Band - Eamon McGrath

Eamon McGrath’s style is constantly changing and his shows range from sweaty, bombastic, punk and noisy garage-rock inspired barnburners, to quiet, intimate country best fit for a Western saloon. In the span of a single concert, and sometimes in the span of a song, heart-wrenching confessional lyrics pave the highway towards string-shredding guitar solos and an adolescent howl like no other.

“Young Canadians” takes his classic country/punk live show dichotomy even further. It’s dark, yet, beautiful with badass, 90s-era pacific northwest workouts like “Rabid Dog” and “Saskatoon, SK” lying next to the dirty soul in “Pain of Love” and quiet, haunting odes to time lost (”Auditorium”), all filtered through a youthful, fist-in-the-air nod to Canadiana.

“Young Canadians” is McGrath’s 3rd official release following “13 Songs of Whiskey and Light” (2009), and “Peace Maker” (2010). For Young Canadians, McGrath headed back into Vancouver’s JC/DC Studios with John Collins (New Pornographers) and Dave Carswell (Destroyer) and recorded it all within the span of one wild week.

It’s a grand novel bridging gaps between McGrath’s Albertan, prairie roots, and the ever-present spirit of punk rock that has come to define his life. McGrath sums up “Young Canadians” on the first track: ”My life could be a broken record by Canada’s Ramones. Eternal adolescents: I’m calling out your names. Rock and roll won’t ever be the same”.

“The teenage kick in his raw Saturday night energy is even more authentically prodigious…his rasping Waitsian voice suggests an unlived lifetime spent in low company in smoke-filled bars.” (Uncut Magazine)