Rene: [00:00:00] Welcome to Earshifter. He's Sean Capstick 

Sean: And he's Rene Rouleau. And Rene, tell us, why are we here? 

Rene: Sean, we do this podcast because two reasons. One, if you like said band that we're gonna cover, you're gonna learn a whole bunch about them. Two, if you've never heard of this band, you are in for a surprise, and hopefully a good surprise, and you'll learn a lot about the band in the process.

Sean: And I'm not sure where you sit in those two, Rene, and I know you try to be positive all the time, and especially around the bands that I like. And listeners, I've gotta put a trigger warning here. There will be a Radiohead reference in this episode. [00:01:00] But you did make that post saying that you and Joe don't get the band or the hype around them.

So we've got a lot to unpack in this episode, including my mission to earshift you on this band. And two, as important, more importantly, I need to really get ready to see them in concert about the same time this episode comes out, and I can tell you, I'm so excited. There's a lot to unpack about this band.

Rene: And honestly, Sean, I'm excited for you, man. I do ... we'll get into this. I do get why people love this band. I understand that. Much like a Bob Dylan, where I am envious of people that love Bob Dylan. I wish I could. I've watched all the rock docs on Bob Dylan. I've watched every single one of them.

I am fascinated by him, but I just, I don't know why, it just doesn't resonate with me, and I hate that it doesn't. 

Sean: Okay. We're not gonna solve your Bob Dylan problem. Let's get into The Geese today. Okay. 

Rene: Deal. 

Sean: So The Geese, the band. [00:02:00] Cameron Winter, vocals, keyboards, and guitar; Emily Green, guitar, and fun fact, nicknamed Goose, which inspired the band name; Dominic DiGizu, bass; Max Basson, drums; and Foster Hudson is a former guitarist.

He was in from about '19 to '23, and he left to further his academic studies- ... which is part of the whole story about this band. But let's get into them by way of introduction, right? Why I think they are so compelling, because they mix things that normally don't go together, like sensitive, violent lyrics that are really a juxtaposition of the band's history and background to song content.

For example, on the song Taxes- Winter says, "If you want me to pay my taxes, you better come over with a crucifix. You're gonna have to nail me [00:03:00] down." And these guys are the product of a progressive schooling education in New York City. So it's kind of a juxtaposition in terms of that. 

Rene: Similar to The Strokes, I believe.

Sean: Funny you say that. Let's get into the- Okay ... prehistory in a sec. Okay. But yeah, keep that thought. All right. Okay. Like The Strokes, maybe they're, there there's a bit of controversy on the hype machine. The Strokes all of a sudden came out. I think The Geese have a really... There's a big controversy around manufactured fame and d- you know, dropped albums.

They started in high school. And you cannot find their first self-produced album on any streaming services right now. I've listened to it on YouTube- Yeah ... where you really can find everything, and it's immature, but it's not bad, right? That they are their later albums, not their first two EPs and an album.

And they got a record deal with two of the coolest current labels going with some deep critical [00:04:00] acclaim. What I'm looking forward to, especially in the concert, is the chaoticness of their songs, and I think the live performance. They have old school noisy rock and roll combined with some literary references and quite emotional songs.

But at their core, they are a, a band, and they are a singer that have a really interesting sound and a unique voice. So let's play a song off their latest album. How do you say it in français Mr. Rouleau? Opays de Cocaine? Perhaps. Let's just go with that. Okay. All right, let's hear it. 

clip: Baby, you can change instead[00:05:00] 

Sean: Okay, so this is, as a result of the hype machine they played this song on Saturday [00:06:00] Night Live, and that's why I did not get to see Cameron Winter at the Wilco Festival, 'cause he backed out at the last minute. He was scheduled to be one of the, not a s- one of the acts on the main stage.

Rene: Yeah. 

Sean: And, he canceled at the last moment- 'Cause he had to 

Rene: do the 

Sean: SNL ... 'cause he had to do SNL, which- 

Rene: Oh, that sucks for you. 

Sean: It d- yeah, and I gotta be happy for him. Yeah. But yeah, I was really looking forward to seeing him- Yeah ... in concert and, and he, and we'll get into his solo record.

He would've been a very, probably would've been solo and p- played the c- piano and sang songs more that song. They also did Trinidad that maybe we'll hear- Ooh, I hope so ... which is a shouting and very disturbing lyrics. Crazy. And and very, two very, very different songs- Very different

on Saturday Night Live. 

Rene: And incidentally two things. One, do y- I'm gonna park this one, but do you know why they made it French, the title? But also, I like this song. It's a pretty song. How can you not like this song? It ... I love the way he drags his vocals too- ... throughout the song. I

It's a pretty song, man. [00:07:00] I like this one. 

Sean: Okay. The title for this song is a pun on the French translation of the phrase the land of the cocaine. 

clip: Okay. 

Sean: And do you know what the, the land of cocaine is? No. No, I don't. So in medieval times, cocaine which is spelled C-O-C-K-A-I-G-N-E, so maybe- I'm gonna say it's cocaine is, was a mythical land of plenty. And it's the subject of a, a Bruegel's painting, a 15th century Dutch master, depiction of cocaine and its residents as a comic illustration of the spiritual emptiness from gluttony and sloth. 

Rene: Whoa, that's pretty heavy. 

Sean: And so- That's pretty 

Rene: good

Sean: There's that literary reference. Yeah. Land- That's pretty good ... the land of cocaine. 

Rene: Yeah. 

Sean: So it's, they're, these guys are literary. 

Rene: [00:08:00] Spiritual emptiness, let's go. 

Sean: And what I like about this song is he makes great use of the word baby- He does, yes ... in the song. He like, and baby it...

You know it's a good lyricist, a good singer-songwriter, or just singer who can say baby really well. 

clip: Yeah. 

Sean: And if you've seen the video, he's sitting at a big, long, empty table singing to a baby. 

And this isn't the baby like that's on, the video streaming services where they, the babies are speaking with a British accent and have a beer and are saying funny things.

This is just a baby who's sitting there looking at it very earnestly as he's saying, "You can stay. You can be yourself." 

Rene: Real, real quick is there opulence on the table to just pay off the spiritual emptiness on the gluttony? 

Sean: It... There's no gluttony. There's no it. Okay. The table is bare. 

Rene: Okay. Okay.

Sean: And the video finishes him just going to sleep in the cradle. I don't know where the baby is at that point. 

Rene: Okay. All 

Sean: right. Again, very literary, high, like- Yeah ... they're, [00:09:00] it's, you know- No 

Rene: argument from me. 

Sean: Yep. 

Rene: Nope. 

Sean: And so Taxes, the song that talks about you better bring a crucifix he also the c- there's no conventional chorus in a lot of these songs, but he sings over and over again, "Doctor, you've gotta heal yourself."

And so the video of Taxes, It starts with a bored-looking band and audience, right? In a kind of small club, and the audience is looking at them, and the band's going through the motions. But as the song continues, the audience begins to thrash around in excitement, gradually convulsing, becoming frenetic, and just, going crazy your night in the Sloan mosh pit.

And eventually this crowd starts to assault and eat each other, and one cannibal bearing the likeness of... Do you know Francis Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son? So Goya- Yeah ... is really disturbing. Okay. He's, he was cool with that whole- Okay ... that when we wanted to be cool, artsy people- yeah

I was [00:10:00] an engineer, so I tried harder than you. Maybe this wasn't that cool. So it's a, a, a, a picture of Saturn, the, the, the Jupiter or whatever, one of those r- Greek gods devouring his son because he didn't want the fable of his son taking his position,

Rene: ah, makes sense. 

Sean: Get... these guys went to school.

Rene: Yes. So- exactly, yes ... 

Sean: that's their pre-history. They all met in high school. They- 

Rene: Private high school ... 

Sean: private high school, progressive high schools in, in New York, in, Brooklyn, in the center. And you mentioned The Strokes, right? But to me, I'm thinking it- they're kinda the opposite of, like Television, Hard Knock Band, you know Tom Verlaine, you know, grew up, actually, Tom Verlaine, I looked it up 'cause I wanted to see how hardscrabble his education. He went to a preparatory school as well- ... with Richard Hell, actually. Oh my God. They met. They didn't finish their preparatory school. 

Rene: Just for our listeners, Richard Hell. 

Sean: [00:11:00] Of Television. Of Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

Yeah. Yeah, a classic punk, Yeah ... artist. So and, and Tom Verlaine, Patti Smith speaks of, dating Tom Verlaine in squalor in New York City. So I'm thinking, "Okay, maybe these great New York bands did have somewhat of a, a foundation- Privileged-

Rene: education" ... education, yeah. 

Sean: So you're, you mentioned The Strokes. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong. I I'm so happy that we grew up in hardscrabble Etobicoke, but, Yeah. Let's 

Rene: remember our hero, Joe Strummer. 

Sean: Yep. 

Rene: Fun fact, actually came from privileged family.

Sean: I thought his dad was in the Army. He was a, a diplomat, wasn't he?

Rene: Yeah. Okay. But well-paid diplomat, I think. Yeah. But that's okay. 

Sean: Yeah. And so you were gonna talk about Julian Casablancas and his upbringing and The Strokes. 

Rene: Oh, all I was gonna say is there seems to be parallels there, for sure, and certainly the Internet hyped that up as well.

Sean: Good for them. So they were going to break up to go to university. That was the plan. They had [00:12:00] released their second album onto SoundCloud. 

Rene: Is that 3D Country? No. 

Sean: No. 

Rene: This is before 3D 

Sean: Country. So this is Projector. 

Rene: Okay. 

Sean: So Projector they had put onto SoundCloud. The first album was Beautiful Memory.

And they got an advocate who said, "What record label do you want to be on?" It's pretty cool, that, but let's address the hype machine before we get into their coolness, 'cause this was before... they obviously had some credibility to start, but the hype machine has kinda taken over some of that credibility that they built up.

So- I remember listening to 3D Country and just, being blown away by it. And the Winters album came out, but the, the hype machine is around Getting Killed, right? And that, their 25 album that launched them into, the zeitgeist around a certain,

Rene: Indie fandom 

Sean: basically

indie fandom- Yeah ... that, where like all of a sudden everybody's talking about it, and that's how they landed on their [00:13:00] Saturday Night Live, like that we talked about, right? So d- are you familiar with this? So- 

Rene: I am actually, and you know how I'm familiar with it? And- It's so funny, is Missy from Mannequin Pussy I've talked about her posts and she's just very genuine and transparent.

She is the one that introduced me to the whole hype machine thing, and she is the one that goes, "This is fucking bullsh-" Basically she goes, "This is fucking bullshit. It's just a band. It's a band that's good. Like, why do we have to degenerate it to this?" And she was mad. 

Sean: At the, this fact that there's no hype machine.

Rene: Yeah, it was- she's just saying it's not because of the hype machine. It's because they're a good band. 

That's what she was saying. 

Sean: But they were clients of this marketing firm- Secret ... called, no, Chaotic Good Projects. 

Rene: Oh, sorry, Chaotic Good Products, yeah. Projects. 

Sean: And they bragged at a South by Southwest panel discussion that they could create a buzz, and it backfired on them.

'Cause they were saying, "We can, at this point we can make anything go viral. We know [00:14:00] the algorithm." 

Rene: Such bullshit. 

Sean: I guess they were probably looking for more clients in the audience of- Yeah, exactly ... yeah ... and unfort- and fortunately or fortu- somebody was like, "No, this is bullshit," and reported on it, and it, and now I think there's people in two camps, right? The defenders who say it's always been about marketing, right? Pamphleteers. Is that if you could afford to give out more pamphlets, did you have a, an advantage? Or that we can't believe anything and everything's a psyco- psyop.

And the... So it's an interesting, it, it's- There's

Rene: two negatives, basically. 

Sean: Yeah. But, what, what does fame and celebrity mean nowadays, right? It's, it is hard to be genuine. 

Rene: Yeah, but I would argue you can be and as a result you actually might come out stronger or at least int- like authentic to yourself 

Sean: Well, at least we've got that going for us.

Rene: I s- yeah, we do. Yeah. Yeah, we definitely don't have [00:15:00] millions of listeners. But it's 

Sean: coming. 

Rene: Yeah. Yes. No, it's really soon. 

Sean: Yeah. 

Rene: Yeah, for sure. 

Sean: Okay, so let's go back to their albums, and that they had the that they weren't industry plants because they built this over time. So their second album, Projector, the first one on a label, was remixed by Dan Carey, and you talked about Dan Carey on Wet Leg and Black Country, New Road.

Oh, cool. He was a a part of that scene- Okay ... and worked on those albums. Their third album, 3D Country, and th- this is when I was like, "Oh, my God, 

Rene: I'm blown away." This is where 

Sean: I get- Yeah ... 

Rene: a little bit in, yep. 

Sean: So that was James Ford, who Blur, Gorillaz, and then also worked on the l- the band part two of Black Country, New Road.

Oh, 

Rene: Yeah. Okay. Very good. 

Sean: And then their latest album, Getting Killed- ... was produced by Kenny Beats, AKA Kenny Bloom. So the he, I had to look this guy [00:16:00] up. He started as an electronic musician who moved in, so he's a musician. He moved to rap. He produced Vince Staples, which is, I think I saw Vince Staples.

I thought he's a compelling, like I don't get the lexicon of rap anymore, but I thought, yeah, I get why he's an angry young man, and it was like, okay, that is a good rap. But then he moved on to The Idles, which are a great- Yep ... adjacent to crank wave- Yeah ... that whole, Yeah ... band, and he's worked on the just-released Weezer album that's getting all- Nice

this kinda hype. Yes. So it'll be interesting to see what that Weezer actually does sound like when we can see it. But yeah, so they, they've got some credibility, the, The Geese now, in terms of their producers. 

Rene: Yeah. 

Sean: Let's go back to that album where I found them 3D Country, and let's play the opening track- 

Rene: All 

Sean: right

called- Which is? ... 2122. 

Rene: Okay, let's hear 2122. Let's go. God of the sun, I'm 

clip: taking you down on the inside[00:17:00] 

And closes my eyes and we can die by

So I'm tryna find the downside[00:18:00] 

Rene: Okay, this song is insane. A- and you know what? The thing is, it is pretty bluesy. It's bluesy as fuck, really. 

Sean: Yeah, it's MC5.

Rene: It's like- But it... Oh, I was thinking MC5, actually. But, and it works for me, Sean. It's got so many change-ups. It's got this heavy bass coming in and coming out.

It's just got a lot of unexpected shit on it. Like musical pauses. It's got shades of other influences. But they make it their own. And then midway through the song, you think it's done, and then it changes again completely. Those are my favorite kinds of songs. So this is the song where I get the love for Geese.

I really do. Because I think what they do here is just incredible, and it's probably my fave song, hands down. 

Sean: Okay, and what do you think of the lyrics, Rene? 

Rene: I wasn't really... Sean, come on. I'm a vibes guy. You're the lyrics guy. 

Sean: Okay, funny you left... Let me tell you [00:19:00] about the lyrics. All 

Rene: right, go. 

Sean: So this record, if I recall correctly, is supposedly a concept album, one of your favorite types of albums- I do 

Rene: like those

Sean: About a post-apocalyptic cowboy wandering the countryside and, finding desolation, right? So this is the opening track. First, God of the sun. So that's every culture reference that supreme celestial authority, right? Yeah. Going 

Rene: way back. 

Sean: Going way back, right?

Yeah. Cross pan-cultural. Then the next line starts Kali Yuga, which is from the Hindu Sanskrit. It's the fourth and final age of the Hindu cosmic cycle. Age of strife Then he mentions, so when the Kaya- Kali Yuga comes and closes my eyes, then he mentions Osiris which is the ancient [00:20:00] Egyptian, the god of death, resurrection, fertility, and the afterlife.

We can die by the equine of Osiris of my life. And then it keeps going. Ragnarok, which everybody- Oh ... who knows Marvel would- Yeah ... say the- That's where 

Rene: I chime in and go- Yeah ... "Oh I've seen the movie." Yeah. 

Sean: Yeah. Doom of the gods, right? When the Ragnarok comes down and the sun and moon collide, we can make love in the end times.

I think he puts a baby in there. And then goes back to Hinduism, Balarama, which is the elder brother of Cr- of Krishna. Okay. Yeah ... the cosmic surfant- surface, deity of agriculture, strength, abundance, and earth. So now it's positive, right? And then Baba Yaga is Slavic. It's a forest witch. And then Jörmungandr, going back to the Norse, is the serpent son of Loki.

[00:21:00] Like- 

Rene: Loki again. 

Sean: Yeah. So literary. Crazy. And that's just the first opening stanza. Yeah, 

Rene: that's insane. Yeah. 

Sean: So literary, it works on multiple levels- Yeah ... Rene, don't you think? Yeah. Like- Yeah, no ... there's something going on here. 

Rene: And much like the music works on multiple... Like it, it is heavy duty. It is, there is stuff that's just unex- I get why people love this band.

I get it 

Sean: Yep. So let's go back to their first album. And let's play the first thing, I think the edit of Low Era from their Projector album. So this is as old as they wanna show you in terms of where they came from. 

Rene: All right, let's hear it[00:22:00] 

Sean: So that bluesy falsetto, like all they need is a little bit of churchy type background singing, and this song could be perfect, don't you think, Rene? I love the way that he's bringing, an old school sound back to that. And they do have that chorus, that choir in some of the songs on 3D Country- The gospel choir, like- The gospel choir yeah

Which is so great. [00:23:00] So this record started in 2019, and it finished in early 2020, and the, while the band members were still in high school, 

Rene: right? That's wild. 

Sean: They uploaded it to SoundCloud, and, they basically, they got to choose whatever record label they wanted, 'cause people heard this and said, "Wow, these guys are pretty good.

Let's sign them." And so They chose as the main primary label an American record label founded in 2007 called Partisan Records. PJ Harvey is on them, The Fontaines DC, Sylvan Esso, list goes on. Total came from the Knitting Factory, that kind of- ... New York avant-garde e- Yeah ... past. 

Rene: Yeah.

Sean: Cool record label, right? So these guys are like, "Okay, I'm gonna choose this." But because they are an independent record label, they don't have distribution rights all over the world, so they [00:24:00] had to go with Play It Again Sam Records, which is a British Belgian record label founded in '82, and that's their distribution partner.

So guess who's on Play It Again Sam? 

Rene: Oh, can you give me a hint at least? 

Sean: Some guys that don't sing, so- 

Rene: Explosions in the Sky. 

Sean: No. Sigur Rós. Sigur Rós. Yes. And then that Mogwai band. 

Rene: Oh, Mogwai, the band we saw. 

Sean: Yes. Wow, and I love them. You do love them. Yeah. Red Y- Lori, Yellow Lori. But when I saw this, I remembered, "Oh, man, do you remember Beat- Beat Manifesto?"

Rene: Yeah, I totally do. 

Sean: Yeah, they were so good. So they are on Play It Again Sam. And Beat- Beat Manifesto are still releasing records. Are they really? Oh, yeah. That's wild. And they're doing remixes of old stuff, but I mean- Okay ... yeah, that, it's genocide, can't you see? Okay. So let's keep going on this bands to connect.

I mean- Yeah ... they are they are critically acclaimed. 100%. So I will give you my reason and this is not [00:25:00] why I found the band, just to tell you, but it's reinforcing, not the reason, although it'd be cool if this was a reason. So my personal savior, Nick Cave, he writes what he calls The Red Hand Files.

Have you heard about this? I have heard 

Rene: of them, 

Sean: yeah. Yeah. So after his son died tragically- 

Rene: Yeah ... 

Sean: he was dealing with grief, and he decided one way to deal with grief is to open himself up and to answer all the letters that people got, and the condolences, but also the random questions. And so he's been doing it for a long time.

I read them, and then I, I got out of the habit and I stopped. So let me read from The Red Hand Files, number 344. So he's been doing it a long time.

The question is, which song comes to mind when you are genuinely joyful? Carefree, energy flowing, dancing, moving, happy, question mark. And remember, Nick Cave was [00:26:00] in the birthday party where he was not happy. So he goes, through all this. He goes he talks about a wonderful day when he leaves his wife 'cause he can't sleep in the morning goes out for a walk and says, in his deep voice, "All worry is laid to waste.

The endorphins rushing wild from the freezing water." He had just gone swimming. "Music pounding through my body. The caffeine, the fucking ducks, and the God rolling sky. The no what ifs, no yeah buts, no what abouts, no caveats, and all I am made happy, and happiness is entirely and incontestable." And all the way home, and he goes back to his wife, and he says, "Because I listened to Trinidad on my headphones."

Wow. So why don't we hear Trinidad? Why don't we hear Trinidad? Let's go.[00:27:00] [00:28:00] 

Rene: I love this song. This song is fucking insane. I agree. I love everything about it. I 

Sean: agree. 

Rene: Again, I see why people love this band. But fun fact, without looking at the lyrics, when he says, "There's a bomb in my car," that's the, that's the main lyric, and he's screaming it. I actually thought he was saying, "There's a bug in my car."

And I'm like, same feeling really. If there's a bee in my car, I'm probably getting in an accident. So bug in my car, bomb in my car, same. 

Sean: Oh, those Mangreen. 

Rene: Yes, indeed, right? Yeah, so this song, my God, it just, again, it tell, it, it shows me why people are f- fanatic about this band. I get it.

Sean: Yeah. And a loud song, opening song. This is the opening song of Getting Killed, just like 21, 2122 was the opening song on American- Just come out hard ... Come Out Hard But then we gotta talk about Cameron [00:29:00] Winter's solo album, Heavy Metal, right? Which is again, made my list in our best of last year, 

Rene: right?

Maj- major accolades. Like most people had it, both those albums on their lists. 

Sean: Yep. So let's go back to Mr. Cave on Red Hand Files number 321. What has caught your ear of late? What are you digging? "A glorious," quote Nick, "A glorious emotive voice with brilliant blistering words. A racked and wondrous thing.

Today," and now he quotes from the song, the lyric that has him that caught his ear. "Today I met who I'm gonna be from now on, and he's a piece of shit." That's Ca- Mr. Winter's talking about hi- his in his [00:30:00] song. Let's talk about a couple other influences, then we'll play that song where that lyric came from.

You gotta admit that his high falsetto, there's some relation to Thom Yorke. 

Rene: I, the only reason I pick it up now is 'cause you suggested it. Before I did not connect them, but yeah maybe a little. Maybe a glimmer. 

Sean: Yep. No, okay. There's a lot of bullshit on the internet, but that's all over the internet- Is 

Rene: it really?

Sean: Yeah ... comparing- Yeah ... their- Okay. There you go ... their singing styles. Yeah. And Paul Thomas Anderson, PTA- Yes. Yeah, I met him ...

Rene: yes. 

Sean: Who has done Radiohead videos on Cameron Winter's solo album. He played a an acoustic piano set much like Nick Cave has done at Carnegie Hall, and it's gonna come out as a film, right?

So Yeah, that'll be interesting to see. That'll be interesting. And I watched Winter sit down at the piano at the Sydney Opera House, and yeah, he's a compelling artist. All 6'3", skinny, [00:31:00] bending down around a piano, and yeah, there's a compelling look there. There's a bit of similarities to Nick Cave as well.

So- Nice ... I'm sure they listened I'm sure the, the geese kids grew up listening to a little bit of Nick Cave and, Yeah, it'd be cool to 

Rene: see them meet each other. That'd be- 

Sean: Eh, don't never meet your heroes. That's why I stopped- Oh, true ... that's why I stopped reading the Right Head files- true

the Right Head files. Yeah. Okay, so let's play Drinking Age, where that rhyming couplet, "Today I'm, I met who I'm gonna be from now on," came from. All right, let's hear it.

clip: Table by the door

Sit on the ground[00:32:00] 

Covered bands and

Rene: Is a super pretty song. I love the way, again, he drags his vocals. Emotive. It's just a beautiful song. 

Sean: It- I agree. And Very different than the other songs we've played on the show and every [00:33:00] track has a bit of uniqueness and a bit of something going on in it. Yeah. Yeah. 

Rene: Yeah.

And again, to be clear, I am actually- You're shifted ... not a fan. 

Sean: You're shifted. 

Rene: Nah but but I love those three songs, and they're kinda like they'd be like a gateway to understanding why people are so crazy about this band. I do understand it. Through those three songs, I get it. I really do. 

Sean: Okay, so I'll tell you why I think they're- yeah

an Enygma Shifted band. 

Rene: All right. 

Sean: Controversy, right? So in addition to just, being polarizing they won the Brit Brit Awards International Group of the Year, right? And, well-deserved. So the drummer Basson gets up and accepts it. He says, "Free Palestine, fuck ICE, RIP Mani, let's go Geese," and leaves the stage.

Rene: That's a lot. 

Sean: That's kinda punk rock. 

Rene: Yeah, that's very, it's like, "Let's just hear 'em all." 

Sean: Yeah. Yep. And Mani do you know [00:34:00] who he was referring to at that Brit Awards? It was- That's the 

Rene: only one I don't under- Yeah ... 

Sean: understand. So that was Gary "Mani" Mounfield, the bassist in The Stone Roses and Primal Screen.

Rene: Oh, okay. Okay. 

Sean: So they- he's got some musical depth, right? And I'm also mentioning that, so I hope I get some votes in terms of our sound pr- producer- Oh, yeah ... sound engineer Joe- 

Rene: Our sound engineer Joe ... 

Sean: who is- Yeah ... a big fan of those that British sound. I would 

Rene: say massive fan of Stone Roses, yeah.

Sean: Yeah. So the dynamics. They move from loud, soft, they moved on from the loud, soft dynamics that we've talked about on our shows that we love so much, and to a croon scream, right? The last two songs we played had both of those, and there are examples in their songs where they do it in the exact same song, right?

You don't have to wait for a different song. And that gospel-inspired [00:35:00] background that you enjoy so much, I think that is so great. They have such great dynamics. 

Rene: Listeners, he is being sarcastic, just to be clear. 

Sean: And the funkiness. 

Rene: Yeah. 

Sean: And you know what, what makes them exciting to me is they've got a foundation, and they've got so much potential, right?

Rene: I see that, too. I hear that. It's just insane what they're doing, and you can just see the trajectory. Even from three- 3D Country to the next album, and you're just going, "Where are they gonna go on the next album?" It's gonna be crazy. 

Sean: Yep, I can't wait to see them. I can't wait- Yeah ... to talk about them- Yeah

some 

Rene: more hopefully- Yeah ... 

Sean: because yeah I'm really excited where they're gonna go. They're just kids. 

Rene: Yeah, and where are they playing, Sean? In Toronto? 

Sean: They are playing at History. 

Rene: Oh, History. 2,500 people capacity I think. 

Sean: Yeah they added a second night immediately- Did they? ... after selling out the first one.

Yeah, no surprise. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty lucky because I'm sure the next time we see them it's gonna be in a big [00:36:00] stadium. 

Rene: Yeah. Yeah, very likely very possibly. I wonder what your f- what the fan base is gonna look like. Are they gonna skew young? Are they gonna skew everywhere? I wonder what it's gonna be like.

Sean: Time will tell. 

Rene: Time will tell. Or it'll just be a bunch of fucking New Yorkers. No, I love you New York, I'm just kidding. 

Sean: Torontonians, they'll be like, "How did they get so cool?" 

Rene: Yeah. Exactly. No, I'm excited for you, buddy. 

Sean: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Okay, so what are we gonna hear next, Rene? 

Rene: Sean, it's a band from Portland, Oregon.

We saw them in the early 2000s. But they actually had a really great return to form album in 2024, which is why I'm kinda gonna talk about them again. And the lead singer is a big fan of Morrissey, that's my clue. 

Sean: And I hope he plays some sea shanties. 

Rene: Oh, and there might be some sea shanties.

Yeah, that is hard to say, dude. Absolutely. 

Sean: But great to listen to. 

Rene: Yeah, great to listen to indeed. All right. 

Sean: Okay, till next time. 

Rene: Until [00:37:00] next time. We hope you enjoyed this episode of EarShifter. Tune in next time where we'll cover another band that deserves more. You can find EarShifter on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Friend us or listen to our playlist on Spotify, and visit earshifter.com for more information. A special thanks go to our logo designer, Stuart Thursby, and our intro/outro music by Joe Novak. You can find him as byebyebadman, one word, on SoundCloud, and a big shout-out to Joe for being our awesome sound engineer/editor.

Until next time.