and one that is definitely going to help them excel into perpetual stardom.

Pretty much the Canadian equivalent of the Arctic Monkeys, the British-influenced-Torontonians are everything you wish your band could be and more. Completed by vocalist/guitarist Ben Taylor (whose parents are actually British, he would like you to know), guitarist Bryan Dunlay, Bassist Phil Darling and drummer Robbie Butcher, the dance rock quartet are making a name for themselves without the aid of record labels or distribution deals.

“As long as you’re doing what you love, that’s what’s important,” Butcher said. “We like to play live shows and we record music, so we exist as a band regardless of a label. If somebody wants to give us some attention, label support or money they’re welcome to do it, but we’re going to exist anyway.”

We caught up with Tin Bangs at the Mod Club on February 23 and the show was dynamite. The crowd was mad into it and the band played their heart out. Apparently Rush’s label was even there to check them out. I wish there was a little bit more banter, but otherwise it was an awesome display of true, authentic talent.

“We’re in that zone where it would be cool to get something, but we know we’re on the radar so it’s a matter of writing songs and to keep writing songs and to keep working on it,” Taylor said.

“I think the future of the industry is changing so fast right now that you can maintain some level of success at least locally by yourself and I think that’s what we’re doing right now,” Butcher added.

I dare you to take a walk down Bloor St. or Queen St. and try not to see posters advertising upcoming Tin Bangs shows. Dunlay designs their album covers, Darling manages the band and they all take on a very respectable do-it-yourself fashion of promotion. Although according to Butcher, they “prefer to call it DIY, something we kind of made up.”

Over the next few weeks alone, Tin Bangs will be headlining a Canadian Music Week show at Clinton’s on Friday, a CMW after party on Sunday, trekking a few times up and down the 401, finalizing some recent songs and then hopefully recording a video for their song “White Lies.” This is all following the release of four EPs over four months, which ended with a fifth December compilation of all the songs entitled, “Seeya in the Springtime”. And now they might possibly be playing one of the Queen St. benefit shows as well.

“As soon as I found out there was something going on to help the people who were affected by it, I asked these guys if they’d be interested in doing it and they were 100 per cent. I told them we’re tentatively in and to get back to us with details,” Butcher said.

One of the things that I really like about Tin Bangs is they have some true rock star stories to balance their hardworking style. They told us about one particularly crazy night after a gig in New York.

“I ended up in Hell’s Kitchen,” Taylor said. “I woke up in a courtyard on a chaise lounge at like 5 a.m. and I don’t know where I am, so I walk out to the street and ask someone where I am. A Spanish guy, what was his name, Juan or Jose. So anyway, I’m like completely lost and I’m like I need to get down to the lower east side and he accompanied me on the subway and essentially took me to the hotel. This completely random 300 pound Spanish guy.”

“That same night, I got really drunk and fun fact about me, I’ve never seen the ocean,” Dunlay said. “I decided I wanted to see water that night so I started walking in the wrong direction for what felt like hundreds of city blocks and I ended up in Harlem. There I am, totally by myself shit faced. I pulled in to [the hotel] around the same time Ben did. Then we all headed back to Toronto.”

To get your Tin Bangs fix be sure to hit their CMW dates and check out http://www.myspace.com/tinbangs , where you can download their tracks for free.
- TorontoMusicScene.ca

Kat Angus, Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008

In a Saskatchewan mansion, seven depraved, dysfunctional animals are plotting against each other for their chance at fame. From Morreski, the Russian bear dealing with his raging alcoholism, to Dr. D, the blinged-out penguin with hip-hop aspirations, each of the conniving house guests is willing to do whatever is necessary to come out ahead.

Welcome to Life's a Zoo, TeleToon's new claymation satire of reality television.

Far from Saskatchewan, Life's a Zoo creators Adam Shaheen and Andrew Horne are proudly showing off the animation and production studios in downtown Toronto, where they create the show. Although the series doesn't premiere on TeleToon's Detour until Sept. 1, the duo and their staff of hundreds have been working diligently for more than a year to create 20 half-hour episodes. Even with 20 stop-motion sets going at once, each set only produces about 10 seconds of footage a day – and sometimes less, depending on how complicated or ridiculous the scene is.

"[Life's a Zoo] is a loose approximation of every conceivable reality show you've ever seen," explains Shaheen. "All mushed up, mixed around and amped up to 50."

Shaheen and Horne have worked with animation for nearly 17 years, starting on commercials before working their way up to longer formats. Although they've both worked with 2D and CGI, stop-motion remains their true passion.

"Stop-motion is one of the most satisfying things because when you're working on stories for upwards of a year or 18 months, there's such an involved process. It's really exciting to bring all these things together," Shaheen says.

"The show is set in a mansion in the middle of a wheat field in Saskatchewan because, well, we thought it was funny," adds Horne. "If you were doing a reality show, where's the weirdest place you could set it? So we immediately thought: Saskatchewan."

The art studio is filled with sculptors and painters, each carefully carving and painting the animal figurines for the show. From start to finish, the construction of one figurine can take more than a month, and each character needs dozens of figurines in order to film multiple scenes simultaneously. In addition, each one comes with its own mouth kit, up to 15 different mouth shapes that snap on and off the character's face to simulate speech.

Before they even pitched the idea for Life's a Zoo, Shaheen and Horne set about making their own six-minute pilot to give network execs a better idea of what the show is about.

"It's one of those things where you could talk about it until the cows come home and you wouldn't be able to really convey what the show was," explains Shaheen.

"But we pitched the music part to TeleToon, who got the concept straight away," Horne says. "Especially with all the music stuff, they understood the concept. It's a bit random, the music aspect."

"The music aspect" is the part of each episode where the story pauses to feature a music video of a different indie Canadian band, like The Tin Bangs or Spiral Beach. It helps take the show to an even more surreal level while also helping the bands reach a wider audience.

"We were glad TeleToon got it, because people generally don't like anything random," Shaheen adds. "We had initial discussions with the big labels, who understood the concept but were not ready to move on from 1980s, big record label thinking. We were very quick and happy to go to the lesser-known bands."

The bands are eager to work with Life's a Zoo as well, happy to expand their fan base and looking forward to add another dimension to their music.

"We're very cartoony people, so we feel like we fit in with that fast-paced, animated stuff, so it made sense for us to be a part of this," says Spiral Beach drummer Daniel Woodhead. "We like to tie in to a lot of non-music stuff. A lot of our friends are artists and filmmakers and there's a lot of room for cross-genres with our music."

"I'm really into the Detour," adds keyboardist Maddy Wilde. "Space Ghost, Harvey Birdman, Aqua Teen Hunger Force - so this was really cool for us."

But even with the surreal music breaks and the bizarre, expletive-filled plots of Life's a Zoo, Shaheen and Horne remain focused on creating the best show possible - which is made much easier by their diligent staff.

"This studio basically hires everybody under the sun in terms of the process - people who paint, people who sculpt, people who work with fabrics and build, people who do lighting and cinematography," Shaheen explains.

"It's really high quality," Horne says. "You have fantastic animators and talented people who work here."

At this, Shaheen laughs.

"And then there's Andrew and me," he says, grinning.

Life's a Zoo premieres Sept. 1 on TeleToon. It airs Mondays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET/PT and on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 1:30 a.m. ET/PT. - National Post

Tin Bangs
Bovine Sex Club, 1 am

A fact of concert life is that the all-venues-access wristband is misleading - you leaf through the menu of bands picking and mixing the best night of all time, to find yourself waiting in a queue longer than War and Peace hearing the dread word 'capacity' dashing your hopes and dreams. Thursday night saw a member of Hunter Valentine refused entry to the Drake Hotel, despite having played there two hours previously. Most nights that terrible word would be the end of the party, but with the Bovine Sex Club stage at the front of the building and the paper thin walls (underneath the bicycle graveyard that gives the club such a unique look) I could perfectly hear the force that was keeping me waiting. It's a damn good sign when you can physically feel the club shaking to the music - I would have pressed my ear to the wall if I wasn't worried about tetanus.

Inside, the Tin Bangs were pouring out energy like a runaway reactor, filling the club with their incredible presence and high power beats. A fun bonus of festivals like NXNE is seeing clubs with a completely different feel to their regular crowds, no better example than the dank goth-central Bovine Sex Club filled with happy smiling rockers. (I've already used my quota of the word 'rock' in the Therapy? review above, but nothing else will do the Tin Bangs justice, so they rocked the Rocking rock, rock! Rock rock rock!) A classic moment during the last song was when the band bought the entire front row of the audience a drink, passing round a tray of shots and calling 'Cheers!'. Shot glass in one hand and guitar in the other - top notch."
- Luke McKinney (CAMPUSX.ca)

Tin Bangs is a pretty cool name for a band and luckily, these guys don’t suck. Far from it. Plenty of local talent have taken a stab at the Britpop/Mod template but few have done it with as much conviction as the Bangs have. Sounding not unlike a more aggressive Psychedelic Furs or a more modular Bloc Party, these dudes have breakout written all over their admittedly-handsome faces. Look for them to parlay a recent opening slot for the Killers into something special soon... - Cameron Gordon (Nerve Magazine)