Clarity in a blood parade
Recently I wrote a piece on a great local band. Last week I got my face blown off by another local band that was lying dormant, waiting for an opportunity to strike and stir up an entire city’s music fans into a frenzy.
Ghosts of Modern Man have long been a Regina institution, albeit one that suffers through long periods of quietude. In roughly 15 years of activity, the group has put out two 10-song albums. Twenty songs, the result of 15 years of work, an entire recorded output of songs equal to a number Frank Sinatra and Elvis probably recorded in a single day at their “peak.” Granted, I think people are willing to let a band get away with weeks and months of inactivity when their songs are so thoroughly engaging.
I haven’t seen them in at least six months, and it appears they’ve used that time to write most of, if not a whole, new album. Last Friday night they came out white-hot, playing at least five or six new songs in a row, each one faster and more awe-inspiring than that which came before. Their being brought to life is a testament to the intensity of their live machine.
Jonah Kreiser is a vision, a wonder, the way he plays guitar. The precision is unmatched in this city, likely others. The stoicism is measurable, palpable in his eyes every moment he’s on the stage. The rhythm section of Tristan Helgason and Jamie Deal are a rhythm section like few others, a crushing and ferocious two-headed, four-armed animal that cannot contain the violence it feels in it’s medulla oblongata. It finds itself leaping to its feet uncontrollably, staring down its audience and forcing them to clap along to the beat. It squeezes every possible beat out of a moment, its drumsticks are a blur. It drives one to slap at the air with its hands in a futile attempt to keep up. Stacy Hahn is a steady, studied counterpoint hitting his notes and harmonies with a detached concentration that erupts into smiles and banter with the hometown crowd between songs.
Little did I realize it would become my weekend of GOMM.
Our community station, CJTR (home of the weekly radio show that shares a name and host of this site), held it’s annual Music Garage Sale the next morning. It’s a major fundraiser; we take donations of CDs, LPs, equipment, instruments, whatever and then sell it to people. Sorting through bin after bin of CDs I managed to find a copy of GOMM’s first album, released back when they were still called Pillar and before the threat of legal action forced an already-coming name change. The only really striking contrast is the fact that Kreiser sure used to sing a lot more. Much less gruff tone. But the elements are all there in their most basic form. Listening to them brought back a flood of memories, seeing those songs who knows how many times at the Exchange, downloading “Petting Zoo” from mp3.com when it was a new service, being overwhelmed every damn time I saw them play “Lethargy Is Killing Me.”
It was such a good weekend.
Ghosts of Modern Man - Blood Parade [3:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Ghosts of Modern Man - Mauvaise Foi [4:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Pillar - Lethargy Is Killing Me [5:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadLike all good Saskatchewan bands GOMM left the province to find a label:
Smallman Records: Handled by mymerchtable.com, the latest CD is available
iTunes: For digital nerds
