Spin class just got a bit livelier thanks to Vancouver’s NEEDS are their energetic “Walk, Cycle, or Take Transit Like Jehu” music video. NEEDS are sharing the second Matt Leaf directed clip from their self-titled full length debut today on Stereogum with the announcement of the band’s CMJ shows and East Coast tour dates. Arriving in New York on October 16th, there are three opportunities to catch the band’s chaotic performances, with all dates listed below.
It’s been a busy year for the Vancouver punks. The band has toured both Canada and the US, including a stop at SXSW, released their debut NEEDS in May via File Under: Music, and they continue to hit the road in support of the album as they make their East Coast debut at CMJ. NEEDS, which picked up praise from The FADER, NPR Music, Noisey, Stereogum, and more is packed with twists and turns, lashing out at gentrification, yuppie culture, and stagnant living with a knowing smirk and deviant twinkle in their eyes. NEEDS are creating punk rock with a justifiably driven rage without any looming sense of self seriousness. The perfect blend of self-deprecating humor and agitated political consciousness.
NEEDS are bringing their explosive live show back on the road this month, a band not to be missed among the CMJ stampede. 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. The chaos and carnage of NEEDS live is well constructed fury manifested with a reckless abandonment and most definitely should not be missed. Check out all their dates below.
Tour Dates:
10/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ IDIO Gallery w/ Left & Right, Dead Tenants, Nonsense
10/17 – New York, NY @ Lit Lounge (Official CMJ showcase – 9 PM)
10/17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Aviv (EIS/GIMME TINNITUS/Ipsum showcase – 11:30 PM)
10/18 – Providence, RI @ News Cafe w/ I Eat Rocks, Lovesick, Bottomfed
10/19 – Salem, MA @ Koto w/ Crosss, Kiss Concert
10/22 – Washington, DC @ Joe’s Record Paradise w/ Dissonance, CP/M
10/23 – Baltimore, MD @ The Sidebar w/ Faults, Radical Discharge
10/24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Federal House w/ Cocaine Breath, Second Marriage
“I love this band. For its chaotic, full-throttle rock. For its world view — a mix of sweet idealism and brooding cynicism — and for its self-deprecating sense of humor. You can hear it all in the NEEDS song” – NPR Music“a raucous blend of self-deprecating humor and politic(s)” – The FADER
“a blast of frenetic energy that can only come out of riding that fine line between frustration and despair” – Noisey
“They’re another politically conscious hardcore band, sure, but they’re not spewing bile and ideology. Instead, NEEDS are just trying to point out how endless the downward spiral of injustice and subsequent hypocrisy really is.” – Stereogum
“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” – VICE
****************************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.
