Photograph by Alex Cairncross
The Balconies, one of the newest bands to set Toronto on fire with blistering live shows, may formerly have been more comfortable in formal concerts playing classical compositions. Composed of Liam Jaeger and siblings Jacquie and Stephen Neville, The Balconies bring an edgy post-punk feeling to their energetic pop. They’re on the cusp of kicking off their tour in support of their self-titled debut album from late 2009, but took time out between their local shows to tell Ca Va Cool about their backgrounds, discuss differences between Ottawa and Toronto, and point out the importance of animal noises.
The Balconies – Lulu
The Balconies – Serious Bedtime
The Balconies – Rest Up
Sabrina: You guys are still pretty new, having started up in 2007. I was checking out your influences, which range from punk, post-punk, electronic… lots of different decades and genres. Were you trying to channel some of that when you came out with your first LP?
Jacquie Neville: Not consciously. It just kind of came out with our songwriting and the chemistry together. Our influences come out.
Steve Neville: : And if you look at the influences, there’s such a big variety.
Jacquie: Technically speaking, we’re all classical musicians. That’s our formal training, so I feel like the practice of that comes through as well.
Sabrina: Speaking of your training, you studied music at the University of Ottawa. What’s the mentality in the classical music department when it comes to pop music? Is it accepting or more straight-laced?
Jacquie: In my experience, the classical field is quite strict. But as soon as I went to Ottawa U, I met all these amazing professors who would say, “No, they can come together. You can like mainstream and classical music.” If anything, it makes you a more well-rounded musician.
Liam Jaeger: It’s becoming a lot more common. A lot of the professors also experiment. There’s a professor who is a professional pianist and he also plays keyboards at raves. It’s becoming a necessity because you can’t really survive playing one type of music anymore, you need to move around.
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Photograph by Christian Coinbergh
Since releasing their first album in 2003, Shout Out Louds have played everything from Strokes-esque garage rock to orchestrated indie pop, and the evolution continues on their most recent release, Work. Written while the band were apart at global extremes, then recorded with Phil Elk in Stockholm, their third album strips away many musical elements leaving a much more adult pop/rock sound. Bass player Ted Malmros answered some of our questions about the creation of the new album, the state of the band, and touring plans.
Shout Out Louds – Walls
Shout Out Louds – Tonight I Have to Leave It
Shout Out Louds – Please Please Please
Daniel: Could you describe the state of your band in one sentence?
Ted Malmros: Nervous but good.
Daniel: According to your press release, writing songs, recording, and touring is your work, thus your album’s title, Work. Although I like that this means you’ll hopefully be releasing many more albums, isn’t the point of being a rock star to escape the mundane routine of everyday “work”?
Ted: Work should be fun. People with boring jobs should quit them and get a more stimulating ones. We like our work. And yes, I think you can expect some more albums for sure.
Daniel: Your bandmates were all over the world (Stockholm, Los Angeles, Melbourne) while the songs for the new album were being created. What effect did this have on the recording process?
Ted: To be honest, I think we really needed a break from each other and more importantly we needed some time off “work”, but I don’t recommend writing songs from far apart. It was a bit difficult when we finally met to put it all together. Big parts of the music were written then in Stockholm.
Daniel: On Work you take your sound in a different direction from your last album Our Ill Wills, removing much of the orchestration and really paring it down to the basics. What inspired this shift?
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Photograph by Chris Gergley
Call them shoegaze, call them progressive rock, call them what you will, the Besnard Lakes specialize in creating a hazy atmosphere that gives way to soaring vocals and majestic soundscapes. Revolving around the core duo of husband and wife Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, the band is set to release the follow-up to their breakthrough album The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse, entitled The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night. If lead single ‘Albatross’ is any indication, we are in for a treat. Jace Lasek was kind enough to answer a few questions ahead of the album’s release.
The Besnard Lakes – Albatross
The Besnard Lakes – For Agent 13
The Besnard Lakes – Disaster
Kevin: Why call yourselves the Besnard Lakes?
Jace Lasek: I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan and in 1995 I started traveling up to Besnard Lake as a summer trip with my friend. We loved it so much we made a promise to return every year to clear our heads. Olga and I had our honeymoon at Besnard Lake. It’s a very secluded place, and very hard to get to. You really feel like you are the only people there.
Kevin: With …Are the Dark Horse receiving critical acclaim, including being short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize, did you feel pressure to top it with …Are the Roaring Night?
Jace: We tried very consciously to forget about Dark Horse. We made our first two albums without any preconceived notions of anyone wanting to hear them. We wanted to approach this record in the same way – to close ourselves off from the outside world and write without distractions.
Kevin: ‘Albatross’, the lead single from your new album, seems to be more immediate and direct than much of …Are the Dark Horse. Was this a conscious decision?
Jace: It’s just what we were feeling at the time. ‘Albatross’ was a really old song that we resurrected and rearranged. It was actually the first song we completed for Roaring Night. It came together quite quickly.
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Photograph by Jason Nocito
I was certain I wanted to be a firefighter while growing up. The conviction never materialized, yet the gleam of red fire engines, the whirr of sirens, and Dalmatians delighted me to no end. Despite an acute fear of fire alarms, misinterpretation of complex escape routes, and general dislike for flames– the dream lived on. Daily tasks became romanticized adventures, watering the flowers became extinguishing a dangerous blaze, tree houses were burning high-rises, and each kitten I encountered was in dire need of rescue. Lack of expertise and knowledge was supplemented by a passionate fervour. Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally render this lush reminiscence and embrace childhood dreaminess on their latest record. On January 26, the duo also known as Beach House released their third LP titled Teen Dream on Sub Pop.
Following Devotion, the pair has developed stylistically shaking off prior inhibitions and settling on a comfortable withdrawal. The record is their most accessible effort, yet demands an appreciation that is fostered over several spins juxtaposed with Victoria’s haunting words. Beach House flourishes on the opening track ‘Zebra’ with the infectious chant, “Any way you run, you run before us, black and white horse arching among us.” The album approaches simplicity in reverse, synthesizers and snares melt together as each successive play reworks preceding complexity. The effect sounds effortless and hypnotic. Less than three tracks into Teen Dream the familiar swelling hymns of ‘Norway’ leave listeners afloat in youthful idealism. Awash in delicate melodies, the Baltimore duo makes it easy to dream, so much so that reverie is not forfeited on practical circumstances but rather blossoms within castles in the sky.
Teen Dream inspires an adolescent yearning on tracks like ‘Lover of Mine’ falling fittingly into the backseat of your car hidden amongst make-out mixtapes. The record spellbinds in the way you looked at the volleyball team donning knee-high socks and neon gym shorts, it teases like the notes passed between lectures, concealing a subtle sentiment in graceless growth. It beckons the gentle beauty of revisiting rather than heedlessly exploring. Beach House’s brand of dream pop is a sympathetic progression in sound, the fondness of their previous records held dearly at heart tangled with a new patience and understanding. The record has a dynamic flow of droning whispers and playfully plucked chords as it sweeps away static lulls. Beach House may take you to unexpected places, but the trip is far more enjoyable with eyes closed – it leaves more to the imagination.
Beach House – Zebra
Beach House – Norway
Beach House – Lover of Mine
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Photograph by Bevis Martin and Charlie Youle
Hot Chip are back, and they’re much the same as they’ve always been. The past year has found them covering both Vampire Weekend and Joy Division, so the time is ripe for some original material. One Life Stand was billed as a slightly more downtempo album after the exuberance of Made in the Dark, and while there are moments where the band experiments with some new styles, the title track finds them remaining within the confines of their familiar bouncy electro-dance rock. While I fully expected to fall instantly in love with this album as I have with their previous efforts, my reaction is far more conflicting than I expected.
There are several songs I absolutely love, first and foremost ‘Alley Cats’. Hot Chip first hooked me with their slower numbers, like ‘Boy from School’ and ‘Crap Kraft Dinner’, and ‘Alley Cats’ is just as moody, wistful, and wonderful as its predecessors. The New Order-esque ‘I Feel Better’ is another standout. You could argue any electro/rock/pop band today has been influenced by New Order and you’d probably be right, but the use of synthesizer on this track blended with more traditional Hot Chip elements works incredibly well. Joe Goddard takes lead vocals on ‘Take It In,’ where he poses somewhat tedious questions like what to do after watching Wheel of Fortune, contrasting with the soaring harmonies of the chores, making a great closing song.
On the other hand, One Life Stand gets bogged down by two tracks that jump out as being terrible. ‘Slush’ finds Alexis Taylor inexplicably setting a Jackie Gleason quote to music, though I think incorporating the phrase “Bang, zoom, straight to the Moon!” would’ve been a better tribute to the love of Ralph and Alice Kramden. Honeymooners references aside, the song causes the album to lose a ton of momentum, and along with the Euro-dance track ‘We Have Love’, feels rather out of place. Of course, two songs can’t break an album, and by all accounts One Life Stand is still pretty good, but Hot Chip have set the bar so high that it comes off as slightly disappointing.
Hot Chip – Alley Cats
Hot Chip – Take It In
Hot Chip – I Feel Better
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