BeatRoute Magazine BC Print Edition May 2018

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LA VIDA LOCAL HOMEGROWN VANCOUVER MUSIC RELEASES BAD STRANGERS S/T Independent Cory Owens and Cassidy Waring are doing it all on their debut album. Featuring diverse instrumentation and heartfelt lyrics, the album intermingles folk, bluegrass, and country twang. Autoharp, horns, banjos, and plucky percussion underscore strong vocal performances. But it is the bare bones moments on songs like “Cheap Wine” and “Beautiful Shame” that highlight the duo’s strength: inspired harmonies. Bad Strangers draw inspirations from across the map. Songs are sometimes in the vein of Mother Mother, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and even Bob Schneider. But everything here is rooted in epic lyrical storytelling. • Lauren Donnelly DANTE’S PARADISE Haunts My Dream Independent Dante’s Paradise is vying for a coveted spot on your summer playlist with the release of theirEP, Haunts My Dream. Quality not quantity is at play with these three tracks from this Vancouver quartet, creating an unpolished yet refined sound that transports you to a sweaty garage on a hot summer day. The door is wide open and you can see the dust particles dance with the sometimes Melancholic, dreamy guitar. Dante’s Paradise belts out introspective lyrics that chronicles a young man’s confusing lust for love. Of course, after lust comes making peace with the changes you have to make with yourself if you want to keep the girl. And eventually having a beer with your buds when you fuck it all up. Haunts My Dream is good old fashion summertime BBQ beer-drinking music. • Chris Dzaka HUSH HUSH NOISE S/T Red Fawn Records Experimental pop duo Hush Hush Noise have unleashed their debut record, and my oh my is it ever wonderful! Running the entire gamut of electro-pop, this record features bubbly, chugging guitar riffs, otherworldly ambience, and glitchy drum machines. The cherry on this electronic cake? The stupendous vocal stylings of singer and drummer Lily Fawn, often supported by the haunting harmonies of multiinstrumentalist Eric Hogg. Watch out Vancouver, here comes Hush Hush Noise! • Mat Wilkins THE SOPHISTOCRATS Together Independent The Sophistocrats get laid-back and lovelorn on their debut EP, Together. Sophie Moreau Parent meditates on millennial love with her smooth and folky vocals. Think Frazey Ford meets Sheryl Crow. “Broken Record” is a loop-focused highlight with ‘70s-inspired keys, smooth vocals, and one epic guitar solo. The groovy melody plays off lyrics like “We hit the same wall/ Over and over/ Comparing shortfalls/ Skipping over and over each other.” Together is an anthemic eff-you to modern dating that begs to be lip synced to in front of your bedroom mirror. • Lauren Donnelly THE SUMNER BROTHERS To Elliot - In Remembrance of Wolf Independent Bob and Brian Sumner are back again with To Elliot - In Remembrance of Wolf, the type of album able to reach out and touch just about any heart there is – country fan or not. Likely a result of its influences, this coversonly record features lyrics that are all over the map, covering everything within the grey area between love and loss. The beautifying timbre of the brothers’ voices, both as smooth as apple skin, doesn’t hurt either. Each song on the record is understated but deeply considered, with minimalistic orchestration that’s at once both intricate and delightfully simple. • Mat Wilkins VARIOUS ARTISTS CiTR Pop Alliance Compilation Vol. 5 Mint Records “Anything can be pop music if it makes you feel good, or makes you feel bad, or makes you feel something. And hopefully it’s only three minutes long.” These are the words that punctuate the introduction on Mint Records’ and CiTR’s Pop Alliance Vol. 5. What follows is an exploration into what CiTR music director Andy Resto and the rest of the student executive team at CiTR deem the best pop acts along Canada’s west coast. The record features a hearty mix of talent, from the doomsday chiptune of Shitlord Fuckerman’s “Cicadabanana,” to the punk stylings of Passive’s “Vulture Halo.” Eclectic doesn’t even begin to describe this mixed bag of Canadian gems. • Mat Wilkins 32 May 2018
KATE NASH The Imperial April 4, 2018 Kate Nash is one of those artists that you know will never give up. Gaining popularity during the American- Apparel-indie-rock era of music in 2007, it seemed as if Nash faded away into the back while her peers thrived. However, at her Vancouver show, it’s clear that Nash still has that light to create and her fans are here for it. Launching her self-funded tour at the Imperial, Nash performed alongside an all-girl band, which is just as badass as it sounds. Her newest album, Yesterday was Forever, was funded by her fans with a Kickstarter campaign and pays homage to a prepubescent version of herself. Nash describes the record as an excerpt from her teenage diary. Taking the stage in a pink metallic spandex suit, Nash opened up her set with “Foundations,” the 2007 break-up anthem off her debut album, Made of Bricks. With a swift transition into “Mouthwash,” also off of Made of Bricks, Nash delivered a high-energy set only slowing it down to talk about the importance of taking care of mental health before performing “Musical Theatre.” The UK-based artist demonstrated that she is unapologetically herself and hasn’t lost her quirky demeanor, or her potty-mouth. Even with a few technical difficulties during her set with backtracks, the show went on and Nash did not miss a beat. Highlights of the evening included “Merry Happy,” “Dickhead,” and “Life in Pink” off her latest album, Yesterday was Forever. • Molly Randhawa LIVE Photo by Jessie Foster GUS DAPPERTON The Fox Cabaret April 18, 2018 Gus Dapperton and his three piece band floated from smoke-machine mist on a carriage of cool harmony and cowbell into “Gum, Toe, Shoe.” The Vancouver stop was the New York local’s first live appearance on his first tour. Having amassed social media fame for his aesthetic music videos and neu-Bowieesque style, it was as if he came to life from an Instagram square before our eyes. The show was an ’80s dream-pop delight. Even as the foursome traipsed through moody ballads “Ditch” and “Beyond Amends,” the crowd kept transfixed by their neon magnetism. Gus’ keyboardist and sister Megan Rice served back-up vocals that would’ve had even Mario quaking in his boots. Despite his Photo by Darrole Palmer sister’s vocal superiority, the audience was there to eat up Gus. With his cotton-candy bull-cut, bubblegum sweatshirt and iridescent makeup, he certainly served a sweet slice. Guys and gals kept gushing “I fucking love him!” at every turn. The 21-year-old has a mere 11 tracks under his belt but a whole lot of charisma to back them up. Gus stretched out the short set-list with cutesy quips. Waving an affected arm, he introduced each band member as “being sixfoot-three”. Au contraire, half the band didn’t look old enough to drive. Dancing in the rain of Dapperton’s dazzling guitar riffs and growled poeticism, amidst a sea of pastel hair, mesh, and overalls, felt like a bonafide Internet Party, if there were such a thing. Their show testified that outsider kids can cause enough commotion online to take the world by storm. • Maggie McPhee ALVVWAYS Commodore Ballroom April 4, 2018 Since their stellar self-titled debut dropped in 2014, Alvvays have catapulted to ubiquitous indie stardom and toured relentlessly. The band took the stage at the Commodore Ballroom as part of a west coast swing on their international tour supporting their September release, Antisocialites. Playing an equal blend of fresh material from the new record as well as classics from their first album, the group performed their signature brand of rollicking, dreamy guitar pop subtly infused with distinctive Acadian undertones. Buoyed atop the propulsive rhythms of Sheridan Riley’s drumming, frontwoman Molly Rankin’s voice flutters between plaintive crooning, powerful belting, and an airy porcelain falsetto. Falling smack dab in the middle of a grueling three-and-a-half-month, 51-date tour across Europe and North America, the fatigue seemed to show a little. The band bobbed and swayed on stage, but for the most part their stage presence was fairly sedate and the audience’s involvement was similarly tepid. Furthermore, Rankin’s wryly humorous lyrics and Alec O’Hanley’s silvery guitar riffs — arguably the group’s strongest assets — were often hard to make out, overpowered by the drums, which were too loud in the mix. However, the band still managed to get the crowd into it eventually with the audience singing along to new song “Not My Baby,” and by the time Rankin performed the group’s breakthrough hit “Archie, Marry Me,” she was emphatically joined by everyone in the room. Her exceptional gift for melody, coupled with the group’s ever-forward rhythmic stomp make for catchy, toe-tapping tunes that stay in your head long after you’ve left the show. • Max Szentveri Photo by Ray Maichin May 2018 33
Page 2 and 3: TRIM SIZE: 10.25"W x 11.5" H, RIGHT
Page 4 and 5: WITH DAVID MACANULTY OF YALETOWN BR
Page 6: CITY BIKE TO WORK WEEK INDIAN SUMME
Page 9 and 10: The Outsider art of David Sedaris S
Page 11 and 12: (L-R) PAUL KAMON, TYLER OLSON AND L
Page 13 and 14: 1 Happy Hour $ 3 Beer til 5pm 2 Hap
Page 15 and 16: MURDER ON THE IMPROV EXPRESS VANCOU
Page 17 and 18: YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN DIVERSIFYI
Page 19 and 20: POOR BABY PASSING THE TIME WITH PER
Page 21 and 22: LAMB OF GOD AMERICAN DEATH-METAL GR
Page 23 and 24: RIVER JACKS SHOWCASING AN UNDENIABL
Page 25 and 26: BPM NIGHTMARES ON WAX OWN YOUR REAL
Page 27 and 28: MUSIC REVIEWS COURTNEY BARNETT Tell
Page 29 and 30: THE KILLERS • FLORENCE+ THE MACHI
Page 31: Iceage - Beyondless Jon Hopkins - S
Page 36: CANADA’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT CONC

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