Category: Music

On My Mind

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I’m biased for Volumes. There’s no reason to qualify anything because I follow this band without hesitation. August 18th, 2011, I saw them perform for the first time. As soon as the bouncing groove from “Intake” kicked in I was hooked.

They came along with djent when the genre was starting to solidify its legacy and changing music forever. They had two screaming frontmen who were like a rap duo. They played off each other and had different tenures in vocal tones.

At the time they had only had The Concept of Dreaming EP out but clearly their stage presence and song writing was advanced and unique enough to differentiate them from Meshuggah, Periphery, and etc.

I regarded Volumes immediately as a band to raise up for to festivals across the states and maybe internationally.

Fast forward six years, the band has released two full lengths and endured a major shake up. Myke Terry replaced Michael Barr and the band has shown significant changes stylistically.

“On Her Mind” moves the band from a rapper’s feel to literally featuring Pouya on verses. Usually these tactics within the scene come off gimmicky but with their well established grooves, particularly from the bass and drum beat, this combination works well.

Terry’s clean choruses continue to compliment the music, which was an element they permanently needed to establish a while ago. No Sleep started this process.

I don’t believe this will define Different Animals, dropping June 9th, but it’s a marker of where they’ve progressed.

Willful and Young

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Just last year I got to see Japandroids for the first time at The Echo. They had not played in America for over three years. Show was sold out and I made a day of it Los Angeles before seeing them. It was a special day.

That night I got see, hear, experience new music from the band. Even then I felt some of the criticism I’ve read in the media.

“Near to the Wild Heart of Life” was the third song of the set and first time they ever played it in America. My first thoughts were “Bruce Springsteen?” They always seemed like the kind of band that came from the same place as Springsteen.

Dive bars, cheap beer, cigarettes, and leather jackets personify what I like about the band. Springsteen came from this place too but started breaking away from that on Born to Run, and then completely departed on Born in the U.S.A. Now Japandroids have followed this trajectory. I think what the media has missed however is that this is natural and the music is still compelling.

They can’t be that small club band forever. Their popularity has grown too large. These new songs fit a festival better than The Echo, where I saw them. I had to hear the title track a few times to understand what they were going for. Singer/guitarist Brian King moved from his hometown of Vancouver to Toronto. King borrowed the title from authors Claurice Lispector and James Joyce.

Near to the Wild Heart of Life represents leaving adolescence beyond and moving forward with our own individuality and independence. Boyhood is over. We’re in our adulthood now. Speaking for myself I want the responsibility.

After a few listen now, the album and title track reminds me of my own personal growth over the last 12 months. Most of the record intimates coming of age.

It’s drastically different from Celebration Rock or Post-Nothing in respect its theme. You can’t sing about PBR’s and singing with your bros forever. Eventually you leave and try creating your own legacy. I think Wild Heart acknowledges these changes and it’s reflected in the pace, energy, and even the arrangement of the music.

While the title track was an exodus, “No Known Drink or Drug” debuted right after and defused any doubt about of regression. Audience members started rustling around, pogoing with arms around each other.  It was a celebration.

They only play three chords on the song and that’s a testament to who Japandroids are. It’s just two men, a guitar, and drums. All they needed was the previous two sentences.

Most of this album sounds very Americana, think Springsteen and John Mellencamp. Seasoned, aged, marinated well. Wild Heart was written and recorded between 2014-2015. Five weeks was spent in New Orleans writing most of the songs.

“North East South West” makes this context obvious. Sounds like they even took a field trip to Mellencamp’s home in the Midwest. Lyrically there’s clearly an affection for the fun they’ve had in America. “True Love and a Free Life of Free Will” has the same elements with more bombastic marching drums and sing alongs for large audiences.

I’ve read wide ranging debate about “Arc of Bar” and how it fits within Japandroid’s catalog. Like the title track it was odd seeing it live. It stands out with synthesizers throughout the track, which I haven’t heard from them before. Comparing its arrangement to other songs though one would find it’s classic form for them with a new layer of sounds to the canvas.

Wild Heart comparatively has a lot of differences the other records. I think most critics are tripping over themselves to harp on this idea. It’s a strength, not a weakness or as Pitchfork would have you believe a wobbling Janga tower.

Admittedly I was unsure how I felt about these tracks the night I saw them in LA. With each listen Near to the Wild Heart of Life sticks. It’s one of those records that doesn’t do much when it’s first released but grows reputation and acclaim over the years.

Spend time with it. Put the needle down and let go. Each track audibly has tremendous care taken to compose songs one will remember and look forward to hearing. I get see them again in March I expect to connect even more with this LP.

Below you can find some images I took of the special edition vinyl I grabbed last weekend from Lou’s Records.

It Works

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I’ve been listening to emo for a long, long, time. I read and gave copies of Andy Greenwald’s Nothing Feels Good to friends. In high school it was the word I used to describe myself and who I associated myself with.

It’s a scene I carry a great deal of affection for, especially for the 90’s era. When American Football or The Promise Ring tours or releases new music my teenage hope of hopes have been answered.

So many new bands have such obvious influences from this period of emo but have little to no diversion. They’re either carbon copies or poor imitations.

You see more bands that were influenced by Thursday or Pg. 99 creating more authentic music. Oliver Houston is the only band I’ve heard recently that sounds like 90’s midwest emo but yet their own.

Whatever Works came to me as a complete surprise. They’ve proclaimed their refusal to use status quo music business tools to promote their album. While I found the band through a sponsored ad, it’s something they paid for and directed at people like me.

The songs are short and accomplish what takes their musical influences five or six minutes in half the time. Take “Pho” and “Bernie” which have the gorgeous melodies of Braid but complements them tasty guitar licks in an average time of 2:08 minutes.

“Concession” has hooking almost west coast riffs that just cruise down the beach all the way through. The vibraslap in the beginning doesn’t hurt either.

Unlike most of the 90’s emo bands, Oliver Houston depends on the riff not the pretty melodies. They’re just the complement. Bands like Mineral had chorded parts but the arrangement was based on some scale.

Take “Tough Luck” which has a great bass line that transforms and charges up with snare rolls into a beautiful scene of plucking harmony.

The highlight of the record however, and what separates the band resonates on “Tom Quad” and how it champions something emo isn’t known for: rocking! Just take the guitar chorus. The riff tastes crunchy and the drummer just crushes the open hi-hat.

Its solo makes you want to air-guitar. I’ve never written that about any “emo” song, ever. There’s something unique here I haven’t quite experienced from this scene before.

These guys grew up on the same nothing feels good records I did but clearly their palate extends beyond sad and depressed music.