(Harold Donnelly of The Sappers once stuck his hands in a microwave to keep them warm. He lost two fingers, but gained superpowers. © 2008 Benjamin Luk.)
To be entirely truthful, Vancouver indie music’s lost its flavour to me. The bands that don’t fuck everything up by attempting prog rock out of their depth end up sounding like background music at an Earls, and it’s really only musicians with solid folk roots like Dan Bejar of Destroyer and the dudes of Ladyhawk that manage to keep everything afloat. However, there’s always a hidden gem amongst the turds if you’re willing to go digging, and where else to find it than at CiTR SHiNDiG 2008.
I’m going to skip right over The Magician and Hermetic though. The Magician sounded like The National trying to shit out an Amanda Palmer song, and Hermetic verged on a high school band trying to shit out something that passed for music. I’m wholly convinced that Hermetic won based on band order alone; it’s simply more climactic if whoever plays last takes home the gold. But like I said about digging in the turds, you’ll eventually find something golden and that something golden is The Sappers.
Pearce and I have known Harold Donnelly for years and we’ve seen him transition from band to band since we were all kids. To see him now as the frontman of what I consider his most successful project to date gave me warm fuzzies in a way that usually only vast quantities of rum can. At the risk of oversimplification, take two cups of Fleet Foxes, a light sprinkling of The Sadies, a dash of Okkervil River, cover and simmer on low, and you’ve got what The Sappers are going for. No drummer in sight, but Colin McCune’s country rock banjo and Jeff Fedoruk’s swingin’ stand-up bass pounded the percussion forward for Rob Zurdel to sweep right in with the practiced bravura of an Old West saloon pianist. Their supposed single “Gloria” is a mite too basic for my tastes but “Cold Winter” remains one of the best indie performances I’ve seen this year (though I secretly think it could benefit from some drums). And really, how can you knock any band that can transition seamlessly from one of their bridges to a dead-on Johnny Cash cover? If I were even around in the 60s, I’d have said The Sappers took me right back there. Also, Donnelly’s Dylan-esque harmonica stylings kicked my ass down Seymour Street and back again.
The Sappers play again at The Purple Crab on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008.
I’m going to skip right over The Magician and Hermetic though. The Magician sounded like The National trying to shit out an Amanda Palmer song, and Hermetic verged on a high school band trying to shit out something that passed for music. I’m wholly convinced that Hermetic won based on band order alone; it’s simply more climactic if whoever plays last takes home the gold. But like I said about digging in the turds, you’ll eventually find something golden and that something golden is The Sappers.
Pearce and I have known Harold Donnelly for years and we’ve seen him transition from band to band since we were all kids. To see him now as the frontman of what I consider his most successful project to date gave me warm fuzzies in a way that usually only vast quantities of rum can. At the risk of oversimplification, take two cups of Fleet Foxes, a light sprinkling of The Sadies, a dash of Okkervil River, cover and simmer on low, and you’ve got what The Sappers are going for. No drummer in sight, but Colin McCune’s country rock banjo and Jeff Fedoruk’s swingin’ stand-up bass pounded the percussion forward for Rob Zurdel to sweep right in with the practiced bravura of an Old West saloon pianist. Their supposed single “Gloria” is a mite too basic for my tastes but “Cold Winter” remains one of the best indie performances I’ve seen this year (though I secretly think it could benefit from some drums). And really, how can you knock any band that can transition seamlessly from one of their bridges to a dead-on Johnny Cash cover? If I were even around in the 60s, I’d have said The Sappers took me right back there. Also, Donnelly’s Dylan-esque harmonica stylings kicked my ass down Seymour Street and back again.
The Sappers play again at The Purple Crab on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008.
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