To celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding, the City of Vancouver is hosting a free, weekend-long party and music festival featuring a boatload of Vancouver musicians. Some of them have been famous for decades, others are underground artists with a cult following, but all of them are well worth checking out.
Here’s a few we’re particularly excited for.
Mother Mother is a power-pop group from Vancouver, but frontman Ryan Guldemond’s distinctive voice, as well as the slightly morbid nature of their songs, sets them apart from other indie bands. Excellent musicianship, intricate vocal harmonies, and catchy songs make them a perennial favorite.
Check out their track “Arms Tonite” for an idea of what they’re about. Like many bands, their live show is better, but this track is pretty great.
Fond of Tigers won a Juno Award in 2010, but they’ve also won the hearts and minds of listeners unafraid of getting a little weird. Consisting of founding member Stephen Lyon and a host of extremely talented supporting musicians (two drummers! TWO!), the group plays music which oscillates wildly between jazz and indie rock, between dreamy guitar noodling and furious cacophonies. While their songs are tricky to sing along with, Fond of Tigers are well worth seeing for the immense skills of their members.
Listen to “Soheb,” a track from their latest album:
The New Pornographers are accessible, fun, and have released a string of great albums showcasing songs packed full of hooks which wouldn’t be out of place in a Beach Boys or Beatles song. The band is sort of an indie-rock supergroup (the band includes A.C. Newman, Neko Case, and Dan Bejar, the founding member of Destroyer), but are world-famous on their own.
Listen to their song “Challengers”: