10 Best Canadian Rock Bands Of All Time
6. Ought
Three albums in, Montreal-based Ought are proving to be one of the boldest and most exciting bands on the indie scene. With a commendable willingness to experiment and evolve, they’ve left fans guessing between each release, shifting into a new groove for each iteration while retaining the artistic punk spirit that made them so great from the off.
Their 2014 debut More Than Any Other Day was a bolt from the blue, an angry, often oblique record. The title track features a lengthy spoken word segment that’s funny enough to avoid being pretentious, and standout “Habit” sees the group start to embrace genuine emotion, in a tricksy manner.
Follow up Sun Coming Down saw singer Tim Darcy reborn as the new Mark E Smith, sneering and spitting out rapid fire lyrics on “Men For Miles” and adopting an ad man patter on the brilliant “Beautiful Blue Sky”. It also features the lovely “Passionate Turn”, a fantastic, lurching love song.
Their most recent album Room Inside the World sees Ought embrace a slightly slicker sound, semi-ironically adopting saxophones and backing vocals, while Darcy’s performance turns a little Kevin Rowlands. It’s an unexpected but delightful next step for one of Canada’s most restless groups.