Vancouver’s chaotic NEEDS are sharing their energetic and scathing new single “We Forgot The Records To Our Record Release Show” the first single from the band’s upcoming self-titled full length debut, NEEDS. Due out on May 12th via File Under: Music (SLAM DUNK / DAN MANGAN / ANCHORLESS), the song captures the band’s reckless post-hardcore screech and explosive punk intensity with a heavy dose of self-aware humor.
Noisey premiered the song in the States stating, “Thank god for post-ironic bands who appreciate the absurdity of what they’re doing, bands like Vancouver’s NEEDS… they have a sense of humor about themselves, a fact which they drive home in the song’s defeated, self-questioning opening line” describing the band’s sound as “a blast of frenetic energy that can only come out of riding that fine line between frustration and despair”.
NEEDS’ sound isn’t all carnage and mayhem though, there’s an undeniable sense of control and well crafted song-writing tucked within the chaos. Don’t let a bit of polish fool you though, NEEDS are still very much unpredictable and live their show has cemented them as one of Canada’s best up-and-comers, earning the band shows with Fucked Up, White Lung, Perfect Pussy, Trash Talk, Single Mothers, and many others. The band will be bringing their show on the road throughout North America this year, including a stop at SXSW 2015.
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.
