Being one of the constant figures on the Canadian scene ever since the post-punk days up until nowadays, through various bands and line ups, the musical legacy of Dave Rave provides a considerable amount of material not only for a double anthology, but for a whole box set of goods.
However, these two volumes are divided onto what the producer Lisa Millar calls “the hot tunes” and “the cool tunes”, where the hot ones range from Ramones-like punk-rock blitzkrieg of the yet to be released Rock The Party by The Crashtones or the Cochranberry-flavoured rockabilly frenzy of Out The Door by The Shakers.
Who also provide some mid-60s “groovies”, by the time already called power-pop, such as Do Anything and Let’s Face It, to some of Dave career’s highlights from the classic Valentino’s Pirates album like the jangly Weight Of The World or When Patty Rocks, which actually more like folk-rocks, in a best possible way.
Other equally hot ones, include the late ‘60s Beatle-rocker, or should I say Badfingerism, of Pure Honey, the ’66-Lennon-just-about-to-get-psychedelic-sounding Love Fades, from Dave Rave Group’s 2003 album, and on the same album, they were also throwing around some ‘70s-Stones-riffs within the title track Everyday Magic, and also getting back to The Shakers’ “groovie” power-pop jangle with Madeleine Says.
While pairing up with Lauren Agnelli in the second half of the ‘90s, finds the pair gone slightlydelic with Dreamin’ After The Movies and also doing some upbeat blue-eyed soul pop in So Invisible, while the volume ends with the moody power-pop sounding Nicki, which is another one from the yet to be released Crashtones album.
Even though not being any less cool themselves, “the hot ones” are followed by the actual “cool ones”, taking it as far backwards as 1975, to Dave’s cassette recording of Jillian, which actually happens to have a bit more in common than just a similar girl-name title with McCartney’s White Album-period acoustic output, and there’s also the pre-Shakers line up of Fulcrum, delivering Rainy Morning Song, another piece of folky pop from 1979,
And while we’re at it, there’s plenty of other “cool” folky pop stuff to be heard, such as another Agnelli & Rave collaboration, Tears Came Down On Billie’s Eyes (supposedly about Bille Holliday), with the latter being produced by fellow soulmates John Wesley Harding and Chris Von Sneidern, as well as the Dave’s proggy “sound cycle” Farmer Needs Rain from Valentino’s Pirates, considered by some to be his “magnum opus”.
For a slightly more upbeat moments, check out the moody melodic vibes of Everybody Needs Somebody and She’s Gonna Change or on the lighter side of things, the baroque-arrangement of Every Dog Has His Day In The Rain.
Also worth of special notice, are Dave’s forays into the especially “cool” jazzy areas, made jointly with Mark McCarron, as heard in Technicolor Shadows, Free, At The End Of The Day or the cover of The Song Is You.
[Released by Bullseye 2006]
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