Raised in small town Southwestern Ontario, music has always been a major part of the livelihood of Kevin Graham and his twin brother Sean. In fact, they’ve never met an open mic night they didn’t like. 90’s grunge and alternative, music that was the soundtrack to their growth and development in rural Perth County, is now as much a source of nostalgia for the Grahams as it is an influence for their own music.

Before recording their debut, Greens & Honey (now available on itunes), the duo adopted the name Dress Rehearsal, with Kevin singing and playing guitar and Sean handling drums. Performing the songs off the album live as a duo would’ve meant sacrificing the rich sound achieved by the dense layering of guitars and vocals heard throughout the album. This prompted the duo to take on additional members, including lead guitarist Ryan Watson and bassist Paul Vergeer.

Honing their performance chops in cities like London, Toronto and Guelph, where the brothers attended university, the band is ready to take the next big step. With the impressive achievement that is Greens & Honey, Dress Rehearsal have proven that they’re ready to take centre stage.

I caught up with Kevin, after the band’s live set on CKMS 100.3 FM Radio Waterloo, to find out about the formation of the band and its future.

How did you come up with the name Dress Rehearsal?

I was driving around outside St. Marys one day and listened to “Ahead By a Century” by the Hip followed by “Left & Leaving” by The Weakerthans. Both songs have the phrase “dress rehearsal” in the lyrics so it kind of stuck out. At the time I was looking for a new name and it seemed to fit what Sean and I were up to, which was basically writing songs and kind of pretending we were in a band. I always knew I’d eventually record an album so we used that name with loose plans of changing it once we got around to recording. Though some people aren’t fond of it, there were enough people that didn’t want us to change it, so we left it as is.

If Dress Rehearsal was a single physical being, what would it be and what sort of characteristics would it have?

I think Dress Rehearsal would be a Mogwai -if you know your Gremlins, of course; full of love and compassion for others, excitable in social situations and equally gentle on slow nights, scared of bright light (we much prefer lamps) and equipped with an ability to be ‘furoscious,’ particularly after midnight.

When did you first get involved in music?

We actually started writing songs in [a band called] Beverage Tunx before I knew how to play guitar. I’d write the riffs on one string. So, that was in the spring of 2001, I think. I started actually playing guitar that fall and took lessons for about five months. The first time I ever played in front of an audience was my first year at Guelph [University]. I played an open mic and played “Mayonaise” by the Pumpkins, “Low Light” by Pearl Jam, and “Miss You Love” by Silverchair.

How did the band first come about?

[Kevin’s twin brother] Sean [Graham] and I were the only members for the longest time. In the summer of 2008, I was at an open mic in St. Marys and talked to Tiffany [Blom] about adding backing vox on some of my songs. I picked four for her to work on and all four made the album. She did such a good job coming up with harmonies for them. She really gave new life to “Gumdrop Hills” and “Molly Flower” especially. The album was recorded with just the three of us.

Once it was in the works, I obviously started freaking out a little as I knew we couldn’t possibly pull the songs off live with only three of us. Ryan Watson wrote me one day and said he wanted to jam. I basically was like, yeah, we should jam, and you should probably join my band. It came together very quickly.

Paul Vergeer, our bass player, was a good friend from University and we’d kept in good touch. Sean and him had an apartment together in Banff. He’s been offering his bass services for years and he’s very intelligent with it. He was more than happy to help us out and so by the end of June, we had a five-person unit.

What do you think Tiffany Blom’s voice adds to the song “Gumdrop Hills”? Is it likely she’ll be featured in Dress Rehearsal songs in the future?

I’m happy to say that it was my idea to include her in that song. As I said earlier, I approached her with 4 songs and that was the first one we worked on – it’s my favourite as well. She turned that song into something so enchanting. Because of the lyrics and chord progression, it always had that x-factor of taking you to another place, but Tiffany really took it to another world in my opinion. The work she did on that song is perfect. As far as future plans, it’s all up in the air. I’d love to feature her on our next album but that will be something that will come up when it needs to.

Iron & Wine or The Smashing Pumpkins?

Smashing Pumpkins. Though I’d say that Sam Beam has written more quality songs in the past decade, I personally don’t think anyone will ever be able to write the kind of stuff Billy Corgan wrote from 1992-1994 – basically Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie and all-encompassing releases around those. He was a genius during that time and was so prolific. It’s almost mind boggling to me. I still listen to the Pumpkins, no matter what era, every single day.

The Smashing Pumpkins and Blind Melon are two influences of yours that you can really hear in the lyrics and melodies – how do you relate to Billy Corgan and Shannon Hoon as song writers? How do you think growing up listening to their music has affected yours?

I think both Hoon and Corgan are good at “sugar coating” their lyrics, in that they write about stuff that might seem to be happy and sweet, but in actuality, it’s much darker at their core. Shannon Hoon was just very “real” and I think that’s what attracted people to him. His lyrics weren’t always obvious, but you could tell that what he was feeling had a lot of substance. Corgan is the same way, especially on the early albums and on Adore.

You get to a point where you just can’t worry what people are going to take from your lyrics and just write them for you. They were both very good at that.

How would you describe your music?

Without saying we sound like other bands, I do feel as though we’re kind of a fusion between the Pumpkins and Elliott Smith. Every song I’ve written started with me and my acoustic guitar, and things were built up from that point. I think the music is generally bright and happy sounding, though the lyrics delve into darker areas.

I love to double up my vocals which is totally an Elliott Smith/Mark Kozelek influence. I tell people we’re “acoustic indie rock” for lack of a better term. Acoustic at the core, with layered vocals, pretty little guitar solos, and super solid drumming. There are so many experimental bands out there that have far reaching ambition that I can’t always comprehend. So, I like the fact that we have songs that are easy to digest yet have enough to make them sonically and emotionally pleasing.

What’s one unique thing you bring to the table that other bands don’t?

Well, I feel that because of our undying love for 90’s grunge/alternative, we have the elements that those bands had – guitar solos, personal but not always obvious lyrics, and an attachment to rocking out power chords (ha). That’s been offset by our love for more stripped down music like Sun Kil Moon, Elliott Smith obviously, Hayden, Wilco, etc. In other words, I think we kind of threw all of our influences into a big musical pile and the end product was Dress Rehearsal. I don’t really know many bands these days that will put out an album with a song like “Featherbrain” and follow it with “Killing Spiders”… except maybe Pearl Jam.

What’s been your favourite show that you’ve played and why?

Our show at the Horseshoe Tavern was amazing. We certainly had the biggest draw there and everyone there came with open ears. The sound was good and for one of the first times, I had the feeling that we could actually make something of this if we just keep at it.

What’s missing from Canadian music, and what does it need less of?

I don’t think there’s anything missing from Canadian music. I think Canada offers listeners a ridiculous amount of fresh music that either pushes the boundaries in quirkiness, a la Sunset Rubdown, or screams “we’re fucking Canadian and we love it,” a la Elliott Brood and Rural Alberta Advantage. Between the growing popularity of Feist, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and Metric, along with the up-and-comers like Wolf Parade, Wintersleep, Hayden, Basia Bulat, Great Lake Swimmers, Land of Talk, Plants & Animals, etc. – we’re in good hands.

I could use a little less from these bands like Nickelback, Theory of Deadman, Three Days Grace, etc. How they came to be this big really confuses me.

What’s your favourite place to hang out at in St. Marys?

I love [O’Neill’s] pub for the simple notion that you’ll know at least 50% of the people when you go there. Harvest is a great little coffee shop and they’ve decorated it well. It’s actually got some good culture to it. I can feel content anywhere in St. Marys. It really is a beautiful, beautiful place and I’ve always been proud to say that I grew up there.

Before Dress Rehearsal, you performed under the names Tiger Zebra, as well as Devito and Schwartz, where did these names come from, and (referring particularly to the latter) will you ever perform under either of those names again?

Tiger Zebra came from a Tom Green skit. He sneaks into the Ottawa Art Gallery and puts up one of his own paintings and it’s called “Tiger Zebra” – we thought it was funny. Devito & Schwartz refers to Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger from the movie “Twins.” The people that know and love that movie, like we do, get a real kick out of it. We actually do still perform under that name sometimes. We play shows in Guelph on occasion at Doogies, and we use that name. Basically, any time someone wants to “book” us for a gig playing covers and stuff, we use that name.

What’s your favourite band/musician you’ve ever played on the same bill as, and why?

Luke Michielsen. He’s a good friend of ours and we met him during first year of University in Guelph. We’ve played probably 7-10 shows with him over the years. I am such a huge fan of his music.

He used to make acoustic demos in school and give them out for free. I always loved those. He’s got tons of stuff that will probably never see the light of day. He released an album with a band known as Slowking in late 2007. I fell in love with that album.

In late 2008 he released a solo album, Burn to the Ground. He’s as talented a songwriter as anyone I’ve known. Unfortunately, he’s currently teaching English in Korea so we’ll have to wait until next year to play more shows with him.

On your live performance on 100.3 FM Waterloo Radio, you mentioned you had never played north of Toronto – when/where is this landmark event going to happen?

Haha. We’ve talked about doing a weekend tour of Kingston, Ottawa and Montreal. Sadly, it’s all just been talk and no action. I made contact with people in all those cities about playing but when you’re in a band with members who all have strange work schedules, it’s hard to get it accomplished. My guess is we’ll head up there next Spring, or maybe this winter if Mother Nature decides to be on our side.

Have you begun to write any songs for the follow up to Greens & Honey? Do you have any plans to head back into the studio again any time soon?

I’m constantly writing. A lot of songs I’ll write and play a few times over the course of a week, then they kind of fall by the wayside. At this point there are two or three that I would consider putting on our next album. In addition, I have a lot of old songs that I would love to dust off and rework.

For our next album though, I’m sure it will be more of a group effort, especially from the musical standpoint. I feel as though once we have a chance to grow together as a group, the influences of Paul and Ryan will start to shine through. We probably won’t be back in the studio for some time, unless it’s to record a demo or two. It costs a lot of money – something that we don’t have at this point.

Having said that, I’m hopeful that we’ll have a follow up to Greens & Honey set in a year or two. I have no doubt that it will happen, and it will be a wonderful experience, just like the first album was.

What does music mean to you?

After Family and Health, music means more to me than anything else. It’s the driving force of my livelihood. It’s shaped the way I live my life and it’s shaped the way I look at life. Most of my best friends are my best friends as a result of our love for music. I can’t go anywhere without my Ipod and consider it my good buddy. Music is the only thing in the world that can literally bring you back to another moment in your life in a split second. That’s my favourite part about it – the nostalgia factor.

Okay Em, here’s my rebuttal to your video, “We May Cry” by the Script.

I present you with “Elegy for Elsabet” by the Weakerthans. Now, you need to either watch (or skip to) the middle/bridge of this song. The band puts down their instruments and do something pretty awesome. Hence why they beat the Script, who sound like any other band who sits infront of the quad at my school. Cept maybe a bit better.

Enjoy the Weakerthans!

• As Tall As Lions
• Band of Horses
• Brand New (New CD called Daisy)
• The Constantines
• Dear and the Headlights
• Emarosa
• Final Fantasy
• Hot Little Rocket
• Jay – Z
• Just Jack
• Manchester Orchestra
• Neverending White Lights (New CD)
• One Day As A Lion
• Stars
• Sufjan Stevens
• The Wallflowers
• The Weakerthans
• Weatherbox

I’ve been really like Weatherbox and Emarosa. Both suggested to me via the Itunes Genius, which I find is surprisingly reliable. If you’re fans of alt rock and post-hardcore respectively, you’ll like these bands. I also bought the new Matthew Good CD, Vancouver, so I’m pretty excited to get to listen to that one!

I’ve got four more CD’s to review and I think they’re going to be good! I’m pretty excited!

It’s your turn again! – What have you been listening to? Anything I should listen to or check out? Let me know with a comment!

I wrote Walking Backward  to the Weakerthans. Something opened in my heart while listening to their song, “Virtue the Cat Explains her Disappearance.” I have no idea why, but something in the song connected to my story in a way I don’t understand. (The song is about a lost cat, which doesn’t factor into my dead-mother novel.) If I wanted sad from the Weakerthans, surely Hospital Vespers would have better done the trick? No. That damned lost cat song just about killed me.

When I was in the drafting stage (which is short-lived, thankfully, since I rarely bathe and barely eat during that stage), I’d put my kids on the schoolbus and head straight to the computer. I’d write until lunch, ignoring the phone, email, and the 5-year report I was contracted to write at the time. Then I’d force a bowl of cereal down my throat while listening to Virtue the cat tell her sad story. I’d ball my eyes out and head back to the computer to write until the schoolbus arrived at 3:00. 

As I shifted from intense drafting to revising (a significantly longer stage, in which I maintain good hygiene and get my weight back up), I expanded my lunchtime listening to several of the Weakerthans’ albums (Reunion Tour, Reconstruction Site, Left and Leaving). I’d grown superstitious: the writing was going so well I didn’t want to mess with the soundtrack. 

Eventually, as revising turned to editing and polishing, I added the Walkmen to my playlist, then a couple tunes from the Wallflowers and the Weepies, until finally I ventured beyond the Ws and the book was done.

That was over a year ago and it’s still a mystery to me how the music inspired my words. I’ve thought of sending the Weakerthans a copy of Walking Backward with my thanks, but I can’t explain how or why the book  connects to them. ”Your cat song made me cry and I wrote this book,” is just too weird. I’ll keep it to myself and the three people who might read this blog.

Today I’m putting together a mixed CD to play in the background of my book launch party. I’ll include a Weakerthans tune, but not Virtue the Cat. It’s not that I’m sick of it. It’s that the last line still kills me.

edit: thanks to alex for pointing out my blunder in posting the wrong video earlier. we love our friends in the great white north! a round of brava and poutain for all!

taken from 2007’s reunion tour, the weakerthans’ achingly reflective ode to eviction is given a tender black and white trbute to the blue collar workers and proletariat of winnipeg.

the weakerthans on myspace

download:

the weakerthans – sun in an empy room

- sunbear

De su último disco editado Reunion Tour (2007). La primavera produce el efecto contrario en mí. Y bueno, la tónica de mi blog es nostálgica y a veces triste, pero bueno, me gusta así. Me gusta esta banda y la canción está para escucharla echadito en el pasto con un sol de 10AM en la cara, suave.

Mañana subiré el último post (por un rato). Lo iba a hacer la semana pasada pero una serie de sucesos nefastos me lo impidieron.

As the prophecies kept within the confines of the previous post proclaimed, this post is about Frank Turner. Now, one thing that most people close to me know is that I’m cranky. I don’t like people who like popular things, and I throw the term “hipster” around far too much, and all too often with an air of contempt. I am mature enough to admit that sometimes I am in the wrong, and sometimes it is good to hop on the band wagon. This is one of those times, and he is one of the best of our times.

It took me awhile to really get interested in Frank Turner. I had heard his name uttered throughout the various alleyways and avenues of the interwebs, but never gave him more than a passing sigh. Admittedly, I always thought he was the singer from the UK band the Gallows. Putting an image of them side-by-side, you can see how wrong I once was.

So uhh…. yeah, not quite the same person. Also, once I figured out who was who, I actually started to like the Gallows anyways. Long story short, I thought I knew who Frank Turner was, started liking a band I thought he was in, found out he wasn’t and wrote him off again. That is, until the Internet wouldn’t stop talking about him.

That’s how it always happens right? Now, I tried to tune out the cries of admiration. I tried for a good few months. Then I got curious again. I had come across a live video of him playing the title track of his latest album on some CNN programme, of all things. The host of this particular show was a tit, and I got the feeling that his favourite band is probably Bright Eyes or Belle & Sebastian, (sorry Nicole), but distractions and annoyances aside, Frank’s live performance was top-notch. The man certainly has some chops, and I personally liked this performance (which came to CNN via Skype of all things) better than the album version. Something about the rawness of his voice and the absence of all additional instrumentation made it seem all the more passionate and genuine to me. Video of this fine performance can be found below.

Fantastic, right? He only gets better as you discover more of his catalogue. His latest album, Poetry of the Deed, came out recently, and from what I understand charted in the top 20 in the UK upon release, so congrats to Frank for that. It’s refreshing to know that in this age of Swift/Kanye escapades, and the fact that kids still seem to listen to Tokio Hotel, there are still some genuine artists who receive real recognition and the successes they deserve.

As you can surmise, one of the more common labels I’ve found for him has been the folk punk moniker. I would argue he’s much more than that. Folk Punk is a label best reserved for frontmen of hardcore punk bands who are now touring solo and with acoustic guitars. They sing songs with an uncharacteristic country twang, and sing about themes like the outdoors, lost love, and i don’t know… fishing. That’s right, I’m calling you out, Chuck Ragan, Kevin Seconds, John K Samson, and whoever else I’m forgetting. Kepi Ghoulie I think might be doing it too. Anyways, it’s a wonderful thing but it all really sounds the same, and is in no way a suitable label for Frank Turner.

In fact, I think he’s one of those artists that don’t deserve to be pegged into a category. The kind who defy classification. His music is inspired, lyrically brilliant, and while on the surface he seems to be another one of those old-punks-playing-acoustics, the soundscapes of his studio albums read like a rich tapestry of someone who cannot and will not stick to one style, set of influences, or label. He seems to challenge himself to create the most diverse work he can, while keeping the same sort of softened-punk ethos one would expect from an artist like him. His influences also seem to be so varied that it’s impossible for him to stick to one direction. Traces of chorus singing, pianos, and a wide variety of instruments I don’t know the names of hint at a man who not only is aware of his limits, but is also willing to push the boundaries of genres to match these limits. He is bigger than Folk Punk. In a genre where I see a great deal of artists mimicking each other, he is a welcome change. If he is able to push this idea of Folk Punk towards where he is headed, then perhaps the genre itself has a chance.

Many people call upon images of Billy Bragg when discussing him, but I propose he’s much more than that. He harkens back to the late great Joe Strummer during his tenure with his backing band the Mescaleros. Each song was unique, with a different combination of sounds and instruments for each song on each album. Nothing is the same, but they all share a common spirit. If someone ever tried to claim music was not an art form, Frank Turner could be one of those indisputable examples that would silence all critics. He is an artist in the purest sense of the word.

Like the aforementioned John K Samson, Frank Turner was also once in a more “rocking” punk outfit, who I admittedly am not familiar with, but Mr. Samson was also in a wonderful and amazing punk band named Propagandhi at one time, so any similarities I can draw between he and Turner only increases my support for Frank. To draw upon another similarity between the two of them, Frank has been garnering a great deal of praise for his lyrics, with no shortage of critics giving him praise as one of, if not the best of his generation. John K Samson, to my knowledge, has not received such prestigious accolades, but he damn well should. This isn’t just my opinion either, as I can think of a solid THREE other people who would share this perspective. All the same, both share an uncanny ability to string vowels and consonants together in ways that would make even the most devout monk break their silence and sing the praises of these two fantastic wordsmiths.

But this isn’t about John K Samson or any other Canadians. This is about Frank Turner. The fact is, that he has produced some of the most infectious, inspirational, engrossing, and catchy records of the past decade in his relatively short time as a solo artist. Three albums in three years under his belt, and what appears to be a constant touring schedule, one can only expect this mortal to burn out like a supernova if he keeps up this pace. Selfish as it may be, I hope he does keep the pace for the sheer reason that I cannot wait for his next offering.

I can really only sing praises for so long until I begin to bore myself, so I’d like to take one last moment to offer you some choice cuts from this amazing artist.

From his album Love, Ire, and Song, I give my highest recommendation to “photosynthesis”.
From his latest offering, Poetry of the Deed, I suggest the title track, “poetry of the deed”, the lead single “the road”, and the braggish “richard divine”.

Frankly, it doesn’t matter which album or songs you look into, it’s 5 stars across the board for this bloke.

So it’s been a while since I last wrote here. I partly blame WordPress for having a shitty password reset service that only works 50% of the time, apparently; partly myself for being lazy and forgetting what my password was. But anyway, it’s time for me to write about the Weakerthans. As I said at the end of the last post, we’re going to pick up with Anchorless. Fast-forward a couple of months to this February or so, to one of those nights where I was looking up lyrics for no specific reason, and one of the songs I examined was Anchorless. In the comments section, I noticed someone saying that they preferred the Weakerthans’ version, and my interest was piqued. Not quite enough that I went to seek them out immediately, but I made a mental note that there was a band out there who had done a version of Anchorless, and the name of this band was the Weakerthans.

Luckily, before I had a chance to forget, I befriended Matt of Names of Foreign Towns the Homemade Slides not-exactly-fame. I noticed two things fairly early on: he had near-impeccable musical taste, and he was also a fan of this ‘Weakerthans’ band. I decided to download their first album, Fallow. And that’s where all this began.

Fallow is, in some ways, Samson’s graduation from being in a hardcore punk band.  While the opener and a few other tracks are quiet, folksy and nervous, most of the songs have familiar-sounding, hummable pop-punk riffs. There’s about equal quantities of both, but hardly any of the fusion that one would associate with the band’s sound – The Last Last One and Leash show the start of it, but it’s still kind of under-developed. It’s all good, and I still love Fallow, but the strongest tracks are the soft title track and None of the Above, and the pop-punk Wellington’s Wednesdays and Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist.

While it may not have the near-perfection of its younger siblings, John K Samson’s brilliant songwriting still stands out on Fallow. He has a talent for the melancholy that, combined with his incredible eye for detail, underlying sense of hope and heartbreaking honesty, is comparable to the writing of Kurt Vonnegut. Sort of, anyway. I think they upset me and bowl me over in the same way, for some of the same reasons. Oh, and people persistently describe both as ‘witty’ as if it is one of their primary qualities. While both Samson and Vonnegut both possess wit, I would never think “I’ll go re-read Slaughterhouse -Five – it’s hilarious!” or “Oh, Reconstruction Site is such a lolfest!”

Anyway.

Fallow is probably more limited in lyrical range than any of the other albums, and is probably the most downbeat (aside from maybe Reunion Tour, but we’ll get to that later.) The mood basically ranges from ‘reflective’ to ‘despairing’; the album gets away with it on how well-executed it all is. Leash is often difficult to listen to, the mood captured in the opening lines:

“Had one of those days when you want to try heroin

Drunk-driving, some form of soft suicide”

None of the Above features some of the strongest imagery in any of Samson’s lyrics: one of the things he’s absolutely brilliant at is conveying a sense of place, and None of the Above comes across almost as a silent movie, with this playing as the soundtrack. (If you’re interested, there’s a brilliant in-depth look at it here, along with some of their other songs – though I don’t agree with all the analyses, they’re worth reading.) Wellington’s Wednesdays is a slice of a story that ought to be ordinary but, bursting with energy, is exciting to listen to nonetheless. Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist is probably the album’s most upbeat track, about life being difficult but that bit less with someone else there, people being prone to doing stupid things, and the importance of having hope. It also contains the line “enlist the cat in the impending class war” and is therefore awesome. Fallow is both the final standout track on the album, and the final track on the album, rolling out softly and reflecting on regrets and staying where you are.

In comparison with its successors, Fallow is probably the least strong of the Weakerthans’ albums, and yet, on hearing it for the first time, it still managed to make me think: “This is special. This music is important.” I still look at it fondly for having started all of this.

I would start writing about Left and Leaving here, but it’d go on for too long and you’d all get bored of  hearing about the Weakerthans. So I’ll break this post off here, and start afresh.

So I was going to write a review of Reconstruction Site, because it’s fantastic, but then I realised I wouldn’t be able to do that without it turning it into a post about how great the Weakerthans are. So I decided to backtrack, and begin from the beginning. And the beginning of the story is with Propagandhi. About this time one month and one year ago, I got Less Talk, More Rock for my brother’s birthday. I hadn’t heard them before, but he gave me a list of albums he wanted, and I approved of the bandname, making them my first choice. Off to My Local Independent Record Store I headed, and lo and behold, for a princely sum of £14.99, was the album. (My Local Independent Record Store happens to have a very good but very expensive punk section. Rarely would I consider 25 minutes worth £15, but Propagandhi are a very special punk rock band, as will become clear.)

(disclaimer: this post will be more personal than I usually intend them to be. Some situations demand it.)

When I actually listened to LT, MR, it was a revelation. It is a very important album to me; and why shouldn’t it, when, as I listened to it, (and read the accompanying essays,) the way I saw the world changed, I became clearer on what I believed and unafraid to stand by it? While there were various other influences (including common sense) that drew me towards anarcho-communism, I won’t attempt to deny that Propagandhi helped, simply because of the way these short, angry songs and accompanying paragraphs of explanation made it easier to feel like my ideals are not irrational. The most important moment on Less Talk, More Rock for me is the final thirty seconds of Resisting Tyrannical Government:

And yes, I recognise the irony: the system I oppose affords me the luxury of biting the hand that feeds. That’s exactly why privelidged fucks like me should feel obliged to whine and kick and scream –

Yeah, until everyone has everything they need.

That was something I’d been trying to articulate for years, and never found words for; hearing it summed up so perfectly was a revelation and it still holds its power a year on. The words on that album also made it easier to understand why I felt so disaffected with gender and that it was fine for me to. I don’t think it would have achieved it by itself, but combined with becoming close to some of the most brilliant people the world has to offer around the same time, when I look back to compile a soundtrack for my coming of age, I imagine Less Talk, More Rock will feature heavily.

But if it wasn’t for one thing, LT, MR would be a fairly standard punk rock album, too noisy and opinionated to offer clarity to a teenager trying to make sense of the world. Propagandhi are basically like anarcho-punk superheroes, vegan activists on FBI watchlists. Sure, it must be easy for them to sing those songs, but how can every-day, average humans possibly compare?

While the most important song to me on Less Talk, More Rock is Resisting Tyrannical Government, it’s not, in my opinion, the key song on the album. It’s not …And We Thought the Nation-States Were a Bad Idea, either, or the title track, or Refusing to Be a Man.

Those thirty seconds of epiphany on Resisting Tyrannical Government are immediately followed by Gifts.  Gifts is not a political song. It is a song brimming with melancholy, sung by a nervous-sounding man keen on metaphor, about cluelessness and loneliness and regret. And following that determined political declaration with this beautiful, personal doubt is one of the most effective moments I have ever found in music.*

By the time the song closes with “A razorblade, this broken piece of chain; a history left to rust out in the rain,” it’s certain that Propagandhi are in fact human. They are not anarchist messiah figures. They have anxieties and failures and personal relationships just like you and I. Without the brief personal insights, Less Talk, More Rock would become inaccessable, difficult to associate with.

It could be argued that Gifts (and Anchorless, which we’ll be seeing more of later) the two songs written and sung by John K Samson, are separate beasts from the rest of the album – and it would be true, but another subtlety in Gifts increases the power of the song further: in the chorus, the lead singer Chris Hannah provides backing vocals just as Samson does for him in other places on the album. By doing that, the song isn’t severed from the rest of the album. Hannah associates himself with the doubts and humanity that Samson expresses, bringing the album together perfectly.

Fun note for Propagandhi fans:

When I sought out Potemkin City Limits a while after falling in love with Less Talk, More Rock, I wasn’t aware that the writer of those songs had gone off to found the Weakerthans, and I’ve never gotten into it as much as it or Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes. I’m not sure if it’s just not as good an album, or if my disappointment marred my enjoyment of it and I still haven’t gotten over it.

At any rate, I have two theories for why I manage to love Today’s Empires. One is simply that I already knew that the band have that human side, and by the time I listened to it I was relatively familiar with the music of  the Weakerthans so I wasn’t disappointed by the absence of Samson. More importantly though, Today’s Empires moves the lyrical focus from the first to the third person. Less Talk, More Rock is very strongly saying “Look at us, this is what we believe, this is why you should too.” Its follow-up, however, starts by telling the story of an East Timorese refugee, and continues to give snapshots of the lives of others over the course of the album, preventing it from feeling preachy and self-absorbed. (And believe me, we will return to this idea in the final post of this two-parter.)

In any case, that’s what I have to say on Propagandhi. The Weakerthans half of the story picks up with the reappearance of Anchorless.

_{*and this is why we listen to albums properly sometimes rather than just ripping them into our libraries and sticking on shuffle.}

hard to believe 2009 is half over.  i’m not sure when i reached the point in life where time began to fly. as a kid, everything seemed to move in slow motion.  since college, it’s all been a blur, seemingly.  i guess it’s the fear of aging (but more on my “oh dear Lord i’m gonna be 30!” fears at some other time).  this is music monday, and i figured that since we’re half way through ‘09 (side note:  is this the last year of this decade?) in no particular order i offer you 10 videos from 10 great bands/artists whom i love dearly.  and there’s more great stuff on the way in the 2nd half of the year – primary among the forthcoming releases is david bazan’s curse your branches.  and tomorrow brings us the new album from wilco, wilco (the album).  now, this video is not the best quality – one of a few in this bloog that come to us from fans in the crowd, but the song is great.  here’s “you never know”.

the first album of the year i really loved was the newest offering from morrissey (suprise, suprise!) years of refusal.  it’s an amazing album, though my bias is probably too much to give credit to my opinion.  live on the late show here’s “all you need is me”.

now, i haven’t really given much thought to what my favorites of the year are thusfar, and i’m not saying i like the new mos def more then moz’s latest, but the ecstatic is just incredible.  it’s the best hip hop album i’ve heard in a few years, and the mighty mos creates a sound that even those who don’t like hip hop can get into.  the highlight of the album is “casa bey”, but i featured that video 2 weeks ago (the only video for that music monday, as i felt it was so good it needed to be absorbed properly!).  sadly there’s no other videos of decent quality from the album, but all the songs are featured with just the album cover as the background. it’s worth it, it’s mos def!  just listen.  the opening is an amazing quote from el-hajj malik el-shabbaz, aka malcolm x, and mos’ invocation of God’s blessing “bismillah al-rahman al-rahim” meaning “in the name of God, most gracious, most compassionate”.  oh, and on the song he rhymes supercalifragilisticespialodocious with “super magic black origin fresh we are the dopeness”.  yeah, that’s right.  here’s ”super magic”.

last music monday was devoted to the beautiful and magnificent neko case and her latest middle cyclone. i can’t express my love for this woman enough.  so, here’s “this tornado loves you” live on letterman.

oh tim kasher, you’re such a witty bastard.  it’s hard to believe such creativity could come from omaha. throughout the 21st century thusfar cursive has led the pack of “emo when emo was good/indie rock that actually rocks/power chords for nerds” music, and their new album mama, i’m swollen (which got a big laugh when they played on letterman…yeah, cursive was on letterman!) keeps them up front. here’s the first single, “from the hips”, live from sxsw ‘09.  were you there for this, indie ben?

alongside mos def, boston’s best mc mr. lif has dropped some serious knowledge for the lover of intelligent/conscious hip hop with i heard it today.  lif’s entire catalog is a celebration of both the art of rhyme and of edumacatin’ punk muthas, and this offering fits right in.  i highly recommend it, in case i hadn’t made that clear when i put the/a video for “what about us?” on here a few weeks back.  here’s the opening to the album, “welcome to the world”, which is also just the album cover, but the creator of it managed to do some cool stuff with it.

when you say the red hot chili peppers people think of flea, they think of anthony keidis, they think of socks on cocks, they think of half (or fully) naked men.  but, i think they should think of john frusciante (at least post-80’s rhcp – meaning, yes, the dave navarro album doesn’t count!).  frusciante is a musical wonder. and, we’re lucky to have him around b/c dude was about an inch from death due to his horrendous heroin addiction during his hiatus from the chili peppers.  apparently he’s been clean for a few years now, and thank God b/c that guitar playing is spectacular.  he’s the best pepper by far.  here’s “unreachable” from his latest solo album the empyrean, set to clips from the kung fu classic “36th chamber”.

in a world of mindless pop punk, it’s nice to have a band like propagandhi around to talk about COINTELPRO, the black panthers and haiti.  canada’s top punks tackle imperialism, capitalism, human rights and veganarchism and pull no punches.  surprisingly to those who didn’t know, the weakerthans were started by the original bassist (though, i suppose if you know the weakerthans you’d probably have known that!).  off supporting caste, here’s the song of the same name.

scotland’s camera obscura could’ve been one trick brindie (british indie) ponies, but they have followed up nicely to ‘06 breakthrough let’s get out of this country (why’d anyone want to leave scotland?!?!) with my maudlin career.  so let’s hear it for these celtic composers, and check out “french navy”.

and lastly, death cab for cutie.  they’re a band you may have heard of.  i was going to put something off bruce springsteen’s latest on here, but alas, i never got that copy of it from a certain someone *ahem*.  so, from DCFC’s ‘09 ep the open door, here’s a live take of “little bribes”.

hipsters (that’s you, indie ben – skinny jeans or no!) are saying where’s grizzly bear and animal collective and bat for lashes and phoenix and dirty projectors and super furry animals and various others, and my response is i haven’t heard any of them.  i decided last year to stop listening to new music, it’s too hard to keep up.  if it’s good enough, it’ll find its way to me

addendum:  i just realized i forgot u2.  that’s how underwhelmed i was with their latest.  hmph.

“poet laureates” and “delicate, poetic indie-pop” were a few of the more recent descriptions i came across in regards to one of my favorite bands, the weakerthans, who just released a digital ep on itunes consisting of reconstructed and acoustic songs from their latest release reunion tour as well as their debut album fallow. the band (2/5ths of them anyway) sound absolutely beautiful, singer john samson’s quirky, introspective lyrics layering perfectly over acoustic guitars and a drum machine (one that gives the songs a very dntel feel). the ep definitely captures the band at their most elegant.

i’ve included a couple of my favorite weakerthans songs for download since i’m not linking the ep for free (you pirate, you).

purchase:

the weakerthans – itunes session ep

download:

the weakerthans – left and leaving
the weakerthans – reconstruction site

- sun bear

Finally.

Over the past year record producer Mike Petkau set out to create what resembles a sink or swim musical project in his native city of Winnipeg. Every wednesday over a 16 week span, He would gather three musicians from around the area to come in and within one night, completely record, mix and master one track. The artists would never quite know who they would be paired up with and the results would always be… Interesting.

Although the tracks have been available online for the better part of this year, Head In The Sand records is making sure this release is done right. The album is being released June 16th 2009, and the first 1000 are hand numbered. Art is designed by Halifax’s Yo Rodeo, and all copies are printed on recycled material, with vegetable based ink. For those who are not as familiar with Head In The Sand, they are distributed by Sonic Unyon so the album should be available at your local record shop.

To portray how interesting this project is, one only has to look for its most popular song where Weakerthans lead vocalist John K. Samson was paired up with Nikki Komaksiutiksak, an Inuit throat singer, and the electronic artist Blunderspublik. The album also contains other heavy hitters from the Peg, inlcuding members of The Waking Eyes, Novillero, BurnThe8Track, Twilight Motel and others.

Be sure to check it out on June 16th, or until then the tracks are available to stream for free at http://www.recordoftheweekclub.com/

Record Of The Week Club – Keewatin Arctic

The Weakerthans/Constantines
Friday, May 1 (and there’s a show tonight, May 2)
@ Commodore Ballroom 

This show was a great co-headline of some amazing Canadian acts.  What can I really say about The Weakerthans and Constantines other than if you haven’t seen them perform, you must.  And if you have, you know what I’m talking about.

 Constantines

The Weakerthans

This was the cutest thing ever.  They pulled this fan they had met in Italy who was at the show onto the stage and helped him through playing guitar for a song.  Fan’s dream come true, and the grin on his face showed he wouldn’t be forgetting the experience for the rest of his life.

And my favourite line ever.  Pardon the horrible video and people singing along.

Last night I went to see the Rolling Tundra Review: Part 2 (I didn’t know there was a part 1… but ok!)  It was the Constantines first (actually after  a not-so-good opener) and they were great.  They rocked out, shouted all their songs and managed to look totally out of it and into it at the same time… if that’s a possibility!  Then the Weakerthans.  Every time I hear their music I think “Oh, it’s the Canadian Death Cab”.  But since I really enjoy Death Cab and frankly, the Weakerthans are better… it makes for a great sound and they put on an awesome show.

***

The weekend is a-rolling in… my sister is on her way over to My Island to visit moi!

I think I’ve got a good time planned for her! Tonight we’ll enjoy the last of the sunshine at The Mansion, have some BBQ and a few bevvies, maybe head home early and watch a DVD.  Tomorrow we’re gettin’ our nails did (The budget allows!)  then maybe some thrift store shopping, or we’ll see if she wants to do anything else.  Tomorrow night (weather providing…) we’re heading out to *not* watch race-cars.  As in, we’ll drink the cheap booze and do a little redneck watching, and keep our backs to the track the whole time! Sunday will be spent as Sundays should: in complete and utter sloth.

***

I’m seriously loving my song of the day podcasts, thought I’d share this gem with ya!  Though I’m sure you already know this, M. Ward is one half of “She and Him” with Zooey Deschanel.  (They met on a movie she was acting in and he was doing the sound track for… it’s called the Go Getter, and it’s fantastic.)

Bit of a slow week for me and music.  Classes in the summer, worst idea ever.

Bloc Party
Monday, April 27
@ Commodore Ballroom
*SOLD OUT*

The Weakerthans/Constantines
Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2
@ Commodore Ballroom
*Don’t miss this show!*

The Faint/Ladytron
Sunday, May 3
@ Commodore Ballroom
Dropkick the Punks!

John K Samson on March 20th in Halifax | Photo by Ryan Heise

There are worse ways to spend a Thursday night. My typical Thursday evening involves wine and 30 Rock. But I received a reminder earlier last week that I was meant to attend the Weakerthans concert in Edmonton at the Winspear Centre (on April 23). Two of my dear friends from elemenatary school, some beer, and some music. I didn’t feel bad for missing Liz Lemon and Tracy Jordan’s antics.

The last time I saw the Weakerthans was the last time they played Folk Fest in Edmonton. It was a great live show, mostly because when they played “One Great City!” one of the audience members clearly didn’t get it, stood up, said something to the effect that “Winnipeg rules!” and marched off angrily. It was highly amusing. I was eager to see them at the Winspear, since acoustically and aesthetically, it’s a really amazing space.

The Constantines opened for the Weakerthans on Thursday, but we only caught their last three songs. I never really got into the Constantines, but it was great to hear them live. They even played a song I recognized and like: “Young Lions.” Real wall-of-sound kind of rock. It was pretty cool.

But I went to see the Weakerthans, and when they took the stage, I don’t think I stopped bobbing my head or smiling the whole time. Oh sure, they messed up “Aside,” by singing the second verse first and we were treated to what John K described as the “remixed” version of the song, but it was still a damned solid show.

Mostly, though, I was struck by a profound sense of Canadianness as I sang along to the lyrics. Songs about curling aside, John K’s remarkably adept at capturing ethereal feeling with language, certainly as it relates to life in the flatter parts of Canada. He somehow knits together sentiments with objects, situations and emotions to form an overarching sense of us. Maybe it just works for Prairie-dwellers—or maybe just me—and it maybe felt more profoundly for Manitobans, but there’s a sense of shared experience in his lyrics that’s unshakable. A familiarity that I don’t think even the Tragically Hip captures (but maybe that’s because they’re from Kingston, and I just don’t get what it’s like to be an Ontarian).

As part of their encore, John K played “One Great City!,” which although it’s about Winnipeg, really evokes feelings of what it’s like to be a frustrated, dead-eyed urban-dweller in Edmonton, realizing that in fact things aren’t all that great.

Of course they aren’t all that terrible here either, as evidenced by the fact that we can attract acts like the Weakerthans to one of the most fantastic music halls in Canada.

The only disappointment of the evening: they didn’t play my very favourite Weakerthans song, “A New Name for Everything.”

But I still left the Winspear with a huge smile on my face.

Note: Ryan Heise was kind enough to let me use a photo from a number he’d taken when the Weakerthans rolled through Halifax last month. Sorry I didn’t have an image from the Edmonton show!