BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - December 2016

BEST OF 2016 LOCAL RELEASES
BY HEATHER ADAMSON, GLENN ALDERSON, DAVID CUTTING, JOSHUA ERICKSON,
ALEX HUDSON, ERIN JARDINE, JENNIE ORTON & VANESSA TAM
The Hard Part Begins is seductive and
sensual with gauzy guitars and gentle
drum machines that are strewn with lofi
synth and plinky MIDI piano. Forays
into toe-tapping dream pop, theatrical
balladry and twangy spaghetti western
are nestled within a cloud of hazy reverb.
At the centre of this New Age daydream
is singer Patrick Geraghty, whose
trembling baritone simultaneously
evokes cheeky schmaltz and aching
melancholy. Sadness has never sounded
sexier. (AH)
Releasing this debut LP seemingly out
of the blue, the title track opens with
Evy Jane’s hauntingly beautiful voice
floating in over orchestral instrumentals
produced by collaborator Jeremiah
Klein. Having been waiting since 2012
for new music from the pair, they have
pleasantly delivered on all fronts. (VT)
Spectres – Utopia (Deranged)
Moody and atmospheric, Spectres have
delivered another timeless post punk
offering. Just the right amount of goth
undertones with a nod to Christian Death,
Utopia is the sound of a band we’ve come
to know and love, a band who continue
to hide in the shadows of Vancouver like
extras on the set of Lost Boys. (GA)
IV is a vast album, boldly coming at you
with an eight-minute opening track and
basically keeping the drama at that level
the whole time. IV is the soundtrack
to your desert fever dream — crunchy,
synthy, expansive and relentless. Not for
the faint of heart. (JO)
driven ballads will definitely make you
feel some type of way. (GA)
Anciients - Voices of the Void
(Season Of Mist)
Anciients build tension within
their instrumentals very effectively
throughout this sophomore opus.
Tons of riffage within a solid structure
of songs, with the right amount of raw
emotion, felt more in the guitar lines
than the vocals. They travelled a darker
road this time around, drawing in new
attention that this band deserves. (EJ)
2016 was kinda meh for pop music,
but in an eager reprise Carly Rae Jepsen
stepped forward and gently reminded
us how it’s done right. Again. On Side B
she endeavors to revitalize that fuzzy ’80s
feeling of romance and illusory vibes. This
homegrown talent is the queen of pop
and queen of our hearts. (DC)
So Loki – V (Owake Records)
Matching their carefully distributed
debut EP, V, with equally specific ways
to physically experience the record
within the city, So Loki is looking to
make an impact on Vancouver with their
progressive hip-hop lyrics and production
style. And without any exaggeration,
they’ve totally succeeded. (VT)
White Lung – Paradise (Domino)
White Lung are as fierce as ever, but
things sound different on their fourth
LP, Paradise. With the risk of alienating
their core fan base, Mish Barber-Way
trades in her raw growling vocals for
a more polished singing style and the
risk pays off. White Lung have always
sounded sharp, but Paradise just cuts
deeper. (JE)
Art D’ecco – Day Fevers (Your Face)
This album is eyebrow-raisingly good;
a self-reflective journey, a heroes
wandering through a glammy abyss. A
lot like what would happen if T-Rex did a
duet with Orbison in Venus’s best-keptsecret
underground Euro pop club. (JO)
The Evaporators – Ogopogo Punk
(Mint)
Everyone’s favourite Human Serviette
is back with his band of merrymakers,
The Evaporators. After suffering a
stroke earlier in the year, Nardwuar has
returned in fine form. With track titles
like “I Can’t Be Shaved” and “Mohawks
& Dreadlocks,” The Evaporators’ wit is
still intact, their hooks are hooky and
they’re just as goofy. (JE)
(Dipstick)
Coming from Abbotsford, Cheap High
are familiar with the hell that suburbia
brings. The group boils down those
experiences into a tense and seething
beast of a record. Cheap High channel
cues from bands such as Protomartyr,
Joy Division and The Smiths, and are
further proof of the well of talent the
Fraser Valley holds. (JE)
Honest and pure, James Green’s Never
Ready is an ode to the working class
of sorts, but without ever coming
off too somber to pick you up after
a long day on the job. Somewhere
between Bill Callahan and Tom Petty,
Green has found his own voice and
it’s accompanied by a perfect blend of
country, folk and rock ‘n’ roll. (GA)
Supermoon - Playland (Mint Records)
Uniquely formatted as a double 7”,
Playland consists of eight short, snappy
indie pop ditties. Fun and lovably
off-kilter, the women of Supermoon
spike their cotton-candy-sweet
melodies with hints of dissonance and
melancholy. (AH)
Hot Hot Heat – Hot Hot Heat
(Culvert)
A lighthearted ode to a journey towards
closure, the songs on this farewell LP
run the gamut of exploring the act of
growing apart to the gentle prettiness
that exists within the new; all presented
as happy ditties that would be very at
home pulsing out of a portable radio in
the basket of a fixie on Third Beach. (JO)
City (You’ve Changed Records)
Adrian Teacher may have disbanded
Apollo Ghosts, but he’s still doing what
he does best: writing concise indie rock
ditties full of catchy hooks and local
references. His latest is a playfully scathing
commentary on gentrification. (AH)
(Mascot Records)
Giving us the dose of feminine strength,
resolve, empowerment and badass take-noprisoners
edge so many of us are yearning
for in rock ‘n’ roll, this album simultaneously
delivers a swift dagger to the heart while
daring you to dance on the bar. (HA)
Having collaborated with countless
Vancouver bands over the years, pop
auteur Jay Arner keeps getting better.
The outstanding Jay II is full of goodnatured
jokes, but the overwhelming
mood is one of glum existentialism.
Whistle along while contemplating the
void. (AH)
These New Westminster boys are
growing up and exploring the potential
within the soulful end of stoner rock
to the point where some interludes
could be described as a ballad. Not
to be written off as soft though, New
Waste brings forth some seriously
sophisticated riffs. (EJ)
Astrakhan - Reward in Purpose (War
Reward in Purpose commences with
a slow build of tension with ten minute
song, “Omajod,” a nod to Astrakhan’s
roots in doom and sludge. Powerful, clean
(Heavy Lark)
Finding grace in the comfort of song,
Daniel Terrence Robertson’s stark
debut is a beautiful exploration of life,
love, mortality and religion. These eight
heart-wrenching and haunting pianoharmonies
pepper this album, polishing
the sound as uniquely their own. (EJ)
Gritty, soulful and strange, this album
is an all-together riveting expression
shrouded in relative darkness, including
covers from generations of yesteryear
while providing a spin on contemporary
avant-country. (HA)
Dark and brooding electronic post rock
to take you in to the night; Sex With
Strangers found their groove a long time
ago but continue down a path of synthesized
submission. In a lot of ways Discourse is all
over the map genre-wise, but who really
wants to stay in once place when you’re
doing it with randoms anyway? (GA)
Dirty psych rock in all its glory. Spinning
tales as old as time of life on the road,
it’s all about digging the realness and
forgetting about everything else. Just
get lost in it, you can’t over-think this
music or it loses its magic. (HA)
Easy-going art-rock band Douse are
building on their folksy bones with their
debut full length offering, The Light in
You Has Left. Heavily filtered guitars
and vocals float over synth chords
and play with tension throughout the
album making for a dynamic listen from
beginning to end. (VT)
The Prettys - Soiree (self-released)
When I hear “soirée,” I think of hors
d’oeuvres and long-stemmed wine
glasses. The Prettys’ rockin’ album
Soiree, on the other hand, is the kind
of party that’s characterized by raiding
your parents’ liquor cabinet and barfing
on the lawn. (AH)
December 2016 MUSIC
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