Teenage Kicks – Shook Our Bones

Brothers Peter and Jeff van Helvoort have been experimenting with classic rock and indie for a while now, launching their latest project, Teenage Kicks, not long after their previous project, Ulysses and the Siren, got under way.  Now, if you head to the latter’s myspace page, you’ll find a web link directing you to the Teenage Kick’s website, so it seems that the old project might just be on hold for the time being.  And after listening to Teenage Kicks’ debut 7”, Shook Our Bones, I can see why.

For starters, Teenage Kicks is the van Helvoorts’ most fully realized work to date.  In only two songs the band really makes a statement about their professionalism and commitment to the band.  Sounding somewhere between classic rock outfits like Credence Clearwater Revival and fellow Canadians and rising indie heavyweights Arkells, both tracks feel effortless and ready to pump new life into stale radio playlists nationwide.

“Shook Our Bones” finds Peter at the helm – each lyric oozing rock n roll magic.  Always in control without feeling overbearing, he builds chorus and verse with a perfect inflection, the rest of the band filling in the gaps and making for a song that never succumbs to conventional pitfalls.  When the track wraps up, it actually cools down, taking a nod from the region’s bustling indie scene and entering a reserved vocal harmony that compliments and breathes new life into Peter’s repeated line “youth shook our bones, all night long.”

But personally, I’ve gotten the most mileage out of their second offering, “I Get What You Give.”  A hopeful anthem for those aspiring to carve out a meaningful niche in the music industry, “I Get What You Give” is a country flavoured rock piece that sounds like an aggressive amalgamation of prairie favourite Luke Doucet and nostalgic maritimer Joel Plaskett.  Even the line “good things come to those who wait,” and the eventual extension “to those who wait on tables” fits right in with Plasket’s latest anthology, Three.  But even with some easy comparisons, the track is just so hopeful and sincere that it easily eclipses the 7”’s already impressive A-Side.

As one might expect, at only two songs Shook Our Bones leaves listeners begging for more.  With only two tracks to their name it’s a tough call saying exactly what the future holds for these young upstarts.  But if Shook Our Bones is any indication, their time in the restaurant service industry should be nearing its end.