Music review: Bruce Peninsula

A Mountain is a Mouth

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ately , I find myself shying away from the swarm of new music that is increasingly readily available. The energy required to sift through the constant stream of new artists and next-best-things is beyond my capabilities or available time. Maybe it’s just easier for working dads like myself to stick with the artists we already like or already know.  As musical tastes shift so quickly and constantly, maybe it’s simply easier to focus more on those who have been making music over the long haul. These are the kinds of songwriters you can grow old with, whose music and artistic merit goes deeper than hyped-up marketing or incessant cross-promotions.

It is for all these reasons that the Ontario-based band, Bruce Peninsula came to my attention as a pleasant surprise. Their first full length album, A Mountain is a Mouth was released on February 3rd to a small fan base and through the band’s own record label. With only minimal publicity, and no formal distribution, the album that these musicians put together runs little risk of being swept under the “well-known” or “who’s next?” line of new artists. Yet, it is an album worth getting one’s hands on.

Bruce Peninsula consists of over a dozen regular and part-time members, each of whom collaborates in the creation of a fusion of gospel-influenced punk, folk and indie rock. With vocal styling reminiscent of Tom Waits, orchestration with echoes of Sufjan Stevens and a backup “choir” rivaling the punch and power of the Polyphonic Spree, Bruce Peninsula has produced an album of depth that almost demands a serious listen.

One of the most interesting features aspects of the music lies in the band’s ability to remain fully and cohesively  dynamic, even with such a large group. The songs never come off as overdone or overly busy. They are full of deliberate periods of both space and chaos, a juxtaposition of tension and rest. The strongest presence on the album is the lead vocalist’s gruff, earthy voice, surrounded by a strong, confident choir of men and women. Instrumentation, relative to the number of band members, tends to be sparse, which enables a focus on the vocalists’ power and intensity.

A Mountain is a Mouth begins with the song Inside/Outside. Slowly building from a few chimes and distant ethereal vocals to a pounding drum beat undergirding a back-and-forth echo between the choir and the lead singer before launching into a sparsely orchestrated, but tension filled introduction to the album. From this point on, the momentum continues to build until midpoint into the next song, Steamroller, when a dancing guitar line allows the band to fully open up, replete with handclapping and soaring melodies.

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Steamroller

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There are a few weak moments in the album,  specifically in the drawn out Drinking All Day and the slow, aimless drift of Weave Myself a Dress.  However, when viewed as a whole, the album seems to represent a much stronger band than a collection of friends on their first full length outing might suggest. These moments aside, this is a quality release, highly recommend and definitely worth checking out.

This album is available through iTunes or via the band’s website.

Reviewer: Jonathan Bukiewicz lives in downtown Chicago with his wife and their two kids. Presently, Jonathan works as a web coordinator at The Salvation Army’s USA Central Territory Headquarters. He can often be found sitting at his desk, drumming out a silent rhythm while bobbing his head to the sounds coming through his headphones. Spending as much time as he does out in the suburbs, sometimes he has to shed the reality of polos and khakis. On those days, he rides his bike.

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