From Los Angeles comes this interesting new act Canon, whose debut Wide Awake is extremely modern sounding, yet owes a lot to vintage progressive rock. Shades of Radiohead, Muse, Explosions in the Sky, Porcupine Tree, and U2 can be heard throughout the album, as well as nods to Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis. Comprised of Jason Turbin on vocals & keyboards, Tieg Johnson on guitars, Benji Pope on bass, and Cassidy Turbin on drums, Canon have a bold yet atmospheric style that comes across as highly emotional. The title track is one hell of a powerful song, with Turbin's yearning vocals paving the way above bubbling bass lines, shards of dissonant guitar, and majestic piano. Imagine Robert Fripp jamming with The Edge & Bono with Radiohead plinking away in the background. Deft acoustic guitar and keyboard orchestrations permeate the lush "No One Speaks", and symphonic prog rock rears its head on the clever "Rennaissance". The band mixes jazz, prog, and metallic hard rock on the upbeat "Running As Fast As We Can", a song that contains some excellent keyboard work from Jason Turbin, and plow into driving AOR/pomp/ prog on the quirky, Hammond drenched "The Golden Mean", sounding like a combination of Yes, Deep Purple, Aviary, and Styx. Equally as compelling are the more ethereal pieces like "Alive", "Master", and the moody "Euromatic", which will easily appeal to fans of Radiohead with their atmospheric keyboards and haunting vocals.
Wide Awake has all the elements that make a solid, progressive tinged modern rock record. Bands like The Mars Volta, Porcupine Tree, Radiohead, and Coheed & Cambria, have all been mentioned as spearheading a movement of modern progressive rock. Once fans get a listen to this CD, you might be able to add another name to that list.
Track Listing
- Alive
- Don't Trust the Teachers
- Euromatic
- Wide Awake
- No One Speaks
- Rennaissance
- Running As Fast As We Can
- SOS
- The Golden Mean
- Master