Ottawa XPRESS
Ottawa's APlotAgainstMe dropping a Deuce
Dave Jaffer :: Thu, 05 Feb 2009

Every time an act like Ottawa's APlotAgainstMe comes around, people the country over get their faith in Canada's hard rock scene renewed. This is not to say that there aren't any good hard rock bands in Canada. Far from. But in terms of big rock energy that has a foot in yesteryear and a foot in today, you have to kind of scour the scene; that sounding new and old and fresh and familiar thing doesn't exactly grow on trees, now, does it?

Ottawa-based APlotAgainstMe is, potentially, the next Canadian superstar hard rock band. This isn't conjecture, nor is it bluster. Their sound is big, bold, and loud, fusing punk and hard rock and ambient noisy stuff to form something that's pretty awesome, and, beyond that, timely.

Indeed, this would be a great time for a band like APlotAgainstMe to sign a record deal, when there's a dearth of bands that are similar sounding or as good, and when they're getting a ton of good, simple critical praise. And so it makes absolute perfect sense (or not, if you're a frustrated label) that the band are self-releasing Deuce on February 13, 2009.

Deuce has already attracted a lot of buzz, mostly on the strength of single "Leah Leave." Ottawa's been essential to that buzz, with 88.5 and livelifelive.ca helping out a lot. Additionally, APAM's promise lured some top-flight talent to help out with Deuce's production: The album was mixed by David Bottrill (Tool, Peter Gabriel), a three-time Grammy Award winner, and Vic Florencia (Danko, Esthero).

i (heart) music
Deuce is Wild
Blog :: Fri, 13 Feb 2009

In all honesty, I'm shocked that I'd never heard of APlotAgainstMe until their publicist e-mailed me about them. I mean, I'm obviously not a hard rock connoisseur -- especially when it comes to local Ottawa bands -- but I'd like to think that I'd have somehow heard of a band this great living in my own city. Yet, as I said, it took an e-mail from their Toronto-based publicist about their new album, Deuce, to make me aware of their existence.

I'm glad I've at least heard them now, though, because they're freaking awesome. Not that original, of course -- really, you could summarize them by describing them as Queens of the Stone Age fronted by Chris Cornell -- but they make up for that by the sheer force of their rock. Songs like "Raise The Dead" and "My Horse Has Cancer" are powered by turbocharged riffs, thundering drums and incredible vocals, and the band deserves an enormous amount of credit for their ability to consistently bring the rock. Even when things slow down a little -- as they do on "The Murder Between Us" and "It's Alright" -- they still have a way of making ballads sound ominously sexy, a la QOTSA (or other stoner-y desert bands of that ilk). I may not have heard of APlotAgainstMe going into Deuce, but I have a feeling that, when everything is said and done, Deuce is going to be the album that ensures there won't be many people who can say the same for too much longer.

Spill Magazine
Deuce
Jon Brazeau :: Feb 2009

With a deep guitar-growling sound ala Queens of the Stone Age, APlotAgainstMe prove that you don't need to live in the desert to master the stoner rock formula. The Ottawa-based band's album features a bass-heavy sound that feels fresh and demands your attention. The album feels very much like the early work of QotSA, which is very much a good thing. 'Primum Nil Nocere' features a catchy riff and aggressive drums. 'Leah Leave' adds in a bit of a psychedelic twist, almost like a drug-induced haze to an otherwise hard rocking tune. 'My Horse Has Cancer' is probably an early contender for 'oddest song title of the year' but the track itself is quite good, with Sylvain Lavigne and Shawn Bradley's vocals leading the charge and adding an extra level of tripped out goodness. Rock fans should definitely keep APAM on their radars as Deuce is an album worth checking out.