Information/Write-up
Funny how some folks will line up for hours, pay huge amount of hard-earned cash and sit in a football stadium to see a rock show. Dammit, there are some fine practitioners of the art right in our own backyard.
Case in point? Well, a couple of weeks ago, a few of us brave New Edition staffers ventured into the upper reaches of the Hotel Isabella. What we discovered was a guy who’s been cranking out his own brand of social commentary, liberally laced with both black humour and really fine guitar work.
Sebastian, our musical find in question, is really no new discovery at all. Having played around Toronto for years, however, he is now making a foray into the world of indie records with the release of a single called “No Compromise”.
That song title pretty much sums up Sebastian’s musical approach. His songs, more than slightly satirical in nature, take shots at just about every type of hypocrisy that he can discern in today’s society. Proponents of nuclear weapons come under the same scathing scrutiny as middle-class yuppies who drive BMW’s but vote NDP and attend peace rallies because they have “liberal” attitudes. Strong words, many of them, but ones that should probably be heard more often; infused with Sebastian’s dry humour, the songs turn his ideological opponents into the subjects of scorn quite effectively, and often hilariously.
On a serious note, the man is a guitarist to be reckoned with. Displaying a fluid style that is deftly complemented by the backing drums and bass, Sebastian weaves a musical trail through the weirdness of North America in the 1980’s. Is he part of that eccentricity himself? You be the judge- the B side of “No Compromise” is called “Stop Picking On America”.
-Roger Elliot, The New Edition
Sebastian Agnello (D.T. & The Phantoms, Teenage Dance Band, The Lords Of London, Patches): guitar, vocals
Produced by A. Camp
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