Inherit the ShwaRockCity

(June 24/07 Oshawa This Week / newsdurhamregion.com)
The Micronite Filters S/T Double Album (Review)

The true inheritors of the ShwaRockCity mantle, Oshawa’s MFs, stand on the shoulders of the Neils (Young and Peart). On many of these tracks, which sit across two CDs, the tequila-soaked grainy blues of Tonight’s The Night are a shroud on the process here. Their music is the honey-eyed mid-morning reflection on the night before.

    But we should start with ShwaRockCity...    

A place, a town of beggars and bikers, crack dens and roadkill. A clogged harbour of dead factories. The medieval merchant class which calls the shots could shoot a cannon through the downtown and not hit anyone. A place that is a faded KISS lunchbox town with one foot in the past and the other in mud. A place that is bush parties lit by the lights in a coyote’s eyes. It’s an autopart junkyard where, around a fire of burning tires, the Micronite Filters sing its blues.

    Raw and crushed, reused and recycled, distilled and reduced to one cup of tar tart tea, shared and sipped. The album is doubled then sliced in four, each part onto itself but also of the album. The tracks I Forgot My Sunglasses and Meld are the most evocative and complete display of the MF’s talents.

    The wild drawl of guitarist Abel Renton is a wail in the night sky, scrub coarse. Following one step ahead slapping the beat is Dan Reiff. It’s a gritty recording, the scratches intact. The album is wide enough to cover all forms, country, blues, rock n roll. But the vocal of Renton is pulled too far and falls over on too many of the tracks to be fully enjoyed.

    However the musicianship, the skill, the groove and the jam is transporting. The band is joined by Nick Lanaro on bass with guest spots taken by Jackie Game and Ryan 'the Newf' (vocals), Brian Jackson (harmonica), Sean Whalen (fiddle) and Dan 'The Dude' Welsh (dulcimer).

 The cover art is by local artist Gerard Pederson.