Dora Alexander – Travelers

Band: Dora Alexander
EP: Travelers
Shot of choice: whiskey

Toronto-based Dora Alexander is releasing their debut EP Travelers, which is actually already available to stream on their MySpace. The comparisons between the vocals of Alex Grant (vocals, guitar, keys) with those of a young Gord Downie (The Tragically Hip) that have been made are particularly apparent in the first song, “Beginning to End.” However, I still stand by my first take on their live performance as being heavily influenced by Radiohead. Their atmospheric post-punk sound also relies on the stylings of Christophe Brochard (guitar), Michael Succi (bass, guitar), and Adrian Gagnon (drums, keys). This 4-piece balances melodic with noise, mellow with loud, calm with explosive, and each track flows together so well to make Dora Alexander a band that should have your attention.

Dora Alexander call Travelers an EP, but this 8-track recording effort can be more accurately described as the middle ground between EP and full-length. For a debut release, Dora Alexander doesn’t shy away from showing what they’re made of, including a 7-minute epic that also happens to be the EP’s title track. Travelers shows a lot of promise for this Toronto band. The tracks that stand out to me happen to be two of the three that have been available on their MySpace well before the album was streamable, “Marlboro Friday” and “Sleep Rehearsal”. But there are gems throughout the EP that make every song worth listening to (I can’t even begin to tell you about my love of handclaps, as heard in “Arthur’s Seat”). If the John Critchley-produced (Dan Mangan, Elliott Brood) Travelers is a glimpse of what Dora Alexander is capable of, I’m already looking forward to what they can make of a full-length. In the meantime, make sure you listen to the EP and see them live!