Toronto’s Actual Water released their most recent full-length album Call 4 Fun in the summer of 2014. Like the band’s previous efforts it offers something different, some say this is their most realized effort to date. On Call 4 Fun, Actual Water fills an album of nine tracks with power pop sounds from the 60’s, 70’s and also attaches elements of punk, garage rock and 90s Halifax oriented rock ala Thrush Hermit and Eric’s Trip. The album is not a carbon copy of the aforementioned influences, instead they serve as reference points throughout this twenty-three minute trip. Lyrically, the album operates on a completely different level at times, but more on that later.
“Take The Stairs” opens Call 4 Fun with its jagged power pop punk complete with smooth melodic rollicking basslines and strong vocal melodies. Lyrically the song is a witty comment on overweight North American societies as the lyrics state “When you go anywhere/I bet you never ever, ever take the stairs/You can be whatever you please/But you gotta workout you gotta bend your knees.” The album’s title track “647-445-1141 (Call 4 Fun)” draws melodies and riffs reminiscent of the sounds of 90s Halifax bands Thrush Hermit and Eric’s Trip, without the 90s sounding production, while a song like “Fire On George St” ignites the listener with a Jam meets Exploding Hearts-like pop mod glory. Lyrically the song portrays the anarchy of Toronto’s troubled George St amongst the stop and start riffs and guitar leads and solos. Another song found on Call 4 Fun, is equally short, under two minutes packing pop and punk influenced potency too, it is titled “Three O’ Clock Kids”. As the song develops we hear of disillusioned youths “eating McDonalds” and staying up all night amongst Paul Simonon sounding basslines and garage rhythms. “Power Pop Radio” features loud chunky windmill guitar riffs, while lyrically the song seems to be identifying with some form loneliness.
Elsewhere on Call 4 Fun, we find the songs “Latoya” and “Waldo Jackson”, two characters within the album’s lyrical and musical construct. “Latoya” first appeared in more frenetic form on the B-side of the 2012 She’s A Priest single, a song about Toronto’s The Burger’s Priest establishment. The theme of Toronto and different parts of it appear scattered throughout Call 4 Fun as well. “Latoya” appears here in a steadier, more refined groove. The song tells the story of summer love, driving and a sense of undefined freedom. Musically the song features tambourines, jangly guitar, power chords in a Big Star meets Guided By Voices fashion. “Waldo Jackson” seems to pull from the sounds that Actual Water experimented with musically on their previous album, The Paisley Orchard. The songs lyrics tell the story of Mr. Jackson who seems to be stubborn and so stuck in his own sense of self worth that he prevents himself from having any actual fun. The band does this with their own sense of reverb-drenched satire, as they do throughout the nine-track Call 4 Fun release. The music video for this song features a discussion between the band members Anthony Price and Gary Arthurs as they discuss rock n’ roll music in a different philosophical context.
On Call 4 Fun, Actual Water’s two chief collaborators Anthony Price and Gary Arthurs construct what some might call a power pop, party rock album. Musically there is a blurry, undefined line somewhere between Nick Lowe, Thrush Hermit and garage rock. The album’s cover provides even more clues as we see images of Ringo Starr, The Strokes, a Lou Reed 8-track cassette, Paul Weller, Bob Dylan and a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, among other paraphernalia. On the surface the album’s lyrics seem to convey the simplicity of a party atmosphere, but there is also a certain mysteriousness that seeps into the songs found here. To coin a term from the “Waldo Jackson” video there are many different verbal arpeggios found on this album. Underneath the surface for those that listen a bit closer there could be another message entirely for listeners to discover under the album’s nine-song guise.
Saturday Night Toronto Play List:
1. A Neon Rome - The Magical Summer Of 85 (New Heroin - 1987)
2. Cardboard Brains - Living Inside My Head (White EP - 1977)
3. Death From Above 1979 - Black History Month (You're A Woman, I'm A Machine - 2004)
4. Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs - Get Pumped Up (Gates Of Hell - 2014)
5. Supreme Bagg Team - If You Could Read My Mind (The Supreme Bagg Team - 1989)
7. PONY - Somethin’ About You (Somethin' About You - 2013)
8. Mexican Slang - Double Trouble (Twerp EP - 2013)
9. The Secrets - Crying Over Her (Wyld Canada Volume 1: Crazy Things - 2005)
10. Canadian Squires - Leave Me Alone (Wyld Canada Volume 3: Endless Dream - 2005)
11. Bobby Kris & The Imperials - A Year From Today (She Belongs To Me/A Year From Today - 1966)
12. Buddy Burke & The Canadian Meteors - That Big Old Moon (That Big Old Moon/Street Of Sorrows - 1957)
13 Jay Sad - Noodle & Egg (Jay Sad Goes - 2009)
14. Papermaps - There Are Wolves (Interior Ghost EP - 2012)
15. Change Of Heart - There You Go (Smile - 1992)
16. Actual Water - Floorboard Speculation (Double Negatives - 2008)
17. Actual Water - Brighton (The Paisley Orchard - 2010)
18. Actual Water - Take The Stairs (Call 4 Fun - 2014)
18. Actual Water - 647-445-1141 (Call 4 Fun) (Call 4 Fun - 2014)
19. Actual Water - Waldo Jackson (Call 4 Fun - 2014)
20. The Viletones - Screaming Fist (Screaming Fist EP - 1977)
21. No Hands - Conquerors (Conquerors/Dirty Water - 2015)
22. Leather Uppers - Carne Mysterioso (Carne Mysterioso - 1993)
23. Arson - Coho Coho (Smash The State: Volume One - 1994)
24. The Government - Flat Tire (The 33 1/3 EP - 1979)
25. The Fits - Bored Of Education (Smash The State: Volume One - 1994)
26. The Diodes - Tennis (Again) (Tired Of Waking Up Tired: The Best Of The Diodes - 1998)
27. Teenanger - Frights (Frights - 2011)
28. Pow Wows - Hidden Future (Broken Curses - 2015)
29. The Ugly Ducklings - Hey Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut (Somewhere Outside - 1966)
30. The Underworld - Love 22 (Unreleased Single - 1968)
31. The Ardels - Piece Of Jewelery (Wyld Canada Volume 2: Shake Yourself Down - 2005)
32. Handsome Ned - One Hundred Miles Of Open Road (The Name Is Ned: Anthology - 2000)
33. Hooded Fang - Too Late Night (Album - 2010)
34. The Poles - CN Tower (CN Tower/Prime Time - 1977)
35. Zro4 - Gimme Attention (Punk History Canada Presents: Only In Canada, Eh 77-81 Volume 1 - 2005)
36. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Zombie Compromise (Savvy Show Stoppers - 1988)
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for February 14. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.
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