The Philadelphia – via Delaware – based band Canon Logic make a funky brand of power-pop that mixes 60s sounds, like the beach-pop melodies of The Beach Boys and the brit-rock bounce of the early Beatles, with contemporary beats and lyrics. The retro power-pop/indie-rock sound this creates is unique in today's mainstream musical soundscape.
Recently The Canon Logic released a new three song EP The White Balloon, as a pre-cursor to a full-length album which they are due to record this summer. This captivatingly effervescent EP would be a great addition to your summer music collection.
Recently The Canon Logic's drummer Michael Mignano answered a few questions for me.
Tell me about your new EP The White Balloon.
The White Balloon is a quick glance at some of the poppier music we've created recently. The CD itself is just three songs long, but it also includes a few videos from a live studio acoustic session we did this spring. In a way, it's serving as a placeholder as we work on our forthcoming full release. The music we play together runs the gamut from piano ballads, to dance rock and beyond. Somewhere in the middle though, at the heart of it, we're a rock band who writes catchy melodies and likes to harmonize when possible. I guess it represents us in our simplest form, without over thinking things too much.
The White Balloon EP has a strong retro power-pop sound, similar to The Beach Boys and early Beatles. Who are you musical influences?
We get the Beach Boys and Beatles comparison a bit. We definitely have a little '60s pop thing going, with the harmonies and what-not. Really though, I think what we like most about those groups is the way they progressed, and how their sounds grew over the years. The band we all associate best with is probably Radiohead (who doesn't though?), who similarly has always found a way to keep things interesting. Beyond those groups, our individual tastes are all over the place. Air, Phish, Warren Zevon, New Order, Oasis, Neil Young – name something, one of us probably listens to it.
Do you plan on releasing a full length album anytime soon?
Absolutely. Its a collection of our favorite Raffi covers from over the years. Just kidding. But seriously, full length is in the works. Fall 2008, for real.
How did The Canon Logic become a band?
Tim [Kiely, vocals, guitar] and Josh [Greenfield, guitar, vocals] were college room-mates at the University of Delaware. They used to just jam on a stockpile of songs they had written together in their dorm room, until they realized they could be playing the songs in venues instead. So they enlisted Mark [Alu, guitar, keys, vocals] via a classified ad, who brought along his childhood friend Sean [Enright, bass, keys, vocals]. After burning through a couple of drummers, they recruited me (Mike) via Craigslist. We relocated to Brooklyn about a year later and the rest is history.
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