Japandroids

This duo create bare-bones garage noise that tears itself apart and then somehow finds a way to come back together at the seams again. Although the band’s only comprised of Brian King and David Prowse, they made it a mission to sound as if they’re a five piece, and they can consider it a mission accomplished. Fuzzed out, crazed rambling and dirty guitars run rampant on this EP. At times throbbing and hectic, All Lies might have come out of some so-called post-teenage angst that King and Prowse were holding onto but there’s no sense that this isn’t at all a serious effort, especially when they switch up styles on “Coma Complacency,” a track that floats in a delicate balance with grittily ethereal qualities. (Independent)

--Liz Worth - EXCLAIM! December 2007

If you've ever experienced the energy and fervour that Japandroids brings to its live show, then you probably know why the local duo recently received the nod from Pitchfork. Much to the band's own surprise, the taste-making online zine posted the song "Young Hearts Spark Fire" a couple weeks back in its "On Repeat" section, describing the heavy, bashy, shouty number as "an explosive thing, equal parts insolence and grandeur."

The track comes from Japandroids' forthcoming album Post-Nothing, which is slated for a spring release but would have come out a lot sooner if guitarist-vocalist Brian King and drummer-vocalist David Prowse weren't so terminally and chronically cash strapped (something I've learned in various merch-table conversations with the pair).

In any event, the whole of Post-Nothing is already being streamed here, and while it's an extension of the weightier, anthemic take on the garage rock Japandroids explored on its 2008 EP Lullaby Death Jams, there's also a fresh, underlying sense of optimism and adolescent exuberance to numbers like "Wet Hair." Any song that gleefully proposes "we can French kiss some French girls" can't be too dark, can it?

"Young Hearts Spark Fire" is especially hopped up, with a drunk-falling-down-the-stairs backbeat, a bright rush of indie-rock guitar, and dual vocals from the adrenalized duo. Japandroids' much-vaunted jones for Springsteen, meanwhile, is there, at least in the song's excited pulse and grand sentiments. (The opening track on Lullaby Death Jams, "Darkness On the Edge of Gastown," is named in tribute to a certain 1978 album.)

But that's all academic. The talent and appeal should be obvious on first listen, although if you want the really real deal, you should catch these freshly minted hometown heroes when Japandroids brings its insolence and grandeur to the Cobalt (917 Main St.) on Saturday, Feb. 7, conveniently enough, along with White Owl, Tight Solid and Terrorbird.

--Jordie Yow - THE TYEE January 2009

A two-man outfit from Canada that makes as much noise as ten. I’m lost in the many influences that come flooding in - hints of that early AmRep sound, mixed with the darker moments of MCCLUSKY, yet abundant melody creeps through the static - which brings to mind some the sweeter moods of PAVEMENT and SONIC YOUTH with a slight aroma of GUIDED BY VOICES. Reassuringly old whilst bringing something new and exciting to the table.

--SD - MAXIMUM ROCK 'N' ROLL June 2008

Pop Montreal's most unconventional venues weren't just reserved for pop legends and local luminaries. Throughout the weekend, Friendship Cove-- a squat space located above a bicycle shop in an industrial Old Montreal neighbourhood-- hosted well-stocked line-ups of insurgent indie-rock acts from across the country, including this weekend's favorite discovery, Japandroids. With their two-man guitar/drums distorto-pop attack, the band initially resemble a Vancouver answer to No Age, but the high-kickin' acrobatics of frontman Brian King and witty, self-effacing repartee with drummer David Prowse make them a more traditionally crowd-pleasing proposition (and as if you need more reasons to love 'em, one of the EPs they were giving away after the set features a cover of Mclusky's immortal "To Hell with Good Intentions").

--Stuart Berman - EYE WEEKLY October 2008

Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning Show host John Richards, is “Young Heart Sparks Fire,” by Japandroids from their 2009 album Post-Nothing on Unfamiliar Records.

The Vancouver duo Japandroids (joined, according to their profile, by my sister — who knew?) go where few guitar and drums-based groups dare to venture in the current musical climate: back to the past. Rather than channel the crunch of Death From Above 1979, the metallic decay of Lightning Bolt, or the swamp blues of The Black Keys and The White Stripes, Japandroids do their best to channel The Replacements circa 1985. “Your Heart Sparks Fire” is akin to the unabashed miscreant sorrow found in Tim and Pleased to Meet Me more than it is to the indie rock swing of modern contemporaries. However, don’t expect to find the sort of apathetic lyricism that made Paul Westerberg an icon for bin divers desperate to escape hair bands and post-disco pop — though Japandroids do provide a clever change of pace from the readymade duos eager to pounce on the coattails of the popular modern duo. If we’ve learned anything from Canada’s recent contributions to America’s music pool, it’s that are allies to the north come with something fresh (even if it’s just a unique interpretation of the ‘old’). What the world needs now isn’t love sweet love, it’s Husker Du, X, and Alex Chilton. And a kick in the ass.

Unless you’re ready for a northern jaunt to Vancouver or Toronto, you won’t be catching Japandroids anywhere else but on their MySpace page. To motivate you to buy that plane or train ticket, we offer a the live stylings of “Heart Sweats”. - KEXP February 2009

Okay, let me set this up for you. I work full-time, as well as going to school, and a lot of my “research” is listening to the album of the artist on a loop at my desk. While “researching” Japandroids (or JPNDRDS) I was told, for the first time in five months, if I could “please turn that down.” Japandroids is NSFW (not safe for work). Japandroids is noisy, cacophonic, and high energy — and at first I wasn’t sure that was okay. But Japandroids is addictive. Japandroids is awesome. Listen to Japandroids.

The components of Japandroids are also fine human beings. Brian King and David Prowse met me at Stella’s on Commercial Drive and over extra-strength, turquoise Starry Night martinis they confirmed the impression their music leaves: genuine, passionate, quirky, and eclectic. Their laid back demeanour is surprising, considering the musical one-upmanship that drives their face melting sets, as is the claim that they’re “a martini band — which is cool because Prince drinks them.” But don’t be fooled. King on guitar and Prowse on drums (both lend vocals and both forgo the front man mystique, though King is effusive where Prowse is reserved) literally face off across the stage to drive their sound to a musical space you’d think could only be filled by a four- or five-piece setup.

Their first EP, All Lies, had no falsity about it: crunchy, raw, pop-tinged, you can hear a dozen different influences that combine into something distinctive and intriguing. The second EP Lullaby Death Jams is tighter and more technically sound, but “less cohesive” in that some songs slow to give you a breather before the next bashing. Like their previous records, their upcoming LP, yet untitled, is being recorded “live off the floor”: “It’s not about the take that hit all the notes best,” says King, “but more about capturing the energy [of] two guys rocking out as hard as they can . . . where there happen to be microphones.”

King throws around the phrase “ripped off” frequently and light heartedly, admitting to the impact of bands like the Sonics — one the few “unifying [musical] forces” for Prowse and King — but both insist that what draws them to a band or artist is not the genre but the intensity and integrity of their method. They don’t seek to do what another duo has done better already or, in King’s words, “you don’t need a shittier, Vancouver version of the White Stripes.”

In this vein, Prowse’s support of Dead Meadow, or King’s obsession with the new Nick Cave record, gives little insight to the sounds they like, let alone what they sound akin to. Rather, they “cherry pick who’s doing [any style] best,” valuing music that invests “every last speck of energy.” Over a second round (this time Midnight and, appropriately cherry garnished, Baked Apple Pie martinis), they also offer Taxes and Twin Crystals for our consideration.

Being eclectic can be both advantageous and difficult. “It keeps it interesting — we get bored really, really easily.” But, not being easily labelled as post-this or neo-that, nor buying into the hype of any Scene that Celebrates Itself, Japandroids is left to support and promote itself. Eschewing such “embarrassments” as New Music West, they return to Music Waste for a second year, supporting its grassroots feel; however, though they have played in and with other local bands, they didn’t really acknowledge the city’s influence until they started getting out of town and saw how different things were ‘out there.’ “Now we can stand on [a Vancouver] stage and feel like we own it.” And they do.

--Maegan Thomas - THE PEAK May 2008

Sounds Like: A really solid, heavy-duty, guitar-clash, rock-out lil’ sommabitch of an EP

WHY / WHY NOT: Heard of Japandroids? It’s OK, neither have I, until now. Holy Toledo! Here we go again, Vancouver, with your churning out of all the talent as of late. This hardcore duo of darlin’ boys is one part Brian Hetfield and one part Dave Ulrich. Love hard rock with a nice slice and dice of sharp, erratic guitar riffs and dissecting drumbeats with a side of duelling vocals? Yeah, so do I, which is why the tracks “Darkness on the Edge of Gastown,” “No Allegiance to the Queen” and “Lovers/Strangers” are so intense, primal and satisfying. The standout track has got to be “Sexual Aerosol.” Damn love the title and love the riffs and hot-shit lyrics. Tear my face off, why don’t you? If you can hunt this little EP down, I highly recommend you pick it up. It’s fucking awesome.

--Karolina Rous - SOUNDPROOF MAGAZINE April 2008

Japandroids - All Lies (Independent)

Sometimes the simplest formula is the best formula. Just look at Vancouver’s Japandroids: two guys, guitars and drums are all it takes to make them one of the city’s best new bands in ages. And while their setup may be simple, the same can hardly be said of the music. On the duo’s new five-track EP, All Lies, Japandroids, or JPNDRDS if that’s more your bag, soak their record in thick layers of flailing drum patterns, dueling vocals, catchy-asfuck melodies, and noise - lots and lots of noise. It’s true Japandroids’ draw on the work of previous post-something outfits like Wire, Aereogramme and Mclusky (whose track “To Hell with Good Intentions” is covered here), but Brian King and David Prowse only hint at their influences, adding enough to the rock template to keep things interesting. And rest assured that all this praise is not being made simply because the band is a local one. It comes because Japandroids are actually on to something good here - local, Canadian or otherwise.

--Brock Thiessen - THE NERVE MAGAZINE January 2008

This is the sound of brilliance in the form of disintegration. This limited-run EP from Vancouver’s Japandroids (or JPNDRDS) delves into a slow sense of chaos and is an immaculate follow-up to the band’s debut, All Lies. That first EP was marked by the distinct impression that there were way more people in this band than only Brian King and David Prowse, and that same sense of being sonically berated remains with Lullaby Death Jams. But this time around there’s something tighter and crisper happening — a sense of controlled commotion. It all translates into dramatic, haunting tracks like “Darkness on the Edge of Gastown” and “Lucifer’s Symphony.” The Lullaby Death Jams EP is just what its title suggests, sounding like a slow, grinding decline into something dangerously tempting. (Independent)

--Liz Worth - EXCLAIM! May 2008

On Repeat: Japandroids: "Young Hearts Spark Fire" [MP3/Stream]

Japandroids are two guys from Vancouver who make distortion-cranked garage-rock anthems about fleeting youth: the boys leaving town, drinking, hurting, French kissing some French girls, and then quitting girls altogether. Their debut album, Post-Nothing, was originally going to be self-released last fall, but now it's set to come out this spring, in Canada only, on Unfamiliar. "Young Hearts Spark Fire" is just one of the raggedly emotive standouts on the record, young hearts igniting the duo's stripped-down drums-and-guitar setup into an explosive thing, equal parts insolence and grandeur.

"We used to dream/ Now we worry about dying," members Brian King and David Prowse cry out, in the kind of doomed-romantic instant quotable we used to get from fellow Canadians the Constantines. The whole song hinges on this contrast between innocence and destruction. It's tuneful and universal enough to have been produced as a radio-ready pop-punk single, but it has the kind of volatile churn you'd expect from a band known to cover Mclusky's "To Hell With Good Intentions", which helps to make all its conflicted emotions sound-- for lack of a less controversial word-- real. "I don't wanna worry about dying/ I just wanna worry about those sunshine girls," Japandroids conclude. "Only the Good Die Young" was bullshit-- these guys are too young, and too good, to burn out just yet.

--Marc Hogan - PITCHFORK MEDIA January 2009