Top Five Manitoba-based bands that we’ve covered in 2022, as chosen by Canadian Beats Media Editor, Jenna Melanson
This week’s Top Five is about the Top 5 Manitoba-based bands we’ve covered in 2022, so far.
This feature is strictly for bands (3 or more members), see our Top 5 Manitoba-based artists here, and duos will come in the future.
This will be the final Top Five feature in 2022, as for the rest of the year, we will have holiday features! Top Five will return in 2023!
Mahogany Frog
Winnipeg-based instrumental electric rock band Mahogany Frog has unveiled their new album, Faust, an original score set to the eponymous 1926 German silent film.
In April, the band shared their second single from Faust, “Flying Carpet II: Sword Fight,” along with a video to accompany the release.
“Layers of cinematic war drums lay the foundation for fornication and murder,” says guitarist / keyboardist Jesse Warkentin. “Soaring backwards fuzz guitar imposes sporadic blankets of tension. The innocence and passion of youth turns horrifically awry, and the fate of the fair and virtuous now points towards inevitable shame and doom.”
Listen to Faust here.
Connect with Mahogany Frog:
Bandcamp
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
VVonder
Winnipeg, MB-based rock band VVonder have unveiled their debut album, Now and Again.
On the album, listeners are treated to eleven tracks, including the previous singles, “Mistake,” “Philosophy,” and “Bye Bye Baby.”
Canadian Beats editor Jenna Melanson shares via a single review,
“Speaking of “Bye Bye Baby,” it has amassed over 35K streams on Spotify and opens the album wonderfully. I could immediately understand why it has been so popular with listeners. The bright, rolling beat pulls you in, and the lyrics fascinate you until the end. “I bought you flowers, And all you did was shrug, I thought we were in love,” and “I did your laundry, Even ironed your corduroys, I figured kindness would kill this inner voice,” brings a little comedic flare into a track about a breakup. For me, the chorus, “Bye Bye Baby, Don’t say maybe, This time it’s for good, I just gotta get out of my head,” caught my attention, as it’s sung in a cheery tune and has vibes of 1960s rock, that you’ll find it hard not to sing along to.”
Listen to Now and Again here.
Connect with VVonder:
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram
TikTok
Low Budget Rock Star
The Indigenous pop-rock trio from Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Manitoba, Low Budget Rock Star, unveiled their single, “Sunglasses,” back in April.
“Sunglasses” is a bold new arena-rock sound smothered in a blanket of intimate yet catchy lyrical storytelling. Packed with feel-good lyrics and light-hearted chord progression, the song is teeming with plenty of lifts to pick spirits up and keep them high.
“It’s important to acknowledge the insecurities we carry,” frontman Kennie Henderson shares. “And it is equally important that we do not allow them to consume the life we have.”
Listen to “Sunglasses” here.
Connect with Low Budget Rock Star:
Facebook
Instagram
TikTok
Yes We Mystic
The end of Yes We Mystic has come. After first announcing their final album and future breakup back in August, the band proceeded to release three singles, a performance art phone hotline, and host a sold-out retrospective screening; now, the ‘art rock luminaries’ share Trust Fall, third and final album of their decade-long existence, which arrived on October 21, 2022, on vinyl and streaming services via DevilDuck Records.
Listen to Trust Fall here.
Connect with Yes We Mystic:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
The Vitals
Winnipeg, MB-based 4-piece outfit, The Vitals, unveiled their latest single, “Deathcake,” from their new five-track EP, Anesthetics.
Band member Jimmy Shand shares,
“Anesthetics combines words from the Bible, the Quran, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Enoch, and the dictionary, into one singular opus. Words with meaning, mass, and weight. Words such as “the,” “soul,” “cheat,” “want,” and “again.” Words of importance. It utilizes resonance, melody, and tonality, all colliding like dulcet molecules to initiate the formation of beautifully structured hymnal canticles. Its rhythms pulsate synchronously with the collective heartbeat of our planet’s beings. It is a “coming together” of our magical bond constructed during our formative years.”
Listen to Anesthetics here.
Connect with The Vitals:
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram