The Mohawk Lodge

"You make me wanna fight. I’m gonna sing my little heart out tonight.”
- “Wildfires”

With Wildfires, The Mohawk Lodge sheds their dirty folk leanings in favour of blue collar indie soul. Whereas debut disc Rare Birds catered in campfire songs, the band’s sophomore record is a musical forest fire.

Since their inception, The Mohawk Lodge have left concertgoers sated and stages sweat-stained as they entrench their reputation as a live band to be reckoned with. Bringing their working man’s ethic to the
fore, the Lodge launch a three-pronged guitar assault supported by an airtight rhythm section.

While early Lodge material often relied on homespun charm, every track on Wildfires seems an act of desperate catharsis. This time around the band’s songwriting manages to nod as much to the Boss as Smog, while their playing manages to bridge the gap between Fleetwood Mac and the Constantine’s. Simply put, this is earnest songcraft that beats with vitality..

Overseen by producer Darryl Neudorf (New Pornographers, Neko Case), Wildfires explores new lyrical depths for the band and evidences an emboldened musical direction. As vocalist/guitarist Ryder Havdale wails, an exhilarating sonic backdrop is forged by duelling dustbowl guitars, swirling keyboards, melodic bass, driving percussion, atmospheric brass and a boisterous chorus. It took nothing short of a small army to achieve such devastating results. Rob Josephson (drums), Arch (guitar), Samir Mallal (bass) and Cory Price (guitar) were already card-carrying members of the Lodge. However, Wildfires would have never raged without honorary recruits Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade), Jesse Gander (Ghost House), J.P. Carter (Great Aunt Ida), Marc Morrissette (Octoberman), Tiffany Mohammed, Ben Labelle and Jason Starnes (Bells Clanging).

On the strength of Rare Birds, The Mohawk Lodge has already earned acclaim from the music press and warranted appearances at Pop Montreal, CMJ and NXNE. Additionally, their live prowess saw them walk away with free recording time at CITR’s prestigious Shindig! competition. Despite these accolades and accomplishments, this blue collar band knows that there’s still much more work to be done. 2007 promises to be the year that The Mohawk Lodge becomes a household name.

For more info:
http://mohawklodge.ca or http://myspace.com/mohawklodge

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