Ottawa is the capital city of Canada, but it's also suddenly a
rock hot spot. Its export of the moment is Alanis Morissette, the
empowering female who may be the most volcanic new singer
of the year. She represents quite a departure from the days
when Ottawa's leading homegrown figures were Paul Anka and
Rich Little - talented guys, but not exactly rock heros.
The record industry is now checking out Ottawa for more rock
acts sprinkled amid the city's many government bureaucrats.
The most exciting new act is Sal's Birdland, a
hard-rock/alt-rock band that sounds like a latter-day version of
the Pretenders and Concrete Blonde.
"Ottawa is a pretty happening scene," says Birdland guitarist
Leslie Howe. "Ottawa is an upper-middle-class city that doesn't
have a lot of places to play, but has a lot of talent. Another
band, the Barstool Prophets, is starting to break out."
As you might expect of a small city, the musicians know one
another - and Sal's Birdland has been quite friendly with
Morissette. Howe and the tersely named Sal (real name:
Louise Reny) once wrote songs for Morissette.
"We met Alanis when she was a little kid who wanted to be
Janet Jackson," says Sal, who wrote a couple of long-forgotten
dance-pop songs for Morissette, while Howe even
co-produced and engineered two dance-pop albums for
Morisette.
"I started working with Alanis when she was 13," Howe says of
a time period that was eight years ago. "I made two albums
with her, then she was a star in Canada at age 14. After that, I
wanted to do my own thing."
Howe and Sal, who have known each other since high school,
later formed the pop group One to One, which made two
albums for Warner Bros. and one for A&M before being rudely
dropped. It's an experience that feeds into a bitter new Birdland
tune, "California Au Revoir," taken from the group's solid debut
disc, "Nude Photos Inside."
The band's well-earned sarcasm is exemplified by the "Nude
Photos Inside" title. There are nude photos inside the record
sleeve, but they're pictures of the band as infants. And another
song, "I'm Not Like Madonna," further slams the record
industry's preoccupation with sex.
"The record companies are always saying, 'Show more skin,'"
notes Howe. "But we're saying: 'I'm not like Madonna. I don't
need to do that to sell records.'" Adds Sal: "There's definitely
some anger on the record."
Sal's Birdland records for the Discovery label headed by Jac
Holzman, a rock legend who has worked with the Doors and
Carly Simon.