Skinny Dyck, Jonathan Personne, Sleepkit, and The Canadian Dispatch
Skinny Dyck - Easygoing
Lethbridge Alberta’s Skinny Dyck has been steadily growing a solid fan base on the prairies. He plays country music that has soaked up some “Beach Boys” sunny vibes and flirted with altered states of warm psychedelia. This is exactly what country music should be, from boot stompers to sad drinking songs: his new album is a triumph. Calling him country might be a misnomer to some as multiple genres are found within Easygoing’s 39 minute runtime but the spirit of country music exists in all these tracks. It’s just cozied up alongside surf, rock, psych, and traditional-pop.
Jonathan Personne - Nuage noir / Nouveau monde
Montreal band Corridor knocked it out of the park last year with their incredible album Mimi but as great as that band is, I’m even more fond of the solo project from their singer and guitarist, Jonathan Robert. Under the moniker Jonathan Personne, Robert constructs gorgeous psychedelia, drawing heavily from 60s pop sounds. Somehow Robert managed to release an incredible two song single this year in the midst of a chaotic album cycle with Corridor. I’m unsure if these two songs signal an upcoming 2025 release but they are incredibly dreamy and a perfect way to help you through the cold winter months.
Sleepkit - Camp Emotion
Calgary’s Sleepkit is the electro-psych project from Ryan Bourne whose 2023 solo album Plant City was one of our favourites from that year. With this project, Bourne and company craft danceable experimental electronic music that is heavily grounded in dream-pop and psych. Standouts include the massive sounding “Oxygen on the Autobahn” that pumps chunky beats over industrial infused synths. Also, make sure you listen deep into this one too because tracks 7&8 (Candy Apple Girl & Flower Thru Yr Head) are electro-psych-pop gems and back to back highlights of Camp Emotion.
The Canadian Dispatch - Critical Care
A new Calgary band has piqued my interest. I stumbled upon The Canadian Dispatch a couple weeks ago and fell in love with the scrappy sounds of their debut EP. This won’t be for everyone, it’s rough and chaotic and even slightly off kilter at times but it shows so much promise. The lyrics are completely buried behind a mess of guitar feedback, piercing keys, and garage-rock drums… and I use the word mess in the most positive way imaginable. If that made sense to you as you read this, this is a band you need to check out and keep tabs on because they are only going to get better.
- Jeff MacCallum