popwreckoning

Founding members of iconic British rock band The Verve, Nick McCabe and Simon Jones reveal the first material from their new project The Black Ships. They will be joined by Mig Schillace (Portishead, Goldfrapp) and Davide Rosse (whose string compositions have been used by The Verve, Coldplay, and Goldfrapp). You can download the entire debut EP Kurofune here for free.

Their first live appearance will take place at Kings College, London on Thursday June 2nd. Limited tickets available here.

Here’s what Nick McCabe has to say about the new project/EP:

“You just know when things are right. The four of us met in various circumstances and each meeting was accompanied by this feeling of “we’ve absolutely got to do more together”. And here we are. The joy of music: what does that really mean? Living and breathing it. Obsessing about detail whilst discovering the beauty in chance, and then doing what is necessary to give it life. All the peripheral activity, traditionally taken out of your hands in service of the big organisations of yore becomes a joy in service of the music. It is undoubtedly the hardest work we have collectively put into any band, but the satisfaction is already huge.”

DD/MM/YYYY is re-releasing their latest album Black Square with additional songs on Invada Records, the label managed by Geoff Barrow of Portishead.The re-release is due out October 11. Then, in 2011, the band will be releasing a brand new album.

This fall, the band can be seen relentlessly touring with fellow Canadian act, Women. The two groups are also working on a split LP expected in 2011.

Check the band’s recent Daytrotter session, stream “Van Tan” below, then check them out on tour.

. “Van Tan”

Tour Dates:
September 4 – Montreal, QC – M On The Quays w. Voivod
September 19 – Toronto, ON – The Shop w. Tera Melos [as DJ/MM/YYYY]
September 27 – Chicago, IL – Schubas #
September 28 – Detroit MI – Magic Stick #
October 5 – Burlington, VT – Monkey House #
October 6 – Boston, MA – Great Scott #
October 7 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge #
October 9 – New York, NY – Knitting Factory #
October 10 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s #
October 11 – Washington, DC – DC9 #
October 12 – Columbus, OH – Skullys #
# = w/ Women

Black Square Track Listing:
Side 1:
01. Bronzeage
02. No Life
03. “They”
04. Infinity Skull Cube
05. My Glasses
06. Birdtown

Side 2:
07. Sirius B
08. LIsmer
09. Real Eyes
10. $50,000 Guitar Head
11. I’m Still In The Wall
12. Digital Haircut
13. Van Tan

For two sold-out nights, Londoners The xx proved that a minimalist approach can work, when it’s done well.

Having just arrived on the scene in 2009, The xx have earned a great deal of buzz and, judging by the crowd response, a sizable faction of ardent fans. Appearing shy, unassuming and a bit goth in their solid black attire, Oliver Sim on vocals and bass, Romy Madley Croft on vocals and guitar and Jamie Smith on percussion played to a packed house at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall.

To start the show, I was excited to see Phantogram, a New York duo that I have been hearing so much about lately. I had heard about comparisons to Portishead, influences from Serge Gainsbourg and descriptions of their energetic live show. Based upon the crowd response, I don’t think I am alone in my assertion that the performance was a disappointment. The band’s point of reference seems good but there was simply no cohesion and each track seemed sloppier than the one before. There was no trace of an energetic live show and their lighting, which consisted of little more than the incessant, annoying flash of strobes, certainly didn’t help things.

The xx, on the other hand, conveyed exactly the opposite effect. Stacking detached, hazy vocals and thumping bass parts along with “live” drum machine beats, each sound seemed as it were specifically selected to enhance the vibe. Sounding like something that Robert Smith, Ian Curtis and Peter Hook might have cooked up in long-forgotten shed during the wee hours of night, The xx delivered an hour-long set consisting of most of the songs from their eponymous 2009 album. From the syncopated, overlapping lyrics of “Crystalised” to the half-awake “Islands” and “Shelter” the band gave the crowd a peek into their natural, more-mature-than-it-should-be style. The set continued with “VCR,” the R&B influenced “Basic Space” before closing with an energetic version of “Infinity.”

The show felt very intimate, as if the crowd was voyeuristically peeking into their dilapidated practice space while the band played simply for their own late-night enjoyment. That’s really what is so striking about The xx and their music: it’s seductive and tense there’s nothing pretentious about it. You’re left feeling fortunate that you’ve experienced it unfolding before you, as if it could vanish in an instant. Showing the band’s great mastery of restraint, all of the parts have an organic space between them, letting the tracks breathe and evolve in a very satisfying way.

It’s certainly impressive to see such a young band have such a brilliantly realized sound. Making unique noise from pedestrian instruments, these newcomers just might be on to something.

Any wise alterna-rocker from the ‘90s knows Our Lady Peace. They’re currently touring in support of their 7th studio album, Burn Burn. Just hours before their sold-out show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, Sara sat down and had a chat with drummer Jeremy Taggart, and here’s what he had to say about hard work, changes, and what John Candy and Ghandi have in common.

Sara Swiecki, PopWreckoning: I apologize in advance if you’ve answered these questions 8 million times and are totally sick of hearing them.
Jeremy Taggart, Our Lady Peace: Oh no. That’s fine.
PW: What would you say to people who have criticized your later releases such as Gravity and Healthy in Paranoid Times?
JT: Nothing.
PW: Nothing?
JT: Yeah. Why would I try and waste time changing the opinion of someone who’s not into something? I’ll always love what we do, and we make our records as honestly and as real as we can at the time that we make them, and I don’t think we have any regrets. But we just do what we do, and that’s all we can control.

PW: Yeah. But I’ve also heard that Raine (lead singer Maida) has criticized Healthy in Paranoid Times. Is that true?
JT: Well, I think it was just the experience that it was. It wasn’t the perfect situation. And a lot of other bands we know went through it. And we were lucky enough not to go through it. And I think we were just a little lost. That’s where some of the upset and the idea of bitterness comes in, and the unpleasantness of the experience, rather than we were doing something we didn’t want to do. We were just searching, and we may not have got where we wanted to be. But in that situation, you don’t always get what you want when you’re making a record, you know?

PW: Yeah. Mike Turner’s departure, how did that affect things?
JT: Not at all.
PW: Really?!?
JT: No. Not at all.
PW: Well, he was one of the founding members, yes?
JT: Yeah, he was.
PW: And it didn’t affect anything?
JT: Nope.
PW: Ok, then!
JT: No, because, I mean, we were already in a position where the creative….the music that was getting done at the time….that’s the reason why we parted ways. Mike, he was slowly, more and more going his way and we were going our way. That’s just the way it is. Sometimes when those things happen, it makes things slow down until that happens. And then things go along, generally….I mean, for us, things went along swimmingly (chuckles).

PW: Right on. Raine is known for his vocals, particularly his trademark falsetto. And with the exception of a couple of tracks on Gravity and with Healthy in Paranoid Times, that’s kind of disappeared. But recently, it’s started to come back. What happened there? Was there a reason that he got rid of it for awhile?
JT: I think if someone asked us before our 2nd record, they wouldn’t have said he had a signature falsetto, until Clumsy. That was just kind of a thing that we went into, and it wasn’t like, “Oh yeah! And I sing like this, too!” It was kind of affected by some of the music we were listening to at the time, like Jeff Buckley and Shudder to Think. A lot of those bands were using falsettos and it really created kind of a cool darkness to have that texture. And I think that was more the reason, that it went along with the decision-making process to do that. And songs like “Car Crash” and even “Clumsy” just had a element of all those kinds of bands. And that’s just the way it is, you know? Bands like Garbage or Portishead, those kind of records were the ones we were listening to at the time. They all kind of had an eerie quality that we kind of took the mindset of.

PW: Ok, um…You guys have been out there for quite a long time now, not stoppin’. So you kind of have to think about it. You know, Neil Young said it, Kurt Cobain made it famous….is it better to burn out or fade away?
JT: Well there’s two examples. One’s still burning and the other one burnt out (chuckles). I mean Neil Young is a good example of if you’re creative and you keep that creative fire going, then you’ll be happy in life. And obviously Kurt Cobain lost that. He had it early in his life, and making music to him helped him escape the problems and the thoughts that were making him feel depressed. And I think that once Nirvana found success, he probably lost that and tried to get it back. And he couldn’t find it in a relationship, and he couldn’t find it in making another record with the band. And who knows? It had nothing to do with the BIG picture, which is inner thoughts of a human being. That doesn’t really have anything to do with Nirvana or success or all that stuff. It has more to do with someone who grows up and what they go through, and their connection to reality, and their connection to the earth and life. And he obviously felt really very terrified. And that’s something that I’m glad I don’t know what that feels like.

PW: Nice. Where do we get the name Our Lady Peace from?
JT: It’s from a poem by a man named Mark van Doren, who was a poet and a literary professor at Columbia University in the ‘50s, I think. He was kind of an early visionary for people like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Kind of a straighter version of that. You know, the outspoken, creative poet. And that poem, “Our Lady Peace,” just kind of had a quality that we all kind of dug.

PW: Out of your guys’ best known songs…you know, your hits and everything. If you had to pick one that best defines your band, what would it be?
JT: I don’t know. I think when we play anything our sound happens. When we play any song in our set, it’s us. So it’s hard to pick one to say that is us the most. Like “this is me more than this is me.” It’s hard to judge that. But I feel what you’re saying.
PW: Like if you were to–for somebody that has no idea who you are–hat one song would you pick for them to hear and know this is Our Lady Peace?
JT: Um, well, I don’t know. Because I can’t say, “This is us.” But you can just hopefully pick something that people would have known the most. Songs that are singles and ones that are more specifically musical songs….I don’t know. I’m not sure. Maybe “Superman’s Dead” or “One Man Army” or something like that. I don’t know.

PW: How have you guys noticed your career change as the industry has been shifting?
JT: How has our position changed?
PW: Yes.
JT: Well, now that we’re kind of independent purveyors of our own music, that’s kind of cool. That’s amazing. And it’s great to have a transparency to the business side of things. To know where all our hard earned dollars are going when we’re trying to put a record together, and all that stuff. You know? The cost of putting an album together and all those things you don’t generally have to think about when you’re on a major label. But in the big picture, it’s important to know about that stuff.

PW: You guys have a sold-out show tonight. Does that still feel really good after all these years?
JT: Oh yeah! Yeah! I mean, it’s great to have people come out. I think, for us, to play these songs is the exciting thing. To be playing at The Troubadour again….I think we played here in ’95. So, that’s kind of cool to be back here and to be in such a historic place. But in terms of playing and selling out or whatever, that’s just….that’s our creativity at work in a sense (laughs). People are lining up! They’re lining up outside to watch us play! That’s a good feeling.

PW: Cool! Back to when you guys were first getting started, what did it take and how hard was it to bridge the gap from just playing local clubs and little hole-in-the-walls to getting signed and picking up?
JT: Yeah. To paying rent and eating!
PW: Yeah (laughs)!
JT: It’s hard, you know? It was difficult, but we were prepared. We didn’t have anything to do but the music and we were on tour for 9, 10 months of the year, we were making an album when we weren’t on tour. You kinda have to give 100% of your life to give yourself a chance…to get to make a career out of music. It was easier then, because there were more bars to play. There were more live venues that were there for bands to develop. The labels had more money to pay for tour support, and stuff like that to keep the band on the road. Now, it’s more, you have to scale everything down, and it’s more….it’s about performance. And that hasn’t changed. I think if you’re a good live band, and your songs have a feeling that people can get when you play them, then you’ll have a chance. And that’s it. You just have to keep performing and practicing and you’ll be alright. I think for us, our success has always been based on one day at a time in terms of the shows. And when we’re in the studio, we don’t get precious with our ideas, and we record as much as we can, and we try and write as much as we can while we’re making a record. And we don’t really feel we’ve finished a record until it tells us. And that’s it. Anything other than that, you can’t control. People will say what they want, or try and get into our head space, or try and explain why we don’t sound like we do, or we do sound like we used to or whatever.
Man Outside: FUCK YOU!
(both laugh)
PW: Welcome to LA!
JT: That’s how I feel sometimes. When people tell you how life is supposed to be through rose-colored glasses. We’ve just been super cautious to be really simple. And all our mindset has been is just to sell some records in order to make another one. Not a lot. Not to fill a gap. It’s only about performing at a level that we feel is exciting to us musically. And making records that we like to add to our body of work.

PW: You were talking about not necessarily wanting to fill a gap. But going from a band that was just recognized in Canada to being recognized in the US, was that something you guys were shooting for? Something you were pushed towards? Was it difficult or hard? Did it just happen?
JT: Well, we’re at our best when we’re just trying to write, and everything comes from that. Whether we’re trying to make it through a performance, or trying to write a song, we follow….the only formula is just kind of mining an idea, and whether that be just trying to make something tighter, or trying to create an actual song. The only way to get through it is hard work. Again, it’s the only thing we want to do…we’re not interested in trying to do anything other than that.

PW: Alright. So I’m sure you guys get sick of being asked the same questions over and over.
JT: (Sarcastically) Oh, it’s totally a pain. (laughs)
PW: (Laughing) Well, where I’m going with that is there anything that nobody ever asks you that you’d love to talk about?
JT: Oh no, never. I think people that are like, waiting for a certain question, like wanting someone to ask…like, that’s fucked up. (laughs)
PW: (Laughing) Like did you ever see Kanye that year at the Grammys on the red carpet? He was dying for Kathy Griffin to say something about his outfit and they were only asking about his music and he was pissed.
JT: Yeah, I’m not a big fan of setting up things. No, I think the best interviews are slightly conversation-based. That way, they can be anything, like someone on the street. I don’t expect anything from anyone.
PW: I agree. Totally. So, nothing special you want to say at all?
JT: Well, no. That’s not what I meant by that! (both laugh)
PW: That’s basically what I was getting at. Is there anything that you want to say? That you want to tell people?
JT: I just want people to like me.
PW: (Laughing) Don’t we all?
JT: That’s it. That’s what John Candy said, and that’s a pretty good way to live. He was a pretty loved guy, so… John Candy is Canada’s Gandhi.
PW: That’s epic. Thank you for that quote. And for everything!
JT: No problem! Enjoy the show!

Our Lady Peace: website | myspace

Photo  by: Christopher Hickson