WAND "Laughing Matter" - Album Review

Wand
Laughing Matter

Los Angeles art-rock band Wand have outdone themselves with a new double LP that connects the dots of their discography like a trail of harmonic breadcrumbs.

Tracing the pathways worn through the tall grass by their EP, Perfume, and previous full-length release Plum, which both appeared on the Drag City record label in 2017, the aptly named Laughing Matter unpacks a bushel of happy lawn-dancing creatures.

Chuckling up his sleeve, frontman and master media manipulator Cory Hanson ushers his fuzzy navel-gazing quintet through fifteen equally imaginative and emotive pop-rock ditties. Painting pastel sunsets across a synthetic horizon, tracks such as the capricious “xoxo” and the atmospheric “Bubble” offer up easy-to-get-along-with melodies adorned with breezy instrumental and vocal outbursts.

Elsewhere, the aerodynamically acoustic “High Planes Drifter” breaks like a prairie dawn, drawing up to the warm and sketchy sand patterns of “Rio Grande,” as the beat-hurried “Scarecrow” thumbs a ride down the winding coastal highway.  Toeing the line between electronic pop and organic improv, “Hare” captures the buzz of a noisy mountain meadow, easily toppling the plodding piano of the lop-sided “Tortoise.”

Perhaps the brightest orb in the entire constellation, the reluctant “Evening Star” unveils itself slowly before leaping into your arms with a rose clenched in its teeth.

By Christine Leonard

Déjà View : Chron Goblin Interview

Chron Goblin Dismantles the Past
on New Album, Here Before

by Christine Leonard

Photo by Sebastian Buzzalino

Good fences make good neighbours, but if you’ve walked down the rambling alleys of Brentwood, Calgary in the past two decades, you might have caught drift of a hidden skateboard ramp and the band that dwells nearby like an ear-blasting company of trolls.

So the story goes, but no one knows the legend of this secret suburban shred-spot better than Devin “Darty” Purdy, aka lead guitarist to Calgary’s preeminent psych-metal outfit, Chron Goblin.

“The Brentwood Ramp, which has consumed the souls of many missed tricks, was built in 1997 by the City of Calgary and acquired by the Goblins in 2006,” says Purdy. “It was the main feature for many parties and band photoshoots and provided a great mental break from jamming. Unfortunately, termites got the best of it and we had to take it down this year, but its memory lives on!”

Purdy’s generosity in sharing his good fortune and square footage made the ramp a destination for members of Calgary’s skateboarding and indie music scene, just as his basement became the rehearsal room of choice for bandmates vocalist Josh Sandulak, drummer Brett Whittingham and bassist Richard Hepp. 

“It formed a hub for weekly backyard skate sessions, barbecues and basement jamming. So many memories of watching some of Calgary’s finest skating the hell out of the ramp well past dark, wheels clacking and trucks grinding, people hollering and dropping off the garage roof into the ramp,” Whittingham says reminiscing. “The band photo in our album Life for the Living is an awesome shot of us sprawled out on a couch in the middle of the ramp with a million beer cans strewn everywhere. Also, those nasty maggots growing in the recycling!”

It’s enough to bring tears to your eyes. Listening to the group’s brand new release, Here Before, it’s hard to believe that six years have passed since that sofa-king-cool snap was taken of the ambitious young punks with their desert-rock-meets-thrash dreams. Having furthered the arc of their ascent with 2015’s Backwater, Chron Goblin are accustomed to challenging themselves to master new techniques, but it’s their interpersonal skills that have truly elevated their game.

“I think the only way we’ve gotten to that 10-year mark is by evolving our relationship as friends and as bandmates in terms of our communication and being crazy honest with each other. Probably more honest than we are with anyone else in our lives. That in itself has caused us all to reflect more deeply on who we are as people and what’s led to a maturing of our band,” says Sandulak. 

Wild at heart, but growing wiser by the minute, Here Before delivers exhilarating maneuvers that come close to the thrill of pulling off rad stunts on the old Brentwood Ramp, but this round comes without the consequence of bruised up shins and beer can maggots.

Friday 20th, September 2019

FME-AT Quebec's Hidden Musical Gem

Festival de Musique Émergente Celebrates Quebec’s Divergent Sounds While Saying
Goodbye to Summer

by Christine Leonard

An otherworldly affair that will have you speaking in tongues, Festival de musique émergente (FME) in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec entered its 17th year with a flurry of feathers, flying objects and intermittent rain showers. 

Running August 29 to September 3, the annual celebration of up-and-coming Canadian musicians literally chases summer as it heads deep into the woods of northern Quebec each Labour Day. 

Set against the smokestacks and evergreens of the unassuming village of Rouyn-Noranda, the festival takes full advantage of the many small and medium-scale venues that play host to the throngs of curious and dedicated sound-seekers who cross their thresholds over the long weekend.

Thursday, August 29

KID KOALA | Photo by Christian Leduc

Storm clouds and crowds gathered on FME’s opening night, packing the main thoroughfare that leads to the towering scène extérieure Desjardins in anticipation of the evening’s entrée – a trip through veteran disc hustler Kid Koala’s “Vinyl Vaudeville” experience. Hyping the huddled masses with an aerobic 80s-inspired work-out, opening act Adira Amram and the Experience electrified the crowd with a jazz-handful of neon dance numbers before swapping out their Hammer-Time look for burlesque costumes complete with ostrich plume fans. Titillating the audience with saucy breakbeats and scratchy loops, Kid Koala pulled out all the family-friendly material he could muster. 

The rain and wind proved no deterrent as hands reached for the hundreds of paper airplanes hurled from the stage and circle pits stampeded under the legs of a giant spider marionette that stalked through the crowd. Drying off at Cabaret de la Dernière Chance afterwards, the Pink Floyd-esque sounds of “Nunu metal” duo Ellemetue painted a strange and sweat-stained picture of wailing synths and fallen guitar gods. 

Up next, Red Mass took over the podium clad in red and black. Stomping out demons and strumming with a biblical fervor the punk provocateur cast out any doubt that this sepulcher alone was the final refuge of the damned. 

The Young Gods would challenge that statement. Stirring the old deities of Switzerland like a techno-fluent Dr. Frankenstein, the scientific trio illuminated the Petit Théâtre du Vieux-Noranda with laser precision before burying the congregation in an avalanche of angular gestures and dancefloor dominanting synths.  

Friday, August 30 

David Marin | Photo by Christine Leonard

Copper. That’s pretty much the big employer hereabouts, so if you’re interested in what makes this town tick you should take advantage of any opportunity to tour the massive Fonderie Horne to see where the magic happens. Speaking of magicians, blues chanteur David Marin made the transition from afternoon pool party to evening showcase disappear into thin air with his smooth keyboarding and Jimmy Buffett of the Canadian Riviera swing. 

Outside the walls of the Salle-des-Chevaliers-de-Colomb, the streets overflowed with rainbow lights and hip-hop vibes as locals and visitors alike swarmed towards the open-air spectacle featuring rappers Sarahmée, KT Gorique and an encore appearance by Drake-like crowd-pleaser Loud. 

Back at the Cabaret, 20-year-old booking agency Preste treated attendees to a BBQ complete with musical accompaniment by singer-songwriter Elliot Maginot, while around the corner at Diable Rond the vintage vibes of The Televisionaries and The 5,6,7,8s packed the room with ‘50s licks and surfy hooks. Bumped-up hairdos and fantastic fashion ruled as the two retro-fixated bands put on a hot and shaky show that was easier heard than seen. Vertical challenges aside, there’s no greater equalizer amongst festival-goers than the hunt for some soul-satisfying late night eats. And in Rouyn-Noranda that can only mean one thing: a trip to the legendary 24-hour poutinerie Chez Morasse. Maybe you’ll feel remorse the next day. But for now — nous allons manger! 

Saturday, August 31

The Flamingos Pink | Photo by McGraw

You’ve made it this far, so why not unwind with a detour into the deep dark woods to meet some of the (other) resident wildlife? Wolves and lynxes and bears, mon dieu! The Refuge Pageau rehabilitates over 150 creatures a year and gives visitors the opportunity to stroll through their sprawling forest facility while catching glimpses of some of the current patients. Pink flamingos are not to be found here, but The Flamingos Pink of Montreal were certainly on the menu back at Bar Le Groove later that day. 

Hot to trot drummer/vocalist Julien Corrado and singer/guitarist Sacha Gubany striped down to their denim in order to make better contact with the people. Pushing up the thermostat with thick rock ‘n’ roll riffs and door-booting percussion, the twosome squeezed every drop of juice from the afternoon’s atomic orange afterglow. 

LA Julia Smith | Photo by Christian Leduc

Banishing the inclement weather with a flick of their supple wrists, hard rock outfit LA Julia Smith demonstrated why three guys from Chile are allowed to call their band whatever the hell they want. Burning a hole through the ceiling of Bar Le Groove’s spartan cement basement, the position-swapping trio belted out a tightly wound set of heartburning tempo tantrums. 

What better way to cool your heels than with a dip in the bottomless sea of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead? Swamping the Petit Théâtre in swirling string crescendos and romantically tortured vocals, they carved a trench through dark and emotive sonic waves as a thirsty audience surged and heaved at their feet.

Sunday, September 1 

Matt Vezio | Photo by Christine Leonard

And just like that, you wake up and it’s September. Disillusion aside it was a beautiful day to explore the lush Parc Botanique À Fleur d’eau. Strolling along pathways and boardwalks the sounds of pop-folk siren Salome Leclerc followed at every turn as she entertained residents and wristbanders who gathered around the central gazebo stage.

Next door at the public library Matt Vezio set up shop in an outdoor plaza as people spread out picnic blankets to soak up some sunny rays and funny lines from the guitar-strumming folk pop troubadour. Famous for their velvety stouts the diminutive watering hole Le Trèfle Noir Brasserie Artisanale is the perfect place to chill out, recharge and survey the influx of black T-shirts into Rouyn-Noranda as FME’s notorious metal night festivities approach. A sold-out attraction that could easily be extended in size and scope, the heaviest show on the docket brought Quebecois headbangers and intrigued onlookers from out of the woodwork. Local stand-outs Archons impressed with an evocative thrash stance that left plenty of room to jump on their momentum machine.

Necrotic Mutation | Photo by Christian Leduc

Oxygen levels dropped suddenly as Necrotic Mutation seized the stage. Lead singer Daniel Jalbert had his work cut out for him as he struggled against the confines of a straitjacket while snarling his visceral vocals into the microphone. Closing out the evening and the entire festival with a crack of lightning and roll of thunder, Despised Icon divided, conquered and then reunited the crowd at will. Dual deathcore vocalists Steve Marois and Alex Erian vacillated between furious howls and caustic commands as easily as they switched between speaking French, English and what I can only assume is some regional dialect of Tolkien’s Black Speech. Oh, man. A third language to brush up on before returning for FME 2020!

  16th, September 2019 

in • Live Reviews, FEATURED, MUSIC

Black Mountain Break Barriers - Interview

Black Mountain Burns Rubber On High Octane Space Age Highway

by Christine Leonard

Hovering over your metropolis like a sleek black leviathan, Destroyer is but the latest vehicle of deliverance for Vancouver space rockers Black Mountain. Armed with digitized pop tentacles and pulsating with vintage video game vibes, the time-travelling album harvests riffs and rhythms from across decades and devices. Customarily nonchalant about their earth-quaking creations, founding guitarist/lead vocalist Stephen McBean and lynchpin/keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt, have always gravitated towards generating deadly sonic vortexes that defy chronological classification.

“We’re definitely in tune with our aesthetic pasts. I guess that’s pretty evident, just from what our preoccupations are,” says Schmidt of the new album’s retro-tronic soundscape. “I feel like the past is something that’s always revealing itself. Even though it seems like it’s all behind us, variations of it seem to be revealing themselves in the present and continuing to do so in the future all the time. So, to me, it’s like the past is an ongoing project.”

Crashing into mid-life with phasing synths set to stun, Schmidt and McBean hit the virtual reset button following the appearance of the band’s previous full-length release, IV (2016), leaving them alone in the cockpit for the first time in years. Approaching an age when a man’s thoughts might run to HRT and hot rods, the duo fixed upon the title Destroyer, a nod to the discontinued single-run 1985 Dodge testosterone factory on wheels.

“Steve is actually a new driver. He recently learned how to drive, so that kind of informed a couple of the ideas in an off-handed, casual way.”

The “Boogie Lover” persona that flows from McBean’s newfound sense of freedom comes through loud and clear on new tracks such as the easy ridin’ “Future Shade,” the power-mongering “Horns Arising” and the Manson-child recruitment anthem “Pretty Little Lazies.” Pieced together between their coastal outposts in LA and Vancouver, the resulting production carries the weight of Black Mountain’s ample experience and a burning thirst for untested waters.

“To me, the results sound like a progression,” Schmidt says. “The record fits well within the canon of everything else we’ve done. It seems similar enough to what we’ve done in the past to sound like a Black Mountain record and different enough that it sounds new.”

Determined to repopulate their psychedelic utopia with a fresh crew of supporting players, the long-time friends opened the studio pod bay doors to a brave new world of artistic possibilities on Destroyer.

“We’ve always liked the balance of female and male vocals. It adds a different kind of narrative and it creates a dynamic which I think is very appealing and very much a part of the band,” he continues. “One could say our ‘happy place’ is where the organic meets the electronic. It’s kind of like this yin and yang thing where the two sort of egg each other on. Blending artifice and things that people regard as being more organic has always been something of interest to me and the band. In a lot of ways, it’s the nucleus of our sound.”

Atomic poet/vocalist/keyboardist Rachel Fannan (Only You, Sleepy Sun), alt-metal drummer Adam Bulgasem (Almost is Nothing, Dommengang, Soft Kill) and bassist Arjan Miranda complete Black Mountain’s live invasion force. After a decade and a half as an insular entity, the influx of new contributors to their recording sessions has brought vital energy to Black Mountain’s monolithic stage presence.

“Stepping back and looking at the album, it’s obviously different than you imagined it might have been from the beginning,” Schmidt says. “Live we’re pretty true to the album, but we leave room in the recording, so we have the freedom to change things up. There’s always some headroom to interpret things as they start to take on a different life on stage. When we approach performing stuff it’s almost like we just listened to the record and thought ‘Okay, let’s be the best Black Mountain cover band we can be!’ Just kidding.”

The refuelled Black Mountain will cut a modest swath of destruction through Canada and the US this September. Keep your eyes on the skies as they make contact with Black Mountain Army converts at sightings scheduled to touchdown from British Columbia to Manitoba.

Black Mountain performs Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Vogue Theatre (Vancouver), Sunday, Sept. 15 at Distrikt (Victoria), Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the Starlite Room (Edmonton) and Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Commonwealth (Calgary)

12th, September 2019 

in • Alberta, • Rockpile, FEATURED, MUSIC

Album Review: Chron Goblin – Here Before

Chron GoblinHere BeforeGrand Hand Records

Ascending from their role as local skatepark punks to that of Canadian psych-rock tastemakers, Calgary’s legendary curb-grinding garage band Chron Goblin isn’t the same old thrash ‘n’ grab outfit they once were.

Here Before, marks a deliberate recalibration from the hard-rolling crew as they crank the production values to eleven on volatile numbers like “Giving in to Fun,” “Slipping Under,” and “Out of My Mind.”

Singer Josh Sandulak’s raucous vocals and poetic lyrics are thrust into the spotlight as never before and his confident, yet bitter, mouthfuls come washed down with an unerring supply of acidic guitar riffs and dexterous rhythms. Haunted by a shared history and infectious back catalogue, the group navigates a jagged path through the dank underbrush on “Oblivion” before diving into the lazy river of the lumbering “Giant.”

Intricate, intentional and gritty to the bone, Here Before challenges the maturing quartet to supersede their former selves with dangerously divergent compositions; including eerie banshee ballad “Ghost” and pugnacious ripper “War.” The defining wallet-chain swagger, bluesy breakdowns and ballsy bravado that set them apart from day one may remain the same, but Chron Goblin’s best just got a whole lot better.

Best Track – Giant

by Christine Leonard

12th, September 2019 in • Record Reviews, MUSIC