Single Servings, March 28, 2022
In this week’s Single Servings, Destroyer delves into disco, metal gods Mares Of Thrace return, Stars deliver dance-pop, a proto-punk classic from The Stonemen is unearthed, and much more!
By Jason Schneider
In this week’s Single Servings, Destroyer delves into disco, metal gods Mares Of Thrace return, Stars deliver dance-pop, a proto-punk classic from The Stonemen is unearthed, and much more!
Destroyer – June
Release Date: March 25
Label: Merge
The new Destroyer album, Labrynthitis, is out now, meaning it’s Christmas for indie music nerds the world over. Non-devotees of Dan Bejar likely view his 25-plus-year body of work as a series of glorious highs and confounding lows. Early returns on Labrynthitis suggest it’s likely to fall in the former category, particularly if you view him as a post-rock Van Morrison, or are a fan of the demented disco that drives the current single, June.
Stars – Build A Fire
Release Date: March 24
Label: Last Gang
The long-running Ontario collective fronted by Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan returns May 27 with From Capelton Hill, the first Stars album since 2017. Recorded in Montreal with Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes, the band promises the album will contain strings, horns and Britpop influences, although Build A Fire leans into a decidedly dance-pop sound.
Crown Lands – The Witching Hour (Electric Witch) (Live)
Release Date: March 24
Label: UMC
As many of us gear up for (hopefully) returning to a regular schedule of live music, some bands are helping us prep by offering some great live performance videos. Prog-rock duo Crown Lands are the latest, with this powerful performance of a track from their recent White Buffalo EP, captured at Toronto’s Revolution Recording.
Yves Jarvis – Bootstrap Jubilee
Release Date: March 23
Label: Flemish Eye
Montrealer Yves Jarvis continues to wave his freak flag high, with another of his full-length psychedelic odysseys, The Zug, due on May 13. It remains difficult to grasp from where exactly the source of his creativity stems, but phuzzy pholk tunes like Bootstrap Jubliee are never less than compelling.
Banx & Ranx – Headphones (feat. Rêve)
Release Date: March 24
Label: UMC
This highly-touted Montreal EDM duo has just made the jump to the majors with Headphones, the first in what’s expected to be a series of releases this year. In a statement, Zacharie “Soké” Raymond and Yannick “KNY Factory” Rastogi say, “It’s a pure energy track from Canadian artists to the world. We are really proud of this one and can’t wait to share what else we have coming!”
Mares Of Thrace – Onward, Ever Onward
Release Date: March 25
Label: Sonic Unyon
Not much has been heard from these Alberta metal cult heroes in the decade since they released their last album, so the recent surprise announcement of a new record, The Exile, predictably sent shockwaves within the Canadian metal community. Indeed, the sludgy Onward, Ever Onward is sure to please longtime fans, as well as uninitiated followers of Sleep/High On Fire and the like.
Sunnyside Uppers – All I Want
Release Date: March 19
Label: Independent
Power pop fans will want to take note of this new track by Saint John, New Brunswick singer/songwriter Ryan Brown’s project, Sunnyside Uppers. Brown packs the tune with so much positive energy, it sounds ready to burst at the seams by the time it kicks into full gear. This is a band to definitely keep an eye on.
100 Mile House – Always On My Mind
Release Date: March 11
Label: Fallen Tree Records
Still basking in the glow of their 2020 album Love And Leave You, the Edmonton folk duo comprised of Peter Stone and Denise MacKay have taken on this Willie Nelson classic for the deluxe edition of the album out now. With fingerpicked guitar and swelling strings, it’s easy to imagine this is how Nick Drake might have covered it.
Nora Kelly Band – Hymn For Agnostics
Release Date: March 23
Label: Independent
Up to now, Nora Kelly has been known for her work with Montreal grunge band Dishpit, but with this new project, she embraces a compelling alt-country sound. Describing the track, a preview of a full-length expected later this year, Kelly says, “Hymn For Agnostics is for those of us who have no religion to lean on but whose faith in the spiritual is supported in our connections with each other, the planet and ourselves.”
The Stonemen – Faded Colors / In The Evening
Release Date: March 25
Label: Celluloid Lunch Records
It’s natural to assume that any cool rock and roll made in Canada during the 1960s came out of the major cities. However, bands like New Brunswick’s The Stonemen challenged that theory with their raw proto-punk that has languished in obscurity until now. On April 20, Montreal label Celluloid Lunch is reissuing The Stonemen’s legendary 1967 single, whose A-side Faded Colors seems to portend Alice Cooper’s I’m Eighteen, as well as their future Moncton offspring Eric’s Trip. Thanks to Adam White of someparty.ca for the original post.
