The Haven Social Club

Doors at 7:30pm
Tickets $12 in advance, $15 at the door
Advance tickets available at YEG Live

Playing rollickin’ piano-based country-tinged college rock, Great Bloomers astound with subtlety – delicious hooks, stunning harmonies, expert musicianship and songwriting well beyond their years

PRESS
“SPEAK OF TROUBLE highlights the abilities of Lowell Sostomi as singer/songwriter and brings together a talented band of musicians with amazing dexterity, loads of energy, and very original arrangements. I’m impressed.” – GORDON LIGHTFOOT

“Speak of Trouble shows that Great Bloomers are one of the best new bands in Canada.” – I Heart Music

“This is Canadian History in the making – Be part of it. The album cover perfectly reflects the music because this album should go straight to the top of the list as being the soundtrack to many lazy weekends at the cottage this summer! Sickly contagious!” – Tuesday Guide

” Ascendant Toronto quintet Great Bloomers scream “CBC Radio” and “Canadiana,”… Harmonious ramblers like “Lobbyist” and “Dark Horse” recall a frillier Cuff the Duke and are emblematic of the band’s fallback roots-rock stance, yet the Bloomers obviously have an ear for a broader range of pop styles, referencing a Paul McCartney piano line on the title track, echoing Mark Kozelek on “Admit Defeat” and taking air like Broken Social Scene fronted by Rufus Wainwright on chugging “The Young Ones Slept” and “This Ain’t You.” Closer “Thorn In My Side” is a pop hit… Gentlemen, this is totally one of those records that’ll score you points with girlfriends, wives and girls that you wanna score with. – Toronto Star

“Their new LP, Speak Of Trouble, is a huge jump in sound for the band and shows a maturity that only comes from hours on stage and in the jam space. It’s quite obvious the young band is influenced by some of the greats – The Band, The Beach Boys and an affinity for Sonic Youth’s feedback and distortion come to mind for me – but even subtle tips of the cap come off as respectful instead of aping. The Great Bloomers are working hard to form their own sound and seemed more concerned with writing songs that stand the test of time. A lot of Canadian bands have exploded onto the scene and made some waves with catchy hits lately, but Great Bloomers seems to be setting up to make a career out this, instead of just writing some killer tracks that fade in this digital age.” – Hero Hill

“A continuation of the danceable indie roots-rock from their self-titled 2007 EP, Speak of Trouble demonstrates a marked musical maturation and an embracing of eras past, complete with narrative lyrical recollections of youthful hope and exploits and an already-classic sound reminiscent of warm AM radio textures.” – Torontoist

“Despite the relative youth of Toronto’s Great Bloomers (both the band itself and its five members), their debut full-length is an accomplished exercise in inventive songwriting. The 11 songs draw from Brian Wilson, Neil Young, Queen and other respectable vintages, but often the tracks move effortlessly in surprising directions partway through, making Speak Of Trouble feel incredibly diverse and substantial. Solid musicianship, memorable melodies and singer Lowell Sostomi’s sincere, unruffled vocals hold everything together.” – Carla Gillis, NOW Magazine

“Melodically gifted local upstarts Great Bloomers proved that the hype surrounding their upcoming debut album is warranted. Their rustic-tinged tunes display the band’s precocious knack for Constantines-like grit rock.” – Jason Keller, NOW Magazine

“It’s been barely a week since Speak of Trouble was released into the loving embrace of the music-consuming public, but there’s already a quiet frenzy of buzz building around the album. And curiously, many discussions of Great Bloomers seem to focus on the band’s inherent Canadianness. As far as I can reckon, the most Canadian thing about the five-piece outfit is this: the songs on Speak of Trouble demonstrate the best and most noble qualities we like to associate with our national identity. Namely, they’re delightfully affable, they’re founded in solid, salt-of-the-earth traditions (sun-bleached country, winsome melodic rock), and they have an effortless ability to make you feel really, really good.” – Sarah Liss, EYE Magazine

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Wool on Wolves is a band; pure and simple. They’re not here to distract you with flashing lights or smoke machines. They’re musicians, music fans, roommates, and friends above all else, who hold a genuine belief that music has the ability to move beyond speakers and headphones to truly encapsulate the human experience.
Formed in the fall of 2008, the group works diligently to convey the emotion they feel while writing and performing from their home in Edmonton, Alberta. Each member of the group is a multi-instrumentalist, which allows for the listener to break from the predictable preconceptions of what constitutes modern pop and rock music. Well-educated in classic and modern musical aesthetics and with tastes as diverse as their University degrees, the band aims to write and perform material that is fresh yet familiar at the same time.

Originally intended to be the band’s full-length debut; “Hate is Poor” (2010) is the 5-song culmination of a year-long ordeal fought against the less-than-professional side of the music industry. In spite of too many obstacles to list, Wool on Wolves recorded and mixed much of the album from their basement rehearsal space in an effort to share their unique brand of indie-folk-rock. Sombre yet optimistic, “Hate is Poor” foreshadows the band’s evolution, moving into their full-length debut.

One week after the EP release, Wool on Wolves returned to the studio in April 2010 thanks to RAWLCO’s 10K20 program and Calgary’s Mix 97.7. Receiving this grant allowed the band to work with acclaimed Edmonton producer and musician Nik Kozub to produce an 11-song album that traces their musical roots while also branching into new territory, both sonically and lyrically. “Grey Matter” will be self-released in October of 2010.