BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [May 2018]

THE HEARTS
slightly more sombre, slightly more fun
You will catch feels listening to the Hearts new EP.
photo: Adam Goudreau
There’s a noticeable dampened quality on the making of the album.
the Hearts’ new EP Sunshine. Not damp in “We happened to record this material during
a sad way, but in an intensely cerebral, slowyou-down
way. It’s a beautifully cleansing jolt points of transition in our personal lives,” says
a time when a lot of us were going through
to the heart. The five-song EP explores themes singer Jeff Stuart. “Recording this was an opportunity
to counteract some of that and allow this
of impermanence and change, which the sixpiece
experienced in varying degrees during process to be less restrictive. It was a good outlet
FIRE NEXT TIME
sophisticated punk to the gut
James Renton is one of Edmonton’s finest
punk storytellers and as any good storyteller
knows, the plot must progress. Fitting then,
that his outfit Fire Next Time has refined their
sonic onslaught on their gritty new LP, Knives.
Within, you’ll hear an increasingly sophisticated
sound pared with lyrics that communicate
the band’s “salty, old bearded” age.
If ‘sophisticated’ reads ‘commercial’ to you,
pump the brakes; the record delivers punk rock
from the gut. Knives is a different, advanced
version of the FNT you know and love.
And so, a more cohesive band emerges. If you
pared away the folk elements (the banjo, the
harmonica, the saw), the result is a straightforward
punk record. The sections are distinct even
when united. Take “Birch Wood,” where clean
electric guitar and rhythm sections lead into
imaginative, anthem like lyrics. Every single track
is high-energy and appealing without losing
FNT’s gutter-grown charm.
“It’s our first record with our drummer Garrett
(Kruger) and he’s very particular about his
drum sound. It’s way more refined and there’s a
lot more life experience in it,” explains Renton.
“Nick Kouramenos used to play in This is A
Stand Off and The Johnsons: he’s an incredible
bass player, so people I think are going to notice
that right off the top. The bass playing has
Salty old punks lighten up.
gotten much more technical and uh, just better.
[Ryan] Mick and Kevin [Klemp] are just whizzes
at guitar anyway, so I don’t know if much of that
will change, their riffs will come off more complicated.
And as for me, I’m the same old dog, I
don’t do all that much for new tricks.”
Despite Renton’s professed “salty old dog”
for all of us.”
Some changes in the line-up may have also
cemented the change in the band’s approach to
writing and recording, such as adding Alex Vissia
and keeping drummer Bradford Trebble on as
the full-time drummer.
“I’d say three quarters of the tracks are first
takes, the first crack at an idea or scratch takes,”
explains keyboardist Dwayne Martineau. “What
makes them good is that they aren’t perfect.
We kept more of the imperfections and happy
accidents that only happen when you’re not
overthinking it.”
Musically, the EP features delicate wisps of
pedal steel and patient, slightly sleepy acoustic
guitar parts on songs like “Swallowed by
the Morning Sky.” The release leans slightly
more toward folk and country than previous
effort Equal Love (2014), which had more
of an indie-pop feel. It’s almost refreshing to
hear more melancholy squeezed out of the
band, who beautifully balance a doleful tone
with the correct amount of reassuring hope.
Deeply evocative, you may need tissues at the
release show.
“I think we captured the kind of feel and
energy from a live performance we were going
photo: Matt Foster
status, the inspiration for Knives comes from a
fresh chapter in his life.
“Me especially and a couple of the other
guys are really into Dungeons & Dragons,”
Renton says.
“I had stumbled across this article this dude
had written about how he writes his Dungeons
BY BRITTANY RUDYCK
for on the last album,” says Martineau. “This
simply refines and focuses on those elements.”
While Stuart and Martineau didn’t get into
too much detail about the personal changes
they faced during the making of Sunshine, they
did share some insight about the album cover.
“It’s a photo Dwayne took of my dog Arlo
who I had to put down in January,” Stuart
shares. “He ended up becoming the subject of
the album artwork because the photo seemed
to capture a lot of the sentiment behind the
recording.”
Whether by accident or on purpose, the
Hearts have created a small body of work everyone
needs to hear at some point in their life.
Applying subtle philosophy to heartfelt, unhindered
instrumentals do what music is supposed
to do - make you feel something.
“Dogs represent the idea of purity and remind
us how to live in the moment,” concludes Stuart.
“It’s easy to lose sight of that and rely on external
validation rather than allowing it to arise from
within.”
The Hearts release Sunshine on May 26 at the
Aviary (Edmonton).
BY ELIZABETH EATON
& Dragons campaigns, and he has something
that he coined called ‘Knife Theory.’ When
he is creating characters for his story or in his
campaigns he has this thing called ‘knives.’ So, a
knife can be something that you love, something
that you hate, or something that your character
completely depends on, so like, family and
friends; or like addictions, drugs and alcohol, or
aspirations like power. A good storyteller can
take those knives and twist them at will to drive
the story forward. We called [the album] Knives,
thinking within the phrase ‘everybody has a
knife to twist.’”
Exploring topics like addiction, suicide and
mental illness often gives FNT an intensely
serious feel. While still being respectful of the
subject matter (“I try not to romanticize it in any
way,” says Renton) the D & D references certainly
twist Knives in a lighter direction.
“We’re hoping people can see the duality
that is FNT.”
Fire Next Time play Dickens on May 11 (Calgary)
and Brixx on May 12 (Edmonton) as part of their
Canadian tour with This is a Standoff. Their new
album Knives is released on May 4 via Stomp
Records. You can order it on vinyl or digitally at
https://firenexttime.bandcamp.com/.
ROCKPILE BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 39