FFWD Weekly
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Music by Mary-Lynn McEwen Limblifter with The Flashing Lights Wednesday, May 17 Liberty Lounge (MRC) "Everybody has a hole to fill," sang Sir Bob Geldof on his 1993 album The Happy Club, and Vancouver trio Limblifter is no exception. The fragmentation of pop radio into retro, alternative and teen dream during the last decade left the world without a decent soundtrack to bind our collective societal conscious, and with their echoing pop rock harmonies that recall the best pieces of ’70s radio without ever sounding plagiarized, the group seems ready to heal that rift. Two weeks before heading out on tour to support Bellaclava, the trio’s second album, guitarist/vocalist Ryan Dahle is gearing up to play the Commodore Ballroom as a warm-up. The mention of the legendary Vancouver club spins the conversation off course, though, as Dahle becomes distracted by the fact that Marianne Faithful played there in 1991. "Maybe so," he intones distantly in response to an observation I’ve just made. "Sorry, you have me thinking about that movie [Girl on a Motorcycle, also titled Naked Under Leather, which features a young, nubile Faithful riding around England from lover to lover in a vein-tight leather sheath]. Have you seen that movie?" Dahle dismisses the others who have played there with a good-natured "I don’t keep score," then goes on to dispute the notion that older artists like Faithful often produce a richer quality of music. "It’s true that those artists have staying power. Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan all just made great records. We (Dahle’s brother Kurt, the drummer/vocalist, and bassist Todd Fancy) listened to a lot of that music when we were younger, too. But young artists have so much passion and energy, and their vision or drive is clearer because they haven’t got sidetracked or lost yet. The beginning of things is much more important than the end." And still feeling like he’s at the beginning of things with Limblifter, despite the fact that he and Kurt played together in Age of Electric, Dahle does indeed sound like a mellow, satisfied man who has no need to keep score about other musicians. Having recently been born again as a scotch drinker, a skill he works on a few times a week, Dahle seems satisfied with his West Coast life, where he’s never too busy to meet friends, walk on the seawall and write songs. "I’m basically like a semi-retired guy. I can do whatever I want whenever I want." And at this time, all Dahle and Limblifter want is to hit the road and fill up that hole.

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