Breakout Toronto Bands features local artists that we think you should give a listen to.

Who they are

Beliefs is the buzzy, dreamy, introspective-y brainchild of musicians Josh Korody and Jesse Crowe. Korody runs the great Candle Recording Studio, home to some of the most interesting recordings made in the city lately. Beliefs' full-length self-titled album was just released in March on Hand Drawn Dracula Records, but the music world at large has definitely taken notice of them — check them out in NME a few months ago.

They sound like...

What it seems half of the bands in Toronto are trying to sound like, only much, much better. Shades of Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and a dozen other Fender-Jazzmaster-slinging reverb aficionados can be heard on the record, but Beliefs definitely have found their own sound. Their work is bold and confident, well-structured with great textures, lots of feedback and some fantastic guitar tones.

Check out the thunderous "Catch My Breath," from their recent release.

Beliefs are currently working on the much-anticipated follow-up to their debut. Songwriting "can be a long process sometimes," says Korody. "Jesse and I usually write the core of the songs on our own and then we usually get together — the two of us — and figure out what we're going to do, then we bring that to the rest of the band and they write their parts to that."

This two-part songwriting process could be part of the reason the music stays so fresh, Korody's and Crowe's voices coming in and out of the songs in loose polyphony, with some unexpected shifts musically. For an example, check out 'Carousel,' their latest single, at the bottom of the post (particularly the break...that's a great break).

Hear them / see them

Obviously, you could buy their record, but Beliefs are playing next weekend at Wavelength's final ALL CAPS! Festival, out at Gibraltar Point. When asked how it feels to be playing the final All Caps Festival for the already-legendary Wavelength, Korody says, "I've only been in Toronto for a few years now so I missed the early days of the weekly shows they used to do. Living in Niagara at the time seeing all those cool shows happening definitely helped make me realize how much was happening with underground music in Toronto, and I needed to be where that was happening."

Check out Beliefs' new video for 'Carousel' below and be sure to check them out at the ALL CAPS! Festival this weekend if you like what you hear.

Lead photo by Ming Wu