Super Groovy Band

The brainstorm behind this infectious-groove CD belongs to a group of seasoned road vets. Spreading their wings, keyboardist Gogo and drummer Lance Chalmers originally came up with the Super Groovy Band in ’99 as a Trooper side project.

Along with bassist Moon, the guys make up a who’s who of the Vancouver scene, Paul Laine, Kaos, The Broken Toys to name a few. Gogo’s a classically trained pianist and dancer and main songforger. This is Chalmers’ second post-Trooper release, with Sump Oil’s EEL WRESTLING in 2001.

It takes exactly 8 seconds into the lead track “I Like Your Hair” to discover you’re in for a treat, enjoying something you haven’t heard for awhile … that’s artists taking pride in their craft, not afraid to do things their way … and obviously having a whole lot of fun doing it.

The vision of the CD is a light-hearted mix of eclectic little numbers that sets JOYRIDE apart from anything you’re likely to hear anytime soon. Serious musicians with a rather whimsical approach to rock, the group’s debut is reminiscent of a time when the arrangements were simple and catchy. But make no mistake about it – JOYRIDE is definitely a finely-tuned labour of love where sophistication and care shine through.

The lyrical content of the material is unique, to say the least … refreshingly fresh to be more accurate. Having a cup of java with the Almighty, a bright future for us all … luckily for anyone deprived of musical originality, we have Super Groovy Band.

The disc’s kind of like a drug – play it once and you’re hooked. With ‘noise’ and mediocrity unfortunately so readily available these days, JOYRIDE is a breath of fresh air. It’s nice to have music coming through the speakers again.

The arrangements’ creativity themselves are what fuel the good ship Super Groovy. The album is more like chapters in a book, as opposed to individual stories, forty minutes of creativity. With the sax-led “Don’t Freak Out About the Future”, “Big Apples” or the flute-riddled with strong backbeat “Spin”, JOYRIDE gives reassurance that what some say was a bleak period in Canadian rock is over.

Their visual presentation is no less original than the songs themselves. Eclectic and stimulating, it’s damned near impossible not to like this disc. The band’s philosophy is simple …. if you’re not happy … play our disc … you’ll be glad you did. This is the sort of thing that if played could probably stop international conflicts … it’s just that damned groovy!