NAPALMPOM CRANKS UP THE EXHILARATION
Garage-rock roots on display on their latest album
Calgary quintet Napalmpom has been putting the fun back into rock ’n’ roll for the past five years. What started out as a bit of a lark between a few local indie rock veterans has turned into full-fledged enterprise, complete with albums, cross-country tours and music videos.
With a nod to Thin Lizzy and Montreal garage rock revivalists Tricky Woo, Napalmpom’s exhilarating brand of indie rock is refreshing compared to the dour tones so prevalent in the genre these days.
Two-and-a-half years after unveiling their debut album, The Unconditional Love of Napalmpom, the group is back celebrating the release of their sophomore record, The Core Competencies of Napalmpom, on Friday with a show at the Palomino.
The Calgary Herald sat down with singer P.J. Lavergne and guitarist Craig Evans to find out how the band has evolved and why it’s important to make the music you want to hear.
Q: Apparently the album was done almost a year ago, what was the delay in releasing it?
A Lavergne: Life came up. Plus, there’s Sled Island (guitarist Shawn Petsche is festival manager of the annual Sled Island Music Festival) and vacations. Whatever it was, we just couldn’t make it happen last summer, so we kind of delayed it until now. Evans: My father died during that time as well. It put a delay on some stuff. Nothing that would constitute an entire year. But it did put a delay on any background vocals and guitar parts from me.
Q: What did you want to achieve with this album that perhaps you didn’t, or couldn’t do on the first one?
A Evans: I don’t think there was a focused end goal. I think it was just very much part of the process. It just naturally evolved in this direction. Lavergne: Yeah, I like that word “evolved.” It does feel like a progression from the first one. To me, the first one was more, “Here’s a party riff rock record.” Whereas this one has some content to it. Evans: We thought, let’s make these fun party songs and cram in as much guitar as possible and add the vocals as an afterthought. When P.J. came on and we started writing with his style in mind, we realized there were some really great vocal hooks in there. So instead of writing as many riffs as we thought we were going to, we wrote maybe lusher chord progressions that would give space to it.
Q: Calgary songwriter and musician Lorrie Matheson produced both the debut and The Core Competencies of Napalmpom. How big is his fingerprint on the albums?
A Evans: He’s the sixth member for sure. His imprint is huge on both. We would not sound like us in the studio without him. Lavergne: He’s really great at indulging himself and us in the studio. Like, there’s no idea too weird or too stupid. We can say, “What if we try a four or five-part Boston harmony?” Evans: He’s responsible for all the earnestness and bombast on the records. In a totally positive way.
Q: You received some great reviews and feedback on the last album. How did that affect the confidence of the band going into the studio this time?
A Lavergne: We made a rock and roll record that sounds like rock and roll that we like. And having it get a positive reception like that was super heartening because it means you can trust your own opinion about what you’re doing. If I’m making a rock and roll record I like, chances are, people like me are going to like it. Craig: We knew from the get go, that the deck was kind of stacked against us because we were doing something that was a little out of step. It was certainly going to be met with a certain amount of snark. It’s almost like we weren’t being taken seriously because we were having fun. And that’s such a strange concept to me. I mean, why shouldn’t this be fun? I don’t think there was any thought about trying to impress anyone. We’re just trying to impress ourselves. It’s just a record we want to hear and this is the band we want to be in.