Alex Nicol/Lord Byrun/Sunny Day Encore
Alex Nicol
All For Nada // Michel
This may be Alex Nicol’s solo debut, but he is no stranger to writing captivating songs. The tracks that make up All For Nada are hypnotic and tightly-wrought, conjuring up a calm, stately mood from the earliest moments of the opener, “Two Times A Charm,” and maintaining course judiciously throughout the 30-minute voyage. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the bill with some of Alex’s bands in Montreal over the last half-decade; either with his band HOAN, or an earlier iteration called Kurvi Tasch, and I’ve always admired his cool flair for songwriting. Despite All For Nada technically being his first solo effort, it resonates with a poise that only comes from experience.
Seemingly by happy coincidence, many of these dream-like songs land in the same warm and uncontrived place, the first few tracks tugging at you in a familiar way. Albums like Chad VanGaalen’s Infiniheart or even Beck’s Sea Change coming to mind - not necessarily because they are stylistically the same, but because they all have emotional unity and consistency of tone and vision. The listener is brought into an intimate world, and given a tour of the different sights and sounds, sometimes moving around, but other times standing still and just looking at things from different angles.
There is space to brood and ponder while enjoying these air-filled melodies, as the songs take a more mystifying Lynchian turn about midway through. Later in the record, “Family Lines” and “Mirage” make me feel like I’m hanging out in the back seat of an old Buick, cruising down a dramatic highway with Alex behind the wheel; listening as he tells me stories of years past and keeps gesturing with his hands and taking them off the steering wheel, yet somehow continuing to steer expertly (maybe with his knees?). The plodding bass line in “Family Lines” is midnight loungy, and reminds me of some stuff on Hot Dreams by Timber Timbre. There’s kind of a filmic feel to it.
Something sublimely ethereal about this record makes you want to listen to it again, if only to remember the way that it made you feel the first time. When the last track arrives, a soulful piano ballad called “When You’re Blue,” we are already primed for its delicate beauty, a haunting female voice sliding gracefully into the picture for the choruses. Alex’s longtime partner Nada was involved creatively in the making of this record from the outset, and so the songs aren’t just about his life. The meandering piano motif that begins the track previews the vocal melody in the verse, the two parts echoing each other. At the end of the song, both voices sing together, repeating and repeating, until the damper pedal on the piano lifts and the album, like so many dreams, comes to an abrupt end.
- Nick Maas
Lord Byrun
Spirit Animals // Independent
If you were ever worried that indie rockers Lord Byrun, who borrow their name from the famous romantic poet, take themselves too seriously, one listen to Spirit Animals will put you at ease. The album begins with nature sounds and ends with clapping, and there’s a whole lot of wacky fun in between. Don’t worry though, this is not a comedy album full of novelty songs. There’s one bad joke about a snowman’s carrot at the beginning of the album, which is quickly followed by a voice that sounds like it has been pitched down to protect the speaker’s identity saying “That’s a bad joke.” This meta moment sets the tone early, and the rest of the jokes are less “on the nose.” Spirit Animals has its comical moments, but it’s an album of infectious grooves, varied instrumentation and an impressive amount of musical styles, which are all cleverly woven together without ever sounding contrived.
The first song, entitled “Intro,” is as bold an experiment as any song on the record, featuring loony voice samples in English and French (the album contains songs in both languages), and a bass-driven groove that flows into a floaty synth outro which is sealed with a kiss in the form of a Shakespeare quote. This opening song serves as a teaser for the album to come. Then, on “Wolfman/ Love is the Answer,” the band establishes a desert psych groove party before crashing it with a hoedown on “Ska,” which serves as the band’s tongue in cheek country romp (complete with barnyard samples) like “Dominated Love Slave” did for Green Day. “T.A.C.O.” is a funky tune with hip hop style vocal delivery that feels like some of Beck’s mid-aughts output, while “Punk” mocks its title with dueling voice samples over a groove, followed by a shuffle bit with lyrics about Moses. In fact, the record as a whole succeeds in the same way that Beck’s more genre-defying records do.
Over the course of the album’s nine songs, Lord Byrun covers more musical ground than a lot of bands cover in their entire careers. You could play music genre bingo with this record. There’s a lot of late 60’s rock groove scattered throughout this set of songs, but the grooves never overstay their welcome. The band twists and turns, taking on different musical modes in every song and they make the transitions seem effortless. What’s more, they make the changes flow despite the disparate elements of the parts. The songs move between garage rock, funk and post punk, not to mention the weirder episodes of honky tonk country and groove-driven hip hop. These songs were developed by B. B. M., the band leader and principal songwriter, and Keiran Semple, who engineered, mixed and mastered the tracks in addition to playing various instruments on the album. The oft-mentioned groove is largely thanks to the steady work of Eric Tessier on drums, and Neil Kirby on bass, and the various musical styles are textured and brought to life by Carter Powley and James Anderson who supply some of the album’s stand-out moments on flute, sax, harmonica and keyboards.
Spirit Animals strikes a perfect balance between conflicting elements. It’s sincere, but it’s not afraid to goof around a bit. There’s hippy dippy philosophy, Twin Peaks Easter eggs, and Muppet-style voices that chime in occasionally, but those parts are balanced by passionate vocals, lush instrumental sections, and occasional haunting dissonance. Like chapters in a compelling adventure novel, each song on Spirit Animals covers new ground in exciting ways, adding to the work as a whole, but never feeling repetitive or too familiar. This is an imaginative debut from a refreshingly spirited band.
- Devon Dozlaw
Sunny Day Encore
Serotonin // Off Day
This is shoegaze with impeccable execution. If you wish more shoegaze was just pure unabashed shoegaze, and not just medium-soft rock with “elements of shoegaze” (aka delay on the guitar), this record is for you. It is readily apparent that this band took their precious time on this album. The whole thing feels like it’s been combed over and over again by ears demanding perfection.
Of course shoegaze has trance-like qualities in its nature, you know? It’s meditative yet driving. It makes your body want to move, but only just sway about hypnotically. Given that, this record bursts out the gate the same way Big Bird kicks down a door with the opening track “Under”. It’s like “oh HELLO, there’s the fix” as you let out a gasp before the sudden sedation puts you under.
And the sedation lasts roughly an hour straight. Each song builds on the cohesion of the next to be a whole experience. There are no filler tracks. The basslines and drum beats fit snugly in place under the heavy effects-dosed guitar. The sound shines, but only as a whole. It would seem they spent even extra precious time on making nothing stand out of the mix.
About half way through the album you get an instrumental intermission. Only then do you realize oh right, there is a singer, and they were singing words, so they probably have lyrics! Maybe I should try to listen to those and pick out what statements, if any, they’re trying to make.
And the next track “Silence” opens with repeating chants of “Silence it will kill us” and “Look beneath the surface”. Nice. Not bad at all. As I continue to try and draw out lyrical themes from words that are long notes held like a choir, I get pulled under again by the masterful basslines. They might do their best to stay hidden but by paying a bit deeper attention, they are the bedrock of what makes this record a great listen.
Weighing in at 13 tracks, with over two years of production and a spring tour booked, this band’s work is no small endeavour. Sadly they have been playing the long game. What an absolute shame I’m not going to get a chance to see this band play live for a long time now.
- Joel Klaverkamp
