Vancouver is an odd musical place for bands to come from, they fight to remain fiercely Canadian but the city’s proximity to the United States gives them a dose of America one would never get from, say, Montreal. It’s a fine border to straddle, there are few bands as impressive as Vancouver’s New Pornographers nor as lasting as famous son Bryan Adams (as much as some would like to forget). Hell, one of America’s most popular albums — Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet — was recorded in Vancouver. Love first got its bad name north of the border.
It’s with this fusion I approach Homesick Future, the debut EP from Vancouver quintet Young Liars. Catchy danceable tracks merge with moody electronic beats, while musical etchings lifted from ’80s bands (think OMD and New Order) share time with those from recent indie acts (The Rapture and Wild Beasts). Young Liars doesn’t quite know where it stands, but that’s fine because its music is sure to get you moving.
“Echoists” opens the album with a lilting array of synths set against a driving drum beat and occasional jangly guitar. Jordan Raine sings with an even, tempered keel, never raising his voice above the din around him. The song is pleasant enough, a trying to be a dance song I wouldn’t expect people to dance to — it never rises to the point of overt movement. “Colours” fares better, the EP’s lead single which incorporates more of the electronic feel one would get from a Paul Van Dyk set. Raine is livelier here, you sense he’s moving his body as he sings along. With brief moments of fun guitar amid the blips and beeps, “Colours” is an album highlight.
The following trio of songs — “Navigator Island,” “Marathon” and “Homesick Future” – are well constructed, but don’t offer much new from the first two tracks. After the title track, I was prepared to write off the band as not quite ready for prime time. But “Newton, Forgive Me” changed my tune. The best and most interesting song on the EP, “Newton” is moody and roaming, Raine takes on the lyrics with aplomb as his band mates give him a landscape to excel in. The song evolves into a sing-along before delving into the minute-long instrumental “Great Green Light” which doesn’t add much to the proceeding
I can’t figure out what Young Liars wants to be, and maybe that’s the point. “Some people won’t ever get what I mean/And that’s OK/We’re still the same,” sings Raine, in what could be the band’s mission statement. It plays what it pleases, and if you like it, that’s cool, and if not — whatever. With some newer bands I discern they’re trying to ape the latest thing (Chill Wave, pah-lease) to find an audience that will love them. Young Liars isn’t doing that, which is commendable, but time will tell if the band’s way leads them to the masses.
