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You can’t catch a bus in Vancouver without tripping over a struggling indie musician trying to figure out how to turn the pain in their soul into 10,000 Spotify streams and a record deal…or even just a level of familiarity that means the Green Auto regulars are excited to see their name on the bill. We all start somewhere.
So, we’re collecting jams from local artists both small and not-so-small and giving them a spin each month.
Singles
Heidi Vincent — “Mean Jolene”
Everyone knows Jolene, the woman who steals Dolly Parton’s man in the seminal 1973 single. Rather than doing another cover or reinterpretation, country artist Heidi Vincent has taken the track as the basis for her own story-driven song: What happens to Jolene afterwards? In Vincent’s telling, she receives a karmic retribution in the form of a terrible boyfriend. The track, delivered with plenty of twang and polish, suggests that you don’t need to live in the dustbowl to weave old-school country yarns.
Antonio Larosa — “I Don’t Shine”
There are plenty of roots-y country songs dedicated to driving cars (or trucks) on meandering road trips. There are fewer that take the car as a central metaphor for who the singer is: in Antonio Larosa’s case, an old beater who “don’t shine like I used to”. But the rusty, weathered body is a point of pride for Larosa, as those bumps and dings reflect the result of a life lived authentically. With lines like “Dreams and gasoline keeping us alive/We’ll go on forever as long as you don’t mind”, it’s a charming, self-aware track.
Jody Glenham — “Overtime”
If you’ve been wondering when ’90s grunge-rock jams are going to make their inevitable return, then Jody Glenham’s new single might be exactly what you’re looking for. Taking inspiration from Smashing Pumpkins and Hole, the moody track hinges on the repeated question of “Are you enough?”, letting the exhortation bend and change as the fuzzy instrumentals cycle through woozy waves. It’s a bittersweet track, reflecting on the way relationships have no guarantees, delivered with both emotional weight and effortless cool.
RAIAAN — “Casualty”
RAIAAN’s Spotify profile helpfully provides some spelling help—six letters, four vowels—for those stumbling over his name that is 50 percent comprised of the letter A. Luckily, “Casualty” lets him add another one to the collection with a lovely R&B-style slow jam. RAIAAN’s falsetto voice drifts over a languorous beat, and lo-fi piano, creating the kind of vibey song to soundtrack a cozy night in. The real casualty is the fact this song doesn’t have more plays yet.
Albums
Fake Shark — Rhythm Prism
Fake Shark always seems to be having fun. That might explain the guests on the alt-rockers’ latest full-length: Vancouver pop-punk princesses Fionn, iconically bizarre rapper Kool Keith, and Down With Webster frontman Pat Gillett all show up to join in on the chaos. Behind the sneering swagger, silly lyrics, and impossibly catchy hooks, the 15-track LP is stuffed with songs that take a sideways look at the strange business of being in music. Maybe Fake Shark does have real problems: it can’t play all these crowd-pleasers in a single set.
Chopping Spree! — Anemoia
Chopping Spree! cut its teeth with shows in Vancouver and beyond before packaging up its fusion jazz rock in this sprawling debut album. While there are some lyrics (“Catch Yourself”), most songs are entirely instrumental, like the smooth jazz-into-synth groove of “Two Rooms”, or the ever-shifting “Portrait of Zahora” that touches on prog rock, chiptune, and South Indian raga. Anemoia is nostalgia for a past that never existed, and Chopping Spree!’s music is nostalgia for a genre it’s still inventing.
SIXPOINTS — Negative Space
SIXPOINTS describes itself as “an electro poetics alternative music duo”, which is one way of saying you deliver spoken-word lyrics over sparse accompaniment. The resulting debut album, Negative Space, is a sort of light-industrial blur. Opener “The Holy Game” feels like a contemporary version of ‘60s beat poetry, and subsequent songs continue the woozy, unreal feeling as the pair explore the trauma of our current age. Nobody else in Vancouver is making music that sounds like Trent Reznor tripped out on cough syrup.
Jo Passed — Away
Although he currently lives in Toronto (boo, etc.), Jo Passed—the musical project from Jo Hirabayashi—gets to keep his place in Van Jams thanks to his deep connection to the city. Eight years after his debut Their Prime made waves, the follow-up record is decidedly more mellow: light vocals, math-y guitars with the sharpest edges sanded down, and an eye towards catchy hooks. Time to close your eyes and get spirited Away.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.straight.com ’
