If you’re searching for a unique blend of energy and taxidermy, then Bend Sinister’s latest album meets that need. The British Columbia prog-rockers newest release Animals is due out March 11, and will certainly deviate from the band’s previous records.
“We all sort of conceived it together and hashed it out in jam sessions, brought it to the studio and did most of it live on the floor,” said lead singer Dan Moxon. “It really sets the tone for a really lively, off-the-floor record that we always try to do with our live shows, make them really energetic and crazy. We wanted to translate that to this record as much as we could.”
The album name was inspired after Moxon found a stuffed polar bear head on Craigslist for a few hundred dollars and couldn’t resist buying it. He then combined his polar bear with drummer Jason Dana’s taxidermy collection.
The idea was to use the pieces for the album artwork and quickly grew from there.
“I felt like the perfect marriage of the lyrical content talking about couples and humanity, and then calling the record Animals ties in that sense that even though we think we’re so sophisticated, everybody really is just animals who have stupid urges and screw up the world from time to time,” said Moxon.
For Animals, the band holed up in a studio in San Diego for two weeks, working with producer Joe Marlett (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age).
“We wanted to get out of Vancouver and go to some place where instead of working the recordings in on the weekends and spanning it over a year we were going to rent a really nice studio and work with a cool person that’s out of our comfort zone,” said Moxon. “So we holed up in a studio for 14 days and just tried to get it all done and put out the best product you can in such a quick time.”
“Joe was just an amazing person on the board. He always offered his suggestions and input on the right sort of things or various parts on the best sort of takes from us.”
In advance of the album, the band released a music video for the single “Teacher” on Feb. 18.
The band has been getting growing recognition since releasing their first album in the U.S., Small Fame, back in 2012.
In 2013 they were nominated for Sirius XM “Best Emerging Artist” award and a Western Canadian Music Award for “Best Rock Recording”, going up against the likes of the Sheepdogs, Yukon Blonde, Japandroids, Half Moon Run and more.
With a sound they describe as “piano driven rock and roll that has a little bit of a retro sound to it,” Bend Sinister has toured across North America and parts of Europe with the likes of Awolnation, Hollerado, Bad Religion and good friends, the Paper Lions.
Now the band is embarking on a solo North American tour that will take them from San Francisco, to Toronto and all the way back home to Vancouver.
Bend Sinister will be swinging through Ottawa on March 23, playing the Raw Sugar Café, with Ottawa’s Miss Polygamy.
“We just like to put on a good time and make people smile,” said Moxon. “They certainly will enjoy themselves, I don’t think anybody will regret coming out to the show.”
Advance tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the Raw Sugar Café or Vertigo Records. Doors open at 8 p.m.
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