Thirty years ago this month, humanity witnessed a rare sight: A comet measuring nearly 2 kilometres-wide slammed into the planet Jupiter, with a force that would have destroyed the Earth had we been the ones in its path instead. Astronomers named that comet Shoemaker Levy-9.
A few years later—on the far safer terra firma of Newmarket, Ontario—a bunch of indie/alt-rockers decided to christen their new group Shoemaker Levee, in recognition of the momentous celestial occurrence. Fast-forward to 2024, and that group is still going strong with the release of its new single, “Hinterlands,” which hits with the same planet-flattening impact their fiery namesake made all those years ago.
A bracing challenge to our very notions of being, the song paints in broad strokes the existential dilemmas facing every one of us in this highly uncertain era:
End times calculated
Learn the math
Algo-generated epitaph
Page writes for me
Flash burn lies
Why so angry
Don’t you realize?
That I’m awake
And I need something, I need something more
To make sense of what the future has in store
How am I not myself?
How am I not the ghost of someone else?
The words may be esoteric, but there’s nothing ambiguous about the music itself. Huge guitar chords rise from the mix like monoliths while lead vocalist/guitarist Kevin Rogers Cobus squeezes the meaning out of every syllable with a dramatically deliberate enunciation that whizzes past “questioning” and straight into “accusatory” before the whole thing culminates in a cathartic wah-wah freakout from lead guitarist Dave Broadhead.
“When we’re recording, we don’t like adding layers we can’t pull off live,” the band says. “When we play live, it’s just four of us: two guitars, bass and drums.” Four-stringer Matt Brown and drummer Dwayne Cardoso round out the lineup. “It means something to us to keep that live feel and sound in everything we lay down on tape.”
The critics are already praising the approach—and the message. “Musically, ‘Hinterlands’ complements its lyrical depth with a rock soundscape that feels both vast and personal,” says Canadian Beats. “It’s a profound and evocative rock piece that resonates with anyone grappling with the questions of identity, purpose and the ever-elusive nature of the future.”
That’s typical of the Shoemaker Levee oeuvre, which trades in anthemic, introspective rock steeped in everything from classical to progressive to alternative to folk. Influences most cited by the band members include The Tragically Hip, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails and Iron Maiden. If you’re getting the idea this is no timid bunch of navel-gazers, you’re right; then again, heaviness was one of Cobus’ key priorities when he formed the group in 1998. Since then, they’ve written a full five albums’ worth of emotionally and musically weighty material, a treasure trove they’re not even halfway finished sharing with the public.
Why the delay? A protracted band hiatus that started in 2004 and lasted nearly 12 years due to a tsunami of outside complications, from cancer to addiction to more mundane interruptions like work and family. But being gone from the scene for the music-business equivalent of the wait between actual comet visits didn’t completely quash their momentum. They kept writing all the while and refined their lineup with the additions of Broadhead in 2016 and Cardoso a year later.
All that persistence and fine tuning have paid off, in the form of a big win in headlining the Gussapolooza Music Festival (2023) and a second-place finish at the last year’s Ticket to Tall Pines Festival contest in 2023 and 2024. Even more important, they’ve released two albums, Phase of the Days and Another Round, that have earned high praise from listeners and industry types alike.
The tradition is bound to continue when the band’s next record, Between the Lines, sees release later this year. It’s a 10-song collection that represents the best of all possible worlds for Shoemaker Levee, drawing on their rich backlog of compositions while benefiting from a newly collaborative approach to the finessing and arranging of a number.
“Some of the songs are revitalized versions of songs that were written over 20 years ago, and the lyrics still fit what’s happening today,” the group marvels.
As we speak, the band is furthering its reputation as a must-see live act with shows throughout downtown Toronto, adding to a résumé that includes past gigs at prestigious venues like the El Mocambo, Supermarket, The Reverb, The Opera House, The Horseshoe Tavern, Lee’s Palace and the Rivoli. Two songs from the forthcoming album are already in the live set, with “Hinterlands” in the prime position of show opener. That’s a strong and obvious vote of confidence, and it portends great things for Between the Lines when the record drops later in the year. Because while the sentiments expressed in the song may be profoundly ambivalent, the reaction to this heaven-sent fireball of an album is going to be anything but.
