Econoline Crush

You've probably noticed that I've started using the imeem player to embed songs. Why, you ask? Well, Google/Blogger have been cracking down on TOS violations lately (and I'm wondering if that's why I had at least one post of mine disappear inexplicably one day), so to cover my ass in that regard, I had been looking around for streaming players that have a well-stocked catalog of songs. As soon as I realized that imeem has nearly all the artists I've featured on my blog lately (including the relatively obscure one I'm featuring today), and that they even provide iTunes and Amazon search buttons right alongside the player, I decided it was the one for me. Sure, you can't actually download the songs (at least not easily), but since it's free you can't really complain -- plus, you can go right to the artist's catalog on imeem and hear more of their songs! Sounds like a pretty sweet compromise to me.

ECONOLINE CRUSH
"BRAND NEW HISTORY"
(EMI Canada, 2001)


If any of you out there are just starting to read this blog, then in a way it's pretty good timing: this post juxtaposed with the last one do well to illustrate the wide variety of things I listen to. I was going to start this post by saying that Econoline Crush was an "anomaly" in my music collection, but I honestly have a little bit of everything in my library, so I probably have so many "anomalies" that the ordinary stuff looks like the out-of-the-ordinary. But anyway, this is yet another artist whose CD I stupidly traded in years ago, only to find it on the used rack for five dollars and buy it back in a pang of nostalgia. (Yes, I've said that about two other artists I've featured on here before ... pathetic, I know.) As with the others, I don't know how or why I let myself get rid of it, but I won't make that mistake again.

Econoline Crush is one of Canada's best-kept secrets, having yielded only one marginally popular single in the U.S. They're the only group I listen to that's classified in the "industrial rock" subgenre; basically, they play hard rock with some electronica overtones. Of course, for their two major-label outings the band did tone down their sound and make it more accessible to mainstream listeners, but it makes for a bit of an adventurous listen nonetheless. The opening track, "Make It Right", and the closer "You Don't Know What It's Like", provide the aggressive punch characteristic of Econoline Crush (thanks in part to production by veteran Metallica producer Bob Rock), along with the near-thrash of "Trash" and "Go Off". "Tomorrow Starts Today" and "By The Riverside" show a more mellow side of the band, but still keep the guitars turned up to a decent level, thank you. And just in case the rest of the album is too loud, the band takes a breezy sidestep into Sugar Ray-like territory with the cool "May I Go".

Oddly, just when the band seemed to be hitting their stride, with two solid albums (this one preceded by the more successful 1998 set "The Devil You Know") solidifying their popularity in their native Canada, Econoline Crush seemed to drop off the face of the earth. It would be seven years before they re-emerged with a new album, 2008's "Ignite". I haven't bought it yet, but the sound clips on Amazon have me interested, so I'll probably end up getting it. Like I said, I don't know what it is about Econoline Crush that I like ... the sporadic bursts of guitar ... Trevor Hurst's distinctive raspy howl in the vocals ... the electronic flourishes? Who knows ... and why question it?

Make It Right - Econoline Crush