Whitney K, Cola, and Weird Nightmare
Whitney K
Hard To Be A God // Maple Death Records
The voice as an instrument. Poetry as a balm. Don’t you know it’s hard to be a god?
On May 13th, Whitney K (Konner Whitney) shared a new EP via Maple Death Records. It’s a life-affirming rumination on memory, change, and personal growth. Canadiana and metaphors about colonialism dance within free flowing stoned country folk arrangements.
“While Digging Through the Snow”, the album opener, invites you in and confides in you immediately. To press play is to be pulled under a shoulder, walk quickly in step, and watch as a delicately spun and intimate storyverse unfolds. Singing string arrangements and deliberate piano accompany the driving, double-time guitar strumming. “The Earth is still spinning,” Whitney recites, “and I remain unmoved”. The songwriting is immaculate, full of hope and humanity, tense with humour and grief.
On the second song, “Not Unlike a Rock”, Whitney sings, relatably: “Someone came and left with the rent / Why am I still living here? / Not everything must make sense”. The lyrics are tinged with ambivalence, and Whitney’s delivery is cool-guy dispassionate, but the song is an upbeat and chorused-out anthem evoking images of bohemia and youth. In “Song For a Friend”, the EP’s triumphant closer, piano and strings weave as the story of losing a friend to bigger and better opportunities is expressed as much but what Whitney doesn’t say as what he does. “Next week I’ll be working, something I haven’t done in a while”, Whitney sings as the arrangement gains momentum, “and you’ll be in Parkdale, in a streetcar headed west, with the sun in your eyes”.
Hard to Be a God evokes the writing of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, and Lou Reed. This same cast can be seen featured, deceased, on the album’s cover. The “hallucinatory pastoral” painting by Caro Deschênes also includes a dog who appears terrified, perhaps falling. "It's not just a situation where you have to 'kill your idols', but an open conversation, where the narration becomes visionary and frames personal, poetic and often playful drifts through the stories of their imagination”, the press release reveals.
- Sophie Noel
Deep in View
Deep in View // Next Door Records
When I first heard the opening bassline of “Beautiful Blue Sky” on a friend’s mixtape in the summer of 2016, I was overcome with a rare feeling. I’d like to imagine I was driving on a forest road, sun rays through the trees, but I don’t remember what I was doing, precisely. I do remember reaching for the handwritten tracklisting, scanning the numbered column to find who was responsible for this music, so rife with existentialist dread and strange ecstasy. The band was Ought, a Montréal-based art rock outfit, and the song was off their 2015 sophomore LP, Sun Coming Down. Three years later they would release their final album, and three years after that, Ought was no more.
As the members announced the band’s breakup at the end of 2021, they simultaneously announced that members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy had formed a new band called Cola. This time, joined by U.S. Girls drummer Evan Cartwright, the approach was ultra-stripped down, boiling the music to its power trio essentials. What resulted from this chemistry is a leaner, razor sharp sound— where Ought might’ve used a brush stroke, here the songs are chipped out of wood, a pen-and-ink-scratched grayscale version.
The first reverb-drenched guitar strums that we hear on their album Deep in View sound far away, giving a sense of distance, but as the drums begin to fade in and the first tightly-wound guitar riff is struck, the feeling of a kind of sonic zooming-in is invoked, and we are submerged. The song is “Blank Curtain,” and as their debut single, it acts as a statement of intent: the song drifts between ambiguous chords, the drumbeat a near-robotic loop, the bass providing the melodic heart, telling the musical narrative. The mix is dry and tight, and each element is placed with precision and without decoration, allowing the ear space to digest the drawling lyrics as they recite their riddles: “Is there a notion to explain the mirror to the wall?”
“Water Table” stands out as a masterpiece of this negative space, each element perfectly dialed to maximum sympathetic resonance with the others. Cartwright’s drumming is melodic, and the misty blanket of tape hiss creeps along the floor as each sparse strum emerges with architectural exactitude.
The band was created to experiment with downsizing, compacting songs into their barest musical components. But here you will not find warmth, a break in the clouds: instead, a slow drive through a suburb where each house is a gray block of cement, well-designed and utilitarian, but at a closer look, the plants are plastic, the lawns AstroTurf, and the smiling faces in the window are lifeless automata. This feeling of alienation, while uncanny, is rich in poetics; much like Albert Camus’ protagonist in the Stranger, the narrator must necessarily be outside of the world of humanity in order to expose the absurdity of humanity’s machinery. As Darcy’s unanswered questions hang in the air, the pursuit of wondering itself is the pleasure, and while a trip through this world may feel unwelcoming at times, its flawless machinations remain a wonder to behold.
- Harman Burns
Weird Nightmare
Weird Nightmare // Sub Pop
How’ve you been sleeping lately? I’ve heard from a few friends that they've been having trouble getting a good restful sleep. Waking up at odd hours and not being able to fall back asleep. Or waking from a good dream but wanting to fall back asleep and continue the awesome story in dreamland. I believe we time and space travel in our sleep. It’s the ultimate playground where there are no limits to your own imagination and unconscious mind. I dunno…I’m always traveling in my dreams. I’m by water or forests and lakes. Cities that are supposed to be Edmonton but the layouts are all wrong. A mall that’s not West Edmonton Mall but just as big, and I’m always looking for someone or something in particular. I’ve died in my dreams. Dreams are sure strange. How about recurring dreams? Weird nightmares of running in slow motion or falling. You’ve had weird nightmares too, hey?
Well I have another Weird Nightmare I want to share with you. It’s a new self-titled debut album by Toronto’s own Weird Nightmare. Sugary pop, rolled in fuzzy rock riffs, with delicious distortion for all of your senses. This is the ultimate debut album by METZ guitarist and vocalist Alex Edkins. Let’s be clear: this not a pandemic album, even though it was recorded during that time. Between METZ rehearsals and home schooling his little one, Alex found some time to tinker and fine tune what he’d been creating and crafting with Weird Nightmare. It’s fun, full sounds and uplifting vibe reflect the attention to details. Stepping out of one’s comfort zone is a Weird Nightmare. This debut self titled delight was released with Sup Pop Records, May 20th, 2022.
“Searching For You” kicks off the party with a fun 4 bar drum machine, which leads you into face blasting distorted guitar, thick bass, and a real kick ass Ramones type drum beat. Like dumping the whole pack of pop rocks in your mouth and followed by a swig of rootbeer. An explosion of sound and flavour in your mouth and ears! I recommend this song for going for a rip on your bike, a walk, or a cruise in the car. Whatever you do, as long as it’s fast! Vroom vroom! A cool drum machine beat closes the song.
“Holding Out” is one of two slower tracks. I like the simple beat in the background. Long drawn out notes and chords with a watery guitar. A haunting pick slide and dreamy chorus. I appreciate this one today cause it’s rainy outside and feels fitting for the mood of the day. The softly spoken vocals Alex adds give that sweet sway and slow dance vibe. Enjoyed this one immensely.
Okay, maybe Weird Nightmare / Weird Nightmare isn’t as weird as my time and space travels in my sleep. But it’s definitely a gift to the listener. I hope you appreciate this Weird Nightmare as much as I did! Been good to each other.
Love Always,
Green Noreen
