The Nursery’s sound goes in every direction
The bigger and shinier the pop tunes, the better for this Toronto-ish trio’s songcraft
What’s the deal? There are no modest statements on the Nursery’s debut album, Life After Wartime.
No, more is more for this Toronto trio — well, Toronto- ish, since one member hails from south of the border in Buffalo — on its remarkably self-assured first long-player.
There’s not a corner of the mix that isn’t packed with as much sound as possible, nor is any song content to subsist on a single idea for the duration.
The Nursery really does like to hit you with as much as possible, and preferably from as many stylistic directions as possible, all at once, too.
What can feel a bit of an overwhelming crush upon first exposure, gradually normalizes to reveal some astutely crafted and slyly hooky poprock tunes that one could easily imagine brightening up the playlists of more open-minded mainstream radio outlets during the months ahead.
We’ll see if anyone out there besides Indie 88 is smart enough to pick up on it.
In the meantime, give Life After Wartime some time to grow on you and there should be at least a couple of keepers lurking amidst that kaleidoscopic wall of sound for you, too, covering as it does a wide swathe of referential ground from glam and New Wave to such varied fellow pop maximalists as Queen, ELO and Arcade Fire in 10 go-for-it tracks. There’s also a lot of Duran Duran going on in limber-rhythmed tunes such as “Crystal Beach,” which I trust the Nursery will take as the compliment it’s intended to be. Sum up what you do in a few sim- ple sentences. “Dramatically coloured songs about love, mortality and contempt, obsessed with chewing up pop culture and spitting it out as a subversion of itself,” frontman/guitarist Alex Pulec says.
“The sound is synth-heavy, ethere- ally dreamlike yet full of drive. Think about how it would feel to be dancing in a dream.
“We make music for the people who take comfort in the darker side of life, who like to feel good, but don’t ignore the ugly truth of humanity — a believer who the music needs to challenge while at the same time soothe. That’s the delicate tightrope we strive to balance on with our songs. Also we’re a rare example of Canadians and Americans working well together.” What’s a song I need to hear right now? “Everybody’s Famous.” A deceptively upbeat tune about the pursuit of fame for fame’s sake as a cultural dead end. Where can I see them play? At the Piston on Thursday, Aug. 31 with Marlon Chaplin and Beautiful Nothing.
Details at ticketweb.ca.