Population II - Maintenant Jamais
Bonsound
Released on March 28th, 2025
After two very promising EPs, Population II’s third release, Maintenant Jamais, solidifies their standing in the Quebec prog rock canon. The trio has refined their sound to a science, delivering tight track lengths with the same punch as verbose krautrock marathons, treading the line between approachable and frenetic to great effect. Population II arrives at their first full-length album with a confident and unique vernacular: the precision of prog awash in the fuzz and frenzy of garage, torqued by psych and tied down with hooks.
In the Canadian prog tradition, each member of the trio must become a capable multitasker to muster the noise and depth required of the genre. I’m a sucker for a lead vocalist-drummer, and Pierre-Luc Gratton does just that. Tristan Lacombe and Sébastian Provençal cover the guitar and bass respectively, with each also working the keys. Along with production from Dominic Vanchesteing (Marie Davidson, Chocolat, Bernardino Femminielli), they are able to explore rich and diverse textures, from calming ambience to ferocious noise.
Maintenant Jamais comes out of the gate swinging. The titular track bursts into your headphones with a brief but assertive drum fill, heralding the incoming jangling, bright guitars. Before long, the drums and bass have locked into a tight groove that has no time to linger before being washed out by chaotic squalls of punishing fuzz. They continue to bob and weave with equal parts precision and abandon, never letting you guess where they’re headed next. “Maintenant Jamais” not only kicks off the LP—it also exemplifies its ethos: packaging prog into an efficient package without diluting its potency.
Whether through brilliant vocal melodies, rollicking grooves, warm swells, or blistering noise, the agility of Maintenant Jamais gives it a feeling of serious momentum throughout its runtime. The artful ambition of such a tidy and catchy prog album comes with the risk of becoming tiresome by virtue of never sitting still. But Population II are light on their feet; they earn your trust by grabbing hold of the throttle and maintaining their momentum from front to back. Tracks bleed into one another effortlessly (especially on the front side), turning what are otherwise short, tidy tracks into a first half that feels like one continuous song. Even when the breaks between tracks are more evident, the relentless forward thrust of Maintenant Jamais makes you blissfully unaware of where one ends and another begins.
Provençal is especially adept at keeping the vehicle moving forward and rubber-side-down with tight grooves and fat tone. “i + i” sees him at centre stage with a meaty riff repeated endlessly, lulling you into a hypnotic trance—only for synths to blare stilted incantations, spinning the track from meditative hypnosis into a nightmarish fever dream in less than two minutes. Percussion vacillates between splashy and focused, depending on what the situation demands. “homme étoilé” gives Gratton the space to really let loose, swinging and rolling effortlessly while Lacombe twists his guitar into a wah-wah wig-wag.
Maintenant Jamais is the product of a self-assured band with a tight rapport. Their ability to move so instinctively—simultaneously loose and rigid—makes for an endlessly fun ride and engaging listen. This LP is like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded for 44 minutes; only a truly confident group could pull that off without giving you motion sickness. Population II has assertively carved out a space in an ever-crowded Quebec prog/kraut scene with their unique voice and inimitable agility.
