AUGUST 2008 - EXCLAIM - 7" REVIEW

The first tangible record by a great Toronto, ON band, this seven-inch (aka. "The BP 45") features three traditional songs performed in the already inimitable manner of Bruce Peninsula. With their amalgam of gospel-tinged field recordings and post-punk intricacy, Bruce Peninsula tap into soul and fury in ways other multi-headed ensembles only dream of. With "Rosie," the group take on an Alan Lomax recording, infusing it with raw power and drama, a chorus of urgent female vocalists haunting Neil Haverty's gritty, impassioned lament for one of the most infamous muses in underground folk while jarring percussion thuds up against a building drone. The flipside features "Lift 'em Up/Jack, Can I Ride," the former a powerful interpretation of a biblical tale written by Washington Phillips. Its soaring vocals navigate snaky guitar-lines and a foreboding sense of doom. That end comes dramatically with "Jack, Can I Ride," an artfully recorded stomp-chant that also draws from Lomax's work. With anticipation growing for the A Mountain is a Mouth full-length this fall, Bruce Peninsula impress with a rewarding wax omen.