For those seeking new developments in the thriving indie rock scene, or just a cheap ($5) downtown concert ticket: Canadian trio We Are The City will be commencing their first ever United States tour at the Double Door Dirt Room October 15th. They are opening for established BC indie act and U.S. tour veterans, Said the Whale.
Known for their energetic, compassionate and highly interactive concerts, We Are The City — Cayne McKenzie (vocals and keyboards), Andrew “Andy” Huculiak (drums) and David Menzel (guitar) — combines elements common to the multitudes of indie bands found at events like the Pitchfork Music Festival with fresher musical devices adapted from progressive rock. While intense ambience (lots of studio reverberation, the almost endless crashing and swelling of cymbals and thickly layered guitar and keyboard tones) characterize much of the band’s music, the songs never resolve to a muddy drone. McKenzie’s breathy and sometimes shrill vocal is playful and helps reduce some of the tension created by this lazy ambience. Huculiak’s laid-back drumming frequently gives the music a loping feel, but the pulse is never lost and the lack of a bass guitar allows room for the entire harmonic pallet of McKenzie’s piano and for Menzel’s experimentation with noisier guitar tones.
On the progressive side of the musical spectrum, We Are The City offers several fine examples of polyrhythmic composition. On “Morning Song”, the B-side to the band’s “Mourning Song / Morning Song” single (Sept. 20 Canada, Oct. 4 U.S.), McKenzie uses his vocal pickup into the first verse to modulate from 5/4 time to 6/8. On “There Are Very Tiny Beasts in the Ground”, from their 2009 debut LP entitled “In a Quiet World”, a multi-layered Afro-Latin percussion breakdown and non-repeating sections dismantle the traditional pop song form. The band is constantly trying to push musical boundaries and write challenging pieces, McKenzie said.
Audience members can expect to see a group of three humble guys having a great time on stage. The bandmates truly appear to love their job, the audience and each other. If the blogs of enthusiastic Canadian fans tell the truth, everyone should be joining in on the dancing and singing by the end of the show. We Are The City informally began while the band members attended high school in Kelowna, BC. They started jamming in the 10th grade and ended up playing many gigs throughout their time in school, McKenzie said. Upon graduation, McKenzie, Huculiak and Menzel decided to pursue the band full time.
“For us, it was are you going to go to school, go to work, or do the band?” McKenzie said. “We chose the band.”
We Are The City proceeded to record “In a Quiet World” and earn $150,000 by winning a contest called the PEAK Performance Project. They used the funds to support themselves on several Canadian tours as well as for recording, McKenzie said. As demands on the band increased, McKenzie and Huculiak both wanted to play gigs in their hometown without the pressure associated with We Are The City, McKenzie said. They formed a band called High School with guitarist Blake Enemark and quickly composed songs satirizing moments from the past.
“[We said], oh let's just be called High School and write about our times in high school that we’re glad we had but never want to go through again,” McKenzie said.
This material eventually came to comprise the band’s six-song EP, “High School” (Mar 22 Canada, Oct 4 U.S.). The music is less complex than material from “In a Quiet World” or “Mourning Song / Morning Song” and the lyrics poke fun at teenage activities such as partying and getting girls, issues that apparently were once stressful to the band members. “High School” could be compared to the work of an early Vampire Weekend — fun, relatively simple and pretty indie.
If anything, come out for the great vibes and to support an exciting new band who would be honored to welcome U.S. college students into their fanbase — and if you need help wooing your significant other, the band just might be able to help. It has happened before.
We Are The City will be drawing from all their past material as well as songs from a forthcoming 2011 LP for dates on their U.S. tour. To preview or purchase their music, visit wearethecity.bandcamp.com. For ticket and Chicago show information, visit www.doubledoor.com.