DRI HIEV/l.n. baba
DRI HIEV
Self Titled // Independent
Calgary’s, DRI HIEV build on their previous body of work (which includes two EP’s) with a debut full length that really is a coming of age. The self-titled release came out on May 24th and was fully performed and recorded by the band before they sent it off for mastering by Carl Saff in Chicago.
Using a mix of traditional instrumentation with samples and drum machines, DRI HIEV crafts a world inspired by Star Trek Voyager’s character 7 of 9. The album really demonstrates the feelings of lead singer Carter Crough, as they battled with how they didn’t see them-self as a male and came to terms with being non-binary. This is done with honest lyrics, delivered with passion and aggression, while the mood is carried to its full potential by a band that almost seems to move like they are part of the collective. It is the product of “Borg” order and human emotion and compulsiveness, coexisting in one place, resulting in a wild, yet calculated assault of industrial, post-hardcore.
Get assimilated by DRI HIEV as they tour across Canada throughout May and June.
- Jeshaiah David
l.n. baba
Rubber Eye // Double Lunch Records/Mangled Tapes
Rubber Eye is the long-awaited debut album from Edmonton’s Keanan Swan-Azmon, under his “l.n. baba” moniker. Weaving abrupt arrangements, dissonant harmony and technical guitar-based melodies with the essence of folk-inspired storytelling, Swan-Azmon has created a touching and personal ode to the questions of day-to-day mundanity. Written and recorded by Swan-Azmon himself, Rubber Eye is both intimate and chaotic, but not without moments of careful pause; what feels like a second of consideration. The nine songs of Rubber Eye feel unified in their sense of space and time. They are accurate down to the second, while still nostalgic for time passed like in the introductory track “Sure” where Swan-Azmon observes:
“Still the girl standing at the bar, sipping water through a straw. I saw you first, hugging your purse, with your eyes on the drummer, it was early summer.”
l.n. baba’s debut is a truly impressive and dichotic statement that is worthy of applause. Rubber Eye is engaging, demanding, and has quickly become a Cups N Cakes favourite.
- Ella Coyes
