Treble Charger

Treble Charger hit the scene as Canada's favourite indie rock kids. As they grew up, instead of becoming even more introspective and indie, they started rocking hard and went in a pseudo-punk direction. Maybe it was to break into the mainstream, maybe not. Either way, they never really made it in the US, but everyone in Canada still respects them as one of our favourite homegrown bands. Recent studies show they inspire more patriotism in youth than the Canadian flag! Probably.

NC-17 (1994) 8 Thumbs Up

Treble Charger were orignally called NC-17, but were forced to change their name because some Yankee band already had it. Blame America! As revenge, they called their first CD "NC-17." Oh, those crazy kids. This is Treble Charger's most laid-back indie rock release. It gave us the awesome single "Red." Woo! The songs are equally split among Bill and Greig, which is always good. You know, I think Greig does a far better job with indie rock songs than their later rock songs. It just suits the band far better.

Besides the obvious single "Red," there are all kinds of great songs on this, like "10th Grade Love," "Trinity Bellwoods," (which I think is named after a park in Toronto I ended up in once) and "Deception Made Simple." We've even got feedback drenched songs! This might sound lame, but I thought it was cool. This album reflects the more subdued alternative sound, as opposed to grunge, that was around in the early 90's. Man, I wish those days were back. People always accuse this album of being too cookie-cutter indie, but I think they're just jaded. It's fairly obvious that the Trebs have something better planned, and are just waiting for us to let our guard down so they can destroy our morals with it. Or something like that.

Self=Title [EP] (1996) 7 Thumbs Up

This is an EP, funded with money they won from the CASBYs, a Canadian music awards show that used to give out cash prizes to independent bands. If you put the CD in your computer, it supposedly gives you information about all the independent bands they're friends with, but my computer's too new for it to work. Too new for it to work. That's something you don't hear much.

Anyway, Treble Charger pumps up the volume with this EP, moving a bit into harder rockin' tracks. Or maybe it's just more production money, I dunno. "Morale" and "Even Grable" are classic Canadian rock songs, there's no two ways about it. Either way, I wish this was a full-length, because I'd love to hear more from this version of the band's sound. Anyway, I had to give it a 7 because it just feels so unfinished, even compared to other EPs, and the production is so rough that it takes a while to get into it.

Maybe It's Me (1997) 9 Thumbs Up

This is the holy grail of Treble Charger CDs. It's the best one of them all, by far. This is what Treble Charger's style should be: all the catchy rock you need without being pop-punk, and all the introspective indie without being horribly produced. Bill and Greig splitting the vocal duties equally is what makes this album great.

"Friend Of Mine" and "How She Died" are probably the best Greig-sung songs ever. See what I mean about that kid being way better when his style is more subdued? But let's not leave Bill out of the picture, because "Ever She Flows" and "Christ Is On The Lawn" are just jaw-droppingly great. This is how it should be, kids. This is one of the greatest Canrock albums of all time. The production is awesome; it's not overproduced or too rough. It's the perfect balance for Treble Charger. And hey, we even get another version of "Red!" Awesome! I'm amazed they could put out an album this great, considering the short distance between its release and Self=Title's, and the fact that they lost their drummer. Yet they somehow do it, because they are Canadians, and that entitles you to being superhuman. Mindless nationalism? Nah.

Anyway, I could go on about how each song is so great individually, eventually using up all my synonyms for "great." But I think you understand what I mean - that this CD is just that great. Geez, why is Avril Lavigne popular and not these guys?

Wide Awake Bored (2000) 8 Thumbs Up

This was the release that gave Treble Charger instant success in Canada with the single "American Psycho," and as expected, everyone cried "Sellout!" Okay, some tracks may be a bit overproduced, and they did get commerical success. But the main detraction from this album is the serious lack of Bill songs! Seriously! I mean, Greig is great, but I don't buy Treble Charger CDs to hear him crooning bland pop-punk on every single track!

The songs sung by Bill are fine. "Cheat Away," "More's The Pity," and especially "Just What They Told Me" are great songs. While Greig does have some good songs, like "Brand New Low" and "Favourite Worst Enemy," after a while, they all start to blur together into one big song that sounds the same. So maybe they were signed in the US and had to compromise a bit, but c'mon. You guys can do better. Bill did good not losing his indie songwriting cred, but Greig's songs are, on the whole, bland pop-rock tracks. Don't get introduced to Treble Charger with this CD.

Detox (2002) 8 Thumbs Up

This is more or less Wide Awake Bored, Jr. While Bill's songs are better, ("Drive" and "The Downward Dance?" Sweet!) Greig's somehow manage to get even more commercial and pop-punk. Greig Nori's just trying too hard to break into the mainstream and completely redo the success of "American Psycho." I mean, let's put this in perspective. With Wide Awake Bored, they first released a rocking catchy single, "American Psycho." With Detox, they first released a rocking catchy single, "Hundred Million." Huh. Next, Wide Awake Bored released a single that had an edge to it, but was much slower: "Brand New Low." And Detox's next move was to release a single that had an edge to it, but was much slower: "Don't Believe It All." Man, what a coincidence. What comes next? Well, Wide Awake Bored's final single is another rock track on the same level as the first, "Business." And Detox's final single is another rock track on the same level as the first, "Ideal Waste Of Time." Wow! They sure aren't trying to duplicate earlier success!

In terms of production and Greig's songs, this is exactly the same as Wide Awake Bored. I might as well cut and paste my review from up there. It has the same advantage of production and good Bill songs, but the same disadvantage of lame cookie-cutter Greig songs. And they put Avril Lavigne in their video! What the hell is this?

I tried really hard not to label Treble Charger as sellouts, I really did. But during Detox, Greig has stopped accepting Bill's songs, and afterwards, he pressured him into leaving the band. And now I have to admit that yes, Greig Nori is a total fucking sellout. I even got a letter published in Chart, a Canadian music magazine, bitching about this fact. Maybe I'll scan it someday. This is a total repeat of Our Lady Peace kicking out founding member Mike Turner, and I have a feeling their music is going to suffer just like OLP's. On the plus side, Bill is working on a solo career, which I bet is going to be awesome, so all hope isn't lost.

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