The Wet Secrets are a Canadian indie rock band from

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, known for their signature red and white marching band uniforms, and harmonious layers of horns, synthesizers, booming bass lines, percussion, drums and voice. The band was formed on an impromptu dare between bassist Lyle Bell and drummer Trevor Anderson to write, record and release an album within one week. Their debut album ''A Whale of A Cow'' is the result (2005). The band's second album, ''Rock Fantasy'', was released online on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

, 2007, peaking at the #2 spot on the

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

charts. It was later re-released in hard copy in 2008. “Secret March”, a track from the ''Rock Fantasy'' album, was recognized by

Grant Lawrence Grant Lawrence (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian broadcaster, musician and writer based in Vancouver, primarily associated with CBC Music and CBC Radio 3. Lawrence was also the vocalist for the indie rock group The Smugglers.Michael Barclay, Ian ...

of CBC Radio 3 as one of the Top 20 Best Songs of the 2000s. After a hiatus spent focusing on other projects (Bell with Shout Out Out Out Out and Anderson directing Sundance Film Festival selected films) the band released a new album, ''Free Candy'', in early 2014. Later that year, The Wet Secrets won the inaugural Peak Performance Project award (2014), an award designed to help develop Alberta-based emerging artists; and shortly thereafter, signed with Canadian record label

Six Shooter Records Six Shooter Records is an independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that uses an artist-centric business model, focusing on art before commerce combined with extensive touring. Six Shooter Records was founded in 2000 by Shauna d ...

. ''Free Candy'' was nominated for Best Rock Recording by the

Western Canadian Music Awards The ''Western Canadian Music Awards'' (WCMAs) are an annual awards event for music in the western portion of Canada. The awards are provided by the Western Canada Music Alliance, which consists of six member music industry organizations from B ...

in 2014; and in 2015, The Wet Secrets won the Edmonton Music Award for Album of the Year for ''Free Candy'' and Music Video of the Year for ''Nightlife.'' In January 2016, The Wet Secrets released the EP, ''I Can Live Forever''. CBC Music had included one of its four tracks, “I Can Swing A Hammer” in their Songs You Need To Hear, November 26, 2015 edition, calling it a “jangly, catchy, fist-pumping anthem”, worthy of repeating every morning.

Band members

The original five members of the band were Lyle Bell, Trevor Anderson, Kim Rackel, Donna Ball and Jeremy Nischuk. Musician Doug Organ contributed to the ''Rock Fantasy'' album. By 2016, the band evolved into a six-member band composed of: * Lyle Bell (bass guitar, lead vocals) * Kim Rackel (trumpet, vocals) * Emma Frazier (trombone, vocals) * Paul Arnusch (keyboards, congas, vocals) * Christan Maslyk (saxophone, percussion, vocals)

Discography

* ''A Whale of A Cow'' (2005) * ''Rock Fantasy'' (2007) * ''Free Candy'' (2014) * ''I Can Live Forever'', EP (2016) * ''The Tyranny of Objects'' (2017)

Awards and recognition

* 2014 Peak Performance Project, winner * 2015 Edmonton Music Awards, winner: Album of the Year, ''Free Candy''; Music Video of the Year, ''Nightlife''

References

External links

The Wet Secrets
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wet Secrets, The Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups from Edmonton Musical groups established in 2005 2005 establishments in Alberta