If you had to cook up a super-group for Canada made up for established musicians (an idea like Mick Jagger‘s SuperHeavy), how’s this for a recipe:
1. Take the former lead singer of I Mother Earth (Edwin)
2. Add in the ex-guitarist from Our Lady Peace (Mike Turner)
3. Mix in the bassist from Zygote (Amir Epstein)
4. Top it off with the drummer from The Tea Party (Jeff Burrows)
And presto! You have Crash Karma – Canada’s “Can-Rock dream team”.
Yesterday, almost three years to the day of the release of their debut album, I joined fellow UrbanMoms blogger Sonya, rock fans and media at the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto to hear Crash Karma perform from their just-released CD called Rock Musique Deluxe.
“I know there’s still a lot of rock fans out there. I don’t think rock is dead.” Edwin
Crash Karma had formed as a sort of blind date back in 2008 by Epstein. Its members – while musical peers – didn’t know each other. Since then, they have become a close bunch of buddies. “We know everything about each other now — all the dark secrets.” says Epstein.
The band’s first album produced hits such as “Awake” and “Flight”. Rock Musique Deluxe is a 40-minute high-octane follow up, co-produced by the band and studio veteran Terry Brown (Rush, Max Webster, Voivod) in their Toronto hometown.
In contrast to the more external perspective of their debut, this album is more personal for lyricists Epstein and Edwin. The bulk of these 11 songs introduce protagonists standing at life’s crossroads and running emotional gauntlets. “A lot of love and a bit of angst” according to Epstein.
“We’ve played shows with some bands — and I’m not going to name them — that weren’t rock bands, but were just pretending to be rock bands,” explains Epstein. “It was really irritating to see that. So our album title is just a way of just saying, ‘This is rock music. Take a listen to it, in case you forgot what it’s supposed to sound like.’ ”
True to his word, at their CD launch party, the band performed a tight, high-energy set which excited all the rock fans in the room.
For fans of hard rock, it really doesn’t get much better than this. Clearly, they loved the recipe.
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