Why I Like It:
Let's look back at 2005 shall we? In the rock world we had bands like Wolfmother, Gorillaz, and the Bloc Party coming out with their biggest commercial successes. Guitar Hero was just around the corner and YouTube was starting to show up. Oh, and a little thing called 'emo' was going to blow up, with Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco both releasing their big hit albums. So what was my biggest album of that year with all these great album releases? Well those emo albums I mentioned were definitely being noticed and played on my mp3 player (with songs downloaded from Limewire) but the CD I actually got legally was a band called Armchair Cynics. Never heard of them? Well sadly they never really caught on outside my province but, to me, they were the best and coolest thing out there.
I remember the moment I first heard the song that caught my interest, which was the song "Bang". It was playing on a satellite TV radio station (called Stingray Galaxy Rock) that was a generic rock station, with some Canadian content sprinkled in there. When the song "Bang" came on, I stopped what I was doing immediately to write down the song and artist (couldn't SoundHound it yet but luckily the artist and song would show up on the TV screen). I think I was doing something boring and mundane, like algebra homework, so I was always looking at the artists playing on the station to procrastinate. There started my obsession with the Armchair Cynics.
I bought the CD Killing The Romance from the local Future Shop (rip) and it was in constant rotation on my Walkman and CD player. The songs would get stuck in my head, with catchy melodic hooks and lyrics that you can easily sing to. Even when listening to the songs in 2024, I'm still finding the music very enjoyable, which I think speaks to the musicianship of the band. Funny aside, I never realized how sexual the song "Bang" is when you read the lyrics (ya I was a pretty sheltered teenager).
I was so convinced this was the next big thing, that I knew about and no one else did. It was going to be the next Billy Talent or Sum 41. Sadly this was not the case, even though the Armchair Cynics had all the right things going for them- backing and advertising from their record label, catchy radio ready hits, and touring with other upcoming acts like Carly Rae Jepsen and Mariana's Trench.
From a retrospective look, ya this was labeled as alternative rock but with emo on the rise, I do wonder what would have happened if the genre labelling was done different. The sound and lyrical content was really not that far off from acts like Northstar or Name Taken (also acts that didn't get their due). Or lets look at the Canadian band Moneen for example, they were lumped into that scene and still get recognized today because of that. Although when I compare the numbers, Moneen at 19,000 monthly listeners and the Armchair Cynics at 14,000, it isn't a whole lot different. Maybe my point is mute, and this could be considered genre band wagoning, but it is fun to ponder.
So the Armchair Cynics didn't get popular like I hoped (and they probably hoped too) but I think they should still be proud of the music they created. It still holds up for me today, and much of the stuff I listened to at the that time did not *cough* butt rock. I also saw on the band's Facebook page that lead singer (Kenn Coutu) started a new country-pop band with his wife, called Bucko & Toad. Gotta say, I don't even listen to country but this was some good stuff and happy Kenn is still creating music. To me, this band will always have a spot in my collection of CDs that are cherished and I am happy to share this with the online world (because I really couldn't find much online)!
______________________________________________________________
Highlighted song and lyrics:
Coalmine-"Still keep my phone number at the bottom of your purse/Between your sticks of gum and all the reasons why you don't call me anymore"
______________________________________________________________
Similar bands to check out:
Idle Sons, Ten Second Epic, illScarlet, Tupelo Honey
_______________________________________________________________
Reviews and links to check out:
Exclaim.ca- Review
www.facebook.com- The band's page
604records.com- The band's record label (didn't know this was Chad Kroeger's label)
No comments:
Post a Comment