Atlanta post-hardcore newcomers THE CANINES have recently launched their new EP ‘Guapo’, out now on 59 X Records, and bringing a diverse soundscape and painting their own tenacious and experimental post-hardcore soundscape, founded on hard rock feel, mathy guitars and a vocal delivery that nods to the 2000’s incarnation of alternative rock/post-hardcore. Today we’re giving it a nod with a special of list featring their top inspirations that helped them craft their own style and the new EP.
Nods to the likes of The Mars Volta, The Fall of Troy and Coheed & Cambria can be noted on ‘Guapo’, a dynamic and ambitious expression of post-hardcore, the track laced with mathy guitars and an ominous and gripping vocal delivery.
The visceral brand of hardcore is tempered by the intrigue and intricacy of the math-rock influenced guitar work of Alex Vargas and Jared Moore, creating a mesmerizing and full-bodied sonic soundscape for the new EP.
The Canines is: Jay Turner – Vocals, Jared Moore – Guitar, Alex Vargas – Guitar, Aaron Hevenstone – Drums
Top inspirations for the new EP by THE CANINES:
Invent Animate – Greyview
Jared Moore – Guitar: The album Greyview by Invent Animate influenced a lot of the finishing touches to our lead single “Architect”, and gave rise to the production of “Sol” as an intro to the album. The spacey atmosphere and open feeling rhythms heard throughout the album inspired me to break up some of the rhythmic constance in “Architect” with more groove-based breakdowns. The production in Greyview also gave me the idea of combining more electronic elements into guapo as a whole, including the full electronic beat “Canis Majoris” that closes out the EP.
And So I Watch You From Afar – Endless Shimmering
Alex Vargas – Guitar: It’s one of those And So I Watch You From Afar albums that I keep coming back to. It does such a great job of maintaining movement in the songs from part to part while still sounding huge. The way the guitars weave in and out of the drums and bass always had a big effect on how I think about instruments fitting together in a song. The album gives me a good “Anthemic but intricate” goal post to write towards.-
AFI – Crash Love
Jay Turner – Vocals: I drew a lot of inspiration from Davey Havok on the Crash Love album. I wanted to put as much emotion into the music while also being able to keep things exciting and upbeat. I have no idea if I will succeed with that!
Noah B – Heavy Armor
Jared Moore – Guitar: Noah B has been a huge inspiration in a lot of the beats I’ve made. His album Heavy Armor has a huge emphasis on the sub bass frequencies that contribute to making his songs sound huge. I took a few pages out of his book when working on “Sol” and “Canis Majoris” and I feel like it translated in a way that meshed well with the rest of the EP.
The Contortionist – Language
Aaron Hevenstone – Drums: Much of the drumming on guapo, especially in “Architect”, was inspired by the album Language by The Contortionist. The driving syncopated rhythms flowing over the layered instrumentation helped us refine the heavier direction of our music.
