CTZNSHP (citizenship)

Anyone who says guitar-based indie rock is dead needs to shut up and listen to CTZNSHP. The Montreal five-piece produce tight, loud, cathartic songs that could be the soundtrack for the greatest, longest night of your life. They're like a young, restless version of The National that actually has the balls to crank up their amps and get dirty, or Interpol if they let themselves feel any emotion. That's the real appeal of CTZNSHP - they pour so much sincerity into their music, and the love behind it is easy to hear.

For their forthcoming album, All Things to the Sea, they enlisted the help of legendary producer Jace Lasek, whose credits include Wolf Parade, Suuns, The Besnard Lakes, Young Galaxy, and approximately 95% of all other breakthrough artists to come out of Montreal. Lasek's knack for finding beauty in loud, psychedelic guitar tones and pulling catchy melodies out of the sludge worked perfectly with CTZNSHP's sound. The new recordings combine pop precision with big, reverb-soaked guitars and soaring lead lines.

This is the band's third effort and by far the one they're most proud of. After producing three killer songs for their Swan Dive EP, one of the most promising first releases by any Montreal band ever, and struggling over when and how to release their followup Doom Love LP, things just came together for All Things to the Sea. Even though the previous recordings kicked ass, All Things to the Sea brings a new level of refinement, and will undoubtedly get the attention of listeners and label execs well outside of their home city.

Take an exclusive first listen to the album track "Low Lives" and read our conversation with lead singer Jesse LeGallais about making the album, writing honest lyrics, the power of indie rock, and working with Jace Lasek.



Noisey: It seems like this album happened really quickly, compared to Doom Love and Swan Dive. Did you feel like you had to get those albums off your chest before moving on?
Jesse LeGallais: Doom Love is kind of painful for us, because we really like it but it's a representation of a couple years ago. We thought we'd shop it around, and we had some exciting people interested, so we did some shows and touring but none of that came through. We used the singles and put them out there in different ways to get attention. So we had this record that we liked, but we knew it wasn't going to get put out on the places where we wanted to put it out, and the singles already circulated, so we were like "Shit, we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot on this one." We never got reviews on that one. it never got he proper release, which makes me sad.

It must be refreshing to have that leap forward.
Yeah, we really like this one. We're not apologizing for this one, saying like, "The fucking studio did this or that," or anything. We just really like it.

How long have you been working on All Things to the Sea?
I'd say that the first idea came around last summer but we pretty much holed up this winter. For the first recording session we weren't sure if we were going to do a record, we just did three days with Jace and it went awesome so we thought "Yeah, we're gonna do it," and booked more time with him.

How was working with Jace Lasek as a producer?
It was amazing. And you know, we were really hesitant. We didn't want to go into a studio where we had someone who was just getting paid, and didn't care about the music, and you could just hear that clock ticking. With Jace, we were all going to have to go into debt for it. It was nerve racking, but we got in there, and it was just fantastic. Jace likes what we do, and it's really up his alley, and it was the best recording process we ever had.

He's the kind of producer that has a specific sound. Was he really involved, beyond setting up mics and turning knobs? Did he have any artistic input?
In a way, but it's like a soft touch. We had a lot of stuff written, and Scott had a lot of ideas for what he wanted to do with the guitar, and what we wanted to do with the synths, and Jace just kind of sits there and says "Why don't you do this, or why don't you play the guitar a little closer." Then it becomes a working process. So he gets involved, but he doesn't make decisions like "Cut this, keep this."

You also decided to add bass and synth players to the band recently. What was that about?
We got lumped in a lot with haze rock and post rock, and we're a three piece, so we were kind of adhering to the three piece band thing. LIke at first, on Doom Love, we didn't expand too far outside of the three piece thing. But we're all really heavily influenced by artists like Phoenix, by Bowie, by M83, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, The National, Arcade Fire. So we never intended just to be a post-punk noisy rock band. We were always huge into pop, and i'm into songwriting, so we didn't want to get stuck being something else.

So you're just singing now?
Yeah, I just sing now. Want I want to do is focus on the lyrics and focus on the vocal melody. When I play bass, I know I'm fucking up. I wanted the songs to be bigger. The lyrics are really, for me, the most important thing.

On this album, do you find yourself writing about new themes than you did on Doom Love?
It's an extension. It hasn't changed. It's a little more personal now and, I think, a little more focused. It's less of a group album, of saying "Hey, me and my friends, we're all having problems and here are songs for all of us." And it's more of the journalistic sphere, like my perspective of being a thirty year old who's now married, and how 20 year olds can get fucked up and do whatever they want, and I… not as much. It's kind of a hard thing to do when you're married, so it's me wrestling with, "What is any of this?" and these kinds of choices you make. It's questions like what are we doing, how do you survive, and how do relationships survive, when there's a not a lot of money and there's this flow of bad world news constantly.

It's good that you keep things honest as your life changes.
I think at the very root of the whole thing is me trying to be a good partner or a good husband and wondering, how do you do that? We'd been through a breakup that was a catastrophe, and we had our hearts ripped out, and then we ended up coming back together and just going for it hardcore and getting married. It's kind of like that with the band, just like, "Hey guys, we're gonna do this for real now." I was unafraid to care about things.

Do you ever feel like you're on your own as a rock band in Montreal, which has such a big electro scene?
I feel like we're a natural extension of indie rock, going back through Joy Division and all that 80s stuff, going up through R.E.M., and then Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, The National, Arcade Fire. You're either in a rock band and you're lame as shit and you're posturing, or you're just rejecting that completely and you're trying to do something completely new, which now has become super saturated, so we always felt lame, to be perfectly honest. And still to a certain extent I wonder if we are lame, but it's just what we love so much, and I think there's a place for big-ass anthemic rock music that is actually honest and isn't posturing and legitimately has a going-off-the-rails vibe. It's like a cathartic thing, and I think there's always room for that in music.

Do you think people make too big a deal out of the line between guitar and electronic music? Or is it just about the songs?
That's all it is, good songs. And if you have good songs you can dress them up any way you like and you'll have good songs. And if you have bad songs, well, you're just going to suck at whatever you do. - Noisey

[Single] [Exclusive] CTZNSHP - Tropical Kings
by Julien Catala the 1 December 2016 in Discoveries
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Consonants without vowels. A stylized name and three Montrealers march towards the tropics into disrepair. Utopia or Dystopia? CTZNSHP does not know it yet, and we, for that matter. On a scale weighing the pop-rock weight on one side and melancholy of the other, "Tropical Kings" leads the needle in the center of a concordance and paid just incredibly kind, a universe without encroaching on the other. This title is a beautiful promise.

Ctznshp - Tropical Kings

"I think the title looks like an ocean of doubt. It's a good song for evening strolls. " Jesse LeGallais, singer and guitarist of the band, advocates uncertainty and late nonchalance. "Tropical Kings" is so divided and balanced. Beyond its moods, the track has long sought a place among the previous albums. And fortunately in vain because the maceration is not only for spirits, music can also ask: "" Tropical Kings "does not look like our new and old songs, but the track still resembles CTZNSHP. It is also the first song we recorded and mixed entirely ourselves. It took about nine months to finish writing the song and the band has gone through many changes during this time. We lost our bass player. We wrote, recorded and discarded an entire album. We took a break from 6 months to clean up our heads to direct us to other creative outlets. "



This title was sort off so to rise from the ashes. Phoenix lost, CTZNSHP was able to improve its image of copper sheets new-wave and some lethargic post-punk to the Big Pink, which could translate easily filmic atmosphere Gregg Araki. Steamy and sensual, "Tropical King" is promising breakaway of a new stylistic work: "We are, Scott, Florent and me in the middle of writing our next album. We do not yet know if this will be a LP or maybe an EP, or both. Normally we write songs and say choose the best eight. This time, we have a ton of songs and sound sketches on which we work. We were quite prolific in recent months. " We firmly expect after wishing them long life and prosperity. - Indiemusic.Fr

Intimate and dimly lit, the dungeon-like bar known affectionately as "L'Esco" is one of those venues that oozes a relaxed sense of cool. Taking its stage on Friday evening in a glow of red and blue lights, Montreal haze-rock outfit CTZNSHP proved that a great setting can add some cinematic flair to an already multi-layered sound.

Armed with songs off their latest album All Things to the Sea, the trio moved through their short set with ease, with the music's poppy undertones making the small, surprisingly rigid crowd sway back and forth on occasion. The band were slightly more relaxed and relatively unassuming, as they created big, anthemic tracks out of very little, building into a sound that seemed better suited to large stadiums than dive bars.

Ending their set with material from their debut Doom Love, the band also offered a quick tongue-in-cheek thank-you to Uber cabs, Serena Ryder, "Dad and whoever else." The set demonstrated that CTZNSHP are a band ready to blow, despite the fact that they find themselves just under the radar time and time again. - Exclaim!

CTZNSHP is that band that Greg Bouchard of Noisey said "might be the most promising Montreal band, ever," and I don't think he's wrong.
The four-piece comprised of Jesse LeGallais, Scott Delaney, Florent Clavel and Evan Curry write the kind of anthemic, honest rock that simultaneously reminds you of the sad romance of The National while also M83's explosive pop tendencies. That sounds next to impossible to achieve, but CTZNSHP have pulled it off with past releases like Doom Love, and are doing it again with their sophomore LP All Things To Sea.
All Things To Sea, which was released on April 24/15, was produced by none other than Jace Lasek (Wolf Parade, The Besnard Lakes, Young Galaxy) at Breakglass Studios in Montreal. Spanning eight tracks in length, the album is a cathartic offering, one that is both relentless and grandiose in its demeanour. Combining their melody-driven pop mentality with loud, post-punk guitar tones, CTZNSHP brings a refreshing, emotive air to the power of indie rock.

Read more at http://earmilk.com/2015/04/28/ctznshps-sophomore-effort-all-things-to-the-sea-is-haze-rock-bliss/#GkaE4kV62IrA4xad.99 - Ear Milk

The National played a free show at Young and Dundas Square for NXNE - Brooklyn Vegan

By Josiah Hughes
Montreal rock trio CTZNSHP have just completed an album of hazy, fuzzy anthems. Called Doom Love, the record doesn't have a release date just yet, but the band still decided to give us a little preview of their tunes.

With the three songs available in the Bandcamp player below, CTZNSHP demonstrate an impressive ability to navigate atmospheric soundscapes without losing an accessible, poppy songcraft.

"Heart Break Kids," "Summer Spaceships" and "Swan Dive" are all available to stream below, along with a trailer for the album.

In addition, Torontonians can catch the band when they open for Yamantaka // Sonic Titan on January 18 at the Garrison.
- Exclaim!

t took only one listen for me to be conquered by CTZNSHP’s unique blend of shoegaze, and drone/noise sound, literally coming from a dark horse of the local scene. Sonically, it's poignant and melodic, densely reverbed and held through heavy bass, pounding drums, abrasive guitar. Yet, it comes off very well on stage with foremost intensity, even lead-singer Jesse Legallais pulled off an Ian Curtis imitation due to sickness. CTZNSHP who released the Swan Dive EP last year, revealed they should be coming out with a debut LP titled Doom Love within the nextyear, which to me is very exciting news. I recommend listening to this music if you want to feel alive. - Indecent Exposure

CTZNSHP
This local act wasn’t in top shape when they opened the Saturday night Sala show, at least according to singer Jesse LeGallais. He announced his sickness at the top of the show and proceeded to sing in a lower register (“Ian Curtis-style,” he said) and take swigs of cough syrup between songs. Of course he could have been covering up a secret vice, ’cause he and his bandmates sounded great. I love this band’s guitar sound, and even though it’s early days, they have produced some pretty great tunes. (Lorraine Carpenter) - Cult Monteal

CTZNSHP This self-described “haze rock” trio operate at the crossroads of post-punk, shoegaze and indie pop. You’ll hear echoes of the Jesus Mary Chain’s rich density and the Cure’s minor-key romance, but CTZNSHP’s songs are fitted with crucial pop arcs that relieve some of the nihilism and sadness that those bands held at their core. Get to the Yamantaka //Sonic Titan show early for these openers and be ready to swoon as your ears absorb their sweet six-string action. - Cult Monteal

From there I went back to Sala Rossa to check out CTZNSHP, a trio from Montreal who play gloomy postpunk. "I've been a sick and my voice is shot," singer Jesse LeGallais admitted before the started. "You're gonna have to put up with my Ian Curtis imitation tonight." And he was definitely singing in a froggier register than what's heard on their recordings, so I won't judge to harshly. Musically they were pretty good. - Brooklyn Vegan

POP: How would you describe your sound?

C T Z N S H P: “Recklessly groovy” is probably our favorite description. Fuzzy guitar, warm distorted bass, tight drums and verby vocals. Our songs are pretty simple and surprisingly “pop”. We try to make them sound as huge and interesting as possible! Keeping in mind that we’re a three piece. It’s like Pavement meets Roybn meets My Bloody Valentine meets The National. We have thought about adding synths but it is so much easier working as a three piece!!
Are you guys from Montreal originally? How do you think the city has shaped or affected your music?

Jesse (vocals/bass) and Scott (guitar) are from Toronto’s area but have been living in Montreal for almost 10 years. Florent (drums) is from Annecy in France, and moved in 2 years ago. I think Montreal shaped our music in a way that it is a great city to live in. Inspiring, human and affordable. Montreal allows us to have decent jobs, time for the band, good people and good places to hang at when it’s -40°C like Nouveau Palais. Sonically, we don’t consider our sound as being shaped by Montreal, but we’re proud to be a Montreal band for sure. Good things are coming out of this city. We don’t think there’s a solid explanation to it.

You’re a fairly new band, but you seem to have gained a lot of attention pretty quickly. How was the band formed, and what’s the next step? Touring, live shows, a new album?

Jesse and Scott have always been playing together in various bands. In February 2011, Jesse heard about Florent through his friends from Valleys. Florent was interested in playing with Valleys but it didn’t happen for various reasons. Jesse asked them “permission” for trying Florent on the drums (a bit like asking a friend about dating his ex-girlfriend or something…) and they went for drinks on a very cold and snowy night in Mile-End. After many beers and long conversations on everything, from girls, friends, films to music, everything just fit. The band as it is now really started to exist since June 2011.

In only one year, the band put a well received “Swan Dive” EP online, and managed to play good local shows (w/ YUCK, Here We Go Magic, The Besnard Lakes, The Vandelles) and few ones in Toronto (Canadian Music Week, NXNE). All these opportunities came from Pop Montreal actually, and Noah Bick’s Passovah Productions. CTZNSHP is now working on a debut album called “Doom Love”, with US and Europe touring plans in mind. We are going to be playing CMJ in Oct. The album is still in progress but we started shopping it around to labels. We’ll see what happens…

Anyone you’re particularly excited to see at POP this year?

Dirty Three, Valleys, Chairlift, Grimes, Gang Gang Dance, Noah Bick… - POP Montreal

POP: How would you describe your sound?

C T Z N S H P: “Recklessly groovy” is probably our favorite description. Fuzzy guitar, warm distorted bass, tight drums and verby vocals. Our songs are pretty simple and surprisingly “pop”. We try to make them sound as huge and interesting as possible! Keeping in mind that we’re a three piece. It’s like Pavement meets Roybn meets My Bloody Valentine meets The National. We have thought about adding synths but it is so much easier working as a three piece!!
Are you guys from Montreal originally? How do you think the city has shaped or affected your music?

Jesse (vocals/bass) and Scott (guitar) are from Toronto’s area but have been living in Montreal for almost 10 years. Florent (drums) is from Annecy in France, and moved in 2 years ago. I think Montreal shaped our music in a way that it is a great city to live in. Inspiring, human and affordable. Montreal allows us to have decent jobs, time for the band, good people and good places to hang at when it’s -40°C like Nouveau Palais. Sonically, we don’t consider our sound as being shaped by Montreal, but we’re proud to be a Montreal band for sure. Good things are coming out of this city. We don’t think there’s a solid explanation to it.

You’re a fairly new band, but you seem to have gained a lot of attention pretty quickly. How was the band formed, and what’s the next step? Touring, live shows, a new album?

Jesse and Scott have always been playing together in various bands. In February 2011, Jesse heard about Florent through his friends from Valleys. Florent was interested in playing with Valleys but it didn’t happen for various reasons. Jesse asked them “permission” for trying Florent on the drums (a bit like asking a friend about dating his ex-girlfriend or something…) and they went for drinks on a very cold and snowy night in Mile-End. After many beers and long conversations on everything, from girls, friends, films to music, everything just fit. The band as it is now really started to exist since June 2011.

In only one year, the band put a well received “Swan Dive” EP online, and managed to play good local shows (w/ YUCK, Here We Go Magic, The Besnard Lakes, The Vandelles) and few ones in Toronto (Canadian Music Week, NXNE). All these opportunities came from Pop Montreal actually, and Noah Bick’s Passovah Productions. CTZNSHP is now working on a debut album called “Doom Love”, with US and Europe touring plans in mind. We are going to be playing CMJ in Oct. The album is still in progress but we started shopping it around to labels. We’ll see what happens…

Anyone you’re particularly excited to see at POP this year?

Dirty Three, Valleys, Chairlift, Grimes, Gang Gang Dance, Noah Bick… - POP Montreal

C T Z N S H P – 3:00AM @ The Garrison (POP Montreal)

A three-piece from Montreal, Jesse LeGallais (vocals, bass), Scott Delaney (guitar) and Florent Clavel (drums) of
C T Z N S H P closed out the night. LeGallais belted into the microphone with some of the most intense exaggerated facial expressions and all band members had great energy for the 3am slot, especially since they’d come from a 1:00am set at a different venue. Luckily they played in front of a surprisingly large crowd for the hour who were all still in the mood to dance.

The band released an EP Swan Dive earlier this year and their set showcased these three hard-hitting hazy rock songs, among others. There was a steady pulsating feel to much of their reverb-laden set, including “On A Roll,” and single “Swan Dive,” which was punctuated with these intermittent agonizingly piercing screams.

I’m glad we hung in there long enough to be able to catch these guys. Their EP is available for free download over on their Bandcamp. You should also check out the dizzy alcohol/drug-laced video for “Swan Dive” here. It’s really quite something. | CD - Buying Shots For Bands

I am personally very grateful for the opening acts : they allow you to discover bands that you would have otherwise looked pass, leaving a vivid impression. Just like love at first sight, I fell for with the music of C T Z N S H P the first time I heard them live. A constant repeat of EP Swan dive (available for free on Bandcamp) has turned this instant fling into a long-term infatuation. These «darling of magic hour» as they accurately describe themselves, have something different to offer with their unique sound, dark and ardent, accompagnied by heart-rending singing and engaging melodies. Here’s a glimpse of a conversation with the mystical power-trio.

IX: CTZNSHP is relatively new. How did you come with the idea of forming this band ?

Jesse Le Gallais : Scott (Scott Delaney, guitarist) and I grew up together in the suburbs of Toronto. We have been in Montreal in various formations then got the the point where we were really psyched, we cut out and went by the two of us. We were recording and we knew we needed a drummer; we had our head against the wall but we were really going to be specific, it was either going to be drum machines or the exact drummer we wanted. I was just having drinks with a friend of mine in a band called Valleys and they referred Florent. So we met on a very snowy night back in January of last year, then he was one of us. And since, we kind of just started really strong, having a similar connect and doing as much as possible.

Florent Clavel : So, we did a few practice and it all begun. The first show was actually on my birthday, which was March 25 and that was the start. We were four at the time for some reason, we decided to go as a three piece with Jesse on vocals and bass. Then, we played at the Fringe Festival for first time as a trio, we were opening for Here We Go g Magic at Club Lambi - a strange night. It was the official unveiling of the band, and we are still sorting it out.

IX: Can you tell me a bit about your debut EP, titled Swan Dive?

J: What we did is that we quickly recorded a few songs the best we could, it became an EP and we put it on Bandcamp for free. We were supposed to do an album right next but the EP did pretty well, people seemed to like it. We attempted to record an album about two times then it failed, so we finally decided to do it right. It should be finished this summer, and I think we are going to try a February release. We have only been playing the full year on three songs, but it worked. It’s exiting, I just feel positive vibes.

IX: Your music can be a quit hard to describe. How would you best define your sound ?

J : It has got roots it new-wave and stuff from the 80’s, kind of dark no-wave, cold wave. I feel that a lot of bands we might be compare are about retrain, we kind of enjoy all the explosion about the emotion and energies and ravel in the crazy part of it. There is this dynamic, then its also all kind of space-y. It all comes there, I’m an over emotional person while Scott on the other hand is very restrained and pragmatic ; I’m always spilling over the edges and drawing out of the lines, he’s always absolutely is perfect. Flo is somewhere in the middle, that’s why he’s so important to us.

F : I was actually shipped from France in a box for that purpose. (laughs)

IX: Jesse, you have a pretty powerful voice. Where did you pick up with singing?

J: I’ve been singing since I was a teenager, but I was told everyday not to because I could not sing. I still can’t sing, but I am so stubborn, I wanted to do it so badly. I kept doing it and doing it and I kept getting better. And it’s only recently that I started to get better at it.

F: In a year, he really drastically improved. It sounds nothing from the first demo he had, there is a huge difference and its only a year apart.

J: I guess I really found my voice - I could never understood what it meant and thought it was cheesy and then suddenly I got it, its - Indecent Exposure

C T Z N S H P is my latest discovery from our local music scene, and I must say that it was love at first listen, as they say. This three-piece Montreal-based band asserts themselves in some impressive powerfulness gathering into a maelstrom of driving bass-lines, pounding drums, and acute guitar riffs by which we get drawn in. Deliberately loud and soothing, we were definitely missing a band like this in town. For a comparison, the dark soundscape is singularly reminiscent of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's early work, dark and poignant, yet melodious; I can sense beginning of a new obsession. - Indecent Exposure

CTZNSHP. Although the band has only a small crowd at the start of their set, it’s not long before the fuzzy, charging songs have people gathering around the stage. For a band with just one self-released EP to their name so far, the 40 minute set is impressive, with atmospheric and fuzzy guitars building on a taut rhythm section, frontman Jesse letting out the occasional larynx shredding yelp. Having already landed support slots for the likes of Yuck and Here We Go Magic, and with an album in the works, it will be interesting to see how their sound develops over time. - Line of Best Fit

We’re not sure if Montreal indie rockers CTZNSHP have something against vowels but whatever the case, it doesn’t change our opinion on their music. In case you’re wondering what our opinion is….well….these guys kick some serious ass.

It seems as though I’ve listened to their new EP over a hundred times in the past couple of months since being introduced to their sound – it’s not often I enjoy a band that much.

With that said, check out the Swan Dive EP in the embed below and be prepared for an all out musical assault on your ears – this is indie rock at it’s finest folks. We’re not sure what they’re putting in the water in Montreal but whatever it is, we want some.

CTZNSHP play Rancho Relaxo this Friday night as part of our CMW showcase with Two Way Monologues – don’t miss it! - Indie Machine

Punctuality is a virtue. For anyone planning on attending the first Midnight Poutine Showcase Concert tomorrow, it is highly advised to show up on time to see one of our favourite up-and-coming bands, CTZNSHP, open the event. Doors are at 9 and CTZNSHP take the stage at 10. Write it on your forehead!!!

The trio's Swan Dive EP (available for free download) contains some of the most carefully constructed, intense and evocative rock I've I heard in a long time - certainly from a band's first recording. In preparation for the show, I talked to CTZNSHP lead singer and bassist Jesse LeGallais about the band's formation, their sound, and their future.

(We've also interviewed the other bands in the past: listen to my chat with Reversing Falls last year here and Honheehonhee's live appearance on the Midnight Poutine Podcast here; and, of course, there's this Beer Jenga video.)

How was CTZNSHP formed?

I was having drinks with a couple close friends last Winter and one of them told me they had just played with this really great drummer from France who was looking for a project here in Montreal. Scott and I, who have been playing together since high school and whose last band had just ended, were looking for a drummer but losing faith that we were going to find the right one. I got in touch with Florent and we meet last March I think at the old...( I forget them name, it's across the street form Neauveau Palais on Bernard street). We ended up getting pretty drunk and as I remember we talked very little about music and a whole lot about the girls we were in love with. Later that week we tried playing together and it just worked. I remember walking home with Scott after practice and neither of could believe our luck. Since that first practice we have all been working on this band with almost all of our free time.

What are you trying to do with your songwriting? Are you going for any
particular sound, exploring any lyrical themes?

We are trying to make music that we like and want to listen to. Writing good songs is probably the most important part of that. Sonically we are one of those bands like the Police where you can't replace a member and keep going. Everything written and played sounds like it was written and played by us. No one I know plays guitar like Scott or drums like Florent, so I think that is helping us slowly develop our own sound. I have always wanted to be a band that you can just tell by the first 10 seconds of a song who it is. It's not even about recording or effects. Its just the way it is played, the choices that were made; only those people in that band would do it just like that. That's what we are going for. We have written and recorded lot of songs since last spring that we have ended up not using. We will spend months working on something that we think is going to be the best song we have ever written, fighting and stressing out about it, just killing ourselves over it, and then one day we will all just say "fuck it, I don't like it anymore". Then then we will write a whole song in an hour that is fun to play and not even notice that we just wrote our new favourite song. A good friend of mine always quotes Burroughs, I think, and says you should be throwing out 90 percent of what you write because it isn't any good. I don't know if that's entirely true, but I do know we are really hard on ourselves and we only end up keeping what we really like. We are getting better at pin-pointing what we want to do and also, at the same time, learning what we can do as a three-piece.

As for the lyrics, all the songs that are on the EP and that are going to be on our upcoming full length are written about and for my friends and the people I love. My friends are my family - a big messy extended family - and a lot of people I know and love. Had a pretty rough year last year and these songs are just trying to sort out what happened, where we are now, what are we doing. It's partly a way for me to try to understand things that are happening. In the end they all end up as love songs in one way or another, some are just sadder and dirtier then others.

(Gear/recording nerd question): How did you get such sick reverb tone
on your Swan Dive EP?

A good chef never reveals his secrets. But really, it was just an EHX Holy Grail on the guitar mic'ed through two guitar amps trying to capture some of the room sound as well. For vocals, it's hard to say. There was an old Lexicon reverb involved, possibly a Boss reveb pedals, and bit of MXR Carbon Copy. The drums as well. There was a lot of mix and match going on in trying to find the right sounds.

Do you have a full-length album on the way? If so, what can you tell
us about it?

Yes, we do. It will be recorded in April with plans for a fall release. Tracking will be done at Digital Bird Studios and vocals and mixing will be done at Spidercat House with Alec Dippie, who we recorded the Swan Dive EP with, and who is kind of our secret weapon. - Midnight Poutine

CTZNSHP, Montreal, PQ
Noisy spaced-out jangle-rockers CTZNSHP (Citizenship for those who do not chew their vowels) opened for Yuck at last year's festival as well as playing at Fringe POP last June. Since then local culture blog Midnight Poutine listed them as one of the 11 Up-and-Coming Montreal Bands of 2011 and they've picked up reviews from Spain and shows in Toronto. They self-released a three-song digital EP and music video early this year and have continued recording through out January. - POP Montreal Music Festival

CTZNSHP, Montreal, PQ
Noisy spaced-out jangle-rockers CTZNSHP (Citizenship for those who do not chew their vowels) opened for Yuck at last year's festival as well as playing at Fringe POP last June. Since then local culture blog Midnight Poutine listed them as one of the 11 Up-and-Coming Montreal Bands of 2011 and they've picked up reviews from Spain and shows in Toronto. They self-released a three-song digital EP and music video early this year and have continued recording through out January. - POP Montreal Music Festival

CTZNSHP is your next steamy Montreal love affair, with plenty of bombastic vocals and killer guitar work. - Ominocity

CTZNSHP is your next steamy Montreal love affair, with plenty of bombastic vocals and killer guitar work. - Ominocity

The latest release from the Canadian indie rockers C T Z N S H P. Truly an awesome EP. Recommended for fans of Future Islands, Warpaint and Band of Horses. - Against the Odds

A wise man once said maybe everything that dies someday comes back. This is certainly true for CTZNSHP, who originally caught my interest in 2009 under the name Murder Ford Monument. Recalling a show at Casa del Popolo (before the expansion), I initially wrote of them, "Murder Ford Monument have outgrown small rooms, and I hope (and fully expect) them to move to bigger and better things in 2010." That show was the last I saw of them for nearly two years. I worried they had broken up, failing to follow through on some of the most intensely transcendent pop-rock outside of The National. Imagine my excitement when two of their members returned, even better and stronger, as CTZNSHP. Their three-song "Swan Dive" EP is painfully short, offering a glimpse into the band's lush musical world full of beauty and noise, late nights and dangerous love. They've matured and grown under the new name, finding an original sound with greater urgency, and I can't wait to see how much further they go. - Midnight Poutine

No, this has nothing to do with Old Spice Commercials. I swore I had posted about the group before, but I guess not so time to introduce the rather haze rock trio that is now based in Montreal. Their music is head boppingly pop but with a tinge of darkness. Check out Swan Dive from their 3 song EP that you can grab free on Bandcamp. - Ride The Tempo

No, this has nothing to do with Old Spice Commercials. I swore I had posted about the group before, but I guess not so time to introduce the rather haze rock trio that is now based in Montreal. Their music is head boppingly pop but with a tinge of darkness. Check out Swan Dive from their 3 song EP that you can grab free on Bandcamp. - Ride The Tempo

No, this has nothing to do with Old Spice Commercials. I swore I had posted about the group before, but I guess not so time to introduce the rather haze rock trio that is now based in Montreal. Their music is head boppingly pop but with a tinge of darkness. Check out Swan Dive from their 3 song EP that you can grab free on Bandcamp. - Ride The Tempo

No, this has nothing to do with Old Spice Commercials. I swore I had posted about the group before, but I guess not so time to introduce the rather haze rock trio that is now based in Montreal. Their music is head boppingly pop but with a tinge of darkness. Check out Swan Dive from their 3 song EP that you can grab free on Bandcamp. - Ride The Tempo

Nicht viel los hier was? Ich kann euch auch sagen, woran das liegt. Der Posteingang füllt sich täglich schneller mit Mist als nen Stall wild scheißender Kühe und das was leidlich interessant ist, wird auf so ziemlich jeden Blog doppelt und dreifach todveröffentlicht. Darauf hab ich einfach keinen Bock. Ich will hier nach wie vor nur Stuff haben, den ich auch tatsächlich abfeiere. Sollte dann mal der neuste Scheiß hier nicht stattfinden, dann einfach nur deswegen, weil ichs scheiße finde und/oder es mich nicht interessiert. Aber wir wissen ja alle, wie das Internet funktioniert, ist also kein Problem. Jetzt mach aber maln Kopf zu Janos und gib Mucke!

Die kommt heute von einer mir bisher unbekannten Band aus Montreal mit dem Namen CTZNSHP. Wers nicht checkt, daaaaas heißt auch Citizenship! Garagerock, den man nicht großartig erklären brauch und der einen genau das gibt, was man erwartet. Nämlich nen steifen Nacken und ein wenig Ohrenbluten. - I am no Superman

Nicht viel los hier was? Ich kann euch auch sagen, woran das liegt. Der Posteingang füllt sich täglich schneller mit Mist als nen Stall wild scheißender Kühe und das was leidlich interessant ist, wird auf so ziemlich jeden Blog doppelt und dreifach todveröffentlicht. Darauf hab ich einfach keinen Bock. Ich will hier nach wie vor nur Stuff haben, den ich auch tatsächlich abfeiere. Sollte dann mal der neuste Scheiß hier nicht stattfinden, dann einfach nur deswegen, weil ichs scheiße finde und/oder es mich nicht interessiert. Aber wir wissen ja alle, wie das Internet funktioniert, ist also kein Problem. Jetzt mach aber maln Kopf zu Janos und gib Mucke!

Die kommt heute von einer mir bisher unbekannten Band aus Montreal mit dem Namen CTZNSHP. Wers nicht checkt, daaaaas heißt auch Citizenship! Garagerock, den man nicht großartig erklären brauch und der einen genau das gibt, was man erwartet. Nämlich nen steifen Nacken und ein wenig Ohrenbluten. - I am no Superman

WHO: Montreal-based CTZNSHP used to go under the name MFM, but whose real names are Jesse, Scott & Florent
WHAT: Their RIYL roster plays out in much the same way their support gigs have: Here We Go Magic, YUCK, Deleted Scenes and the Vandelles; recent slots at Pop Montreal and NXNE have been garnering the trio a fair bit of attention and positive momentum
WHEN: CTZNSHP have a hometown gig on November 21, 2011 at Montreal’s Casa del Popolo with Cotton Mouth; A Toronto show at the Horseshoe Tavern is set for later in the month, November 28, 2011 to be precise
WHERE: The Swan Dive EP is available as a free download via Bandcamp right now; look for a full-length album sometime early in the new year, to coincide with their first US dates. - Quick Before it Melts

WHO: Montreal-based CTZNSHP used to go under the name MFM, but whose real names are Jesse, Scott & Florent
WHAT: Their RIYL roster plays out in much the same way their support gigs have: Here We Go Magic, YUCK, Deleted Scenes and the Vandelles; recent slots at Pop Montreal and NXNE have been garnering the trio a fair bit of attention and positive momentum
WHEN: CTZNSHP have a hometown gig on November 21, 2011 at Montreal’s Casa del Popolo with Cotton Mouth; A Toronto show at the Horseshoe Tavern is set for later in the month, November 28, 2011 to be precise
WHERE: The Swan Dive EP is available as a free download via Bandcamp right now; look for a full-length album sometime early in the new year, to coincide with their first US dates. - Quick Before it Melts

Sometimes it takes a little change to remember why you started playing music in the first place. The songwriting duo of Jesse LeGallais and Scott Delaney have been playing together for over ten years, recently embarking on a new musical journey as C T Z N S H P, a reductive take on indie sounds of past projects.

“We had been doing Murder Ford Monument for a few years, but we were just getting to a point [where the direction] we were heading musically was very different than what other people wanted in the band,” said singer/bassist LeGallais.

“We were all pretty broke at that point; we had lost a few cars, lost a lot of money printing a record, so we just decided to start fresh with something simpler that we had a lot more control over, that represented what we really wanted to do.”

Playing since March with drummer Florent Clavel, the duo found the perfect third element to flesh out their sound.

“We were killing ourselves thinking what we were going to do,” said LeGallais. “We had done a bunch of recordings—just the two of us—using a drum machine or getting friends to play different beats and cutting them up, and it just wasn’t working.

“[Florent] has been an absolutely integral part. We wouldn’t be what we are without his dynamic playing, his energy.”

It’s an exciting time for the band, where things are working smoother then ever before for the old songwriting team. With a reliance on infectious chemistry, they’re able to streamline their slightly-dark indie pop into a sound coming from all three members, the vocals sitting somewhere between The National and Wolf Parade.

“I’ve never been in a situation when we’ve been on the same page so much,” said LeGallais. “Any arguments or fights are positive and proactive as opposed to just passive-aggressive or personal.”



With the release of their debut EP Swan Dive the trio is ready to hit the road in a big way. They’re planning their first trip across the border; a task full of logistical hoops that forces even the most independent of bands to become number-crunching businesspeople.

From finding a way a to get their French-expatriate drummer through customs to attaining legal proof of their gigs, pay and itinerary, it’s a whole new side of the game for the band to figure out.

“It’s getting tougher now,” said LeGallais. “The unions want actual contracts now, but some promoters don’t want to give contracts because they don’t want to guarantee anything to bands from Canada.

“[American promoters] would be happy to sign you, but you have to go through the unions and they want their cut of it. It’s kind of gross, the more I’m finding out about it.”

But it’ll be worth it. The highlight of the spring tour will be their trip to Austin for the South by Southwest Festival—a mecca for indie bands looking to showcase their sounds to throngs of hungry listeners and taste-making music journalists milling through hundreds of concerts. It’ll be the first time the band will witness the event, let alone perform in it, and they couldn’t be more excited.

Whatever happens at SXSW, LeGallais aims to share a deep emotional experience with his music. The band wraps a lot of feeling into the muted tones of their indie minimalism, and it shows.

“The music I’ve always kind of related to is cathartic music, creating a mood, an environment,” he said. “I think that’s what we think we do well without going into a post-rock sense, which is extremely epic and long. We’re trying to do it in a more concise pop song way.

“It’s music for people who make a lot of mistakes but are trying really hard not to; they keep fucking up, but aren’t bad people,” laughs LeGallais. - The Concordia Link

Sometimes it takes a little change to remember why you started playing music in the first place. The songwriting duo of Jesse LeGallais and Scott Delaney have been playing together for over ten years, recently embarking on a new musical journey as C T Z N S H P, a reductive take on indie sounds of past projects.

“We had been doing Murder Ford Monument for a few years, but we were just getting to a point [where the direction] we were heading musically was very different than what other people wanted in the band,” said singer/bassist LeGallais.

“We were all pretty broke at that point; we had lost a few cars, lost a lot of money printing a record, so we just decided to start fresh with something simpler that we had a lot more control over, that represented what we really wanted to do.”

Playing since March with drummer Florent Clavel, the duo found the perfect third element to flesh out their sound.

“We were killing ourselves thinking what we were going to do,” said LeGallais. “We had done a bunch of recordings—just the two of us—using a drum machine or getting friends to play different beats and cutting them up, and it just wasn’t working.

“[Florent] has been an absolutely integral part. We wouldn’t be what we are without his dynamic playing, his energy.”

It’s an exciting time for the band, where things are working smoother then ever before for the old songwriting team. With a reliance on infectious chemistry, they’re able to streamline their slightly-dark indie pop into a sound coming from all three members, the vocals sitting somewhere between The National and Wolf Parade.

“I’ve never been in a situation when we’ve been on the same page so much,” said LeGallais. “Any arguments or fights are positive and proactive as opposed to just passive-aggressive or personal.”



With the release of their debut EP Swan Dive the trio is ready to hit the road in a big way. They’re planning their first trip across the border; a task full of logistical hoops that forces even the most independent of bands to become number-crunching businesspeople.

From finding a way a to get their French-expatriate drummer through customs to attaining legal proof of their gigs, pay and itinerary, it’s a whole new side of the game for the band to figure out.

“It’s getting tougher now,” said LeGallais. “The unions want actual contracts now, but some promoters don’t want to give contracts because they don’t want to guarantee anything to bands from Canada.

“[American promoters] would be happy to sign you, but you have to go through the unions and they want their cut of it. It’s kind of gross, the more I’m finding out about it.”

But it’ll be worth it. The highlight of the spring tour will be their trip to Austin for the South by Southwest Festival—a mecca for indie bands looking to showcase their sounds to throngs of hungry listeners and taste-making music journalists milling through hundreds of concerts. It’ll be the first time the band will witness the event, let alone perform in it, and they couldn’t be more excited.

Whatever happens at SXSW, LeGallais aims to share a deep emotional experience with his music. The band wraps a lot of feeling into the muted tones of their indie minimalism, and it shows.

“The music I’ve always kind of related to is cathartic music, creating a mood, an environment,” he said. “I think that’s what we think we do well without going into a post-rock sense, which is extremely epic and long. We’re trying to do it in a more concise pop song way.

“It’s music for people who make a lot of mistakes but are trying really hard not to; they keep fucking up, but aren’t bad people,” laughs LeGallais. - The Concordia Link

So we’ve been running this site for a while now, and one word we’ve added to our vocabulary is ‘Un-Googleable’. Some bands are so early in their cycle that there just isn’t much information out there (all today’s bands did provide us some education on the US Naturalization process). From what we can gather, C T Z N S H P are a trio from Montreal and have just released their debut EP On A Roll. It is currently available for free download from their Bandcamp page. C T Z N S H P are also in the process of recording their debut album and are preparing for an accompanying tour.
On A Roll, off the aforementioned EP, provides a good idea of their sound. Featuring retro-esque guitars and rolling drums, the band plays it tight with the vocalists deep, chamber echo voice. A potent combination. If you want to form a picture in your mind, it would be of a Polaroid on a sunny Summer day on the beach, only it would be faded to be almost nostalgic. Which actually makes it very appropriate music for Fall. Or something like that.
Anyway, here’s what we can say with certainty: in a year’s time a search for C T Z N S H P will yield more than just hits on a bunch of INS forms. And they’re completely worthy of it. - Zero Music Radio

I first heard of the band CTZNSHP while in Montreal for Pop this year. Their drummer Florent joined me and some others for dinner one of the nights and he said he’s follow up with some tracks from his band when they were getting things going. Having recently opened for Here We Go Magic, YUCK, Deleted Scenes and the Vandelles plus recent shows at POP Montreal, NXNE and CMW, this Montreal trio are building momemtum. The band are currently booking their first U.S tour for March 2011 to coincide with the release of their debut LP and SXSW. In the meantime, catch them at one of these two dates below.

“Swan Dive” is a good start, check it out in audio/video form below. - Indie Music Filter

One of my biggest regrets of the summer was missing out seeing local cats Citizenship play Pop Fringe. They just released a couple of tracks from their forth coming EP Swan Dive and they are killer to say the least. - Trendwhore.ca