How is a “music scene” born or the name of a “geographic sound” coined? Really think about that; in some charmed moment, a few bands which are basically unrelated but happen to live in a reasonably close geographic proximity to each other all happen to put out records that, by coincidence, have a few common sonic traits and, again by coincidence, all happen to strike a chord within the record-buying public. Presto! In the eyes of the rest of the world, there is suddenly a “scene.” While it sounds great and exciting from the outside looking in, how frustrating that must be on the inside; suddenly a band which started because its' members had something unique that they wanted to articulate no longer seems so unique because that band has been forcibly lumped in with a bunch of other people with which they have only a coincidental or totally superficial association.
How frustrating must it be to be “an individual – just like all their friends,” but not really have much of anything to do with those “friends” in the first place? But how does one complain?
With all of that in mind, there's no arguing that Winter Gloves have typified the “Canadian Rock Sound” as first developed by bands like The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, The Stills and Hot Hot Heat on their newest release, All Red. Whether by accident or design, the band has managed to assemble a set of ten songs that roll together the modest, expressionist rock threads that each of those aforementioned bands have utilized over the last decade added a bit of synth-touched personality and issued an album that speaks both to and about the scene that spawned it.
Like much of the rest of the Canadian indie rock scene, Winter Gloves wears its' affinity for Eighties synth rock, New Wave and underground rock (think about the playlist 102.1 FM used to promote back when the station introduced itself as CFNY instead of “The Edge”) but, unlike the other bands on the scene, Winter Gloves plays those influences far straighter and doesn't try so much to augment them. On songs like “Glow In The Dark,” “Strange Love” and “Plastic Slides,” for example, there's no way to not notice the obvious influences of Depeche Mode, Echo And The Bunnymen and Dinosaur Jr. in the dynamics of the songs as they slide smoothly along on vintage synthesizer sounds but also boast a very rockist songwriting stance (fans of Eighties College Rock should check out “Use Your Lips” and the lyrics “I've got a feeling it's about time/and all the reasons are leading to a brick wall” that it houses) which will hook those potential detractors who usually require a bit of guitar in their pop. That unusual but intoxicating mixture will pull anyone that comes into contact with All Red along for the ride but Winter Gloves doesn't rely on the gimmick to get over. As a collection of ten songs, All Red works well because there is a progression through the record as a whole; each song builds in intensity as the album moves along (scan the difference between “Glow In The Dark” and “We Need New Transportation” as an illustration).
Of course, because the record utilizes so many of the themes and devices that much of the Arts & Crafts and Last Gang stables have popularized, All Red will likely fall prey to some criticism, but even those naysayers will have to concede that the quality of the designs which appear here are second to none. The record represents the pinnacle of a set of ideas and, because of that, there's no possible way to know what might be coming next from Winter Gloves – or the rest of the scene it calls home for that matter. Even so, at least for the moment, All Red is a really cool way to catch a band at its' peak.
Artist:
www.myspace.com/wintergloves
www.facebook.com/winterglovesmusic
www.twitter.com/wintergloves
Download:
Winter Gloves – "Plastic Slides (Teen Daze Mix)"
Album:
All Red is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
