MP3 of the Week: The Shine by Immigrant Union

Immigrant Union have been building up a nice little buzz around town this year, and not just for their beards. Fresh off a month-long residency at The Tote, this country folk rock three-piece aren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill-kids-from-the-burbs-making-rock, with Brent Deboer from The Dandy Warhols on drums, Peter Lubulwa from the Galvatrons on keyboards and Bob Harrow from Lazy Sons on vocals.

Evidently they all met at Cherry Bar via The Brian Jonestown Massacre in something that sounds like start of a Cormac McCarthy novel, while musically they fall somewhere between Dylan and Young with a bit of Grindeman thrown in.

Their new single, ‘The Shine’ starts with a wall of accoustic guitars that lays down the carpet for a melodic chorus chant building up a sense of anticipation like the start of a road trip. Then Harrow’s gliding vocals set in, guiding you along like a weathered ferryman steering a rickety boat that always seems like tipping over but rights itself at the last minute.

‘The Shine” is the kind of song that’s good to put in your ears when you’re heading to the pub after work or walking to a party with some travellers under your belt – the sounding gun start of a good night.

Listen for yourself at www.myspace.com/immigrantunion, and you can catch Immigrant Union at The Toff on Wed 24 Aug before the head to Portland, Oregon to record their debut album.