Everything in one package
A long list of members, some swirling, near-ambient production, occasionally meandering songs, and a gift for melody bordering on the huge. That might sound like one of Canada’s most famous indie bands in recent years, but its an equally apt description for what could be the next big-time Canadian indie band.
From the first track on, the Rest’s latest album, Everyone All At Once lives up to its title: numerous stringed instruments set the stage for an album of borderline-orchestral recordings, all seven band members piling into the mix by the end of the track. It sets up the rest of the album as well; slightly cloudy production swallows the sound as guitar riffs swirl and crash into xylophone, organ, and piano, the strings churning underneath throughout. On the surface it creates a sound that seems nearly-shambolic but is in reality carefully measured, the end result of five years of musical growth and intensive rural rehearsal sessions.
But its singer and band leader Adam Bentley’s vocals that most consistently stand out. His singing is perhaps the sharpest piece of the puzzle: a high, delicate tenor that constantly seems like its on the verge of cracking and breaking. The singing is so intimately recorded that in quieter moments (the opening of “Phonetically, Phonetically”) you can hear the sound of his tongue brushing against his palate. In choosing the song “Walking on Water (Auspicious Beginnings)” as their song of the day last month, NPR called Bentley’s vocals “artfully unsteady,” an interesting and entirely accurate read.
The band has earned nearly unanimous critical praise since the release of the record, thanks to very well-constructed songs. “Phonetically, Phonetically” recalls some of Sunset Rubdown’s prettier moments, right down to this unrelenting, insistent drum beat and Bentley’s Spencer Krug-ian caterwauling. Other tracks might be more akin to a more-orchestrated Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The album climaxes with “Everything All At Once,” a song that shoehorns every instrument and player into the record’s loudest and longest track. Plied with falsetto harmonies, crashing cymbals, a forceful build-up and a haunting denouement, it closes the album in a chaotic swirl that is eased away with an ending as symphonic as the album’s opening.
Lying in direct contrast to the more elaborate numbers is the spare and disarming “Drinking Again.” The incredibly intimate performance of acoustic guitar and vocals is accompanied only by the hiss of the tape itself, outlining the band’s analog ambitions and their willingness to leave a few things unscrubbed, to avoid giving the record an antiseptic feel.
The Rest are the real deal, far from being the castaway product that the name might imply. It reeks of realized potential: in Bentley’s own words, “I could’ve been great. I could’ve been the gravy on Thanksgiving Day.” While comparisons to Broken Social Scene and (more likely) Arcade Fire may be equally apt, the Rest are well on their way to being seen as peers instead of the ingenue grasping for that level of glory.
the Rest - Walk On Water (Auspicious Beginnings): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download the Rest - Phonetically, Phonetically [4:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadThe Rest’s CDs and single(s) can be purchased at the Auteur Recordings webstore and on the Zunior website.
