Alright, I admit it. I have a soft spot for pop punk, or emo, or even, in this band's own words, purveyors of "catchy pop anthems". Sounds like a recipe for radio friendly rock...and for hipster dismissal. But when this music is performed with energy and passion and grit - and done well - it is pure musical bliss. It's a fine line, and Acres of Lions fall squarely on the side of wonderful music.

Good pop punk makes you swoon - slick production, sing along vocals, heavy drums, an edge of hardcore guitar, and that drive at your emotional pit - all combines to make you feel "I know what that's about; I've been there before; these guys are bang on...."

BC's Acres of Lions are THAT kind of emo/folk/punk/hardcore band. They take all the elements of those disparate styles of music and boil them into a simmering cauldron of emotion and joy: the heart of passionate music. The band has released its first full length on Cordova Bay Records, and this is a band you should be watching in 2010.

If you want some touchstones for their music, think the Weakerthans, Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio and more - these guys take all the highlights of those seasoned bands and mix it up in their melodic, loud, and friendly sound. The first single, Closer, calls to mind hardcore greats like Hot Water Music and Boysetsfire, but tempers the strong guitars, pounding bass lines and drums with awesome sing-a-long vocals and great video. Another single with a great video - Dance Sequence - features programmed big drum beats and vocals, swirling keyboards, and a thoroughly catchy melody that could cross over onto the dancefloors of many bars.

With Working, Acres of Lions sounds a lot like recent Weakerthans, with mellow guitar strumming, sentimental lyrics, and pretty keyboards - and the track captures the band's essence in a lot of ways: "Work hard, make your body sting. Make something out of nothing." This is not mere sentiment - there's no doubt this band really lives that way - hard and passionate - the way great music ought to be.

The balance of the record fills out this ambitious sound - from the Get Up Kids meet Alkaline Trio style in Let's Get Sentimental, to the mellow This Was Not My Best Day Ever, the band shows it has the skill and range to tackle a variety of styles and to put out a sound that is confident and polished. It is hard to think that this is the band's first full length, second only to an earlier EP.

A quick search on youtube reveals that Acres of Lions is able to replicate its energetic studio work in a live setting. No - that's too mild - these guys look ike they would tear down the house at a show near you. There's no doubt that the considerable touring has molded a fantastic live show - something I definitely want to catch whenever I can.

Overall, Acres of Lions' deserves radio play but, more importantly, deserves play on the sound system of your choice. I had a chance to exchange some questions with band members Jeff Kalesnikoff (Vox, Guitar) and Tyson Yerex (Guitar, keys, vox) and here's the edited result:

NxEW: It wasn't surprising to see some Weakerthans covers when checking out your stuff on Youtube. What's your view of bands like that, who have been on the scene for so long, and who are so much a part of that sound?

Jeffrey K: For the most part, our view of bands like that, ...our personal favorites - Canadian artists such as The Weakerthans, Attack In Black, Constantines, Billy The Kid - is that they make sense to us, kind of paved the way for smaller bands like us, to help us at least attempt to do the same thing they inspired us to do when we were younger, drawing us to it with songs about being in road-side diners, living in a van, seeing the beautiful country we grew up in for what it really is, making an endless amount of friends at the shows you would book by yourselves, those kinds of things. They are as much a part of that sound as they are part of the nostalgia and joy they give us through making it.

NxEW: These days, it can be suicidal in some circles to embrace 'pop punk' or 'emo' - but from your promotional materials you do that and more. Do you have any issues with the incessant labeling of music? Or is it just enough play what you love and play it well?

Jeffrey K: We encourage it! To be proud of what you play and not to worry about the labeling, everything is everything else, it's mixed up and it feeds off itself and has been doing so for years! We have no issues with it, we write what we write and are always happy with it, even if there are people out there that aren't, which is totally okay, you need that. We don't think it's suicidal at all, to wear "pop-punk" or "emo," as long as you wear it proud and enjoy it for what it is.

NxEW: Victoria is not exactly known as a music mecca in the rest of Canada. But I know there is still a great scene there, and some great festivals as well. What's it like trying to break in to a relatively small music scene and then break out into this large land mass we call Canada? Is it tough getting your sound out? What about touring? What do you think of Canadian focused websites like NxEW?

Tyson Yerex: The music scene in Victoria is actually one of the best in the country. Obviously it doesn't attract the same attention on a national level as bigger cities like Toronto or Vancouver, but I think per capita there are actually more great musicians and more supporters of music than almost anywhere in the country. Hopefully the NxEW coverage of Victoria's sold out Rifflandia Festival this past September has helped make some of your readers a little more aware of the great music scene we have out here!

As far as making a name for ourselves in Victoria goes, it took a couple years of playing as many shows as we could around town before we really started to build a fan base and get noticed. We are really fortunate in Victoria to have a local rock radio station, The Zone 91.3 FM, that goes out of their way to support local acts. They've been helping us out since the day we dropped our demo ep on their music director's desk, and we can't begin to thank them enough. Their support actually put us on Cordova Bay Records radar, which subsequently led to us signing a record/publishing agreement with them for both Canada and the UK via their sister label Fierce Panda.

As far as breaking out into the rest of Canada goes, Victoria certainly presents us with some geographical hurdles to overcome. We're a long way from where the majority of Canadians live, so when we found out that our debut album was going to be released with national distribution in February we knew that we had to immediately start booking ourselves a cross Canada tour. That was perhaps not the most brillant idea - touring Canada in the dead of winter - but it definitely helped us to start making connections with promoters and building a fan base across the country. We've spent about 4 months on the road so far this year, and we know that to achieve any sort of success on a national level that we absolutely have to keep making touring our top priority.

We've also made it a priority to maintain a solid web presence so that we can stay connected with our fans across the country whether we're at home in Victoria or out on the road. It's amazing what a powerful tool the internet has become. Years ago, the only thing you could get done on an 8 hour drive from Saskatoon to Winnipeg was read a book or watch a movie. Now I spend hours on my iPhone - answering emails, chatting with fans, sending news out to our mailing list, uploading pictures/videos/blogs, updating our status across all our various websites (myspace/facebook/twitter/etc), etc, etc. Way to go science!

NxEW: Your latest record, Working, features pretty slick production, some great accompanying videos, and awesome music as well. What's it like when you finally see and hear that product of all your hard work? What can we expect next for Acres of Lions in 2010 and beyond?

Tyson Yerex: It's a great feeling when all the hard work comes together and you can finally share what you've created. We had some amazing people working on our the production of our record and our music videos - Adam Sutherland (Producer/Engineer), Warne Livesey(Mixing/Mastering), Brian Dutkewich (Music Video Director/Editor) - and we couldn't be happier about how it all turned out.

As far as 2010 goes, we're planning to do a bunch more touring - BC/Alberta dates in Jan/Feb, and Ontario/Quebec dates in March including showcase performances at Canadian Music Week in Toronto. Beyond that we're hoping to start production on a follow up album to "Working" sometime this summer.

NxEW: And...where does the band's name come from?

Tyson Yerex: When the band first got together and needed a name, my bandmates were at a party with local guitarist Jory MacKay (from TheSet) and after numerous beverages he suggested the band name should incorporate "Lions" cuz that sounded "hip"; and he said "Acres" of them - well that would be "Epic" indeed! The name stuck, end of story.

End of the story about the name, yes, but not about this awesome band. Looks like 2010 will bring more for them - check them out when you can.