I'm not a patriotic person. Despite the fact that I was born here, have lived here my entire life, and haven't even been outside the country since I was eight, I don't care much for Canada. I don't dislike it, of course; I've just never concerned myself with national identity. But there's a strange satisfaction I get listening to a band from here. It might be because, for so many years, our contribution to screamo has been lacking (though it's picked up considerably), but it's enjoyable for me when I stumble across a Canadian band who play(ed) so well in a genre I love. Enter Coalspur. No matter where you're from, if you don't know Coalspur who Coalspur was, only God can help you. But I'll try. They broke up earlier this year, but left us an album called Others. So even if you already know what Coalspur was all about, follow the links and enjoy if you haven't heard it yet. These fellows hailed from Edmonton, Alberta, and I imagine they took their name from the nearly abandoned mining town of that province, which is home to only a dozen or so residents these days. That name origin should give you a sense of what they're all about. They have a tragic despairing sound, lots of scaling, and raw building vocals reminiscent of some of the mid-90's greats. They play at a good clip, slowing only occasionally which gives those sections even more of an impact. The songs are very personal too, and reach out to the listener on an emotional level. A couple of the tracks off Others touch me deeply. A few nights ago, I must have listened to Frater Passus (which is Latin for "suffering brother") ten times in a row. One thing I find really interesting about this last release is how much they can cram into their short songs. Seriously, the longest is only two and a half minutes, but each one has so much going on. In summary, if by some off chance you haven't heard Coalspur yet, do yourself a favour, even if it is after the fact.
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More Germans! Alkali Lake played a soaring brand of post-hardcore, much of which reminds me of a slightly gentler Eleventh He Reaches London. I actually thought these guys were Australian until I looked into it. Sadly, like Coalspur, they broke up earlier this year, but not without leaving us a great parting gift with the release of Fourteen Fingers on Three Hands. They use more singing than most of what I post on here (especially on their last ouput), but it always breaks into some really driving shouting/screaming. The instrumental sections/soft vocal moments flesh out the songs nicely, adding somber moments to a sound that is otherwise very intense. There's not much else to say, but don't mistake that for a lack of interest on my part. I really like what these guys were doing. Hopefully, we'll get some more from the members as they move on to other projects. Give a listen.
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Maths does it again. Well, I should explain. Their most recent release, called My Porthole Sees No Ocean, which came out last month, is actually a lot of older demo material, along with some gorgeous instrumental tracks. The highlight for me, however, is the cover and I don't mean the art. When Maths put out MMVII in 2008, the highlight for me was their interpretation of my all-time favourite Jerome's Dream song, A Well Documented Case of Severe Autism. I mean, the rest of that album had me hooked as well, but that tribute was awesome, man. And now, with Porthole, they've got yet another brilliant cover, one which excites me to no end: Change by Deftones. Deftones hold a VERY special place in my heart. That song specifically is what got me into the 'Tones back when I was only 12 or so. If I had never delved into numetal, I doubt I would have ever aquired a taste for hardcore and its subgenres and therefore might be a very different person today. Ergo, Change by Deftones indirectly got me into screamo. Now Maths has taken that song, and spun it on its head (in a good way). It's like everything has come full circle. The numetal song that sparked my personal musical taste developments is played in the style that journey led me to. It sounds sappy, I know, but who cares? Anyway, Maths plays Change in their personal style: angular, chaotic and unpredictable. If you like their other material, neither the cover or the rest of the songs disappoint. It's the Maths I've come to expect, and that's never a bad thing.
Okay, this is a weird one. I'm going to come right out and suggest you don't bother with any of this band's releases prior to Takunakuy. I feel bad saying it, but their older material is just too sloppy for my tastes. That being said, it's interesting to give them a quick listen if only to see the maturation process which led to Takunakuy. They're still lo-fi, but a lot more capable in execution. In terms of style, Space Camp is a bit difficult to place for me. There's a lot of scattered influences, but the big one for me is their use of piano. Keys in general have seemingly fallen out of vogue in recent years, which bums me out. Alison Ranger's Formula Imperative is my top conceptual album of all time. I spent many rainy Autumn night with Desert City Soundtrack. But those bands are long gone sadly. What I'm trying to say is, there used to be a decent smattering of bands which used keys to a point that it was integral to their unique sound, whereas now we're lucky to get one song from a band which makes use of piano. Space Camp is different. Though not as dependent on it overall as the few bands I just mentioned, they make liberal use of piano in a fun discordant way. There's a drum machine, there's sampling, there's off-key singing, there's shrieking. These guys are all over the place, and I'm into it. I'm really looking forward to see how they develop, as with a band like this, it's hard to predict what direction they'll go in. Overall, this is a engaging, interesting output by a band that is just on the cusp of finding their feet. Start following them now and watch how they progress.
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