Toronto-based rockers Cigar Club have released two new contrasting yet complimentary singles, “Dark Market” and “Ocean Potion” both pulsing with the same buzzy, fuzzy guitar tone to make them two sides of the same coin, or sonic fraternal twins.
“Dark Market” is full of dark strut and swagger, infused with a dirty, gritty ’70s vibe meets the Arctic Monkeys. The song pounds with suspense and a gray, hazy feeling of malaise you just can’t quite put your finger on. All you know is that the morning’s dark and the coffee’s bitter and lukewarm:
Now you roll around the east of town
Where the creases in the streets pound through the seats into your soul
Falling and you can’t climb back now
Summer had danced with a frown
And an extended hand your fingers had found but it was cold
“This song came together almost in a blur,” recalls drummer Tyler Booth. “I remember hearing the chorus riff for the first time from guitarist Trevor Coughlin. That fat, fuzzy, in your face tone he had coming out of his Fender Bassman. Holy– I knew there was potential.”
“Dark Market” on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbLuMWJ9sbk
On the flipside, “Ocean Potion” is slow and sensual, a swaying and sashaying ballad with tinges of blues and soul. It’s teeming with lost love and regret and frustrated passion, and it slowly works itself into a froth of rock ‘n’ roll.
“Ocean Potion” on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Q9lfX_HV4&feature=youtu.be
“These two songs were written around the same time, and you can tell from that buzzy guitar tone,” Guitarist and singer Dan Amato-Gauci says. “‘Ocean Potion,’ however, is a mellower interpretation in comparison to ‘Dark Market.’ The song always felt right, I don’t really know how else to describe it. It’s familiar, like you’ve almost felt the song before – the feelings it portrays live deep in the memory.”
Listen on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/4JaOEhzh5EXcXwKifB1feJ?si=3EDa7Cv8T72VKlAFIs5U_g&nd=1&dlsi=220fcda55c614e84
In their interpretation of rock music, Cigar Club combines blues, psychedelic, and alternative influences, establishing the band as “one of Ontario’s premier alternative rock bands.