Calgary’s Self-Lower Bangs reduce their very own path with sophomore launch, Circle Across the Free

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Maybe it’s because of the unorthodox means the band got here into existence, however it appears Self-Lower Bangs don’t have any intention of following a standard indie-rock path.

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On the floor, it might appear pure that vocalist-guitarist Cayley O’Neill and guitarist Shawn Petsche would be a part of forces. The Calgary couple have discovered success of their separate tasks, O’Neill’s Darkish Time and Petsche’s Napalmpom, so maybe it was inevitable they might begin enjoying collectively of their condo sooner or later, significantly when the world shut down in early 2020. However the duo had pretty modest plans for Self-Lower Bangs, no less than initially. It was to be a pandemic undertaking that didn’t sound like a pandemic undertaking. To keep at bay the boredom and gloom in these early days of lockdown, the pair challenged one another to jot down and file a tune each Saturday, aiming for giant and brash guitar-pop sonics that might sound nothing like anxiety-ridden, naval-gazing pandemic songwriting or that they’d been recorded utilizing DIY home-studio tools (“Mainly a laptop computer,” Petsche reviews) and headphones.

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“The primary couple of songs we wrote collectively was to maintain us busy, primarily, or to distract us,” says Petsche.

“I didn’t assume we’d preserve going originally,” O’Neill provides. “However when that undertaking was full, I knew it was a factor.”

In truth, it was most likely three or 4 songs into it that O’Neill and Petsche realized they had been working in the direction of an album. These relaxed classes would finally produce certainly one of 2020’s greatest information, a self-titled debut stuffed with catchy, full-throttled anthemic storage rock. The album was so energetic and so totally realized, that it might have been against the law to not finally carry out the songs on stage with a multi-guitar assault coming from redlined amps.

Quick-forward to 2022 and the duo has put collectively a band prepared for the stage. That features Scorching Little Rocket drummer Joel Nye, ex-Reuben & The Darkish’s Dillon Whitfield on guitar and Night time Committee’s Nicola Cavanagh on bass. As a bonus, the press materials for Self-Lower Bangs reviews that Whitfield and Cavanagh have since connected romantically, turning the band right into a “double-couple” enterprise like Fleetwood Mac or ABBA “… with out the dramatic ending,” O’Neill says.

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The lineup was secured in time for Saturday’s launch present at Dandy Brewing Firm for its sophomore file, Circle Across the Free, which can out-do its predecessor with stage-ready beauties such because the impossibly catchy power-pop opener Shivers, New Wave-y Wake and the tuneful girl-group punk quantity Decide Up. The album was once more largely recorded by the couple of their condo. However this time round, they had been additionally capable of broaden the palette with some bonus studio time with Calgary producer Lorrie Matheson, who additionally blended the band’s debut.

Nonetheless, true to type, Self-Lower Bangs once more determined to buck custom in terms of indie-rock norms. The discharge present won’t characteristic any stay music in any respect. As an alternative, the songs will probably be launched to new ears by way of 12 music movies.

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“We do every part bizarre,” Petsche says. “Mainly the rationale was that the final time we did this we put collectively a stay band and discovered the file in three practices. For me, with this file, I wish to come out as a press release as a stay band and I didn’t wish to rush it. We knew we had some reveals developing in January. So does it make sense to hurry a stay present as a result of that’s what bands do, or ought to now we have this be two distinct issues? Put the file out and make that the main focus, hearken to the file, after which individually, the subsequent time we play and by then hopefully the individuals will know the songs higher, we come out as a press release.”

Petsche says he hopes this distinctive method of a visible listening get together may have associates and followers pay nearer consideration to the brand new songs. Plus, the band has a historical past of creating wildly entertaining movies for its songs, together with 2020’s pro-wrestling-themed entry for Pillow Speak that solid the couple as would-be grapplers in video-game type.

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Self-Lower Bangs has already launched revolutionary movies for In Color, which Petsche filmed in a single shot on an iPhone impressed by “basic photograph shoots of ABBA, Blondie and Queen,” and for Shivers, through which they return to the video-game motif.

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“Making 12 of them, the enjoyable begins to put on off round video No. 9,” Petsche says with fun.

“However I do discover it’s such a blessing to have this sort of magic outdoors of your day job, outdoors of the information, outdoors of so many busy issues happening on the planet,” O’Neill says. “It’s a blessing to have one thing to occupy your thoughts with that’s actually constructive. Usually, it’s all about bringing individuals collectively. We simply filmed one of many movies at Idle Eyes (Collective), at certainly one of their gallery openings. We had all of our associates there take turns opening a fridge. We collected all this footage. It’s simply so good to have the ability to look again on it and see our family and friends. So we’re additionally producing some positivity in our neighborhood and bringing individuals collectively, which is superb as a result of it’s form of a troublesome time. It’s a pleasure.”

Self-Lower Bangs will maintain a visible launch get together for his or her sophomore file Circle Across the Free on Nov. 19 on the Dandy Brewing Firm at 7 p.m.