They’re kind of intimidating – even a bit sinister looking – with their rainbow-tinted feathers and long, curved beak. This Common Grackle is even more frightening, as it’s wielding a shotgun and apparently chain smoking cigarettes on the front cover of the band of the same name’s debut album. 

Common Grackle is made up of Gregory Pepper and Factor, and the Toronto based group is heading for Jasper on Feb. 6. 

Pepper says it’s the band’s first trip to Jasper, and music lovers are in for an interesting twist. He describes the band’s style as, “the spirit of grind-core channelled through Brian Wilson,” of Beach Boys fame.

Pepper and Factor were initially solo artists who released albums on the record label Fake Four Inc. in 2010. The label realized a collaboration could yield interesting results, so they suggested the two come together. 

“We traded a few bits and pieces over the internet and eventually had an album,” Pepper said. “Not too much conscious thought went into it.”

Like any good band, Common Grackle moulds each show to the audience, but it’s out of desperation for Factor and Pepper. 

“We run the gamut, wimpy piano ballads and up-tempo screamers,” he said. “I worry about giving people their money’s worth so I’ll basically do whatever the audience wants.”

With Pepper willing to go all out for the entertainment factor, he said a successful show will result in the attendees going home a little worse for wear. 

“A decent show should result in some blood and a sore neck, I think,” Pepper said. 

The new album is titled The Great Depression, and the aforementioned sinister bird is intended to shock, but in a good way. 

“It has a very nice cover that this dude Ghostshrimp drew. A gun-toting bird shooting some other shipwrecked birds. Very morbid imagery but presented in a chipper, upbeat manner. That sort of mirrors the album.”

Pepper said the name is taken from a bird that is just, well, average. 

“The Lone Pine Field Guide to Birds describes the Common Grackle as a ‘poor but spirited singer who, despite his lack of musical talent, remains smug and proud, posing with his bill held high.’”

Check out the band’s Myspace page for more show information, and decide whether to take a chance on these poor, spirited fellows.