The High Five: Oct. 15 2024
Feeling Figures - Everything Around You
Feeling Figures hits a sweet spot for these ears in 2024. The Montreal band’s latest and greatest Everything Around You out now via K RECS / Perennial , is a reminder of the simple economics of punk rock., a time before every local band had a publicist. Guitar, drums , bass & vocals. Add some gnarly riffs and alternating boy / girl vocals… and the synthetic sheen of what the kids are listening to now gets blown to the side. Like most great albums, this collection of eleven songs could have dropped in any previous decade following the original Olympia Washington magnetic tape drip. of the early 80’s. Zak Slax, Kay Moon, Joe Chamandy and Thomas Molander give you more than enough reason to break out the angora cardigan this fall. Apparently recorded during the pandemic before their debut album, these songs sound urgent and necessary.
2.SHUNK - Sated
Montreal’s SHUNK have been steadily writing and recording what is becoming one of our most anticipated albums of late. In a recent GGRMS interview (Sept. 20th 2024) the band reminded us that their name, SHUNK, derives from a combination of shoegaze and punk, although we’d argue that their sound is more uniquely tailored than that. Over the course of the first two singles, Goblin and Sated respectively, both tasters from a forthcoming full length on TBA… , Shunk have managed to stand out sonically in a city that has no shortage of cool bands. Visually, they seem fully formed and have gotten my attention. On their latest single Sated, the guitars are shiny and shimmy, the bass bubbles under vocalist Gabby’s falsetto’ed plea. “Filling the void, that you’ve created! I will never ever be sated!” is the last thing you hear before pushing repeat. Her lyrics play out like bizarre tales, inviting the listener into the whimsical and strange world of SHUNK. A punk rock fairy tale turned on its head. Live, the band evolve into a truly unique experience. Gabby’s serpentine presence amplifies the bands already sinister allure, the singer moving like a cobra rising from a charmers basket, as the band mesmerize with sound.
3.FRVITS - The Great Internet EP
Ever since FRVITS released, Stupid Era in 2021, they’ve questioned if the world has gotten more stupid. It was 6 songs in 6 minutes. Their latest, The Great Internet EP is 5 songs in 6 minutes. 3 languages. Zero fat. Zero fucks. No, the band hasn’t gone full prog with a slightly longer run time per song, each one, now hovering under a minute and a half, so don’t bother sitting down while you drop the needle, use that time to rock out. It would make sense that they would leave a little more room for a raw as fuck solo from MTL underground guitar god Roy Vucino (RED MASS, PYPY, CPC Gangbangs etc…) on FRVITS’ cover of The Stupids’ classic Wipeout. FRVITS leave the truly bizarre for the other 4 and half minutes of face peeling maximum rock n roll that’s mysterious, menacing and hilarious. You know how fleeting, yet utterly satisfying it is to strike a flame from a matchstick? That’s FRVITS. Burn it down.
4. Pressure Pin - Polyurethane
The evolution from Pressure Pins’ 2022 Superficial Feature Ep to 2024’s Polyurethane EP cannot be denied. Pressure Pins’ Kenny Smith’s latest release of “egg punk”, connects the dots between the hyper active ghosts of punk and new wave of old, and a future not yet heard. The addition of horns add a James Chance-esque caucaphony to the party .Rick Ocasek rubbing elbows with the Screamers as Polyurethane, cuts in with surgical precision, a testament to the band’s laser like live performances. Although no less frenetic and dizzying as the fare on Superficial Feature, the songs on Polyurethane out now via MOTHLAND, are a cut above sonically speaking, allowing some truly radiant moments to emerge and shine. Dying Wish To Turn Into a Cube might be my favourite title of any song this year. By the time the EP closes with the endlessly infectious Who’s Scared Now?, the pressure is on to find something to follow.
5. Poolgirl
Recently MTL’s Poolgirl recorded a live session for GGRMS (see September 13th episode) in CJLO’s “The Oven” studio. The band showcased a selection of songs that they have been independently recording and releasing over the last year. “Mercy, Mercy Me, talking to you is my charity.” howls front woman Randy on the bands latest single Charity. The song punches and gnarls its way through an account of setting someone straight. I couldn’t help but be brought back to being a teenager in the 90’s as their songs rang out through the speakers. Not that they sound like that era mind you, but the band evoked more of a feeling of being back there. In fact the songs that have surfaced so far all secure their own corner of the room as far as feel and sound. Whether its attending pool parties…confident and insecure, pissed off and bored eating Cheerios, the lyrics paint eternally relatable themes, with a sharp tongue.. Musically, the band sound like they have been around longer than they have. One of my naive fixations as a music fan growing up was the dynamics of a band. That kind of creative bond seemed magical, and to this day still does. When the members of Poolgirl sat down with us in the studio, you got the sense that there was something non-tangible between them. A shared aura or common wavelength between them. Friendship. I became excited for not only the music that we’d witnessed them play, but for the music they have not even written yet.