Sorry

The first 25 seconds of “Los Tucson” are helter-skelter vibrations that serve as a proto-punk epigraph to a book of bacon jokes. Sorry doesn’t care that they peeled the paint right off your fence and clogged your drainpipes with distortion-muted screams – they’ll get to it after they’ve brushed the confetti out of their eyes tomorrow. - Sled Island

Sorry manages to have earworm catchiness and grit on the same album, sometimes all in one song. Scuzzy bass riffs, distorted vocals and standard rock composition all mesh in a powerful and impressive release from this unique Calgary band. To call the tracks on Mazes simply low-fi doesn't do them justice, as that label is too broad for this particular set of songs. This is not just another band with dictaphone calibre recordings and vocal lines soaked with reverb.

Particularly evident on the exceedingly catchy "Crowded Courts," Sorry strive to punch you in the face while sticking in your head. Characteristic bass crunch and needling guitar lines punctuate the verse before a towering, distorted and wonderfully messy chorus. Similarly, on the repulsively titled yet musically endearing "Cum Gum," the chorus loses just enough control to stick out while still having fun.

Four of the nine tracks were recorded with Alberta low-fi guru Paul Lawton at Mammoth Cave Studios, the Lethbridge studio and recording company that has spawned releases from Alberta bands such as Myelin Sheaths, The Moby Dicks and The Famines. If Mazes is any indication, Sorry are clearly succeeding while surrounding themselves with like-minded individuals.

The overdrive bass tones will remind listeners of the Wet Secrets, Little Girls or Panthers, and the high-end chord progressions are punchy without being trite. The vocals are all over the map in an engaging way -- each song is a new style, a new effect and a new tone, always half a step away from manic.

Most importantly, the tracks on Mazes make you want to see Sorry in person. It is hard to listen to any of the tracks without picturing them being played at ear-splitting volume with a sweaty mess of people around you. Of course, this is meant in the best possible way. - The Gauntlet

Sorry (Jesse Locke)
Best new band from Calgary that isn’t Teledrome. - Weird Canada

You’d be forgiven for feeling skeptical about a band with a name like Sorry. If they feel the need to apologize for themselves in advance, how good can they really be, right? Sorry is, however, an appropriate moniker for a band that is, by turns, silly, playful and, at times, hypercritical. The Calgary four-piece doesn’t sweat the small stuff, but they are deliberate in their creative process and they exercise a keen attention to detail. If this seems contradictory, you can chalk it up to that fact that Sorry is an enigma; a band that is continuously evolving and usurping expectations.

“Sorry came from a place of apology,” says Christian Connor, the band’s vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter. He doesn’t bother to clarify this statement, instead choosing to remain vague about his activities prior to the band’s conception. It is actually very difficult to get any factual information out of any of the band’s members, as they are constantly interrupting each other in conversation, joking and indulging in elaborate fabrications.

During our interview, the members of Sorry offer me three vastly differing accounts relating to the origins of the band’s name. Dallin Ursenbach, the band’s lead guitarist, offers to tell me the real story, when Connor interjects, “You don’t know the real story though.” “I’ve got my own story,” asserts Ursenbach before continuing. “I always thought it was Christian apologizing in a profuse and beautiful way for [his previous band] Floppy Disc. They were playing a set, and one of the most memorable parts was Christian saying, ‘I’m really sorry guys.’”

It is this sort of charming dynamic that makes Sorry’s blend of ’60s classic rock, proto-punk and new wave influences so alluring. On record, the band sounds like Television or Bowie, but janglier and with more reverb.

This fall, the band recorded what was to be their debut EP, but after their original drummer quit to focus on other projects, the band scrapped the recordings. “I think we can do way better,” speculates Ursenbach, “but I really like those songs, and I’d be really happy to play them for you.” The EP, Pregnant, is available on Bandcamp, but the members of Sorry would be just as happy if you never heard it. “Bandcamp is just a nice, subtle way to make your music available to people in a not-a-big-deal sort of way,” says Ursenbach. “I just wanted to have a recording of it for myself so that I could be like, ‘Oh yeah! That was my guitar solo!’”

“This Christmas, we’ll be in the basement recording,” adds Connor. “We talked about bringing recording into the household so that it’s something that we have more control over.” This month, the band is also re-emerging as a live entity with their new drummer Jared Larsen. “It’ll be kind of like a second coming,” laughs Connor. “We just need to keep jamming. You get a synchronicity from playing with other musicians that’s really easy to fall out of, and really hard to obtain.”

Sorry has lofty goals, and the motivation needed to achieve them, but their communication skills need work. “I’d like to play Sled Island,” says Connor when asked about Sorry’s immediate future, “and I want to do shows with bands that I admire. We got offered a show with Makeout Videotape and Sans Aids in Edmonton, which was cool.” “We did?” asks Ursenbach, seeming confused but also a little bit impressed.
- FFWD Weekly