Young Rival's Guitar Fishing

09/29/08 4:42pm

by Shawn Despres (CHARTattack)

Good things often come in threes, so to round out the release of Young Rival's new EP and upcoming cross-Canada jaunt, they've also unveiled their own computer game on their website called Guitar Fishing.

Gamers can try to capture as many little swimmers as possible using their favourite Young Rival member armed with a guitar instead of a rod. Catchy, unreleased live staple "T-Shirt & Shorts" blasts in the background as anglers attempt to crack the top 10 list to join other "High Score Heroes."

"A few months back, I was playing some music with my brother Drew and a friend of his told me about a dream Drew had about floating on a lily pad on the Nile, shredding guitar, and realizing that his guitar was actually also a fishing rod," explains bassist John Smith. "I saw 'video game' written all over that, so I cracked open Flash and started working on a single player game based on the dream."

"T-Shirt & Shorts" came from a recording session in New York late last year with producer Emery Dobyns (Antony And The Johnsons, Patti Smith). Six other songs from their two days in the studio have been packaged together into a self-titled EP that came out a few weeks ago. The disc is only available at shows, but fans will soon be able to purchase digital copies from iTunes and other online music vendors.

The self-released EP offers a preview of the wealth of well-written, vintage-inspired rock goodness to come on their Young Rival debut full-length (the band previously put out two albums as The Ride Theory).

"We have a few reasons for going with an EP," says rhythm guitarist Kyle Kuchmey. "We were able to pick six of our strongest songs, we are leaving a handful of decent recordings to work with in the future, and since we are currently recording new material, we will be able to release a proper album in a reasonable amount of time."

Kuchmey believes that the band’s latest output is a very natural evolution from their previous efforts. He praises the stronger, more focused lyrics of vocalist Aron D'Alesio as one of the more noticeable progressions made by the group. They're hoping to put together a video for a track off the EP before the end of the year, but Kuchmey is tight-lipped about which one.

"The EP is genuine and modern rock 'n' roll. It is music that we crave to hear and I think a lot of people are in the same boat. It is naive to say there's no decent rock 'n' roll out there today. There's lots. That being said, it's tough to find modern rock that's raw, but still diverse and endearing. These are all facets that we work into our songs, and this CD is our best example yet."

Young Rival will embark on a coast-to-coast tour this week in support of the EP. They plan to follow it with a round of U.S. dates and hopefully some U.K. concerts as well. Although they’ve gigged extensively in both eastern and western Canada, this will be their first time travelling right across the country. Smith has come up with an innovative way to endure the long drives between cities.

"I was thinking about doing crunches, scrunches and push-ups. But then I thought, 'Why bother?' You quickly start to feel so lethargic from sitting in a van all day that it seems quite useless to even try to get in any form of physical shape. Maybe I should practice sitting on my couch for 12-hour periods to properly prepare."

Here are Young Rival’s Canadian tour dates:

Oct. 1 Sudbury, ON @ The Townehouse Tavern
Oct. 4 Canmore, AB @ The Canmore Hotel
Oct. 5 Banff, AB @ Rose & Crown Pub & Restaurant
Oct. 7 Golden, BC @ The Lyric Bar
Oct. 9 Kelowna, BC @ Doc Willoughby's Downtown Pub
Oct. 10 Victoria, BC @ Logan's Pub w/The Laundronauts
Oct. 11 Vancouver, BC @ Pat's Pub And Brewhouse
Oct. 15 Edmonton, AB @ The Black Dog Freehouse (two sets)
Oct. 16 Calgary, AB @ The Gateway Bar (SAIT)
Oct. 17 Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos w/The Sheepdogs
Oct. 19 Winnipeg, MB @ Lo Pub & Gallery
Oct. 20 Thunder Bay, ON @ The Apollo
Oct. 23 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox w/The Bicycles
Oct. 25 Halifax, NS @ Coconut Grove Nightclub w/The Bicycles (Halifax Pop Explosion)
Oct. 26 Fredericton, NB @ Capital Bar w/The Bicycles
Oct. 27 Saint John, NB @ Backstreet Records w/The Bicycles (noon in-store)
Oct. 28 Moncton, NB @ The Paramount Lounge w/The Bicycles
Oct. 29 Sackville, NB @ The Tantramarsh Pub (Mount Allison University) w/The Bicycles
Oct. 30 Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle w/ The Bicycles
Oct. 31 Montreal, QC @ Friendship Cove w/The Bicycles
Nov. 1 Kingston, ON @ The Grad Club (Queen's University) w/The Bicycles
Nov. 6 Guelph, ON @ Jimmy Jazz
Nov. 8 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace w/The Bicycles