Canada Vs. America - Constantines and the Handsome Furs

After the too-short, two-year stint that Canada enjoyed at the top of the proverbial indie rock food chain, those Converse-wearing, tight pant enthusiasts who pick the next cool thing (probably in a back room somewhere in Silver Lake) decided that Brooklyn was to be the next source of what's next, and we all started listening to blog-pop with an appropriate amount of disdain.

During the Canadian reign it was okay to like big, soaring rock-y anthems. It was okay to listen to musicians who shared their feelings and sang about love. It was okay to like, even love, Feist.

For a short time, it seemed like Canada's main export was 9.4-rated records. The nation's figurehead band, Broken Social Scene, described it well enough. The band itself was comprised of as many as 19 rotating members, with at least 5 spinoff side-projects (Feist, Apostle of Hustle, Metric, Stars, and Do Make Say Think). Broken Social Scene had a diagram drawn on their Web site, presumably to keep all the connections straight.

The two Canadian bands who stopped by Echo Park on back-to-back nights last week have similar pedigree. You might know the duo Handsome Furs by lead singer Dan Boeckner's other band, Wolf Parade (not to be confused with the other Wolf Parade side projects: Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake, or Frog Eyes—Canadians and their side projects, eh?). The second band, the Constantines are atypical with only five members and no spinoffs (yet).

When I first saw the Constantines perform in my hometown, Detroit, they had a penchant for being theatrical. Playing their guitars behind their heads, standing on their instruments, jumping in unison, they yelled for the "death of rock-n-roll" while delivering its re-birth. I walked into the Echo last Wednesday as they hit the call-and-response verse of their signature song “Nighttime/Anytime, It's Alright,” just in time to scream the response: "Turn it up!" Lead singer Bryan Webb smiled his big, goofy smile, but I was the only member of the audience who actually participated.

Certainly there was enough drama in Webb's voice, which carries the fire of a young Joe Strummer, and in the musicianship of the rest of the band. But something was off.

Whatever it was, it struck the Handsome Furs the following night at the Echoplex too. After announcing that they were "fucking terrified" to be playing in Los Angeles, the husband-and-wife duo launched into material from their new release Face Control. But as energetic as the Furs were running around the stage, dedicating songs to hack directors, and as loud as the audience cheered them on, they couldn't get comfortable, remarking only, "Quiet crowd."

Maybe our friends to the north could sense the sea change. Certainly I could. Or maybe I’ve already taken my first step towards being a curmudgeon-y music fan, a path that will lead inevitably to an embroidered Constantines Reunion Tour 2030 Hawaiian Shirt and a beer gut.

But all is not lost. Across town, another Canadian band, Ontario's The Tragically Hip took the stage at the Troubadour. The Hip have performed as a band for over 25 years, outlasting fads of genre, not just location. So, cheer up, young Canadian bands. the early 00's might be over, but that doesn't mean that Canadian rock is forgotten. Or irrelevant. Those Hip shows? Sold-out for two nights.

Originally in Los Angeles Magazine at: http://www.lamag.com/do/blog.aspx?dt=06/18/2009