Vancouver metal band Bison released what may be its best album yet.
Welcome to Part II of Vancouver Albums You Might Have Missed in 2017. For more info on the rules of the list, see Part I.
In this post, we look at full-length records released by Vancouver artists between July 1 and Dec. 31 of this year.
Uptights, Time + Space (July 4)—Power-pop with an edge and classic songwriting chops from a band made up of a whos-who of the local music scene.
Would you trust these guys with your theorem? Uptights display classic songwriting chops on Time + Space.
Bison, You Are Not the Ocean You Are the Patient (July 7)—Fourth full-length (fifth if you count the 30-minute debut Earthbound) from the city’s premier metal band. According to Brooklyn Vegan: “It may prove to be the band’s best album yet; while previous releases had great songs, Ocean has a cohesive, deliberate structure that the other albums lack. The band’s affinity for longer songs and a dual vocal attack are firmly in place, as well as their knack for weaving bursts of thrash between the slower sinews of sludge.”
Colin Cowan & the Elastic Stars, Cosmos in Summer (July 25)—Cosmic pop. “Album IV in the Elastic Stars’ Seasonal Tetralogy.”
Small Town Artillery, s/t (August)—From bio: “… the final permutation of a project over a decade old. Founded by brothers Tom (Vocals, Guitar) and Derek (Drums, Vocals) van Deursen, and supported by Carson Webber (Bass), STA began in the small Kootenay town of Meadow Creek, BC. Their sound was born from experimentation almost free of influence and has grown into mature, high energy Rock music.” First uploaded in 2016 but made available to the public this summer.
The Orange Kyte, Grow It Right (Aug 4)—Debut full-length from psychedelic-pop outfit.
Woolworm, Deserve to Die (Aug. 25)—Vancouver label Mint Records describes Woolworm as “a hardcore band who have decided to play pop music.” Deserve to Die is the trio’s second album, following 2012’s Believe in Ourselves. Visit mintrecs.com for more info.
Petunia and the Vipers, Lonesome Heavy and Lonesome (Sept. 8)—”The band successfully and effortlessly shifts through a variety of styles… Although the variety might be jarring on some albums, here the group manages to create a cohesive sound to the whole project. The result is a highly enjoyable listen, all the way through.”—greatdarkwonder.com
Scott Perry, Songs of Serenity—Member of The Orchid Highway and Top Drawers releases an album of original songs “in the Seventies vintage…”
The Boom Booms, A Million Miles (Sept 14)—Third album from soul/funk/pop outfit. “All nine tracks are varied both in terms of rhythm and musical influence,” according to CanadianBeats.ca.
Lt. Frank Dickens, Sour Bubblegum (Sept. 29)—Sophomore album from deep-voiced record store clerk favourite.
Just a Season, All the Stars Are Out Tonight (October)—Americana. Video: “Trouble in Her Eyes“.
Year of the Wolf, As If We are Sinking (Oct. 5)—Full-length debut from quintet drawing on indie-rock, blues and country. Year of the Wolf formed in 2012. As If We Are Sinking is the band’s debut full-length.
The Brad Muirhead Quartet, Old/In/Out/New (October)—Mix of experimental and straight ahead numbers from trombonist Brad Muirhead.
Shirley Gnome, Taking It Up the Notch (Oct. 20)—Gnome takes advantage of signing to well-heeled local indie label 604 Records by releasing an album of sexually explicit and hilariously NSFW country-pop.
Dopey’s Robe, Who and When is Stephen Networks? (Oct. 31)—According to beatroute.ca: “Dopey’s Robe is a five-piece Vancouver slime-pop post-rock band. Guitarist, co-vocalist, and Mount Pleasant liquor mix-master Max sums up with three words: ‘Keep it slimy.'” Who and When is Stephen Networks? is the band’s second album; they released a nine-song self-titled debut in January.
The Dreadnoughts, Foreign Skies (Nov. 10)—From The Dreadnoughts’ Wiki page: “… a 6-piece folk-punk band… [that] combines a wide range of European folk music with modern street punk.” Foreign Skies is the group’s fourth full-length album.
Storc, s/t (Nov. 18)—Debut full-length from band comprised of musicians from other bands. From Exclaim!: “The results are described as ‘unhinged, raw, punishing and again, at times, melodic.’ Despite the overreaching heaviness, the album also all comes with a welcomed dose of weird, sliding in bits of paisley-tinted psych, shoegaze and krautrock alongside buzzsaw guitars, garage-minded stomps and classic Pacific Northwest sludge. A simple sonic beast this is not.”
Jasper Sloan Yip, Post Meridiem (Oct. 27)—The third album from the singer/songwriter.
Jasper Sloan Yip and band. Nelson Mouellic photo.
Leisure Club, s/t (Nov. 20)—Debut full length. “Bounding between peppiness and moody lyrics like “You don’t want me in your life,” Leisure Club’s boisterous sound serves up nostalgia for 80s summer movies (and actual summer). Break ups and longing are masked by old-timey vocals and shimmy-worthy beats as the quintet dances through it all,” according to greyowlpoint.com.
Leisure Club released their debut album this year.
Cousin Harley, Blue Smoke: Music of Merle Travis (Nov. 25)—Trio fronted by Vancouver guitarist Paul Pigat pays homage to the influential musician. Songs include “Sixteen Tons” and “Too Much Sugar for a Dime”. Contact Little Pig Records for more info.
Nicholas Krgovich, In An Open Field (Dec. 1)—Latest album from a “perennially underrated pop auteur” (Exclaim!). From bio: “Tracked with a ‘live’ band in Coventry, UK… [and] overdubbed in Los Angeles, CA and Vancouver, BC, the record flows with a sophisticated, assured grace that in Steely Dan-like fashion belies the listless melancholy and knottiness found throughout the lyric sheet.”
Jodi Proznick, Sun Songs (Dec. 1)—Bassist Jodi Proznick mixes pop and jazz on this, her second full-length. According to local music scribe Alexander Varty, “… she’s broken with the instrumental format of her 2006 debut, Foundations, to write a collection of songs that look at love from multiple perspectives. The tone is often bittersweet, understandably, but Proznick’s resilience shines through.” Listen to “The Book of Love” here.
