SOUNDTRACK: THE NEW ODDS-Cheerleader (2008).
Craig Northey, singer of the Odds has written some great songs by himself and with a slew of other projects. But most notably, he did the theme songs (opening and closing) for Corner Gas. At last, “My Happy Place” the Closing Credits song has now been released on this disc by The New Odds. (The Opening Credits song “Not a Lot Goin On” is available on the 
disc that Northey made with Jesse Valenzuela, cleverly titled Northey Valenzuela. I mention Corner Gas aside from the fact that it’s a great show, because I mention it in the book write up below as well. But back to the Odds.
The Odds had a minor hit in 1993 with “Heterosexual Man” (which we all thought was hilarious). I 
didn’t really think much about them until my friend Amber from Vancouver sent me a tape of Bedbugs. I was surprised how much I liked it and how, although the band was funny, they weren’t a novelty act at all.
I’ve enjoyed the Odds very much since then, they’ve appeared on a number of soundtracks, and r
eleased four solid albums, especially 1996’s Nest.
The New Odds are, as you might guess, the Odds, only new. 3 of the 4 original members are back, and aside from updating their sound to the twenty-first century, the band isn’t radically different. They play what used to be called college music, but which really is more or less alternative or even just rock music.
As with previous Northey output, the lyrics are witty and clever, with some wordplay in evidence. There’s a pretty diverse collection of sounds on the record, yet they all stay within the range of alternative guitar pop. One or two songs rock harder than the others, “Leaders of the Undersea World” sounds like a dose of heavy metal in comparison to the rest of the record. “Write it in Lightning” is also a pretty good song, and “I Can’t Get You Off” has a wonderfully catchy hook to it.
Northey’s voice is easily described as inoffensive, and the music is catchy but not stick-in-your-head catchy. It’s not a ringing endorsement, but it’s also not a put-down. Like meat and potatoes, it’s a good staple to any alternative fans’ collection.
[READ: August 28, 2008] Why I Hate Canadians
I bought this book several years ago, probably in 2000, when I was visiting Montreal. I remember being very excited to visit Chapters and to see what kind of books they had that weren’t available down south. I was especially interested in the humor section as I had just started watching Mike Bullard, and I knew he wasn’t available in the States. I found Bullard’s book as well as two books about Canada by the Fergusons. Why it took me 8 years to read them, I don’t know.
This book is listed as a humour book; the copyright page has it listed as 1. Canada-Humor 2. Canadian wit and humor (English). But the thing is that the book isn’t very funny. Even with an outrageous title like that, it’s not very funny. It is however, a fantastic introduction to the history of Canada written in a style that is (yes) funnier than your average textbook.
DIGRESSION: I will state that I realize that Will Ferguson has a perspective, and quite often he’s very vocal about his perspective. Most good history is written with an acknowledged bias–trying to hide your bias makes for dull (or hypocritical) history. So, Ferguson’s history of Canada may not be Accurate, (especially if you are a Quebecois) and of course, I’d be interested to hear from those who disagree with him; however, to an American who is not well versed in the history of Canada, it was pretty enlightening. (more…)
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I was pretty thrilled when the “supergroup” of Trans-Canada Highwaymen formed. I put that word in quotes because it’s likely that some (mostly non-Canadian) people don’t know half of the band. But I was thrilled to have a guy from four terrific bands pooling themselves together. And the fact that they were basically covering 70s AM radio hits was just a weird bonus.
I Just Read About That... 