ARTIST: Steady, Garcia!
TITLE: Bring Me The Head Of
LABEL: Stainless Manchu Music
GENRE: Rock
TIME: 41:52 min
SIZE:  65,1 MB
RIP DATE: Jan-23-2007
RELEASE DATE:
WEBSITE: n/a

Track List:

01. Blues #1                                   00:32
02. Big Light                                  04:27
03. Pretend Girlfriend                         03:14
04. Dial Tone                                  03:17
05. Something New                              04:22
06. Shakespeare                                04:10
07. Crow Raid 19                               00:27
08. Company Line                               02:28
09. Panic Attack                               01:57
10. I'm Not Afraid (La La)                     02:04
11. Something To Eat                           03:08
12. Lucinda Rose                               00:43
13. Little Tory                                01:02
14. Here Comes Jones                           02:20
15. Old & Grey                                 02:06
16. You Modern Thing, You                      01:40
17. Country Light                              03:55

Release Notes:

THE BAND
Luis Cardoso and Carman LeBel started to perform
together circa 1988 in Fredericton, NB, Canada. This
culminated in the formation of the reggae band Small
Axe, and eventually the larger reggae band Ujamaa,
which enjoyed some popular and critical success
throughout the Maritime provinces between ’89 and
’92. Carm bailed early to do yet more school, while
Lou rode out the reggae wave until it broke in 1992.
As it turned out, both came ashore in Toronto
shortly thereafter, and the collaboration began
anew, though the reggae rhythms were nowhere to be
found. They put together a three piece power pop
unit and started working on Luis' original material
(turns out the guy writes songs in his sleep!). By
1995 or so, they were putting together a solid set
list of original, hard-driving power pop tunes under
the name of Superball (briefly), then Lovable Truly,
and it seemed like gigs were just around the corner.
Then the drummer vanished, as drummers do. Over and
out for this incarnation.
Carm left Toronto for awhile, but when he returned,
the collaboration began yet again. Luis had, of
course, a thousand new songs, so there was no
shortage of material. They gigged informally for the
next few years, performing Luis' songs and a raft of
covers, including The Who, Matthew Sweet, Dylan, The
Buzzcocks and Frank Black.
Time passes.
Both are involved in brief, ill-fated musical
ventures of various types. Carm marries and moves to
Bayfield, ON, and Luis marries and moves to Meaford,
ON, two hours west and north of Toronto
respectively. Luis buys digital recording equipment,
drum programs, editing software, and lo and behold,
Steady, Garcia is born. (The band is named after
something Luis said – something like, "the name of
this band is going to be Steady, Garcia!")
Luis then moves to the Blue Mountains near
Collingwood, ON, where the majority of "Bring me the
head of" is recorded. The new Blue Mountain studio,
a woodstove-heated, 600 sq. ft. cabin at the edge of
22 acres of forest, becomes Crow Raid 19 Studio – an
incredible place to create and record. It’s here the
two play and record sporadically for a couple of
years to put together material for the album. Carman
arrives every few months with new bass lines, and
Luis handles the daunting task of recording,
editing, and mixing the whole thing, logging many
hundreds of hours in the studio.
The original demos were guitar, bass, vocals and
drum machine. For the final sessions, Collingwood,
ON drummer Paul Jones was brought in to contribute
some excellent drums, and guitar player Geordie
Haley – a good friend from way back, and another
ex-Ujamaa member – contributes stunning lead guitar
to a number of tracks.
LeBel still resides in Bayfield, ON, but Cardoso has
moved back to where it all began, Fredericton, NB,
where work has already begun on the next Garcia
album. In the meantime Cardoso is back on rhythm
guitar for yet another Fredericton reggae band, the
Dub Antenna.

THE ALBUM
“Bring me the head of Steady, Garcia!” is the debut
album by Canadian indie band Steady, Garcia!. Fusing
punk, powerpop, indie rock, and even country, “Bring
me the head of” is an album that revels in being
just that: an album. Collaborators Luis Cardoso and
Carman LeBel wanted to record an album, and not a
loose collection of download-friendly MP3s.
A listen through the album’s 17 tracks bears that
out. It’s a movement through songs that vary from
the country-tinged pop of “Big Light” to the
flat-out punk of “Little Tory”. Lyrically, it’s a
journey through a psychopolitical minefield of
quasi-love songs that at times appear to be honest
and heartfelt, and at others wry and biting; which
is which is anyone’s guess.
For what it’s worth, Steady, Garcia! has been
compared to bands as divergent as Guided by Voices
and Dinosaur Jr (maybe not all that divergent,
really). Cardoso writes sharp hooks and the album’s
songs are memorable. They stick in your head. Listen
for yourself.