Neal & Robbie

Toronto's PurPeLoid has co-written four songs on its forthcoming album with 54-40's Neil Osborne, including "Outside Coming In," which lead singer Mic'l Wolf says has radio potential.

The collaboration with the Vancouver rock singer took place in early February, set up by Stephen Crowley, who was doing street promotion for PurPeLoid.

"He knew Neil and sat down with him and had a coffee and talked with him about getting us together," says Wolf. "Neil was in Toronto and we got along pretty well. We literally wrote four songs in two days. It was really quick and very easy. It was like we'd been writing together for years."

While Wolf, whose real name is Michael Shumak, is no longer the VP of business development for Toronto indie label Linus Entertainment, the band's second release, "Far From Home," will still be released through the company this summer, with distribution through Warner Music Canada.

PurPeLoid's debut album, "Euphoraphonic," may not have made a dent in the Canadian music market, but, according to Wolf, the theatrical rock band, which employs everything from spider-eye make-up to jail-cell bars and skull staffs, sold some 9,000 copies in Europe, where it opened last year for human freak show the Jim Rose Circus. Bellaphon Records distributed the album there.

"Europe was really good to us," says Wolf. "The first record was definitely out in left field and Europeans are more open to things that aren't on the straight and narrow. They embraced us more. This record doesn't go too far away from who we are, but it's certainly more accessible."

After spending 125 dates on the road with the Jim Rose Circus in North America and Europe, PurPeLoid was asked to star in the VH1 reality tour special The Jim Rose Odyssey. Now, the band plans to move to Los Angeles.

"We went down just for a week to 10 days to mix the record and started meeting people," says Wolf. "Through the TV show with Jim Rose, I started to make a bunch of connections and getting offered roles in TV and film."

The series was shot last October and November all over the U.S. One of the episodes includes the "big blow out" between the Circus and PurPeLoid over the band getting too much camera time. "We all left and then the production called and asked politely if I would go back, so I did," says Wolf.

In January, PurPeLoid -- comprised of brothers Robbie and Neal Rotstein (both on guitars); drummer Tom Koncan; bassist Calvin Beale (recently replaced by T.J.); keyboardist Dave Klotz; and Wolf -- wrote 17 songs over the next month, including the four with Osborne. They recorded 16 in three weeks at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, Ont. Dave Schiffman, who produced "Euphoraphonic," was at the helm again.

According to Wolf, Schiffman is production veteran Rick Rubin's main engineer, whose credits include Audioslave and System of the Down. "I sent one of our original demos to his manager Bennett Kaufman in L.A. and Bennett thought that Dave would be the right guy," he recalls of the initial hook up in 2002. "Dave listened to the demo and liked it and we get along really well. It's a pleasure to work with him."

Wolf acknowledges that PurPeLoid has a more defined focus now, as a live act, since forming the band in 2001 with Robbie and writing the entire first album together. With 125 shows under its belt, and writing as a six-piece, he says the material on "Far From Home," such "We're all Living," "Outside Coming In" and "Get Ready To Fly" is also more focused, as radio-ready songs.

"When we were down in the U.S., the record was just being mixed and we played it to some people who can make a difference," says Wolf. "They're hearing four potential singles on first listen. I think that's the big difference. The first record was not a first-listen record. It was a little bizarre, a lot of the changes and things like that, and it sort of took a few listens to get your head around it. This record is a little more straight forward and much easier on the ears."

The band has acquired business manager Bert Padell of New York's Padell, Nadell, Fine, Weinberger & Co, whose clients include Lorraine Bracco, Britney Spears, Robert DeNiro, Queens of the Stone Age, Andrew W.K. and Alicia Keys. "He's an attorney, an accountant and a business manager, and he is shopping the record as well (for a U.S. deal)," says Wolf.

Over the next few months, PurPeLoid will make the move to LA. "It makes more sense for us to be down there because the band will have opportunities to do soundtracks and act in films as well as help our music careers," Wolf explains. "We're talking to the right people. Nothing happens overnight in this business, that's for sure, and I think this record is really going to take us to the next level."

- By KAREN BLISS -- For JAM! Music

"I am Willy Wonka's son/I have come to be the one," sings lead singer Mic'l Wolf on "I Like It Like That." This is one of the few humorous quips in an otherwise return to '70s hard rock in the vein of Led Zeppelin and the Cult in the '80s. Composed of members ranging from funk and soul bands to hard rock act Bloodstone, the musicianship is quite adept at creating a quasi-spiritual hard rock album. At times, slick production values tend to overshadow the improvisational talents on a truly bending song like "Should I." "Heavy Setter" and "Spaces in Between" are the highlights here, a mix of funky vibes with hard rock riffs. Lyrically, the songs could use some polishing, but perhaps in a live setting, the overall effect renders them insignificant. A good debut from a band with bigger things to come. - Jason MacNeil, All Music Guide