It's a couple months before the Halifax Pop Explosion so I began my usual ritual of checking out a bunch of the bands who have been announced to play that I'm not all too familiar with. This has basically devoloped into me just listening to the Suuns record like mad for the last three weeks. Now their show is the one I am most excited for, except for my own (Ahem, Friday the 21st, Tribeca, 8:30pm, cough).
I mean really, how long has it been since I wrote about an actual record/new drummer? Months? This record, and especially Liam O'neil have given me something to be excited to write about, at a time when I felt I had pretty much exhausted myself.
Liam's drumming combines a lot of elements I've talked about before. There's a touch of the very kraut-rock sort of minimalist drumming of groups like Kraftwerk and Can, but there's also this amazing underlying intensity that only escapes in short bursts, like Liam is holding and wrestling an explosion in a jar -- letting it out to ease the tension only briefly. Even at his most minimal his playing maintains it's own life. It's methodical and well structured, but it still remains stylized. He also can change between laying low in the background and being the life of the party with ease, and songs like Sweet Nothing and PVC are two songs that I think demonstrate both sides of Liam's playing perfectly. Both songs have straight, well positioned playing that has brief moments of wonderful abandon that really takes their music into another level.
Songs like Marauder and Armed For Peace are much grittier and livelier, but are still rooted in Liam's spot on precision. Even when he's traveling around the kit a little he never strays from the foundation, and his kick drum especially keeps things in focus while the rest of him explores. The strong approach to the kick drum gives some of the songs a slight hip hop feel, albeit a dark, twisted one.
I can't wait to hear these songs performed live, and if you're in Halifax for the Pop Explosion you would be doing yourself a favor to check out Suuns as well. We can hang out. I'll be the guy with the beard, it shouldn't be too hard to spot me.
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