Long Play by Original Pairs
Original Pairs 'Long Play" ( OPLP) is the Toronto Rock quartet's third full length album and leaves behind the country tinged tones of 2022's "Natural State" in favor of a stripped down rock 'n 'roll aesthetic. The influences of a time when sixties rock and rockabilly were reviving, and punk was morphing into new wave and post punk are all over this latest issue from OP. The record was recorded live off the floor at Lincoln County Social Club in a period of four days capturing the band’s on stage energy and the spirit of rock’s greatest years – 1965 and 1980.
Thematically, the record captures a couple’s life together from their earliest encounters in a west end apartment on “Concord Avenue” and the inevitable bumps in the road on “Love Collision” to the dreaded prospect of lovers growing old together in “Not Grow Old”, the album’s first single.
The video for Not Grow Old created by artist and author Jubal Brown captures the song’s penumbral menace in a delirious collage of live footage, found film stock, texture and treatments to create a truly harrowing passage through the years. A fitting monument to a romance fueled by rock’n’roll – “You can do what you want, (but) you better not grow old!”
Tracklist
| 1. | Concord Avenue | 3:47 |
| 2. | Love Collision | 4:27 |
| 3. | Dirty Art | 4:10 |
| 4. | Not Grow Old | 3:45 |
| 5. | Difficult | 4:47 |
| 6. | Lights and Shadows | 3:18 |
| 7. | Ride Me | 4:00 |
| 8. | Eleanor | 6:08 |
Credits
ORIGIAN PAIRS
Long Play
Album Credits
Original Pairs are:
Andrew Frontini: vocals, guitars
Lynda Kraar: bass guitar
Jon Loewen : keyboards
Lisa Logan: drums
Recorded at Lincoln County Social Club Toronto
July 14,18, 20 and October 14, 15, 2023
Performed and arranged by Original Pairs
Engineered and mixed by John Dinsmore
Produced by Original Pairs and John Dinsmore
Mastered by Phil Demetro
All music and lyrics by Andrew Frontini except, “Ride Me”, lyrics by Lisa Logan, music by Andrew Frontini
Cover concept by Original Pairs
Back cover: still image for the video for “ Not Grow Old” by Jubal Brown
Source live footage: Mathew Woods
Insert artwork; video still from the Not Grow Old Video by Jubal Brown
Source live footage: Mathew Woods
All songs c 2024 SOCAN
Manning Records OP003
License
All rights reserved.
Original Pairs, are Toronto- based rock revivalists channeling garage, rockabilly psychedelia through a dark poetic filter. The group consists of Andrew Frontini on lead vocals and guitar, Lisa Logan on drums, Lynda Kraar on bass and Jon Loewen on keys. “Natural State” explores the full range of OP's musical influences wrapping them around a solid core of dark Americana.