The weekend of concerts and music continues! Here’s a review of the record that drew me to attend the Phillip’s Backyarder on a Sunday in the first place and following that a review of how the show went.
Disc 1657 is…I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying
Artist: Whitehorse
Year of Release: 2023
What’s up with the Cover? Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland (dba Whitehorse) look like they are primed and ready for the bright lights of the stage. Which is a good thing because look at the size of those two spotlights.
Perhaps they are both vampires and the spotlights (unbeknownst to them) are loaded with ultraviolet bulbs. If so, it’ll be a short show, with a lot of pyrotechnics. Hopefully they won’t be too close to those curtains when it happens.
How I Came To Know It: I have been a fan for over a decade now and tend to buy their albums on faith each time one is released. Of late my faith in that process had been slipping with records that didn’t inspire me as much, but I read good things about “I’m Not Crying…” and decided to give it a go.
How It Stacks Up: I am glad I did give it a go. This is the best Whitehorse record in years. Maybe their best ever. I have eight Whitehorse albums (and a ninth that I reviewed and then parted ways with after reviewing at Disc 1103). “I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying” comes in at #2, and in a photo finish for #1.
Rating: 4 stars
Whitehorse is a band that is not afraid to experiment, and their sound has morphed over the years through variations on folk, pop, blues, rock and all the fuzzy space in between. Sometimes it has worked and sometimes they’ve lost me, but they’ve never sat still in a style for long.
“I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying” (the last time I’m typing that) is proof of addition by subtraction, as they go back in time to a stripped-down seventies honky tonk country sound. They go all-in for this sound and the best part is they do it with reverence. You can feel their genuine love for this golden oldie sound and barely a hint of self-awareness. They love this music, and it shows.
The songs are such a perfect match to old school country music I kept looking for signs that at least some of these were covers. Tunes with names like “If the Loneliness Don’t Kill Me”, “I Might Get Over This (But I Won’t Stop Loving You)” and “Leave Me as You Found Me” feel like they’ve fallen out of a time capsule from the days of George and Tammy or young Willie Nelson. I even did complex Google searches to fact check but it near as I could tell these are all originals. They are just so damned good and timeless in their delivery that they fooled me. Sorry for doubting you, Whitehorse.
Those aforementioned tunes are exactly the twang-laden heartbreakers they appear to be, and delivered with some of the best vocals the duo has delivered in years.
The album also has a few tunes that are distilled Canadiana in a jar. My favourite is “Division 5” which is as Canadian as it gets, with our lovelorn narrator going down to the RCMP station to file a missing persons’ report after his girlfriend has left him. Turns out she ain’t missing, just missing from him. “Manitoba Bound” is a jaunty road tune that would be equally at home on a Corb Lund record. It has a lively jump and some grade A guitar work from Luke Doucet.
This record has the best production on any Whitehorse record to date. Everything is crisp, clear and vibrant. Every song was a party of sound in my ears I never wanted to end.
The last song is “Scared of Each Other,” a thoughtful exploration of how society is growing apart, with connectivity at an all-time low. The song had me reminiscing about pre-COVID days, and just how much two-plus years of pandemic affected us all. It also reaffirmed how important it is to find human moments in a constantly changing world.
By the time I was through a few listens of “I’m Not Crying…” I realized it was a lot more than just a throwback to a simpler time, it was a love letter to the human spirit, realized through a band that has aged gracefully and continues to bloom with new and wonderful expressions of their art. I’d say never change, Whitehorse, but I am realizing that I prefer it when you do.
Best tracks: If the Loneliness Don’t Kill Me, Division 5, Manitoba Bound, Bet the Farm, 6 Feet Away, I Miss the City, Scared of Each Other
The Concert: Phillips Backyarder Festival, July 9, 2023 – Victoria BC
This was Day Two at the Backyarder for me, and my lower back was making it very clear all that standing on concrete came with consequences. I found a couple of places to sit down between sets and this – plus my natural refusal to surrender to bodily weakness – got me through the show. We saw three acts last night, so here they are in order:
Haley Blais
Haley Blais is an indie pop singer-songwriter from Vancouver. I didn’t know her prior to getting tickets but I’d listened to her albums the week prior and liked what I heard.
Blais was solid and exactly what I expected all the way down to the kind of off-hand musings about life and love I’d expect from an artist in this genre. She had a good voice and her songwriting is solid. Except the one song about baby teeth. That one felt a bit too precious. Maybe it is better on the album…
Anyway, Blais also won the battle for “best merch” at the merch table. A cool black and blue t with groovy graphics. Here’s a helpful hint to bands when they design a t-shirt. I want a cool design, not a giant picture of you. Thank you, Haley, for understanding. I also bought her CD at the merch table which is one of the great ways to ensure the money gets to the artist.
Whitehorse
I was pretty jacked to see Whitehorse. We’d seen them way back in 2015 (reviewed at Disc 723, and I don’t think since. As I noted above, I was also pretty stoked about their latest record and hoping for some tracks from there.
Once again, they did not disappoint. In concert I always notice how much more powerful Melissa McClelland’s voice is compared to hubby Luke Doucet. They harmonize well, and Luke is no slouch, but it is McClelland’s vocals that always blow me over.
The song choices were excellent with a good mix of some of my old favourites and a couple I didn’t expect from the new record (“Bet The Farm” and “Manitoba Bound”) both of which are standouts for me on the new record.
What I didn’t like was the length of the set. It couldn’t have been more than 30-35 minutes with maybe 7 songs total. Over way too soon. The thought that overrated indie rocker Bahamas was coming on later to get a solid 75+ made me want to shake my fist at the heavens. Ineffectually, of course. No one ever had an impact shaking their fist at the heavens.
A second gripe was that for the second straight show I was let down by Whitehorse at the merch table. Back in 2015 the best concert tee was sold out of mediums, and I had to settle for the second best. It is OK, but not even good enough to show my cred at this show (I opted to wear Iron Maiden instead in a genre-busting move that felt very satisfying).
This time around I have no idea what sizes they had left; the t-shirts were just too boring to care. One with text only, and the other a big outline of a “W”. Do better, Whitehorse. Maybe call up Iron Maiden for some t-shirt advice. Those guys make awesome concert shirts.
Sudan Archives
Sheila and I came for Whitehorse, but we decided to see what Sudan Archives was all about. Sudan Archives (one person) is a cross between hip hop, smooth soul and some funky violin bits. She was just too innovative a combo to miss out, and if we didn’t like it, we avowed we’d leave early.
Gentle reader, we did not leave early. Sudan Archives was awesome. After exhorting the sound guy to turn it up (twice) she set in with an energy and bravado that spread rapidly through the crowd.
During the set we learned that she’d lost all her luggage (she’d flown in the night before from Austria, of all places) and had to borrow sound equipment from the other bands and buy her wardrobe at the sex store across the street from her hotel (n.b. this is not supposition on my part -she happily told us this).
We would never have known if she hadn’t told us. The show was crisp and clean, and those violin bits in the middle of all that hip hop and soul work in a magical way that me thinking “this is what Capercaillie might sound like if they got their groove on”).
Whitehorse was great, but Sudan Archives stole the show. I don’t love her stuff on studio, but she is must-see live.
Bahamas
Yeah, no. We left before Bahamas. I do not like Bahamas. Came home and watched the new Star Trek, which was a much better use of my time.
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