April Wine - I Like To Rock

April Wine. There. I said it. Lately, when no one's looking (or listening) I like to take a quick swig of their intoxicating (or adrenalizing?) mid-70s Canadian adventure rock... especially when I'm washing dishes. It's my guilty pleasure. But it shouldn't be and I want to be upfront about this.

Recently I was reading some Chuck Kosterman. The way he framed things really struck a chord with me. "The term 'guilty pleasure' is simply ridiculous; there is simply no band or artist (or movie or hobby or…) that exists that one should feel guilty for liking; to say otherwise implies that a) allowing “insecure” people to dictate your likes and dislikes is alright and b) being involved with certain aspects of life is somehow unacceptable, based on an unreliable, and often times bizarre, scale that you are keen on following."

I first heard about April Wine while reading "Trouble Boys," the recent Replacements biography. Turns out Bob Stinson was a big fan of their guitar riffs and an early incarnation of the Mats even covered some April Wine. Of course, I'd always seen their records at the thrift store, but imagined they were a late 70s soft rock clone of Player or Ambrosia. The Replacements connection prompted me to explore their tunes. Listening to their classic albums (Nature of the Beast and Harder... Faster!) I drew immediate connections to some of my favorite 70s rock bands like Thin Lizzy and Sweet. Right across the Atlantic on the stormy shores of Nova Scotia, they weren't too far from their U.K. rock brethren. There's something totally unambiguous and unpretentious about April Wine's sound. But, at the same time they're not as simplistic and bland as Bad Company or Foreigner. April Wine is somewhere between Grand Funk Railroad and Rainbow.

"I Like To Rock," was filmed at the late, great Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec. Unfortunately, the studio was burned down last year. You might recognize it from Rush's Tom Sawyer video.


This live version features an extended drum solo!