COUSINS

By Nicole Villeneuve
Configuring your guitar-and-drums two piece to sound like something fresh has to be tough, but Halifax's Cousins prove it can still be done. Featuring Pat Ryan on guitar and Aaron Mangle on drums and vocals, the former Mangle solo project turned full band turned two-piece churned out a short, spirited set of songs that were raw in their jilted structures, but hardly sounded stripped down. It's clear that there's some serious writing talent at work here, and it would be simple to fill these songs out. However, between Ryan's thick, almost bluesy guitar and Mangle's rich melodic drumming, there's a life to the songs as is. - Exclaim Magazine

From the Dwindle Kindle of Jesse Locke:
With their 2010 split tour cassette, Halifax heartthrobs Duzheknew and Cousins carry on the Maritime tradition of sophisticated slacker rock (not an oxymoron). First up is Duz with an unlikely yet successful amalgamation of Spencer Krug warble, Abe Vigoda tropical punk and brainy Talking Heads pop. One to watch out for! Meanwhile, Cousins have dropped down to a duo since the release of their debut, turning up the spotlight on drummer-singer Aaron Mangle’s falsetto and knocking all three tunes out of the park. Sadly the first run of 100 is sold out, but look for a re-dub with fresh colour schemes just in time forObey.
[Levin's Note: I tried to stop doing these "Levin's Notes" things, but I couldn't help it for this one. Been waiting for anything DUZHEKNEW related for way too long. This cassette slays!!] - Weird Canada

As a venue, Whippersnapper has an ad hoc vibe with its makeshift stage giving shows an organic feel. Celebrating the release of a split cassette, incestuous Halifax bands Cousins and Duzheknew profited from the inclusive setting, their layered songs given an instantly approachable tenor.

Touring as a drums-and-guitar two-piece, Cousins played sonorous, angular tracks with hints of Pinback, albeit without the bass lines, and Dinosaur Jr., albeit without the droll whimsy, with the duo's held notes and anthemic aspirations battering the low-ceilings throughout the rousing set. Taking a brief break, Cousins morphed into Duzheknew's rhythm section for a spat of overtime.

Though sharing much of the same line-up, Cousins and Duzheknew shared little of the same sound, the latter dropping all fist-pump notions in favour of meticulously concocted art wave.

After post-punk revival comes new new wave, or something to the effect. In that vein, Duzheknew (aka Adam O'Reilly plus Cousins) touches on Chameleons and Talking Heads without relying too heavily on either. Post-brood and post-synth, the sound is fresh, its dark melodies juxtaposing with O'Reilly's volatile lilt, which, at turns, conjures Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug.

With his crack rhythm section keeping things grounded, O'Reilly had plenty of room to explore lyrical and vocal flights of fancy, which he did with charisma and art rock aplomb. In its nascence, Duzheknew's live show is brief but compelling, offering a rough hewn charm and brimming with promise. - EXCLAIM MAGAZINE

http://www.nxew.ca/2010/02/cd-review-from-halifax-cousins-out-on.html

Cousins is the child of Aaron Mangle, a Haligonian who recorded all of this record on his own. The first comparison which comes to mind here is the slow burning folk/grunge/noise of the Neil Young/Crazy Horse "Down by the River" era - big guitars in slow motion, swirling sounds through ancient amps, mellow drums to keep up the time but not to overwhelm, occasional screaming choruses. Mangle's voice even reminds me of Neil Young - that off kilter semi-falsetto. It's a voice that could be irritating but, like his influences, Mangle nails it well - a perfect antidote to the swirling, crunchy guitars.

But don't think that Cousins simply mimics Young: the sound is subtle and elegant, in ways that Crazy Horse could not achieve, often incorporating more complex and mellow song structures. That is not evident on first listen, but repeated spins will make the point clear. In many ways, the better comparison is Red House Painters' creator Mark Kozelek's work as Sun Kil Moon: more melodic, intricate and thoughtful.

Cousins is at its best when it captures the inherent tension of distorted guitars that are not too loud. In "Out On Town", that tension is always there, when the guitar sound is pushed to its limits but not in the power chord way. Mellow strumming is intense but not over-reaching, always just about to break out into something larger. This is a great style to match the quirky, somewhat surrealistic bent of many of the lyrics. And yet, about 2/3 of the way through the song, the band breaks out into controlled chaos, big drums and cymbals, blended vocals, jangly guitar over pounding chord changes, and then ending with a bottom end distortion. A nice job at a cathartic ending. Best track for sure on this record, and a great way of revealing grace in the midst of a potentially harsh sound.

"Anxious", "Around Their Waists", "Growling" and "Formulas" all share that swirly, distorted guitar sound. "Anxious" expands the sound a bit, with staccato guitar solos interspersed, ending with a particularly raucous collection of notes. "Around Their Waists" takes on a mellower mood, with strummy, almost jangly moments - think late sixties guitar bands on opium, especially in the chorus.

I have to admit being somewhat challenged by the lyrics on the record. It's not clear whether it's just the mix or whether the words are inherently obscure. My guess is the latter, since the overall sound of the CD is great. "Around Their Waists" features plenty of Halifax references, but the lyrical landscape is desolate, with fears about being made to "draw a circle around my friends", and the metaphorical solution of tying a rope around them. Then there's the reference to the cruise ships sailing, bringing and taking "the finest, the finest". This is a brilliant song about being lost in the modern world. "Growling" continues with that theme, this time in the context of a relationship.

"Write Me a Song" continues the Crazy Horse style, but again the lyrics are cryptic. Criticism of hipster musicians who take themselves too seriously? ("Write me a song about bad wine and fast cars, something I can lean into....'cause we don't need no one to tell us what's our name....I don't want to go to your fucking shitty shows. 'Cause this town is in a drought. In this town, I'd rather drown.) Sympathetic attempt to understand a songwriter or someone else? ("Write me a song that comes straight from your world and give it all of those voices in your head and make it swing to the blink of your eyes. And make me wonder aloud what it means to be you."). Both? Who knows! A great track nonetheless.

"Out On Town" also does an excellent job of capturing a mellower mood, often matching a gentle subject matter. This is apparent in "Three Years Old", told from a person with a three year old's perspective, though it's not clear whether that person is three or is like a three year old. "Lullaby" appears to be a throwaway track at 55 seconds, but it also sees the band branching out into Velvet Underground style jangly melodies, with an abrupt ending that makes you want more. "John Schehr 32" is the most stripped down song on the CD, with mostly acoustic guitar and a sombre subject. Again, in this mellower form, the band expands the sound a bit: a few xylophone-like sounds and light guitar round out the end of the song. Both these tracks are somewhat weak, especially given the weight of many of the other tracks. Ironically, they are also the tracks which veer greatest from the record's core strength. That's not a criticism: "Out On Town" clearly shows that Mangle is quite capable of succeeding with those strengths but also build on them in a way which will continue to produce interesting music.

"Memory" is another stand out track: still the same slow, distorted sound, but this one has a much more melodic body, reminding me of some of Daniel Lanois' mellow guitar work. But Mangle is not content staying with that: at the mid-way point a few drum hits/guitar pounds cut through the mellowness, as if to stress the impact of the song's realization: memory's served me well. Perhaps most interesting is the way the lead guitar line mimics and and follows Mangle's voice to a pointed and noticeable effect.

With Cousins, Mangle has done a fantastic job of taking a genre that launched ten thousand garage bands and reworking it in subtle, pretty, and interesting ways. Overall, he maintains grunge's sonic tension but explores nuances which make this more than just a bar band on the hotel circuit. Mangle's voice and cryptic lyrics are perfectly balanced against the raw but melodic guitars - a nice mix which features hope in the midst of chaos. I imagine that these songs would take on an extra dynamic when performed live, which is what Maangle did with a full band last fall. - NXNE.ca

here’s something appealing about Cousins, a new quartet from Halifax, Nova Scotia, but it takes patience to discover that appeal. After listening to several cuts from their debut album, I was disappointed with the lack of hooks, waiting for something to GRAB me. The band was unknowingly at the top of a digital pile of 100’s of songs I had to sift through, and I was impatient.
But then, I finally realized: They’re not in a hurry to get from start to finish. Cousins is content to lazily but skillfully make their musical points, and I’m content to let them.
Songs like “Around Their Waists” demonstrate the bands’ dreamy, relaxed form of songwriting, but they somehow manage to inject an intensity – likely from the fuzzed out but intricate guitar lines, mixed with the gentle, melodic Neil Young’ish warblings of singer/guitarist Aaron Mangle." - Insomniaradio.net

http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/discs.cfm?content=172686

Canadian East Coast bands have always done “lo-fi” well, and Cousins’ debut album is no exception. Singer/guitarist Aaron Mangle writes the sparse, folkie tunes, which benefit from his doubled falsetto vocals and his penchant for repetition, laid-back tempos and well-placed crunchy guitars. Opening track Anxious sticks in your head long after the album ends, and Growling approaches Bon Iver-level fragility.

Apparently, Cousins is now a raucous four-piece, but here it’s simply Mangle playing everything. He’s got a knack for Chad VanGaalenish melodies – high and haunting – and repeats key lyrics in an entrancing way. Sometimes the execution is messy – Three Years Old’s rhythmically angular verses are ambitious for his skill set – and a few tunes meander. But with so much heart on display, that’s easily forgiven.

Top track: Anxious

- NowToronto.com

A CHARMING UNDULATION: Cousins’ lead singer, Aaron Mangle, has a transporting falsetto — like an indie version of Neil Young at his straining best. His elegant vocal melodies stretch themselves out like a lover awaking mid-day after a deep sleep. “Anxious” — the first track off their debut album “Out On Town” opens with a playful, but rough guitar riff that stumbles sumptuously forward like a Velvet Underground b-side. Then, Mangle’s shockingly pretty and lilting voice floats over the top of it, soft and slow as cloud cover, singing lines like, “I built up, / the walls high / Forty feet, / above my head.” Cousins’ songwriting is sparse — using images and phrase repetitions to elicit feeling rather than linear storytelling. And it works well. Listening to this album is an even better experience in its totality. This album is meant to be unwound. To be swum in. To be wrapped in like a blanket. You’re meant to let it carry you away. This is an album you put in to listen to from start to finish. Songs like ‘Anxious”, “Memory”, “Write Me a Song”, “Growling” and even the short (55 sec.) “Lullaby” are beautiful creations that slowly pull you into the band’s world through plushness and charm. The songs dissipate like cotton candy in the mouth. Their best tracks feel light as daydreams. There’s a cool balance between Mangle’s fragile voice, intricate guitar phrasings, the heavy-as-molasses thick-as-mahogany bass and all the detailed drum work. It takes a good deal of chemistry to make music like this. Each band member’s skill complements the other without diminishing returns. That’s why the band’s signature undulating sound works so smoothly. Cousins is a band to be reckoned with. The more I listen to this album, the more I love it. “Three Years Old” may be the only track that doesn’t seem to fit the rest of the album. But don’t let that stop you from checking out this band. Cousins is Mangle (singer/guitarist), Andy March on drums, Pat Ryan on bass, and Dallin Ursenbach on guitar. Note: A special thanks to Adam at Lemon Ginger Publicity for dropping this beauty in my inbox. Nothing better than waking up to good music. – David D. Robbins Jr. - Their Bated Breath

http://weirdcanada.com/2009/12/review-cousins-out-on-town/


From the sensitive-thug stylings of Jesse Locke:
Before we get into the sweet and unassuming goodness of Cousins’ slacker rock sing-a-longs, let me tell you a little bit about their ride. Rolling in style from their native Nova Scotia, the Haligonians hit the highway this fall in a magic school bus equipped with bunk beds and fueled by vegetable oil. A radical alternative to be sure, but as it turned out their max road speeds were barely enough to bring them up hills, resulting in several late arrivals at out-of-town tour stops. That’s a fitting analogy for the songwriting style of Cousin’s Aaron Mangle as well, tangling up twangy Bill Callahan-inspired rambles with a classic Doug Martsch-style falsetto, while drifting through it all with an unhurried pace. In his review of York Redoubt’s s/t LP, Aaron “canonical” Levin wrote about Halifax’s “advanced level of pop wizardry,” and there’s a similar charm to these 10 tunes.
[Levin's Note: Cousins are definitely a Level ∞ Pop-Wizard.] - Weird Canada

You know a really solid album when you can take it on a lonesome night-walk as readily as to a house party. That ideal mix of upbeat pulse and woe-is-me lamenting that renders a record versatile enough for whatever joys and strife gets thrown your way on a daily basis. Well, the one-two punch that opens Out On Town, the debut release by Halifax’s own Cousins, supplies just that balance; where ‘Anxious’ delivers a staccato-spiked electric jam that is ironed-out significantly by vocalist Aaron Mangle, ‘Around Their Waists’ winds down a casual bass-strut before the percussion peppers out some semi-latent urgency. With these songs, I could be kicking snow on my way to work and getting psyched for the weekend all at once.

Through no fault or inclination of their own, Cousins – who released Out On Town around the same time as Real Estate's self-titled – often resemble the Pitchfork-darlings in their lackadaisical but nonetheless touching arrangements. What distinguishes this four-piece from that reasonable praise rests in their occasionally explosive habits; as pensive and ambling as ‘Formulas’ starts out, its percussive weight gets progressively heavier while title track ‘Out On Town’ builds from a steady riff to mushroom outward in perhaps the record’s best climax, let alone song. Even in the band’s less transcendent moments, like the back-to-back middling of ‘Memory’ and ‘Three Years Old’, Cousins share some of Real Estate’s roadblocks, unable to point a worthwhile trajectory from plodding and scant three-minute tunes. The vocal hooks are still there, the band’s core dynamics remain in place, but in these rare cases I can’t help but feel these tracks may have shone brighter had they gestated longer in the songwriting process. Hell, the confidence displayed throughout this album certainly suggests a band capable of taking more risks.

As the album goes on, Mangle’s timbre grows increasingly apt comparisons to Neil Young, as if Cousins is carrying on the Canadian icon’s penchant for folk-rock… only with a band that knows how to measure delicacy with power (sorry, Crazyhorse). Out On Town is an impressive debut, binding another chapter in rock’s timeless craft while securing themselves firmly amid Halifax’s renowned indie-scene. - Skeleton Crew Quarterly

Talk of the town: best music of 2009
It was a colossal year for Halifax music. Team Coast rounds up the top local releases of 2009, and a few favourites from away.
by Mark Black, Sean Flinn, Sue Carter Flinn, Dave Hayden, Ryan Hemsworth, Stephanie Johns, Laura Kenins, Mike Landry, Alison Lang, Trevor Savory, Doug Taylor and Tara Thorne

Cousins
Out on Town (Youth Club)

A quintessential Halifax low-fi gem---as depressing as uplifting, with sounds as melodic as a clear summer's day and as distorted and creeping like a fog bank. —ML

(excerpt from whole article) - The Coast

Being a songwriter who doesn't particularly like writing lyrics is a surprisingly good way to come up with some of the most evocative songs Halifax will see this year.

Aaron Mangle has developed his unique songwriting technique in two years of playing solo in Halifax under the name A Helpful Diagram. Last winter he recorded Out on Town, with Stacy Lloyd Brown engineering, filling out the songs by playing all the instruments himself. The thought of paring the music down again to perform solo didn't appeal to Mangle, so he enlisted Dallin Ursenbach (Crowd Power) on guitar, Andy March (Museum Pieces) on drums and Pat Ryan (roomdoom) on bass last spring, and, just like that, A Helpful Diagram became Cousins.

-Stephanie Johns
"I kept wanting to be way louder," says Mangle. "When I'd play at Gus' I kept imagining that it would be this loud rock show, but it was sappy and not very loud." After seeing Cousins at a recent show at the Khyber, it's evident that volume is no longer a problem. During the powerful live show, the delicate songs on Out On Town are swathed in fuzz, creating possibly the prettiest wall of noise. Cousins masterfully blends a jangly and playful live show with dreamy, folk-influenced songs.

In contrast to the so-called "sappy" origins of the songs, one of Mangle's current goals is to "keep things playful. I think because I was playing solo, the songs sounded sad and I was writing songs that were really sad, and once you listen to really happy music you're like, 'Oh fuck, I feel like such a loser.'" Presently, Mangle is influenced by "a lot of sunshine-y bands, California bands like Cryptacize, Thee Oh Sees, Deerhoof." He doesn't think that he has a lot in common with them, but Out on Town would fit perfectly within the ranks of John Dwyer's (Thee Oh Sees) label Castle Face, or Sufjan Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Lyrically, Mangle doesn't rely a lot on deep, personal stories, instead choosing to pick "one simple thing and think about it." It's refreshing to listen to an album and not have to witness the performer as a raw nerve ending. Mangle chooses to leave his darkest thoughts and details about his relationships private. Instead, his songs are about getting lost in a foreign city, or playing dice.

"I don't really want to write what my feelings are, definitely the songs are not about feelings," says Mangle. "I'm really hard on myself when I'm writing, and that's probably that's why there aren't many words. When I'm flipping through a book of poetry---which is really rare, but the other night I was---I always stop at the pages that have short verses and I don't read the long ones.

"I really prefer a really good phrase, or words that are really simple, or a play on words," he continues. "Just making the words simple so they are a little bit aloof. I don't want to say it all."

Cousins release Out on Town on Friday, August 28 at the Khyber ICA with Data Cave and Duz He Knew? before setting out on a 15-date tour in September through Ontario and Quebec, including a showcase at Pop Montreal. - The Coast

If I had to be completely honest, I’d say there is a lot of apathy and hater-ism in Halifax's music scene. Musically we have a very tight knit community, but when push comes to shove I feel like a lot of bands hate other bands for being successful or even turning heads at a show. That’s why it was so encouraging to see local musicians walk up to Aaron Mangle after his set at the Company House simply to say how much they enjoyed his songs.

Now, at the time, he was billed as A Helpful Diagram and his fuzzy snippets of noise and melody were rough… very rough. Songs kind of just stopped, and he and his “band mate” often looked like they were playing together for the first or second time, but undoubtedly, there was something there. Considering that we were all there for The Weather Station and Polaris Long-Lister Timbre Timber, the fact that a local act generated such electricity as one of the openers was impressive.

But then A Helpful Diagram kind of disappeared. The myspace page was canceled and Mangle stopped showing up on show listings. I looked a few times to no avail and then lost interest. It’s how the fickle world of music blogging works, but thankfully, a few posters started mentioning a new band named Cousins. Google told me little, other than the fact Aaron was involved in this new project but I had no idea if it was an evolution of the songs I heard a month or two ago, or something completely different.

According to Aaron, “I used to play most of these songs solo under the name a helpful diagram, but I needed to play with others because they slowly became rock songs or just not sad anymore.” To help keep the integrity of the songs, he teamed up with Museum Pieces Andy March, Room Doom’s Pat Ryan and Crowd Power’s Dallin Ursenbach and for the first time in what seems like forever, a new Haligonian act displays the talent and potential to make a name for themselves outside of the city’s cozy borders.

Out on Town is a debut record – 10 songs, a few stumbles, but moments of brilliance that make bloggers and critics giddy – and it’s already one of my favorite local releases of the year. The folk scene here is producing some high quality acts. So is the noise scene, but Cousins is the only band I’ve stumbled on that combines the two. Aggressive, truncated strums and distorted notes give the songs life, but the melancholic, brooding pace and Mangle’s falsetto give the songs a warming glow. He manages to sound unique and interesting, but completely accessible at the exact same time.

I know that summer-inspired lo-fi jams are hotter than Hansel right now, but there is something genuine and encouraging about Mangle's work. I can't think that he started writing these songs when Animal Collective and Wavves started blowing up; I'm not even sure if he knows who those artists are. His process - at least to me - seems more like Chad Vangaalen's. I can't help but picture Mangle writing these songs trapped in his basement, far removed from the popular sounds of today's music scene. Instead of trying to build jams to make you move, Mangle opts to give you just enough warmth to help you digest the sadness. Starting with the album opener, Anxious Mangle grinds through moments of infectious melody and noise, but always manages to keep you interested with a soft touch and just the right moment.

It’s hard to imagine a fresh face cobbling together a track like John Schehr 32; the kiss of sunshine the keys give the song that transforms the simple guitar and vocals makes the three-minutes something you hold onto long after the notes fade to silence and isn’t something you’d expect from such a young band. Neither is the ear pleasing melody the vocals and harmonies give the slow grind of Out of Town, but Mangle (with help from Stacy Brown on the production side of things) shows he has the talent to surprise and impressive even the most skeptical listener. And in this city, that's exactly the challenge that most artists face.
- Hero Hill

Aaron Mangle has been playing solo under the name A Helpful Diagram for a couple years, but this summer he picked up a band and became Cousins. While the scrappy, low-fi aesthetic of A Helpful Diagram had its charms, Mangle's songs develop into something more when fleshed out with a full band, foggy indie-rock with heavy drum and bass lines and a big heart. It's just Mangle playing every instrument on the record, so it's less intense than Cousins' live shows have become, but an encouraging start: what's unchanged is the warm, fuzzy feeling about living in Halifax that Mangle brings out in his lyrics.

Laura Kennins - the coast, Halifax