Saskatchewan is known for a few things; it’s where the term “the prairies” is used quite loosely, Saskatoon is there and it is also where that television show Corner Gas was filmed. One thing that is not readily associated with this Canadian province is great music and so you can imagine our surprise when iheartthemusic went to see Regina’s six-piece Rah Rah at the El Mocambo a few weeks ago and were very pleasantly surprised by what we discovered. This young band consists of friends Erin, Marshall, Joel, Kris, Samra and Leif, who all met in university where they decided to start a band. Their sound is indie Brit-pop, reminiscent of Arts and Crafts’ heavy-hitters Los Campesinos! in both their stage antics (they are constantly switching instruments), size and attitude. This band is young, fresh and incredible live, which is why they are the first on our radar for next week’s NXNE music festival here in Toronto.

Being a young band (they literally just finished their last semester of uni) they’ve already accomplished a fair amount including sharing the stage with such notable Canadian acts as Wintersleep, Holy Fuck and Mother Mother. But there seems to be no slowing the girls and guys in Rah Rah as they have decided to take on the feat of doing a cross-Canada tour (yes East Coast to West Coast and then back home) with a quick stop in Montreal to record their next record! No big deal right?! If their last album Going Steady (released in 2008 on Young Soul Records) is any indication of what is to come for this group, then you better catch them quick!

Rah Rah play a bunch of dates during NXNE:

Thursday, June 18th @ 2PM > NXPO day stage at Hyatt Regency

Thursday, June 18th @ 11PM > Rancho Relaxo

Sunday, June 21st @ 9PM > El Mocambo