Music

White Lung

So I’ve done rants about American and British bands, this time I thought I’d do a Canadian one.

As a Canadian, it seems pretty sad to me that the only musicians people seem to know from this country are Bryan Adams, Celine Dion and Bieber. Time to vomit. Those aren’t exactly people that evoke national pride in me. There is always Arcade Fire, and they of course are brilliant. There are a bunch of good bands, to be honest, I don’t want to lump them in together, it was just a generalization.

ANYWAYS.

This band, White Lung, is from the same city as me, and that’s being Vancouver.

Some background info on this. At the moment there’s this huge punk scene blowing up in this beautiful city. And the reason? To get the fuck out of dodge.

“The first record was about being stuck here and wanting to get the hell out.” – Brian King

The fact of the matter is that no matter how gorgeous of a city Vancouver is, it’s not really a great place to be young and have fun it.

The price of living out here is almost astronomical – it was ranked the most expensive city to live in in North America, even of New York City. We have really bad liquor laws – an important fact for a nineteen year old such as myself, ha. Overzealous cops are another problem. Then there’s the fact that all the places for underground bands to have a good venue to play in are closing down. The Waldorf is closing and it breaks my heart. Sure, The Commodore and The Venue are still open down on Granville, but that’s for bigger bands with much higher levels of popularity to play at, not the underground scene that’s so vital. All those punk places are being turned into “trendy” clubs for only DJs by greedy promoters, The Astoria being one of those places.

“The bars will make tons of money, but what happens when that all fades? Will it ever fade? It’s just fucking stupid – they cleaned it all up now, no more bands. They’ll spend the next few months cleaning coke and lipstick off the toilet stands.” – Mish Way

Vancouver has officially been dubbed “No Fun City”.

But there’s a silver lining in this. Fuck that, there’s a gold lining and it’s bloody brilliant. Somehow with all of this, there’s a punk underground scene that’s blowing up here.

And isn’t that how it always is?

When a city like this is getting “cleaned up”, that’s when the real creative and talented bands shine, because they need to work so hard to get even a little bit of attention. It’s a breeding ground for forward thinking. It’s reactionary music, made in response of a boring city. Bands are playing in abandoned warehouses – some of the best shows I ever seen in my life – or even an empty parking lot if it’s available, anywhere. Although cops seem all too eager to break up a gig the moment it starts.

Isn’t it the truth that the best music always seems to spawn from the underbelly and the gutters?

It’s so old school, it’s great. It’s by word of mouth, figuring out where your favourite band is going to play just so you can catch the moment and maybe buy an EP.

But it’s not even just punk music, it’s everything. Bands just want to play shows with their friends and share in it. It’s really cool to be a part of it, even with the oppressive overtones coming from every direction.

The Japandroids. The Mutators. Shearing Pinx. Twin Crystals. Nü Sensae. Peace – not to be confused with the band from the UK… that’s going to get confusing, isn’t it? Ice Cream. Defecktors. Sick Buildings. Sex Negatives.

“The sound, underpinning everyone from pure electronic outfits to full bands and everything in between, is harsh. Not dark, not “psychedelic”, almost never misanthropic, just harsh. It’s not some bullshit hard-man macho thing, it’s not about appearance, and not entirely about lifestyle. It’s harsh music for a harsh environment.” – Josh Rose

“There is more of an open mindedness to this scene. People in bands and that attend shows are a lot more receptive to experimentation and free to explore new ideas. I think it happened naturally. Punk has way too many subgenres to like just one. As if I’m only into post-punk and hate The Stooges, you know? It was only a matter of time before it all came together.” – Cameron Reed

Okay, I could go on forever, but I think you get the point of what’s going on in this city.

There are so many bands to choose from, and I might write about more of them, but at the moment the one that I’m infatuated with is White Lung.

They’re fucking amazing. I love them.

There’s this tightness in their arrangements which reminds me almost of Nirvana, although they keep the sound cleaner, if that makes any sense. The rhythm section is so precise and thrashing, and the guitar is sharp and fast in the most perfect way I can’t describe. Mish Way is a great vocalist, she balances between shouting and singing perfectly, and that’s a hard line to walk. I’ve seen them once, but I’m going to see them soon when they get back into the city at a place that was once a strip club and pretty much a whore house at one time with a Montreal band called The Mets.

There’s nothing too fancy about it, you’re not getting snotty intellectual music that comes down condescending and smothered in self-importance.

It’s the emotional driving sound of music coming out. It’s just brought back to the basics, and I’m once again amazed about how wonderful something so simple can be. It’s thrashing and bruising, and when it’s over I just want to listen to it again.

“We’re isolated. Everyone has to work really hard to pay rent, buy provisions and survive – so I think everyone has this ingrained work ethic where we feel really stupid if we’re not producing something.” – Mish Way

I put the website where you can listen to their whole album Sorry in the external link. It's short, nineteen minutes, but I could listen it for days on end.