Listening to Magneta Lane’s 4th CD, Witchrock, one may think that they’ve fallen into the younger years of Joan Jett or Debbie Harry. The rich sultry voice of vocalist, Lexi Valentine, is interesting to listen to. She’s a little mellow dramatic with a fun flair.
‘Burn’, just one of the songs on the Witchrock EP, has an intro of strong rhythmic beats that initially had me wanting to move to the next song. However, once the song took off, Lexi’s voice took over. ‘Lucky’ has a Cranberry-ish flair beat to it and I would highly recommend it to any DJ (do they still call it that these days?) that I may encounter on the dance floor.
Overall, the EP, like most, has it’s good tunes and bad tunes. The magnetic attraction of Lexi’s voice and throwbacks of days gone by, had me listening to all of the songs with great enthusiasm.
Visit Magneta Lane’s Website
http://www.magnetalane.com
Magneta Lane to Perform in Toronto at Release Party
EP RELEASE PARTY
THURSDAY FEBURARY 14
THE RIVOLI
334 Queen Street West Toronto, ON
The Hard Road to Success
The three young ladies of Magneta Lane are not actual witches. They have, however, titled their spirited new EP Witchrock in tacit acknowledgement of what might be considered, at least in some fickle indie-rock and record-label circles, a bad reputation. They also have a habit of rocking out in a most unladylike fashion that, by times, brings to mind a host of other punkish female trailblazers from Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry to Cub, Juliana Hatfield and Veruca Salt in addition to the aforementioned Joan Jett. And, like Jett, they don’t give a damn about their bad reputation.
“Any person who says now we haven’t paid our dues don’t know what they’re talking about,” says frontwoman, guitarist and principal songwriter Lexi Valentine. “That’s all I’ve got to say about that.”
About Magneta Lane
Magneta Lane – formed in suburban Toronto by Valentine, her sister/drummer Nadia King and one-named bassist French in 2003 – was celebrated on delivery by numerous pundits on both sides of the Canada/U.S. divide as an uncannily pop-savvy trio of teenage ingénues when Paper Bag Records issued its debut EP, The Constant Lover, in 2004. Months and months of hard touring at home and in the States ensued, hardening the band into the notably less naïve outfit that was steered towards a more tantalizingly aggressive sound by producer Jesse Keeler (of Death From Above 1979/MSTRKRFT infamy) on its debut full-length, Dancing With Daggers, in 2006. Magneta Lane’s promise appeared endless. And then … pause. Too much, too young. Burnout. Hipster backlash. Label woes. You name it, Magneta Lane had it.
