A little over three years since their debut studio album Post-Nothing, Vancouver duo Japandroids set out to continue with the momentum gathered from the breakout release. And they’re doing it the way they know best, by letting their live shows do the talking. Japandroids have made a name for themselves with their high energy shows filled with sweat and sing-a-longs. With their new album, Celebration Rock, they’ve worked to bring that spirit and emotion into each new song.
“It took a long time to get every song to that place, and have an album we were really proud of,” says drummer Dave Prowse.
Japandroids will be stopping by Johnny Brenda’s on June 29th to show to the city the result of their hard work. The sophomore album is one of the biggest obstacles to climb for bands following highly acclaimed first albums. Many look to overcome it by throwing as much money as they can at the project. But Japandroids did it differently, they stuck to their guns.
“We recorded in the same studio (the Hive) with the same engineer (Jesse Gander) rather than going to some fancy studio with some big shot producer,” explains Prowse.
In doing so not only does Celebration Rock live up to Post-Nothing, but it pushes the band to a whole new level. One of the biggest differences that can be heard almost immediately is the progression in song-writing; both lyrically and musically. A number of songs from Post-Nothing were built off just a few sentences. On Celebration Rock there are now verses and choruses full of memorable lines. Solid drumming and perfectly timed fills provide the basis for the wall of fuzz filled chords and screeching guitar lines. Thrown into the middle of all of this is a cover of The Gun Club’s “For the Love of Ivy”. Add fireworks to introduce and close out the album and you have the recipe for beating the sophomore slump.
Aside from the growth in song-writing there is another element that makes Celebration Rock special. If you close your eyes at any point during the album, you can picture yourself crammed in a bar singing along while the band plays on stage. The two set out to capture the essence of live music and reproduce it across eight songs, an ambitious feat for any band. After many months of writing and recording they’ve made the closest thing to recreating that feeling. Whether it’s the oh-oh-oh’s in “The House That Heaven Built” or the timeless, nostalgic lyrics from “Younger Us”, the record does a fantastic job of coming up with that closeness and warmth.
There’s only one thing that can beat the sensation and it’s, of course, paying for your ticket, walking through the door and watching the real thing. It’s this passion that fuels Japandroids.
“To play a room full of people who know your songs and are singing along is a powerful thing to experience, and getting to do that over and over again all over the world is really amazing,” says Prowse.
In fact, it was one of the biggest reasons for the new album.
Written by: Matt Kelchner
