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NME recently put Chains of Love as number 3 in their top ten 'buzziest' bands of SXSW 2012, and no doubt we will be hearing a lot more from them this year! Their début album, Strange Grey Days, will see a UK release on Manimal.

With an intoxicating energy, Vancouver-based, Chains of Love's sun-soaked romantic pop is injected with the stomp of vintage 60s soul, the wild abandon of 70s garage, and the guitar grime of The Cramps and early JAMC. The group formed when guitarist, Felix Fung, the engineer and owner of Vancouver’s Little Red Sound, hatched a plan to start a girl group with Nathalia Pizzaro. Things took shape quickly and with the harmonic help of Rebecca Marie Law Gray, the band knew they had something very special at hand.

Chains of Love's début record, Strange Grey Days is their first body of work (and first release with Manimal Vinyl) and one that proves that they are no one trick pony. While the band's yearning for a certain period of rock and roll which is ingrained in their DNA, it seems to be more about unearthing something timeless rather than simply nostalgia. There is of course that grooving ‘wall of sound’ meets Motown boogie that first gained the group notoriety throughout the record, but the songs also sound bigger with intricate layers amounting to mini-symphonies. Some songs experiment with noisier guitar textures, while others venture into more psychedelic, darker territory. They are still all centred around Pizzaro and Gray's sublime, inescapably catchy hooks and rousing sock-hop harmonies.

In a recent interview, singer Nathalia Pizzaro said, “I don’t want to just say that we sound retro or Motown—that we’ve got a kitschy, candy shop vibe to us—I feel like there’s a raw element to our sound, too.” The band would all agree that Chains of Love is truly a passion project, putting every bit of energy and emotion into it. Uninitiated audiences who have been lucky enough to stumble across seeing them live, will come away witnessing the best show they never expected to see!

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