Japandroids
with Craig Finn & the Uptown Controllers
Leigh Righton
Japandroids.
When Japandroids released Celebration Rock in 2012, they quickly built a reputation as one of the most frenetic, bombastic bands in modern rock, landing at the top of many best-of lists. Then, they more or less disappeared — until now. The Canadian duo is back with a brand-new album, this year’s Near to the Wild Heart of Life, and spoiler: It rips. With Hold Steady singer Craig Finn and his band, the Uptown Controllers.
$25 ($20 adv.). Doors 8 pm.
press release:Japandroids third album, Near To The Wild Heart Of Life, will be available at your local record store first on Vinyl Tuesday, January 24th, and everywhere else on January 27th via Anti- and today the band has shared another new track "No Known Drink or Drug".
"No Known Drink or Drug" by Japandroids
Near To The Wild Heart Of Life has been named one of the most anticipated albums of 2017 by Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Consequence of Sound, New York Magazine's Vulture, Pitchfork, Stereogum, NPR, AV Club and more! The band released their first single, the album's title track, in late 2016, with Pitchfork calling it "a quintessential Japandroids song, anti-nostalgia that encourages you to figure out what you want out of life and how to make it happen this moment."
Near To The Wild Heart Of Life, was written clandestinely throughout 2014 and 2015 in Vancouver, Toronto, New Orleans, and Mexico City. It was (mostly) recorded by Jesse Gander (who had previously recorded both Post-Nothing and Celebration Rock) at Rain City Recorders in Vancouver, BC (September-November, 2015). One song, "True Love And A Free Life Of Free Will", was recorded by Damian Taylor during an exploratory recording session at Golden Ratio in Montreal, QC (February, 2015). The album was mixed by Peter Katis at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, CT (May, 2016) and mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York, NY (July, 2016).
Like Post-Nothing and Celebration Rock, the album is 8 songs. This is because 8 songs is the standard template for a great rock n roll album: Raw Power by The Stooges, Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen, Marquee Moon by Television, IV by Led Zeppelin, Horses by Patti Smith, Paranoid by Black Sabbath, Remain In Light by Talking Heads, Master Of Puppets by Metallica, etc.
Like Post-Nothing and Celebration Rock, the album was sequenced specifically for the LP. On Near To The Wild Heart Of Life, side A (songs 1-4) and side B (songs 5-7) each follow their own loose narrative. Taken together as one, they form an even looser narrative, with the final song on side B (song 8) acting as an epilogue.