It's time for Toronto indie-rockers Whale Tooth to release a recording. They've had a busy year: playing shows, recording tracks, and (in all likelihood of late) shoveling snow.

They'll be releasing their debut EP at Sneaky Dee's tomorrow night, and they've promised cheap beer, good music, and dancing. That's right - you will dance.

I joined the band for a pre-rehearsal chat over a pint at Squirrely's.

I asked Norm (guitar, vocals) why they thought that Sneeky Dee's would be an appropriate venueThere is nothing sexual in what you are about to read.)

"Basically, we wanted to pick a medium sized venue. You don't want to blow your load, initially. Why book Lee's Palace for your EP release? Medium-sized record, medium-sized venue. [Sneaky Dee's] is good, because everyone in our age group seems to like Sneeky Dee's. Good food, good beer."

While perusing Whale Tooth's MySpace page, I found a link to MuchMusic's First Spin (the link has been removed, because their single, 'Hibernation Song' has been removed). But let it be known that for just over a month, nestled between Coldplay, Jay-Z, and Katy Perry, were Toronto indie-rockers Whale Tooth. When I mentioned it to the band they all laughed.

"Honestly, that was all our publicist. We really don't know how it happened. She just sent us an e-mail telling us that she had gotten us on that list. It's a bit of an accomplishment, I guess you can say."

What immediately stands out on the EP is the striking diversity in style in all the songs. They're not all drastically different as individual tracks, but the broad spectrum of style between 'Hibernation Song' and 'Sleep Walking' is worth noting. Elise (vocals) handled this question.

"What's great about our group is there is such large difference in our diversity and style. What usually happens is someone brings something to the table that they came up with on their own. We all play with it for a bit, we chew on it, and usually it ends up becoming the song you hear. Every once in awhile someone brings a finished song, which is amazing. Like Alex [vocals, guitar] did with 'Hibernation Song'. For the most part, it's a pretty collective process."

Word on the street is that Whale Tooth likes to make people dance.

Elise: "Absolutely!"

Mike (bass): "You gotta deliver."

Norm: "That's pretty much our whole live show! There's nothing worse than seeing a boring band on stage. So, if we're supposed to be the entertainment for the night, then we want people to walk away saying that (a) 'that band was awesome' and (b) 'that band made me want to dance'."

Elise: "It's pretty much our goal. I like to dance; I dance on stage... it's the energy of fun times."

Whale Tooth rock Sneeky Dee's tomorrow night. If their EP is well received, then we can count on a full-length album from Whale Tooth within the year.

Photo by Ming Wu.