Sound Salvation Army

Call it a homecoming for four guys who never left.

Like the mythical Icarus, Regina’s Despistado flew a little too close to the sun of musical success and name recognition and shit like that. Together for only three years, the band garnered crazy buzz up to and after the release of their EP, the Emergency Response. Cross-Canada tours helped them eventually sign a deal with moderately big-time U.S. indie label Jade Tree Records. One of their songs got used in a T-Mobile commercial down south; they put part of the money into a tour van and talked about using the rest to help out other local bands. A full-length album was recorded with Phil Ek, a moderately recognizable producer who helmed the boards for albums by Built To Spill, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and the Shins. It was good. Van Johnson good. But tensions were high inside the band, so the story goes; they called it quits in the middle of a U.S. tour just months before that album was set to be released.

Greg Beatty over at the Prairie Dog sums up the crushing sadness and disappointment felt by the band’s boosters back home pretty well. It seems odd now to think of Regina’s scene being “put on the map” when, at the time, there were a handful of local bands that seemed to be gaining more and more attention and acclaim with every passing month. Despistado were like the unofficial leaders of a surging musical community and to have them sweep the rug out from under themselves was devastating.

Over the years that followed I never stopped listening to their music. The galloping drums of “Bubbles,” the impossibly catchy and driving instrumentation of “A Stirstick’s Prediction” with its confrontational lyrics, the near-break-up plea of “Test Tube,” the frantic everything of “Burning House” that never fails to get your blood moving. The songs haven’t lost their vitality and they still sound like the guys you see at every local show squeezing every drop of joy they could into their playing.

For whatever reasons the band has decided to give us a taste of nostalgia. Starting tonight they’re playing three reunion gigs: one in Regina tonight, one in Saskatoon tomorrow, and then another in Regina Saturday. Singer/guitarist Dagan Harding is off to grad school in Montreal so this isn’t likely to turn into a full-fledged thing, but you can bet your as there’s going to be a lot of people in Regina who will be taking advantage of the opportunity to sing along with these tracks one more time.

If nothing else, perhaps it will be a chance to properly say goodbye once and for all. Better six years late than never, right?

 

 Despistado - A Stirstick's Prediction [3:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Despistado - Bubbles [4:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Despistado - If Relationship's A Construct Then I'm A Construction Worker [3:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Despistado - Test Tube [3:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Despistado return to the stage tonight at the Lazy Owl at the U of R. Friday night is in Saskatoon, then back to Regina at the Exchange. Grab tickets for the Saturday show at the World of Trout or the Exchange before they’re gone.

Pat entries break-ups, Canadian content, Despistado, indie rock, live music, Regina, reunions

And just like that, they were gone.

I just got home from the Polymaths’ farewell show. It was just like the first time I saw them play at O’Hanlon’s years ago: a similar stage set-up, the same wallflower posture on most of the band, the Polylamp. Probably a lot of the same faces in the same crowd at the same bar, the same smiles calling for the band to “chop chop” until there are no more notes left to play.

Even now, having arrived home and listened to nearly their entire discography (all 90 minutes of it) I can’t tell if the set was short or if it just seemed short. There were songs that didn’t get played, but that’s not really the point is it? Every track that was there deserved to be; this band never wrote a bad song.

There was even a song that never got released, the last song the band’s current iteration wrote, apparently. It was good. It was, completely unsurprisingly, about living in Regina all your life and how that can hold you back. It had, also unsurprisingly, a “la la la”-style refrain that was impossibly catchy. The crowd, I’m certain, would expect nothing less.

After an “encore,” an encore, and The Real Encore The Crowd Wouldn’t Leave Until It Got (”Lumberjack Rock,” duh; I still can’t believe they didn’t even practice it beforehand) it was over. There were hugs, there were handshakes, they packed up their gear.

And that was it.

They were also literally giving away whatever merchandise they had left. And yes, I took that as a tacit approval of what I’m about to do: post the entirety of Home Again for you, dear reader, to download. There is no hyperbole involved when I say that this record is perfect. You must hear it.

Download here, for a limited time only.

Below you’ll find one last track streaming, from the band’s equally brilliant EP. It’s a favourite, but it’s not the favourite. It was perhaps the most appropriate song of the night, but it wasn’t the closer. You’ll also hear a song from the full-length, the one that would’ve played over the climactic end sequence, maybe the credits, if the band were a movie.

On a night where it was still 21° celsius at TWO IN THE FUCKING MORNING; where it was so humid and muggy even at 11:00pm people could be seen on the bar’s patio fanning themselves with their hands and holding a cold beer to their forehead; on a night when the stage must’ve been hot enough for a band to consider going on strike against the weather one last time; the Polymaths said goodnight.

 

 Polymaths - Strike!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Polymaths - Burst Into Flames [4:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Stay tuned to Urban Planning Records to keep on top of post-Polymaths projects. Some already exist!

Pat entries Canadian content, farewells, indie rock, parting is such sweet sorrow, Polymaths, pop, Regina, rock, sadness

Parting is such sweet sorrow, you guys. It will be even more so this Thursday night at O’Hanlon’s in Regina, however, as the mighty Polymaths take the stage for the last time. Ever. In the world.

The shame of it all is that they only got one full-length CD out in their time together; one completely incredible full-length CD. It should have made my Best of 2009 list — and likely would’ve been somewhere near the top — but since I’m not as plugged in locally as I used to be I totally missed it’s initial late-December release. I picked up Home Again early this year and it’s been a resounding, poignant listen that I just can’t leave alone.

Keeping in line with their own history (on the So Long, Castle Road EP) there’s a lot of Regina in these songs. The presence of our fair city in Craig Fink’s lyrics shows itself in a variety of forms, from the obvious-to-those-that-are-from-here references in “The Longest Bridge Over The Shortest Span Of Water” (see the wiki for historical footnotes) to more subtle references to prairie life as compared to living in “London-town” or at Queen’s University (both in the comparative mecca of Ontario). There’s almost a thematic arc to the album; softly strummed opener “Age Sixteen” sets the stage with Fink intoning a tale of a young person leaving home for good only to plead ninety seconds later, “Go home.” The album ends with the slow, harmony-draped “Letter From Home,” a spiritual sibling that sees Fink insisting that he can’t/won’t go back to where he’s from.

Those songs, along with the half-dozen or so in between that touch on the same topic, hit close to home for nearly every young Saskatchewanian, I think. Our province’s legacy in the last several decades has been that of a feeder community; our young people inevitably go off to more exciting (re: less flat) places to seek their education and/or fortune. The line, “I’d like to remind you that home is where your shit is piling up” rings true to my generation’s experiences; while we go elsewhere we rarely REALLY leave. For one, the cost-of-living shift between places deemed desirable when compared to Saskatchewan is often stark and makes it tough to take your whole life with you. Moreover, it’s a hard place to get away from. People from other places may not realize it, but the prairies never leave your blood. As blog favourite Emmet Matheson recently opined on the always-delightful Bulldozer With A Wrecking Ball Attached, you’re always from here whether you like it or not.

Fink expertly captures the love/hate relationship that a lot of young people still have about places like Regina. The latter-half track “Winter At Queen’s” sees him lamenting an intense homesickness while studying away from home; the man who once railed against the prairie weather is now idealizing it after seeing the colour of the grass on the other side. Hearing his insistence that he wants to have “a spot to plant his soul” ready and waiting for him is what truly makes Saskatchewanians Saskatchewanians, the cathartic push/pull of needing to experience more but wanting to hold on to that pastoral quietude that defines us as a region and a people.

That’s not to say that this album is unlistenable for anyone that has never seen the sun rise over five hundred kilometres of flat prairie. The other half of the songs here are laudable critiques of love, working retail, and the fragility of dreams. While the Saskatchewan suite of songs stand out to me lyrically, the remainder of the tracks often rise above even those numbers.

Frankly, some of these songs are fucking astounding in how completely amazing they are. The band is firing on all cylinders in this recording, expanding their no-nonsense guitar-bass-drums-keyboard 4/4 rock and roll to incorporate genuine moments of soul music with incredible effect. The two stand-out tracks are both slower songs that begin with patient musical build-ups and Fink’s gentle singing (which transitions into near-growling insistence over their running time). “Unreliable” is the first (and possibly only) truly classic soul number written by Regina’s rock and roll underground, a tense, perfectly-arranged track that gives Fink the opportunity to exorcise the demons of a hundred spurned lovers, culminating in a note-perfect guitar solo that adds just the right amount of chaos into the closing. “Burst Into Flames” is a rumination on personal shortcomings and the conflicting nature of reality versus the dreams of our youth, a genuinely affecting number with a mournful tenor that feels like an ending, and not a good one. “I’m laundry hung out on a line,” Fink admits, before insisting with his last breath that geography might once again be playing a part in how he and his character’s lives end up.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, at least half of the band members are leaving Regina for grad school. If the lyrical content of this album is any indication I have every confidence they’ll be back some day. Saskatchewan might be the one place where you can go home again.

I can’t say enough about this album, and this isn’t future-nostalgia or pre-beak-up hysteria. I’ve been spinning this disc non-stop for months and it is worth every revolution. I don’t understand how this record and this band aren’t getting the acclaim and attention that your Library Voices or your Rah Rah are having showered upon them. No, they don’t have 14 people in the band and they don’t give away free candy at shows. They write the balls off some smart, passionate rock music and make no apologies for it.

Come out to O’Hanlon’s on Thursday and let them know that’s still worth something. Send them off to grad school with some fucking smiles on their faces.

 

 Polymaths - Sputnik Sweethearts [4:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Polymaths - Unreliable [4:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Final show is Thursday night at O’Hanlon’s. BE THERE. Click right here for more information.

Get the record from Regina-based Urban Planning Records; it comes in a crazy paper case!

Pat entries Canadian content, indie rock, local music, Regina, rock, soul, Urban Planning Records

Bravery is a quality not often rewarded in music. If it is, it’s a superficial, hollow bravery; it’s Lady Gaga being hailed as a cutting edge “artist” because she wears sunglasses made out of lit cigarettes and hats made out of telephones, not because her music is innovative, cutting-edge, or even slightly cerebral. The music is disposable and pedestrian and certainly won’t be the larger part of her legacy. That’s why it feels so good to see a group of prairie boys (now relocated to Montreal to help gain a foothold in the music biz) pushing their own boundaries lyrically and looking to squeeze some adventure out of rock and roll.

Far and away my favourite moment of the City Street’s last album, 2008’s Concentrated Living, was the sprawling six-minute track “Burn Down The Churches.” It tips singer/guitarist/songwriter Rick Reid’s hand in terms of his world view; in it he implores the world at large to divest itself of the crutch of organized religion (pulling up short of atheism he clarifies that he does believe in God, but not in the typical way), calling on the world to burn down churches and live life more spiritually and less reliant on dogma and procedure. It’s idealist to say the least; he wants everyone to quit their jobs and live their lives, embrace life-affirming passions (like sex), and embrace personal freedoms (like having it). It’s set to a musical background of galloping drums and carefully-picked electric guitar that builds and rumbles and frolics and bursts. Like the group itself it doesn’t compromise a bit.

The same can be said of the band’s new record, the Jazz Age, which opens one of its catchiest songs with the singer’s bold proclamation, “I don’t put shit up my nose…anymore.”

Yes, the Jazz Age, is more of what they do best: minimally-orchestrated yet deftly-arranged tunes that embrace and enfold every aspect of rock music’s history (from the faster-paced power chords and gang vocal “woah-ohs” of “Song for Lee” to the solo-organ reverb of “White Noise” to the powerful, string-laden outro on closer “Slothrop’s Ghost”). They’ve always been a three-piece and they aren’t ashamed or afraid of that fact; while some tracks incorporate piano, organ, and strings they aren’t crutches being used to prop up some forced agenda of artistic growth. They’re incorporated sparingly and, more importantly, for effect. In fact, the entire band fires on all cylinders here but Reid’s comprehensive guitar work is the mucilage that holds it all together. Songs explode in the chorus with a heaviness that is somewhat more prevalent than their previous releases, Reid’s furious strumming and complex picking coming across regardless of tempo.

The album is sort of an inverted pyramid of depression, romantic/sexual mistakes made by youngsters, and the consequences that result from them. The second track, “Song For Lee,” strikes one of the most upbeat tempos on the record as well as one of the closest-to-positive messages: “Our dreams are just as real as the fears in their eyes/this is all there is, kids/lets live as hard as we can stand.” What follows is an album’s worth of songs about, as Reid writes on this track, “fucked up kids” and their myriad failures and drunken, drugged-out regrets. A thread of lost love powers the intricate, detailed lyrics while the music hints at early Elvis Costello, modern punk, and Neil Young-ian rock.

To me, the final track is very reminiscent of the aforementioned “Burn Down The Churches” and is a brilliant summation of the general tenor of the album. The nine minute track spends its first six relating Reid’s misadventures of the heart through the lens of Tyrone Slothrop, a character from Thomas Pynchon’s classic Gravity’s Rainbow. Going from a lone acoustic guitar to the full band to bass-only accompaniment back to a full-band build and emotionally string-laden burst that lasts the better part of the last four minutes, it is an epic ending to an album of unsurprising but absolute depth of emotion. Climaxing with the repeated insistence, “Fuck the war, we’re in love,” Reid shows once again that a legacy of a he-slut fumbling in the dark can be overcome with just one true, real, human connection.

The album is far from a gleaming beacon of positive energy but, hindsight being 20/20, Reid knows enough to know that everyone suffers their own mis-steps while traveling the road to a more successful or happy adulthood. While I wouldn’t characterize their past albums as fucked up failures, there can be little doubt the City Streets have followed a parallel track in creating the Jazz Age, one that will hopefully lead them to the prominence a record of this caliber commands.

 

 the City Streets - Song For Lee [3:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the City Streets - Last Waltz Party [3:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can buy the Jazz Age, download the album for free, or make a donation to the band at their home page. Their previous two records are also available through their site.

Pat entries ambition, Canadian content, failure, nostalgia, rock, the City Streets

An acquaintance of mine once insisted she didn’t “get” Stars. Namely, why two vocalists she insisted weren’t that talented were pushed so prominently forward in the mix on their records, why the songs were always centered around some kind of melodramatic romanticism.

But it’s those two elements that are so central to what makes Stars Stars. It also serves to both elevate their new album, the Five Ghosts, and simultaneously drag it down.

It takes only a cursory listen to any Stars song to realize that, yes, Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell are not the most showy singers; they don’t have Roy Orbison’s range (a suspected four octaves; respect) or Peabo Bryson’s bombast (huh?) or Susan Boyle’s dynamism (what?). Their performances are generally breathy, low-key, sometimes thin, all but whispers. But it’s less the singing than the devastating melodies those voices carry across to the listener that really count.

The one-two punch of “Dead Hearts” and “Wasted Daylight” is without a doubt the strongest album opening the band has ever had in that respect. Where other records have begun with drawn-out, meandering introductory pieces the Five Ghosts cuts right to the chase with one of the most memorable vocal melodies the group has ever produced. “Wasted Daylight,” one of the album’s more propulsive, building musical numbers is also boosted by a lilting and plaintive vocal melody. While much of the album doesn’t share the same lightness or brightness, the melodies remain the most prominent feature of Stars’ work.

And say what you will about the weight and gravitas of their voices, but Milan and Campbell have rarely sounded as versatile and, well, GOOD before. Their parts are clear, impassioned, and distinct and they continue to reach a new plateau every time out.

But it’s the other half of the songwriting equation where this album fails to capture my imagination. While the band did strike it big with “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” (their most organic, orchestral songs to date) the vast majority of their career outside of the Set Yourself On Fire album has been based in electronic and keyboard sounds. The Five Ghosts might be their most thoroughly synthesized album since their earliest EPs, a fact which I’m not really that fond of. A band with this much pomp and drama, both lyrically and musically, comes across as seriously maudlin over the course of 40 chilly minutes of down-beat keyboards. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with personal preference, though; to me heartbreak is so much more tangible on a song like “Personal” (from the previous LP, In Our Bedroom After The War) that’s built around guitar and piano than the distant drum machining and swirling, atmospheric synths of a track like “He Dreams He’s Awake.” Again, maybe that’s just me.

Tonally this album once again lays the melodrama on pretty thick. Drama is a central tenant to what makes this band tick, but the rays of sunshine are surprisingly few and far between. In a recent interview Campbell told Exclaim! he always saw Stars as a band that makes “sad dance music” and that’s definitely true here. But there is virtually nothing uplifting, nothing in the vein of a “Look Up,” “Take Me To The Riot,” or “Ageless Beauty.” Everything here is death, aversion to change, zombies (unless I’m reading something into “Dead Hearts” that isn’t there), unappealing potential paramours, and fistfights between lovers. The final coda of the album declares, “Winter lives in my bones/it’s all I’ve ever known.” That seems like an all too fitting way to end this record.

I suppose it was just a matter of time until Stars let me down. The trilogy of their last several full-length albums has been too perfect; the other shoe had to drop sooner or later. The first half of the Five Ghosts is very good, and “Changes” is a pleasant surprise tucked into the latter half. But the majority of this album feels too cold, too distant. It’s a moody piece of work that is either not fitting my current frame of mind or is just a little too detached and depressing. I’m still not entirely certain.

 

 Stars - Dead Hearts [3:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Stars - Wasted Daylight [3:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pick up the Five Ghosts in every conceivable format from the band’s web store. They’re also touring for pretty much the rest of the year, but (as they did earlier) they appear to be skipping Saskatchewan entirely.

That’s one more rung you’re slipping, Stars.

Pat entries Canadian content, indie pop, keyboard-gasm, keyboards, pop, snubs, Stars

Ah, the stop-gap EP. Such a convenient way for a band to capitalize on some momentum, to strike while the iron is hot and keep material flowing to an expanding audience.

This is one of those.

You’ll recall I named the Wheat Pool’s Hauntario my favourite album of 2009, and for good reason. It’s a prairie rock/alt-country masterpiece that is fraught with tension and emotion, an impeccably-performed set of intricately-arranged songs that resonate on every wavelength. It’s just so good, you guys.

Some of that magic crosses over to this EP, thanks to the fact that most of these tracks were recorded during the album sessions. In fact, one of the highlights is an alternate version of Hauntario standout “Evangeline” that strips away all of the tension and bombastic instrumentation save a slowly-plucked acoustic guitar and the Angus brothers’ harmonies. It wisely runs little more than half the length of the LP version, serving as a minimal yet ghostly bit of storytelling.

Alternate versions are apparently something the Wheat Pool toyed with at length while recording the LP. You’ll recall the rollicking “Too Far Apart” was reprised as the much quieter, more contemplative, more mournful “Two Far Apart” to end Hauntario. While that was absolutely the right call they apparently dropped the track “Edith Cavell” to do it. Its jaunty acoustic strumming and far-off slide guitar recall the LP’s high-water mark, “Italy,” but leaving it off the album proper was probably the right decision; it’s brevity and preciousness likely would have contrasted with the rest of the record.

The linchpin for the release is a cover of Neil Young’s “Helpless.” Young is obviously the band’s chief influence and the track has been a popular live staple for the group, according to the EP’s one-sheet anyway. I suppose I see the logic to that, as they do a pretty terrific job with it, keeping it fairly close to Young’s original version with just the right mix of rock guitar leads, keyboard, and slide guitar. The brothers’ distinctive harmonies also help make it distinct. While the track may have been the impetus for the EP’s entire creation, including two different mixes seems superfluous and unnecessary; maybe I’m just too Canadian, but it seems like we’ve all heard this song enough already. I don’t think it will have the same kind of appeal over time as the other numbers.

Again, this is a stop-gap release; it’s only a couple of original songs, they’re all leftovers, and as such they only possess a microcosm of the magic that made Hauntario so perfect. Regardless, I’ve only had these songs for a day and a half and I am so grateful for it. If you haven’t been exposed to this band yet, $3.99 is a very small price to pay for your first taste of one of Canada’s great young bands.

 

 Wheat Pool - Helpless (Hauntario mix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This bitch is digital-only, friends:
iTunes: here.
eMusic: here.
Get Hauntario and the debut album Township here.

Pat entries Canadian content, covers, EP, Hauntario, rock, Wheat Pool

Spring has been a big ol’ pile of shit in Regina, Saskatchewan this year.

True, we had an unseasonably warm stretch of a couple of weeks in April, but May has been nothing but high winds, abnormally cold temperatures, snow, and rain. It’s enough to make one go back into winter hibernation mode. Or at least it was until I started spinning this little slice of sunshine.

Toronto’s Junior Battles are on to something. A lot of the reviews I’ve read for their self-titled 7″ pick up on a thread of 90’s throwback/nostalgia that seems to run through this tiny collection of songs, but to me their appeal has less to do with what they have in common with their pop-punk forefathers and more the exuberant and varied arrangements that place these tunes in a decidedly modern context.

Lead-off track “Basements” is definitely ear-catching. It’s tempo is constantly shifting, a mostly-perky chord arrangement and a trickily-drummed bridge providing a note-perfect under-pinning for the heavily-harmonized vocals. The vocals have great momentum as well, adding more and more layers of harmony as the song continues.

As with most great pop-punk, the vocal melodies and harmonies take center stage on Junior Battles. They fall more in the vein of bands like Jawbreaker (but smoother), Hot Water Music (but less gruff), or earlier Green Day (yup).

Lyrically they have a strong tenor of “band songs,” concerning their reliance on records and songwriting/performing to get them through the long, dark, cold Canadian winters. Not hard to relate to, obviously. There is a road/touring song as well (the perfectly-titled “Roads? Where We’re Going, We Definitely Need Roads”), but it leans more towards the, “Isn’t it great we get to do this for a living?” tone than anything else. “”Update Your Resume” strikes the lone chord of discontent, lamenting the pitfalls of the record industry versus the glory of playing music.

The Battle-rs recently partnered up with one of my favourite musicians of the modern era, Eric Solomon, to serve as the backing band and touring partners for O Pioneers!!! after their latest personnel breakdown. It’s an interesting partnership, considering the relatively disparate levels of pop and polish in their respective material. But if it works I think both bands stand to benefit immensely. Even if it doesn’t, we’ve got a terrific slab of wax here to help remember better days.

Now I just have to track down a copy of their EP.

 

 Junior Battles - Basements [2:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Physical: 7″ records available here
Digital: From ‘If You Make It’, which is available for free.

Pat entries Canadian content, O Pioneers!!!, pop punk, punk rock, team-ups

Ola, amigos! I’m feeling festive cuz it’s so nice out here! I can finally run outside again, the arena isn’t freezing cold during derby practice and my cats are done shedding. Another sign of impending summer: Hillside tickets went on sale this past weekend.

Weekend passes sold out in record time, as usual. It’s been my experience that you can find some on craigslist or kijiji or some extremely last-minute options (like, day of, people putting signs up) at the Stone Health Store on Commercial St. You can also still gain entry via volunteerism.

Site favourites performing at Guelph’s big/little music festival include Basia Bulat, Calexico, Corb Lund, Shad, Stars, Sarah Harmer and local teens The Canned Goods — I’m super excited to see them score a spot because I know it was a big goal for this group. Don’t miss them!

As always, it’s a good, solid lineup worth the hassle of festival-going. If there’s one festival that might change your mind about festivals, this would be it. I’ve seen a lot of these acts before and they will inevitably put on a great show. Gord Downie is performing with his backing band and I know for a fact that Hillside organizer Sam Baijal is super excited about scoring Los Lobos. I’d love to see those performers play with Sarah Harmer and Calexico, respectively.

There are a host of other performers that you can check out on the official Hillside site. Hope to see you there!

 

 Calexico - Roka: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Sarah Harmer - Escarpment Blues: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 The Canned Goods - Julia: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tanis entries Calexico, Canadian content, concerts, Guelph, Hillside Festival, live music, mp3, Sarah Harmer, The Canned Goods

Sometimes it just feels like you’re listening to something special.

In the last year or so I’ve written about a number of current/former punk rockers that have made the shift to acoustic singer-songwriters. So many, in fact, that even writing those words kind of makes me want to roll my eyes a little bit. Just sayin’.

But Matt Gaud is something else, people. He’s the genuine article, the real deal, the bee’s knees. If the cat wore them, he would be it’s pajamas.

Gaud is a former member of Means, a Regina-based Christian hardcore/metalcore band (no joke, that’s a thing) that did quite well for themselves, having toured through Canada and the U.S. more times than I have (to be certain). After that band’s dissolution he’s played his rootsier, folksier solo material under a couple of different names, including his own.

I had intended to write about his latest iteration back in February after seeing him open for Library Voices, a show that was recorded for broadcast by our friends at CBC Radio 2 (stream that business at their website; you might as well, you’re paying for it, right?). Seated before a half-full Exchange, Gaud fired up his throaty vocals and got to playing a set of mostly-downtrodden, lovelorn, and longing numbers. His melodies and playing are natural and unforced and he’s an understated performer, his great, bushy beard hiding the face of a poet.

Admittedly, I was at first drawn in more by his insanely-good cover of Hot Water Music’s “Trusty Chords” than the originals, but once I heard the cover my attention was piqued.

Like early Dylan or Iron & Wine or Bon Iver he relies on his acoustic guitar and a harmonica for his live performances, choosing to flush out the recorded tracks subtly with bass drum, bass, some electric guitar, and some phenomenal trumpet work. Seriously people, it isn’t that easy to make trumpets sound this plaintive and downtrodden.

Those horns are one of the focal points on the first track featured here, “Energy.” The trumpet melodies swell in the intro and chorus, setting up Gaud’s pained lyric about a patient potential paramour waiting for a shot at love. The percussion is lower in the mix, but the subtle cymbal work also provides some build and cresendo of it’s own. “Wheels,” the other standout track you’ll find below, makes use of an insistent kick drum that propels the song’s tale of an unexpected wrench being thrown into the minutiae of everyday life. The wailing harmonica recalls Springsteen’s Nebraska, but with the benefit of a proper studio to record it.

This record has emotional heft, but Gaud presents it in a relatable, everyman kind of way. No frills, no unnecessary wording or calculated metaphors. He lays it bare and relies on the quality of his songs and his raw talent to carry the results to the listener’s ear. “Worry” is perhaps the best example of this, hinging on the plainly-stated admission, “I don’t know where we’re going/but I like where we are.” Simple and direct but poignant nonetheless.

I was spurred to actually write this piece after reading an incredibly lauditory review on another website. While it’s likely a little premature to agree with Frank Turner’s assessment of Gaud as “a fucking legend,” if you’re a fan of this style of music then Borrowed Chords, Tired Eyes is a pretty fucking good start.

 

 Northcote - Energy [4:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Northcote - Wheels [3:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s worth noting that Northcote is on the bill for the massive, amazing, incomparable indie rock wank-fest that will be Sled Island Music Festival in Calgary the week of Canada Day. I’ll be there, cheering Matt on from the front row. Help him get there:

Physical: Maple Music
Digital: iTunes is a thing

Pat entries acoustic, Canadian content, local music, Northcote, Regina, solo material

I reviewed the last Minus the Bear album back in the infancy of this website. I’d been a fan for a number of years and while my take on it was overly positive, there were some elements that suggested the wind might be shifting in terms of the band’s sound. Considering most of that had to do with a more proggy, sprawling sound (and some downright sexy jams) it should be interesting to see if they’ve continued to follow that thread.

Tomorrow marks the release of their latest record, Omni. The band has a new label, Dangerbird. While I’m not terribly familiar with their previous signings, they’ve been snatching up a few bands lately that have caught my attention (in addition to putting out the first Silversun Pickups album, they’ve also signed Hot Hot Heat and the Dears). The one advance review that I’ve read suggested that it was a bit of a lackluster affair, but I guess we’ll find out for ourselves soon enough.

The folks at Dangerbird have been kind enough to pass along a full stream of the record for those who simply can’t wait another 24 hours. Listen below via Soundcloud and check back later for a full review.

OMNI by MinustheBear
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In other streaming news today, Halifax’s Wintersleep (another site favourite) will be streaming their new album in it’s entirety starting tonight. You should be able to find it right on the front page of their website. Having been a HUGE fan since their first record, I’m extremely excited to hear the new material and find out what their next progression will look like.

Unfortunately, it looks like they’ll be spending the summer touring the balls off of Europe and the U.S. I’m sure they’ll find their way to this neck of the woods eventually; it’ll just give the kids in Regina with the skinny jeans more time to memorize the lyrics.

 

 Wintersleep - Dead Letter & the Infinite Yes [4:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Minus the Bear - Knights [3:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pat entries album streams, Canadian content, Dangerbird Records, indie rock, Minus The Bear, prog rock, Wintersleep