MATT MAYS & EL TORPEDO

I hate radio. All the stations tend to be owned by the same handful of massive corporations, and they all tend to play the same crappy songs, again and again and again. But last summer, after dropping my sister and her kids at the airport, I had to drive her SUV back to my house. Alas, I hadn't a single CD in the car, and the radio was my only option.

Fortunately, while blindly scanning the stations, I stumbled upon 89X out of nearby Windsor, Canada. They played some songs that I liked just fine (Death Cab, Stellastarr*) and a few that had me longing for the dull, empty drone of rubber on road (Creed, Nickelback). Eventually, I came across a catchy rocker called "Cocaine Cowgirl." by Matt Mays-something-or-other. But by the time I reached my driveway, I'd pretty much forgotten about it.

Fast-forward to about a week ago, when a random scan of the Hype Machine brought me to the MP3 blog Come Pick Me Up and a song called "The Plan." By none other than Matt Mays & El Torpedo.

Ah-hah, said I, suddenly remembering my post-airport, Canadian-radio "Cocaine Cowgirl" moment of a summer ago. I proceeded to Google "Matt Mays," which got me to the band's website. From there, I learned that Matt Mays & El Torpedo are from Nova Scotia, Canada, which we like - as we like bands from Canada (although, truth be told, we like bands from anywhere... so long as they don't sound like Creed or Nickelback). Regardless, Matt Mays released a solo album in 2002, then put together a four-man band to record their self-titled CD (released in March of 2005). Since then, they have been touring extensively and have been nominated for a number of music awards in Canada.

The CD can be purchased at various on-line sites, including the Canadian Maple Music.

Also, the band will be touring Ontario and Nova Scotia throughout March, with one noteworthy stop in Austin, Texas on March 15th as part of the SXSW Music Festival [at the Creekside Cafe - on the same night as fellow Canadians (and MP3 blog regulars) Cuff the Duke]. If you can, catch them. In the meantime, here are some nice tunes to give you a taste of them...

[MP3] "Cocaine Cowgirl"

[MP3] "On the Hood"