NEEDS debut anti-gentrification anthem “The Only Good Condo is a Dead Condo”

Vancouver’s NEEDS are sharing their furiously woozy new single “The Only Good Condo is a Dead Condo,” the second from the band’s upcoming self-titled full length debut,Needs. Due out on May 12th via File Under: Music (Slam Dunk, Dan Mangan, Anchoress), pre-orders are now available with the first 100 copies on limited edition black and white mixed vinyl. VICE magazine premiered the single on Friday, stating the song “will make you want to burn down a suburb” before elaborating “There’s something invigorating about this band that’s difficult to convey without listening to them—it’s a genuineness that most punk bands have abandoned”.

“The Only Good Condo is a Dead Condo” is a rally call against gentrification and the lyrics are pretty damn exceptional, mixing frontman Sean Orr’s disdain for socioeconomic struggles with a sharp cynicism. NEEDS’ music is a furious mix of post-hardcore, indie rock, noise punk, and garage rock, fueled by the perfect mix of reckless abandonment and tongue-in-cheek intelligence. “The Only Good Condo is a Dead Condo” kicks off with a drunken mantra from Orr, slowly slurring the lines “it costs so much just to live in this town” before the band kick into an explosive and undeniably focused charge.

NEEDS are heading down to Austin for SXSW, bringing their chaotic punk to the land of free booze and tacos. Prepare yourselves, NEEDS’ live shows have been known to get wild. Having served as direct support to Fucked Up, White Lung, Trash Talk, and Perfect Pussy, the band have built a reputation throughout the Vancouver scene thanks to unpredictable live shows that make them a must see live act. Check out the band’s schedule and be sure to catch them during SXSW.

03/19 @ Bar 2211 (2211 Webberville Rd.) – 3 PM [RSVP]
03/19 @ Spider House Ballroom (2906 Fruth St.) – 6 PM [RSVP]
03/20 @ Maggie Mae’s (323 E 6th St.) – 9 PM [RSVP]
03/21 @ New Orleans PoBoys (1806 E 12th St.) – 1 PM

NEEDS are heading out on tour again in May for a run of West Coast tour dates:

05/14 – Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club w/ Brass, Flowers & Fire and Low Levels
05/15 – Seattle, WA @ Lofi
05/16 – Portland, OR @ High Water Mark
05/18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Hemlock Tavern
05/20 – San Francisco, CA @ MILK BAR
05/21 – Long Beach, CA @ The Prospector
05/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Lexington
05/23 – Sacramento, CA @ The Starlite
05/24 – Portland, OR @ The Know

For their debut album on File Under: Music, NEEDS decided to step back from the chaos that has always fueled their live shows and purposefully craft a record that inspires you to never stop listening.

NEEDS bassist Glenn Alderson has a picture hanging on his fridge of vocalist Sean Orr lying shirtless on the floor, screaming into a microphone propped up in shoe. The photo was taken at the explosive final show for Orr’s last band, which Alderson saw as the beginning of his new band. After getting guitarist Derek Adam (You Say Party) on-board, he got Orr back on the mic. Guitarist Colin Spensley and drummer Devin O’Rourke witnessed the early NEEDS performances and took no convincing to join the orchestra for Orr’s performance piece, in which nothing he can get his hands on is safe. RIP pineapples and pint glasses.

“Sean is a very sensitive man,” Alderson says. While he may display a certain feral numbness live, it’s merely a presentation of the anger from the many worldly thorns in his paw. In fact, the first new song written for the record, “Clowns to the Left of Me, Dzhokars to the Right,” was written the day after the Boston Bombing. Once they had an album’s worth of material they retreated about as far from civilization as you can get; the Noise Floor Studios on Gabriola Island with producer Jordan Koop (You Say Party!, The Courtneys, Needles//Pins). While this was their third time recording with Koop, the previous sessions were all done live off the floor to capture the band’s live energy. But according to Spensley, “this time we decided to go track by track and really polish these songs, letting every part stand on its own.” A risky maneuver for a band whose unpredictable live shows have earned them spots on bills alongside Fucked Up, Perfect Pussy, Trash Talk, Single Mothers and White Lung.

The resulting record, mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering (Viet Cong, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear), is a presentation of cohesive chaos; the bass and drums set you in your place while the guitars have an angular chat around you. When Orr’s emotionally charged call to arms, apathy or caring come in it’s the tie that binds. Together they take the listener on a 10-song journey through suburban doldrums, urban renewal, the idiocy of punk music, a smoke break, decay and despair. “But there’s a cleanliness to the destruction,” Orr says. Indeed the concluding lyrics provide a practical reason for it – “Give up. So we can begin.” It certainly seems to have worked for NEEDS on their debut LP. NEEDS will be on tour throughout North America in 2015 and will release their self-titled album on May 12.

“a blast of frenetic energy that can only come out of riding that fine line between frustration and despair” – Noisey