Sal•vo
1. a simultaneous or successive discharge of artillery, bombs, etc.
2. a round of fire given as a salute.
3. a round of cheers or applause.
A new year, new hope, new crises, all hands to the wheel as it spins its unraveling invention. Into the fray comes charging Luke Sneyd and the Deed with their Salvo EP, a 5-track fusillade from their own Mannequin Phono label. The Toronto-based upstarts have been together for a year, gigging throughout southern Ontario and honing their sound. The new release is epic and expansive, from the driving melodicism of opening track “Wheels Come Off†to the haunted thunder of closer “The Real Heartâ€. Recorded at mk Soundworks and Iguana Recording in Toronto, Salvo is the first wave, as the band pushes ahead recording its upcoming full-length The Defiant Ones, for release in the fall of 2009.
The road to the Salvo EP began with a contest. Or before then, it’s true, but the contest was the fork what bent the path. In the fall of 2007, Luke Sneyd had an album, All of Us Cities, but no band. Recorded with producer and co-musician Marc Koecher at his basement studio in Toronto’s leafy west end, the disc was a strong first solo effort for the former Mountain Mama sideman. An early demo of “The Prisoner†was a finalist in the Unisong International Songwriting Contest, and California’s No Cover Magazine picked “Waiting†for their Groupies Suck compilation, calling Sneyd “an amazing unsigned artist.â€
The video for lead single “The Prisoner†won Sneyd a Top 5 spot in the Great Canadian Band Challenge, challenging for a $25,000 deal with Universal. In a frenetic three weeks, Luke Sneyd’s band took shape. They didn’t win the contest, but Sneyd made a solid impression as an artist to watch. Local blog TorontoIndie.com called All of Us Cities “ready for the airwavesâ€, while The Record’s Jason Schneider wrote it explored “the worlds of urban angst and the resiliency of the human spirit.â€
Touring gelled the band’s line-up, now christened Luke Sneyd and the Deed, with Sneyd handling lead vocals and guitar, Scott Hannigan on bass and Zack Mykula on drums. Reclusive producer Marc Koecher, a key architect of the band’s sound, joins the band occasionally, bringing textured layers of angular guitar and synth to life.