Listen to Steamroller: Here

RIYL: Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Tom Waits, Low, Bon Iver, Beirut

The vision that is Bruce Peninsula was dreamed up by Misha Bower and Matt Cully in the Summer of 2006. Slowly, Bruce Peninsula mutated, taking a new turn every time a new member or instrument was added to the mix. Bruce Peninsula has now ballooned out to include a large and formidable cast of hoot-and-hollerers, performing live with as few as five and as many as thirteen players.

The early, simple call-and-responses have given way to more elaborate harmonies and compositions over time, but the teachings of those timeless old recordings from the American south remain in tact. There is no denying the power and conviction of old spiritual singers, Southern folk, soul and shanty blues. But Bruce Peninsula are a band beset by their contemporaries, the likes of Arcade Fire, Do Make Say Think, and Broken Social Scene, and the influence of such rhythmical and melodic forces runs deep on their debut, ‘A Mountain Is A Mouth’.

Bruce Peninsula’s debut album manages to embrace the generosity of such a broad line-up; it’s sound gravitating from the thumping choral vibes of Satisfied and Crabapples, to the burning minimalism of album opener Inside / Outside, and the choral resonance of Northbound / Southbound.

The surge of experimental music in Toronto has been important for Bruce Peninsula, bestowing upon them a wide-eyed, anything-goes mentality. Purists may argue that the blues or folk tradition can’t be properly expressed without an old steel string and a slide, but this band has never been too concerned with trying to crack open closed minds.

And so, Bruce Peninsula is a forward march of metalophone, lap-steel, zithers, and bells, of drums and sticks and any other oddities of interesting and pleasing tone. And, blaring all the while, voices of all timbre and tone.

“..one of the most incredible albums – debut or otherwise – I’ve heard in a very long time. While there are lots of bands in this internet age who receive loads of accolades and attention before they even release an album, there are few who actually live up to the hype. Bruce Peninsula certainly arrive with very high expectations, but with A Mountain Is A Mouth they not only show they deserve it, they also show that those expectations may have somehow been too low.” iheartmusic.net

“..A Mountain Is A Mouth is able to capture this kind of mood the way that very few albums do (off the top of my head – Sufjan Stevens Illinois, Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago, Nas Illmatic, Beirut Gulag Orkestar). Its not just a collection of songs, its a story, its a feeling, it just moves you..” awmusic.ca

BRUCE PENINSULA – A Mountain Is A Mouth (SRP066)