Sound Salvation Army

What the hell Regina?

As previously mentioned, dancey Regina indie rock band Despistado reformed this past week. The series of shows culminated with a set at the Exchange on Saturday night. A set that rocked. It’s just too bad no one was there to see it.

I’m being somewhat facetious. It wasn’t a sell-out, but there were plenty of people there. They drew about as many people as a lot of notable acts that play there do. But there were still tickets being sold at the door and there was people sitting, which means there was still plenty of floor space not getting used.

I suppose it makes some sense; the torch has been passed. The O’Hanlon’s hipster crowd spends their time jerking off to Library Voices albums and filling the room for their shows. Where Despistado was the toast of the town six years ago, playing the larger Distrikt to a much more frenzied crowd, apparently all they get now is a cursory glance from people looking to re-live their heyday.

This band is smart though. Singer/guitarist Dagan Harding, one song into the set, asked the crowd how many of them had never seen the group play before. Half a dozen hands went up. Understandable I guess, considering their name and music has disappeared in the last five years.

Sadly, most of the crowd seemed like they were indifferent to being there. Small pockets of people actually bothered to dance, clap along, or sing. Much of the people towards the front of the stage stood still, mouths slightly agape, watching the resurgent group tear through nearly every song they ever wrote with just as much passion and ferocity as ever.

Craig over at the Dog Blog also noticed some people leaving before the show was over. To them I offer my strongest, “What the fuck, people?” You come for a reunion show and then leave before the encore? Really?

I’ve always thought Regina audiences don’t deserve the quality of music we have here. That view has only been reinforced.

I thought the band had a great set, though. They were incredibly sharp throughout but the beginning of the set seemed slightly off, as though it took them a few songs to get their legs underneath them. It wasn’t that the sound was off, but the chemistry between them just wasn’t popping like it used to. Once things came together (at the perfect moment, no less: the rollicking, tom-heavy harmony-frenzy “Bubbles”) it was like I was back at the Distrikt six years ago seeing them for what would turn out to be the last time. They were all over the stage, rocking out in their muted, understated way. They grooved, they smiled, they laughed, they played hard. They didn’t miss a single note, even on their trickiest songs. It was something to behold.

I chatted with drummer Brennan Schwarz before the show and he said they’d been rehearsing like crazy for the last week or so. More importantly, he stressed how great it was that the members themselves were happy playing them. To hear him tell it the tour that ultimately served as the last nail in their collective coffin ended with them literally at each others throats. The joy on his face while he was pounding out track after track on Saturday showed vividly how far they’ve come.

And the songs! These songs are still so good. I’d forgotten how they come across in a live setting, how energetic they are, how lyrically meaningful and striking they are. I mean, “Lipstick,” people! There just aren’t a lot of songs that are better than “Lipstick.”

Aside from the audience the only complaint I have is that they didn’t go for broke. Schwarz told me that they’d actually written a new song during their rehearsals. He was trying to get the rest of the group to play it during their three-song encore, but they either didn’t hear him or didn’t agree. Hopefully it’s a sign that there’s more to come from Despistado in the future. But even if more shows aren’t in the cards, however, this was a very satisfying note to go out on.

 

 Despistado - Lipstick [3:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Despistado - Burning House [2:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pat entries dance music, Despistado, indie rock, live music, people are the worst, Regina, reunions

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

In a year that has already seen the release of several highly-anticipated albums I have to admit: this is the one I’ve been most excited about.

For the uninitiated, the National have been called by some a hybrid of Leonard Cohen and Joy Division, an often-dark and brooding brand of indie rock that is perfectly at home with the tense and sinister elements that lie in wait in the dark recess of their songs. I’ve chronicled my relationship with their flawless third record, Boxer, through a few different stages on this site. I think it’s probably one of the best records released in the last decade, hands down. It unravels like a ball of really, really depressed yarn, a listening experience that can be chilly at times but also becomes warm and comforting once it really starts to take shape. Needless to say when “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” the first track from new release High Violet, was released to the web earlier this year I lost my mind.

“Bloodbuzz Ohio” has become my favourite National song of all-time in the last few months. It has everything that makes the National such a unique and powerful presence: the intricate, thundering drum beat that opens the track is, as is typical for this band, dizzying compared to typical percussive performances. That powerful momentum propels the song through its entire length, reaching a whirling dervish of a finish amidst a swirl of piano, horns, and furiously strummed distorted guitars. Singer Matt Berninger drapes his velvety baritone all over the track with a love story that involves traveling with a swarm of bees and owing money to his debts.

In fact, Berninger could very well be the x-factor for new listeners of the band. His delivery is particularly hypnotic on this record, but a lot of the songs lean towards some of their more melancholy fare. Only a handful of tracks even approach up-beat, fast-paced, or other hyphenates often used to denote energy and momentum. Like the zombie/cannibalism love story of “Conversation 16″ or the constantly-building “Terrible Love” or the steady-as-a-rock otherworldliness of “Lemonworld” the band strikes its most overt pop hooks with a propulsive beat and Berninger’s world-weary lamenting behind them.

Admittedly, an argument could be made that the more languid, paranoid (”I’m Afraid Of Everyone”), lovelorn (”England”), or taunting (”Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”) numbers might prove droning to some, especially if they aren’t into Berninger’s voice. To me, though, that doesn’t hold water. I could listen to his evocative yet inscrutable lyrics and his closed-eye crooning for months on end and the band’s moody, ethereally unique brand of rock is just the icing on the cake.

In short, the more I listen to High Violet the more I want to keep listening until I succumb to the undercurrent of bleakness that seems to lie just below the surface of their songs.

 

 the National - Bloodbuzz Ohio [4:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the National - Conversation 16 [4:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Physical: 4AD puts their stuff out these days
Digital: itunes seems to be their brand of choice

EDIT — The internet police inform me 4AD and the band don’t want anyone posting non-approved preview tracks. Hope you folks had fast enough fingers, because “Conversation 16″ is gone. Though, as one of the few people out there that actually still buys music, I resent the reference in WebSherrif’s email to pirated tracks. I don’t pirate stuff I like.