The Consumer Goods

The Consumer Goods

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Consumer Goods


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Origin = flagicon|Canada Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Genre = Indie rock
Pop
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Label = Grumpy Cloud Records
Associated_acts = The Poets, The Horribly Awfuls, The Honeybuckets, Paper Moon, The Weakerthans
URL = [http://www.theconsumergoods.net/ Official Website]
Current_members = Tyler Shipley
Ian Jeffrey Ryan McVeigh Matt McLennan Matt Hildebrand

The Consumer Goods are a Canadian indie rock/pop band hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Members of the Consumer Goods take part in other local bands including The Poets, The Horribly Awfuls, The Honeybuckets, and Paper Moon. The group has gained attention on local and national college radio charts. The band's debut LP "Pop Goes the Pigdog!", released April 20, 2006, reached #1 on the UMFM charts in June 2006.The Consumer Goods appear on the Winnipeg-based Grumpy Cloud Records.

History

The Consumer Goods released their first record, 'Pop Goes the Pigdog' in 2006. By the summer of that year they were heralded by CBC Radio 3 as an "undeniably infectious activist pop unit." and had had garnered four- and five-star ratings in a number of press reviews. The exposure from the CBC appearance led to a second buzz in the fall of 2006 and another crop of reviews, including one which suggested that 'Pop Goes the Pigdog' be considered one of the top ten records of the year. By the end of 2006, the record was ranked number four for the year on the UMFM charts, based on radio airplay.

While originally based in Winnipeg, songwriter Tyler Shipley relocated to Toronto,Ontario but was able to keep the band together with some lineup shuffling. The band released their second effort on May 18 2007. The new record was called 'Happy Bidet,' and featured an even more absurd array of political and social critiques centered around a rejection of capitalism and imperialism. What sets the record apart from many of its contemporaries is its playful and ironic tone - the band explicitly seeks to avoid heavy-handeded polemics, instead offering satirical silliness to the tune of beautiful melodies and catchy hooks. As part of a new push from the Grumpy Cloud label, the band toured from Calgary in the west to Halifax in the east, closing out the year with a big show at the Gas Station Theatre at home in Winnipeg.

The press around 'Happy Bidet' was overwhelmingly positive. The record received glowing reviews across the country, with the exceptions of Edmonton (where it was panned) and Toronto (where it was ignored.) It was popular on campus radio stations in Canada, the US and in Europe, where it became a mainstay on radio in cities as diverse as Den Haag, Marseilles, and Koln. It was also featured on Cuba's famous Radio Habana. In December 2007, the band was featured for a cover story in Uptown Magazine, and had a song nominated for one of CBC Radio Three's Bucky Awards. New material is in the works for a 2008 release, including new song skewering Don Cherry and the increasingly problematic link between CBC's Hockey Night in Canada and the Canadian invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.

Political and cultural references

Many of the songs from 'Pop Goes the Pigdog!' and 'Happy Bidet' refer to contemporary and historical politics and culture. For example:

* the famous U.S. supreme court case of Roe V. Wade is used as a backdrop to the amusing pro-choice anthem "Rovie Wade"
* Malcolm X's speech about violent and non-violent revolution is featured on "Christmas in Camden"
* Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz is mocked for his repressive civic record in "And The Final Word is Yours, Sam Katz"
* the 1898 invasion of Cuba by the United States in the Spanish-American War, and subsequent imperialist domination of the island until 1959, is referenced in "Gunboat Diplomacy"
* Mao Zedong's aphorism "Revolution is no tea party" is featured on the track of the same name
* a speech by Dick Cheney is appropriated and edited in a mocking tribute to Cheney, George W. Bush, Colin Powell, and Donald Rumsfeld in "Eat a Dick, Cheney"
* the phrase "camels coming home to roost" on "London Bombs" refers either to Ward Churchill's controversial essay "On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" or Malcolm X's commentary on the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
* commentary on the Devil's Lake outlet controversy and criticism of Premier of Manitoba Gary Doer on "Good Thing (for Bourgeois Nationalism)"
* the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon is the subject of "Lebanong Song"
* the gradual demise of the Montréal Expos on "C'est la Vie Westerne"
* the story of the ill-fated Taiping Rebellion is articulated on the track "Taiping Riverboat"
* author of the U.S. Patriot Act, John Ashcroft, is skewered in "Happy Bidet (Let The Balled Eagle Soar)"

Band members

The members of The Consumer Goods are:

* Tyler Shipley - Guitars, Vocals, extras
* Ian Jeffrey - Guitars
* Ryan McVeigh - Bass, Guitars, Vocals, extras
* Matt McLennan - Guitars, Vocals, extras
* Matt Hildebrand - Drums

Discography

* "Happy Bidet", Grumpy Cloud Records, 2007
* "Pop Goes the Pigdog!", Grumpy Cloud Records, 2006

ee also

*List of bands from Canada

External links

* [http://www.theconsumergoods.net/ Official Website]
* [http://www.pop-zap.com/conversations/20070618/ Exclusive Conversation on Pop-Zap.com]
* [http://www.grumpycloud.com Grumpy Cloud Records]


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