THE DAMN TRUTH

A few things to know about The Damn Truth: they play rock & roll, they call Montreal home, and they’re all pretty decent liars. The story begins with Lee-La, Montreal-born but partly raised in Israel where she first met and began to play acoustic music with Tom. Joining her on a return trip home, Tom immigrated to Canada and the pair found themselves recording an album in Toronto with the man who first brought Jimi Hendrix to Canada, Barry Labotta (Phase One Studios), only to end up finally settling down in Montreal. Tom attests to not remembering much about the process, never having felt that it was the record they really wanted to make. “It sounded like two folkies from 1962 playing, well, folk songs.” But after a few months on the road they found themselves out of copies and the option to print more was outweighed by an itch for something new. And so the story goes, they met David and Dave on an MTV video shoot, having been assembled as the backing band for a now failed pop princess. They all got free shoes for taking the gig. Tom’s fell apart almost immediately, David has since retired his, Lee-La’s are still in the original box and Dave never actually got his pair. But in the end, the shoes are hardly the point. Moonlighting as “The Grinders”, the four played hundreds of cover gigs in their hometown. You’ve probably seen them working one of Montreal’s notorious watering holes, the likes of Brutopia, the McKibbins circuit, Cock & Bull, Méchant Boeuf, Ye Old Orchard, The Burgundy Lion. In a short while, a handful of Tom and Lee-La’s original songs were arranged and recorded for a four-song, self-titled EP with the help of acclaimed Montreal producers François Lalonde (Céline Dion) and Jean Massicotte (Lhasa, Patrick Watson, Pierre Lapointe). The EP includes the songs “Fictional Affection”, a song bordering on anthemic about a love melting away in duplicity, and the heartrending “Just a Reflection”, a lullaby for a life lost too soon, cut in a single take. They now have a video on YouTube for "Fictional Affection", filmed entirely on 16mm black and white film, but what they are recording these days might call to mind an image for the phrase “1969's evil twin.” While Lee-La has the innate ability to both haunt and lull you all at once, at other times she can both snarl and soar. And though Tom's sound often appears to be on the verge of pouring over, it always remains in it’s own comfortable pocket. Backed by a rhythm section that displays a decade of experience (David and Dave have played in bands together since their teens), the result is a band quickly finding their stride in a city that hasn't really embraced their brand of vintage rock & roll in many years. Even though they're not a part of a click or a scene they have always been able to attract highly talented people to their project. They continue to play upwards of five nights a week, in a number of different configurations, and now find themselves playing entirely original shows for a growing fan base. This year will bring a self-produced debut LP of new material that has been crafted entirely as a unit during far more live performances than rehearsals. The recordings are moodier, darker and lusher, showcasing every band member’s growth in the studio. A release can be expected for the summer preceded by a tour of Eastern Canada this spring.