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Waterbodies; growing, sprawling, changing.
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by
Pulse Team
January 28 - February 3, 2010 |
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To call St. Catharines’ Waterbodies wet behind the ears wouldn’t be fair – it would be a travesty. The four–piece shoegaze/post–rock outfit may look young, and may only have one album under their belt, but in the short time they’ve been a band, they’ve certainly made the most out of their time. There’s been no lollygagging and the band is set to release their newest recording, Floresta.
Initially, Waterbodies was just a bedroom project – a reason to put songs down on tape. A brainchild of drummer Shane Turner and guitarist and vocalist Mike McGean. The duo had recorded five or six songs in Turner’s bedroom before they approached Josh Korody to produce the songs. Korody almost immediately joined the project. It wasn’t until they got their first show at SCENE ‘08 when they decided to become a ‘band.’ “After that we were doing the band thing as a hobby, not really taking it serious, just kind of doing it because we had free time,” explains Turner. “Mike and I started writing more songs and getting Josh Korody to record them – we started recording Floresta in August 2009. About two months later, Josh ended up joining another band, [St. Catharines’ Elk] with a conflicting schedule and then I found out I was going to be a dad.”
The band took a brief pause, Korody left on good terms and Turner and McGean were back at square one. But they were still interested in being a band and finishing what they had started with Floresta. Justin Jennings (bass) and Dylan Turner (guitar, keyboards and vocals) joined the band and Waterbodies was back on track. The band first went into a studio in Niagara Falls with 14 songs, but decided that it was best to come out with their five strongest songs for Floresta. “We picked the ones that flowed the best together,” remarks McGean. “There are still songs we like, but they didn’t suit the CD.”
After recording and producing the album in Niagara Falls, the quartet brought the EP back to Korody, because as Shane Turner puts it, “It turned out it wasn’t finished.
“As far as our outlook on the band, we see this as more of an opportunity to take the band more seriously – that’ll be our ticket out of here.”
“I think the huge thing is being more organized, pushing hard and making things happen, striving to be better,” adds Jennings. “We worked pretty hard on it and we’re pretty happy on the outcome. It’s nice to see people enjoy it, and we’ve only heard positive feedback so far.”
On the first listen, Floresta seems short, with five songs clocking in at just over 15 minutes. But by the second and third listen it’s quite easy to get lost in the range of Floresta. “It Suits You Well” moves with a brooding build–up, that’s very Thom Yorke–ian in the way it expands with xylophone and keyboards until it finally breaks within the last minute of the song. The song is perfectly suited to be presented at the radio–friendly three–minute mark, but can easily thrive during a live set and grow and grow and grow. Waterbodies may sound like a modern shoegaze band at times, but that’s a tag the band would rather leave at home. “We’d like to step away from the shoegaze,” begins Dylan Turner.
“Yeah, we’d like to use the shoegaze as an accent instead of a foundation for our sound,” clarifies McGean.
“And in terms of the new stuff goes, I think we’re going to be using less effects and focus more on songwriting,” adds Shane Turner. “Less covering up riffs with feedback, more upbeat vibing.”
Another standout song on Floresta, at the other end of the spectrum is “Crippled English”, an engaging and expansive epic that reaches the seven–minute mark in what feels like three. It’s a sprawling, beautiful mess that could give bands like Explosions in the Sky a run for their money (well, the instrumental parts, at least). Floresta sounds as organic as an electric band can sound, and it makes sense – all Waterbodies songs begin their journey written on an acoustic guitar. “A lot of it is like bulding blocks,” begins Dylan Turner.
“Like Lego, you’re not done until you don’t have any blocks left,” chimes in Shane Turner.
“Then you can always buy more blocks,” reinforces McGean. “We’re approaching things on a new level. We’re figuring out our roles, the way to approach a song now is definitely more democratic.”
It’s been close to two years since Waterbodies released their debut album, Sleep Like Submarines, and the band feels that it’s a perfect time to release their new EP. Not only does Floresta show how much the band has matured over the years, but as Shane Turner puts it, “It’s good if people know we’re not dead; we’re still alive and kicking.” P
[JORDY YACK]
Waterbodies (St. Catharines, ON)
w/Lifestory Monologue, Dinosaur Bones, Inlimbo, Pockets.
@ L3 Nightclub. 6 James St.
St. Catharines.
Tuesday, February 2, 6:30pm.
waterbodies.ca
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