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• Youthink Magazine (Alberta)
October 2006

The Neckers Grow Up... Slightly
B y Carly Knutson – Western Canada High School, Calgary AB

Garage-punk-rockers The Neckers are best known for their lively performances. Whether you see them play or listen to their CD, this Calgary band will have you dancing and singing along in no time.
When I got the opportunity to catch up with Neckers’ guitarist/vocalists Jim Blood by phone, his laid-back attitude made it clear that he really is a guy just trying to have a good time with his friends and music. The band’s friendships and beginnings actually go way back to junior high. “Brendan and I have been friends since we were 12, and we listened mainly to heavy metal like Metallica, Motley Crue and stuff like that. Bil grew up listening to Bryan Adams and lots of real crap, so we turned him on to better stuff.”
In the next few years, the group found the perfect match in a bass player, and Steve Elaschuk was quickly recruited. “When we first started out, it was a joke band, really,” he explains, “We wore wigs on stage and were doing stupid stuff like that. Now, we figure if we’re going to do it, we might as well do it as well as we can.”
No longer a joke by any means, The Neckers newest CD, Love and Infection, was a bona fide hit on the national campus radio charts, full of upbeat rhythms and scrappy, catchy songs. To add to their success, the band recently won the X92.9 XPosure Contest, with a prize of $15,000 and a place in the Summer Wrap up Party at Macewan Hall on the University of Calgary campus.
Although you might think the accolades would bring along more recognition, Blood admits that’s actually not the case these days. “We haven’t played any shows since that contest because Bil got married and we’ve all been on vacations so it feels as if we’re less popular. But I figure we’ve been around in Calgary long enough that people who know us, know us, and they’ve already decided if they like us or not. Maybe the odd person will like us now, but we’ve got the money so who cares,” he laughs.
Love and Infection was recorded over just three days in Abbottsford, BC with the talented Jason Solyom producing, lead singer of hardcore band Spitfire. “We knew we only had a limited time with Jay, so we just did it as fast as we could, and it turned out way better!” The band found out about their recording schedule at the last minute so it was kind of a scramble to get all the songs together. “Right up to the point where we were pulling up to Jay’s house, Bil was like, scribbling stuff down in his notebook. Whatever rhymed, he threw it down and then we went and recorded it.”
Now The Neckers are ready to move on from Love and Infection. “It’s been two years since we recorded that CD,” says Blood, “so we all really want to do something. We’ve got tons and tons of songs, so that’s one of our big plans.”
Aside from booking shows in Calgary, those plans include going back to Abbottsford to record another CD in the spring so keep your eyes and ears open for The Neckers and be prepared to let their music move you!

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• The Calgary Herald
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Local Bands Score

• The Neckers, Hot Little Rocket, Cranston Foundation, Jane Vain & The Dark Matter and Lions & Tigers & Bears have been declared the top five independent bands in Calgary by alternative rock station X92.9 FM.

The bands were selected through the station’s XPosure 2007 contest and rose to the top among hundreds of applicants. Each of the winning bands will receive $15,000, three tracks on the XPosure Summer Wrap Up Party, set for Aug. 31 at the University of Calgary.

• Beatroute Monthly (Calgary AB)
December 2006

Calgary 2006- Local releases under the microscope
By Spencer Brown

The Neckers
Love and Infection
Independent

Venerable locals release their latest, Love and Infection, onto the Calgarian and Canadian, via their infamous national tour, landscape. The 11 tracks recall early ‘80s punk bands like The Pointed Sticks, Teenage Head and The Modernettes, as well as a smattering of British influences like The Beatles and the Knack. While slightly more poppy than their other albums this by no means detracts from the myriad catchy songs present. Love? Yes. Infection? More like infectious.

• Razorcake Magazine #33 (Los Angeles CA)
August / September 2006

CD Review
NECKERS, THE - Love & Infection: CD (Self-released)
By Mike Frame

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Mid-tempo poppy rock ‘n’ roll simply does not get any better than this. If you’re a fan of the Real Kids and The Devil Dogs, you are gonna be in bliss with this one. Fans of the Obsoletes/Yesterday’ Kids will find a lot to like here as well. One of the all time great band logos as well. Chalk up another classic Canadian band to take the torch from The Pointed Sticks, The Modernettes, Chixdiggit and Teenage Head. This is the record of the summer without a doubt. Love and Infection is a classic record!

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• Nerve Magazine (Vancouver BC)
July 2006

Gettin' Fresh With The Neckers
By Aubrey McInnis

An older gentleman was watching the Neckers at a promotional photo shoot and pointed to front man Bil Hetherington. With his other finger placed thoughtfully on his chin, he said, “That guy’s gotta be the songwriter, he looks broody.” At this point, everyone politely tried to suppress their laughter, some faring better than others. After a long night of rock and rolling, Hetherington was still waking up. After the photo shoot, guitarist and co-songwriter Jim Blood giggled, “Yeah, real broody - we write songs about girls, cars and love.”

Blood may joke, but in the world of rock recordings, the Neckers have really stretched out on their third release, Love and Infection. Hetherington, Blood, Steve Elaschuk (bass) and Brendan Tincher (drums) have crafted a sophisticated rock album that rambunctiously barrels forward with endless energetic hooks. Hetherington’s vocal range has broadened and the boys behind him are still dead set on blasting out a soundtrack fit for that kid who crashes your house party bringing 50 of his friends. The spirit is the same, but it has been a long time since the quartet began deafening cafeteria audiences at Calgary’s Henry Wisewood High School.

Blood (who grew up writing jingles with his sister) and Tincher had been noodling around with guitars and writing songs since junior high. They had been bonding over Theresa Roncon, Motley Crue, and Metallica for years when Hetherington - reluctantly - came into the picture.

“Those guys were bangers, I didn’t even like them at first. I thought Brendan was totally weird… I thought he was ugly with a bad hairdo wearing Skin Barn t-shirts. Then I met some other guy in Grade 11 that was a really funny guy, he was in their band. He brought me over to their corner of the lunchroom… “Brendan was like, ‘hey Billy Bones.’ I was so unimpressed with him, I was like, ‘hey Brendan Bone,’” says Hetherington with a smile on his face, affectedly hamming it up for comedic value. Skin Barn tees and all, the trio quickly clicked as best pals and rallied Elaschuk to join a few years later.

Now in their 10th year as a band, the Neckers are sounding comfortable in their skin, climbing campus radio charts and churning out rock as strong as the Smugglers in their prime. Trying their best to pump out hits without rehearsing much, they’ve risen to the top of bands to call when you want to have an instant dance party.

“Most bands just sort of lack in being fun to pay attention to,” explains Elaschuk. “They’re too serious or just too pretentious. It’s too much time being clever and not enough time being good.”

“It’s definitely supposed to be fun,” underscores Blood. “We’re not really there to make anybody think. There’s dumb party music and there’s smart party music - I’d rather be a party band that smart people can get into too.”

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• FFWD Weekly (Calgary AB)
Thursday June 29/06

CD Review
THE NECKERS - Love & Infection, Independent
· How can you not love Calgary’s The Neckers and their "feel-good it’s summer" subject matter?
By Jesse Locke

Love fades and infections heal, but one thing you can count on in Calgary is The Neckers. The guitar-slingin’ garage rockers have been playing this game for a long, long time, releasing their debut, A Whole Mess O’ Trouble, in 2001, a self-titled followup in 2004 and now this brand spankin’ new collection for 2006, Love and Infection.

The songs traverse the same kind of feel-good subject matter that The Neckers have always been obsessed with – girls ("Angelie"), cars ("Steal that Car") and girls in cars ("Repeat Last Summer"), and vocalist/harmonica man Bil Hetherington still sounds like he’s having a blast.

The rest of the band is on point as well, with guitarist Jim Blood still blasting some of the bounciest riffs in the city (check his solo on "Love & Affection"), bass player Steve Elaschuk keeping it tight, and drummer Brendan Tincher peppering the songs with fills aplenty all while harmonizing with Hetherington. Opener "What About Me?," "Angelie" and "Hang Around" are all highlights, and just like their last album’s "Have Love Will Travel,"

4 Stars out of 5

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• See Magazine (Edmonton AB)
Thursday June 15, 2006
CD Reviews

THE NECKERS
Love and Infection
(Independent)
****
Those Neckers must be really busy guys... Aside from playing in Calgary’s most underrated rock and roll band, the handsome foursome are all surgeons on the side–according to their press photo, at least.
When they’re not stitching up hearts, they’re breaking ‘em with perfect three-minute punk-poppers that’ll put some glide in the stride of even the biggest square. If tunes like "Another Girl" and "Steal That Car" start ending up on high school mix tapes, teen pregnancy rates are gonna skyrocket. Listen to "Repeat Last Summer" and you can practically see singer Bill Heatherington doing the chicken, beer in hand, grinning away.
Dripping with Beach Boys backups and some harmonica thrown in for good measure, Love and Infection is the perfect summer soundtrack to convincing that cute neighbour girl to fall in love with you. I suggest blasting it from outside her window on a giant stereo (a la Say Anything), but slipping a copy into her mailbox will suffice.

TRAVIS SARGENT

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• The Calgary Sun
Friday, May 19, 2006
Infectious vacation - Neckers relaxed and ready
By Mike Bell

Sometimes when someone comes back from a vacation, you hardly recognize them. They look tanned, relaxed and, well, just different.
Take veteran local act The Neckers, for instance.
Last year, says frontman Bil Hetherington, the quartet took a four-day August working vacation in Abbotsford, B.C., and they returned as one of the best rock bands in the city.
"It was like, 'We're going on a vacation and we're going to go record,' " Hetherington says.
"I don't get out of town much, and neither does Jim (Blood, the band's guitarist), so everybody just relaxed."
The proof can be heard on their sonic postcard Love & Infection, which they release with a show tonight at Broken City.
The 11-track album, recorded in the home studio of Spitfires member Jay Solyom, is a breezy, summer fun pop rock record, with the good times and great tastes packaged in gruff slightly garage retro melodicism a la Lyres, Barracudas or Young Fresh Fellows.
But, for possibly the first time in The Neckers' decade together (Hetherington, Blood and drummer Brendan Tincher as the core, with journeyman bassist Steve Elaschuk solidifying things recently), those influences and familiar touches are only small elements in an album that is distinctly Neckers in design.
"We didn't need to emulate anybody so much, or weren't thinking about it so much," admits Hetherington, noting when they first stepped out as a band they were going for a decidedly Ramones feel. "And if you write a lot of songs, I guess the crappy songs become less."
Look hard, listen often and you'd be hard-pressed to find one on Love & Infection, the best rock record released in the city this year.
And if you have a hard time believing that then chances are you need to rethink what you thought you knew about the band.
"Maybe people should that know we've been around for a long time and sometimes when bands are around for a long time you get bored of them and maybe you don't go see them," Hetherington says.
"But we're like a new band every year."
Tanned, relaxed and different.

• CJSW Radio (Calgary AB)
For the Week Ending: Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Rank Artist Title Label:
1 The Neckers Love And Infection Independent
2 Lynn Olagundoye Africa Violet Absurd Machine
3 Islands Return To The Sea Equator
4 Billy And The Lost Boys Yet Why Not Say What Happened? Lost
5 Howe Gelb

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• FFWD Weekly (Calgary AB)
Thursday May 18/06
The Neckers want you to pucker up, buttercup
Rock ‘n’ rollers offer eleven messy new smooches on Love and Infectiony
By Aubrey McInnis

>>PREVIEW THE NECKERS
Friday, May 19 - Broken City

The Neckers have always blasted out the kind of rock ’n’ roll that you play to lure someone off the ledge and through the window. It’s the soundtrack to good times, a rootbeer float with two straws and dancing the night away with the one you love.
While the quartet has been one of the best kept secrets in Calgary for years, they’ve released an album that ought to get the ears of outsiders and industry folks tingling. Love and Infection, their third LP, could only sound better if it came on a thick slab of vinyl. Although playful as ever, the band is growing up (drummer and vocalist Brendan Tincher is about to become a proud father) and they have a mature sound to match.
Under the direction of their rock ’n’ roll soulmate, producer Jason Solyom (front man of Vancouver’s Spitfires), Love and Infection is an irresistible album that petulantly struts 11 timeless gems filled with juicy hooks and lyrical sass.Recorded over one weekend last August, the band was lured to Solyom’s home studio in Abbotsford, B.C., to be one of his experimental projects. It turns out that Solyom is a veritable genius behind the knobs and The Neckers are princes of spontaneous compositions. Tincher, Bil Hetherington (vocals), Jim Blood (guitar) and Steve Elaschuk (bass) marvel at the way the album came together.
"(Solyom) was every bit as excited as we were," recalls Tincher. "In the studio, he was giddy. He was like, ‘oh man, this is like old Alice Cooper.’"
Hetherington, who delivers a staggering vocal performance, had his parts down in two hours flat. Solyom later comments, "It was one take, every song – there’s hardly any overdubs, he banged right through the whole record."
After hollering "I trust you" over his shoulder, Hetherington split to see a Dinosaur Jr. gig and left his capable bandmates to finish their parts. Tincher, Blood and Elaschuk steered the album above the usual gritty garage rock parameters to melodic heights, giving an incredible platform to show off his talent.
"Sometimes I can get carried away trying to be a crazy vocalist," says Hetherington, shyly smiling and citing the Stones, Dylan and Paul Westerberg as inspirations. "For my lyrics, I’m a one-shot guy – 10 minutes, not much editing. If there’s something really embarrassing, I may try and change that, like, ‘baby, you’re everything I’ve always wanted.’"
Elaschuk cringes.
"Jim’s lyrics are always about the baby and about the girls," adds Tincher. A wide grin appears on Blood’s face and we exchange a high five.
"They’re Beach Boys lyrics," says Tincher. "I love them."
The last song they recorded during their session with Solyom was the fourth cut, "Share Secrets." Hetherington wasn’t certain if the song would fit The Neckers, but it has quickly become the favourite among friends and family. During the recording of the song, Elaschuk laughs that the band had Hetherington down to his boxers in the sweltering vocal booth. Hetherington doesn’t remember a thing.
"He blew his voice, it was awesome," says Tincher, mischievously assuring his band mate that he has the video footage.
Despite shredding his vocal chords, Hetherington is the first to say that Love and Infection is the easiest thing he ever did (for two hours of work, dear Bil, is it any wonder?). Solyom says the band is one of the best he’s ever recorded. While The Neckers have never wanted to be rock stars, they admit that they really want to get signed. With songs like theirs, the time is ripe. It’s evident that The Neckers have paid their dues and are poised to reap the rewards.

THE NECKERS’ TOUR DIARY, PAGE 66

"Sleep Deprivation" by Steve Elaschuk
"We had to get the first ferry (from Victoria to Vancouver) in the morning, so we get there and we’re almost the first in line. We parked (on the ferry) and everyone passed out cold in the van. We woke up to a guy knockin’ on the window. We were the last people – people had to go around us to get off the ferry. They unloaded the whole ferry around us and waited. The ferry crew was so good about it, they were like, ‘Are you guys OK? Are you sure? Are you awake?’ As we’re leaving, the whole ferry crew was lined up on the off ramp clapping.
We totally slept during the unloading of a whole ferry. How can you not wake up to the honking? Seriously, we were in the way of everybody trying to leave. Somebody must’ve honked. We were so out cold and in completely uncomfortable positions – people were curled up in pretzels trying to get comfortable."

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• Beatroute Monthly (Calgary AB)
May 2006
THE NECKERS
I f you wanna party you have to have a chorus
By Jesse Keith

Most independent music that comes out these days is meant to be taken seriously, very seriously. Part of the pretense of indie music is that it’s supposed to be considered not just as music, but as art. And while it’s undoubted that much of music is art and should be taken with a measure of seriousness, it’s hard not to notice that the members of Radiohead and the Arcade Fire are never smiling.
For a decade now, veteran Calgary rockers The Neckers have made it their lot to bring some of the good times and sociality that rock music seems to have lost. With the release of their third album this month, the band’s goal is no more and no less than to ensure that you are dancing and having a good time.
“We like to show people a good time and have a party. We like to drink. We like other people to drink and dance, and that kind of thing,” explain band members Brendan Tincher and Bil Hetherington, speaking in between one another. “Originally, we all wanted to be rock stars and now we realize that that’s never gonna happen. We wanna kick some ass and party. Kick some ass musically.”
While The Neckers aren’t big on seriousness, they certainly take what they do seriously. After recording three albums, playing countless shows and dodging a few borders so they could play in the States, The Neckers have been around long enough to know what they’re doing. Not only do they want to kick ass musically, but they have developed a foolproof method for doing it.
“To kick ass musically you have to dance,” explain Hetherington and Tincher, listing off the needed ingredients for putting musical foot to ass. “You have to smile. Play loud. Drink beer. Not be boring. You have to point. Kicking is needed, kicking in the air. Catchy choruses are a must. You have to write good songs, and songs have to have choruses. I think that the most important thing that musicians are forgetting now is to write a chorus in their songs. If you wanna party you have to have a chorus. If you just wanna chill-out well then it doesn’t matter.”
Having been around for a decade, it hasn’t been all parties and good times for The Neckers. They’ve seen their fair share of adversity. Adversity to the tune of 13 different bass players.
“One of our bass players just left one day out of nowhere,” explains Tincher. “He just took off, and we didn’t know what happened to him. That was like four or five years ago. Then last year I went to Australia, and ran into him there. I videotaped him, and told him he should say hi to the Neckers back home and then I was like, maybe you should say bye to them first. And he said ‘Oh, I guess I never said bye, did I?’”
With adversity comes introspection, so along with the party tunes on the new album The Neckers have stopped to take a look inside themselves.
“Some of our songs are pretty introspective,” says Hetherington. “There’s one story on the new album that we made up. It’s about this chick that has an affair with this guy who has a wife, and the guy’s like a rich guy with a Porsche and everything. The girl just kind of got roped into it, she was kind of at a low point in her life. Then it talks about me and how I like her, so I save her from the low point in her life by stealing the dude’s Porsche and driving off into the sunset with her. It’s called ‘Steal That Car’ and in brackets ‘Baby, Baby, Baby’. We need the ‘Baby, Baby Baby’s so people can just hear the song and sing along right away.”

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This section is for newer Press and Reviews - For older archived press, click here