BeatRoute Magazine BC Print Edition February 2018

Born Ruffians - Uncle, Duke & the Chief Cecil Frena - The Gridlock Scallops Hotel - Sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face
Born Ruffians
Uncle, Duke & the Chief
Paper Bag Records
Born Ruffians are one of many indie rock bands that bubbled up in
the mid 2000s. Hailing from small-town, Toronto-adjacent Midland,
Ontario, the group draws heavy inspiration from bands like Modest
Mouse and Arcade Fire.
The band went through a bit of a change a few years ago with their
2013 album Birthmarks when they parted ways with their original
drummer Steve Hamelin and added a second guitarist. It led to a
cleaner sound, one that was a little less rough around the edges.
With their fifth studio album Uncle, Duke & The Chief, Hamelin
returns and the band shifts back to their grittier sound, recording as
a trio.
Born Ruffians seem to produce their best material when that
frantic nature comes out in their songwriting. Moments on Uncle,
Duke & The Chief sound like drunken eulogizing, with lead vocalist
Luke Lalonde rapidly shifting from desperate yelps to sing-along
celebratory anthemic shouting.
Catchy choruses, jubilant guitars and an intense earnestness all
shine through on the band’s new output, something that’s been
lacking from the band’s output since their debut in 2008. The album’s
songwriting is strong, strong enough to buoy it above the ocean of
albums out there like it.
• Cole Parker
Cecil Frena
The Gridlock
Hovercraft/Kissability
Cecil Frena has been around for awhile. The mastermind behind
Edmonton weird pop acts Gobble Gobble and Born Gold, he’s also
worked with other lauded acts from that scene like Purity Ring,
Grimes and Chairlift. The Gridlock is his debut under his birth name,
his first full release since 2013 and a noticeable shift towards a
different sound.
A lot of care is placed into the sonics of the record. Layered synths
and vocals, wildly varied guitars, and Frena’s experience with glitchy
pop music is channeled into furious growls of feedback and noise
that feel so, so good.
“Nerves Grow Rust” and “All of My Heroes” open the album with
some great synth-singed pop rock before you hear the chugging of
a car engine, a count, and a stellar drum fill that leads you into the
hardcore track “Unknow Yourself.”
The Gridlock feels like an artist deconstructing his identity,
musical and otherwise, and letting us watch as he pulls the pieces
back together, with lyrical content to match. A bank robber speaks
aloud the existential crisis brought on by L.A. property prices, Frena
reluctantly confesses love, and asserts that dancing on an airplane
might treat some of his nihilistic woes.
The Gridlock is a horribly fun rebirth of an artist who’s still actively
finding the best version of themselves.
• Cole Parker
Sidney Gish
No Dogs Allowed
Independent
Boston’s Sidney Gish is a distinctly 2018 kind of songwriter. The
20-year-old has quietly been developing a voice for absurdist, memeas-music
songs through YouTube and BandCamp since 2015, but No
Dogs Allowed, her sophomore album, is an internet breakthrough.
Like Clairo, early Frankie Cosmos or Car Seat Headrest, Gish’s
career exists almost solely on the internet, but gone are the days
that would be a knock. With its MS Paint cover aesthetic, No Dogs
Allowed is deceptively clever bedroom pop that puts Gish’s neuroses
front and center.
On standout track “Sin Triangle,” Gish’s lyricism and deft skill of
self-roasting is on full display. “Two-faced bitches never lie / And
therefore I never lie,” she sings overtop a laptop lounge rock joint
that feels effortlessly cool.
Every nook and cranny of No Dogs Allowed is filled with
earworms and it’s not hard to fall in love with it.
• Jamie McNamara
The Go! Team
SEMICIRCLE
Memphis Industries
The Go! Team has made some seriously bombastic music over the
years, but has always maintained a level of obscurity that keeps
any of their tracks from being too sugary to rock out to. From
bubblegum pop, to grimey hip-hop, to indie rock, it’s always been big
melodies for people who abhor contemporary pop production.
SEMICIRCLE is no exception, a huge record full of compelling
vocal melodies, driving rhythms, and badass instrumental
arrangements. The downside is that the whole record sounds like it’s
being performed from the bottom of a well. This production style,
which pushes the vocals back in the mix and compresses much of
the instrumentation to a similar level, creates an almost marching
band like listening experience. Every instrument sounds like it’s in
the same room, possibly a high school gymnasium. It’s impressive
that a band that has at moments been a rock ensemble can still
sound like themselves with so many horns, xylophones and flutes,
but the fuzzy production keeps any of the real bangers on the record,
like the single “Semicircle Song,” from being that successful. The
most effective tracks on the record are the more contained ones,
especially the tracks that let Ninja stand out with her gorgeous vocal
performance like “Plans Are Like a Dream U Organize.”
It’s hard not to smile your way through SEMICIRCLE, it’s just so
much fun, but it doesn’t necessarily reward close listening.
• Liam Prost
Scallops Hotel
Sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face
Ruby Yacht
As Scallops Hotel, Wisconsin rapper and producer Milo creates
tranquil atmospheres like an alchemist who found the philosophers
stone. He knows when to let the beat rise and bubble before
splashing in his conversational flow, which is reminiscent of Earl
Sweatshirt in style and skill. Sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face
is the second entry in a trilogy that began last year with Over the
Carnage Rose a Voice Prophetic.
The production is minimal and piano-heavy, meshing perfectly
with Milo’s poetic and often hilarious versus touching on topics like
socioeconomic shifts and Mortal Kombat references. Fittingly, on
“Rank, Title, Pressures,” Scallops Hotel mentions Mugen, a character
from the stylish and hip-hop-inspired anime Samurai Champloo,
which used to air on Adult Swim. The network is known for its
impeccable music between shows, favouring sounds on the Flying
Lotus spectrum. In this sense, the 25-year-old rapper is embracing
the influences of his youth as Scallops Hotel, carrying the fluttering
torch to enlighten a new generation. Whether his next release is
labelled as Scallops Hotel or Milo, Rory Ferreira proves time and time
again he can turn his old influences into modern gold.
• Paul McAleer
The Sumner Brothers
To Elliot - In Remembrance Of Wolf
Independent
Through a career notable for sonic twists, Vancouver’s Sumner
Brothers follow up the dark, energetic tone of their 2015 release,
The Hell In Your Mind, with the reflective and gentle To Elliot - In
Remembrance Of Wolf. The album is a collection of instrumentally
spare covers by a who’s who of roots songwriters, including Billy Joe
Shaver, Warren Zevon, and Bruce Springsteen.
Brothers Bob and Brian Sumner keep the arrangements light
and tight to the originals on To Elliot. Brian’s plaintive drawl on
Springsteen’s “The Ghost Of Tom Joad” and Zevon’s “Carmelita,”
allows the melody and lyrics to shine through, the latter getting a
relaxed electric guitar and subtle female harmony to go along with
the mellow cantina vibe. Bob’s baritone is haunting on his take of
The Tragically Hip’s classic album cut “Scared,” and on Jolie Holland’s
“Damn Shame.” For those aware of Zachary Lucky or Colter Wall,
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February 2018