Can Joann

Having grown up in Raleigh, NC I try to keep an eye out for up and coming artists from the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area. Southern pride ya'll. In fact, I'd say it's double-extra pride given how much I love music (and basketball, but this ain't no sports blog...(go Pack)). Unless you're from a music rich community you probably have no idea what it was like growing up alongside bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers, Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, Southern Culture on the Skids, Polvo (etc. etc. including Whiskeytown - but I never cared for them) so allow me to tell you: it was fucking sweet! I got to see so many great shows and bands in the '90s that, well, frankly I nearly took it all for granted. I mean, I didn't really know how good it was to be living in that area (in terms of music) until I moved away and got a feeling for what music scenes are like elsewhere. As a result, with one foot in the past and always looking straight ahead, I've tried to make sure to feature current bands from back home on EAR FARM. Bands such as Pleasant, Schooner, The Rosebuds, and (of course) Annuals. Now, finally, it's time for us to catch up with the rest of the blogworld and give a listen to Can Joann.

Can Joann got in touch with me months ago. I noticed in the email that they were from Chapel Hill, and I meant to give their stuff a listen, but I never really got a chance to check them out before I started seeing posts about them all over the place. Next thing I knew, Idolator posted about Can Joann and I realized there's no WAY I could write about them now, right? Wrong. I don't play those stupid shit bloggy blogger games.

A bit more about Can Joann:

After releasing an EP in 2005, Can Joann have released a shiny new full length (their debut) titled Hurt People Hurt People. They recorded part of it at Poxworld Empire (The Rosebuds, Sames, Schooner) and part of it in a rented 19th century farm house in Chapel Hill. A tour is in the works and they recently played the Durham Music Festival alongside The Mountain Goats, The Rosebuds, Portastatic, and many more.

So - why Can Joann? Because you like indie-rock guitars and pop hooks. Because they're not a band trying as hard as they can to sound like Wire or The Smiths but are rather a band who is unafraid to sound like themselves and you respect that. They've got a sound that could very well be compared to Nada Surf (or something else along those lines) but what I immediately think of is...well, North Carolina music. What Can Joann sounds like is a band who would've fit in very well with all of those bands I used to see at The Brewery, Local 506, and The Cat's Cradle back in the '90s. No, more accurately they sound like a band who grew up listening to those early '90s NC bands and are simply putting their own spin on the Chapel Hill sound*.

Listen:
"Indecisionsway"
"After the Seizure is Gone"
"Lady Luck"

Visit Can Joann on MySpace

Buy Hurt People Hurt People from Can Joann on CD Baby, iTunes, or Insound.

*don't believe me? my reaction to Can Joann is pretty much the same as The Perm and the Skullet's. go check it out, two posts are better than one.