Preview
ALL STATE CHAMPION
Tuesday, June 1
MacEwan Hall (U of C)
When you consider the glut of punk bands singing about love gone wrong and the changing of the seasons, All State Champion are a breath of fresh air. Frontman Dan Sioui says he doesn’t like poetic or flowery lyrics. That means instead of focusing on grandiose subject matter he sings about everyday life. It also means that instead of glib poetics his lyrics are hyper-evocative prose.
"I’d like to say that politics is what inspires me, but it’s those trivial annoying day-to-day things that get to everybody, like girls and getting old and my job," says Sioui. "I write the melody before the lyrics so it’s almost like the words play second fiddle to the melody or the tune of how I sing… I don’t consider myself a poet at all."
Despite his modesty, Sioui’s lyrics are built on breakneck turns of phrase and stunning simile. Take the lead-off track from their 2003 self-titled debut EP "The Greatest." Sioui sings "I can’t believe the way you break like waves" and follows it by asking "If I bite like lion, will you bleed like lamb?" On All State Champion’s followup full-length, Is It Nothing To You, his writing is tighter, but no less dark.
"A lot of the influence for the new record came from working on the downtown east side in Vancouver," he explains. "There is a lot of images and feelings that you can’t get away from even if you want to. You are surrounded by poverty and drug addiction and death. It’s really bleak here… It’s grey and dying and my office happens to be right in the middle of it."
Bleak as it may be, Vancouver is where All State Champion call home. Formed five years ago with the help of a musicians-wanted ad that cited Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate as influences, the band went through 20 drummers before finalizing their lineup. Sioui and friend guitarist Tim McGuinness were joined by drummer Todd McConkey and bass player Wes Cook. As gripping as Sioui’s vocal contribution is, musically the band offers an explosive freight train of sound that rarely slows down. With an arsenal of rugged guitar riffs that take full advantage of hi-fi stereo, the six-string interplay between Sioui and McGuinness is so seamless at times you would think it was a single instrument. As a band, they jerk their way through the 10 songs on Is It Nothing To You and Sioui’s soaring vocal melodies tie the whole thing up into a tense musical fist.
Although their sound is that of a contemporary post-hardcore band, Sioui assures that they are not merely jumping on the bandwagon currently being ridden by so many bands.
"I think our influences are a little bit older and more seasoned and I think that comes across… (They) aren’t the hot band or the flavour of the month. They’re bands who are doing it for the right reasons," says Sioui, citing The Police as a touchstone of his own not-too-poetic style. He admits that he does keep up with what is going on in the punk scene, but he is also quick to note that he is the only one in the band who does. Combining their diverse musical tastes, All State Champion make music that is recognizable, but ultimately unique and authentic.
"We don’t choose to write this kind of music. It’s just what we do," he says, sounding surprised at the success the band’s much-lauded EP has brought the band. Sioui may have to wrestle with the fact that his job working at a Vancouver animation studio sometimes gets in the way of his musical aspirations, but then that will probably just give him more everyday hardship to write about.
"For us, we’re jeans and T-shirt guys that just really love music and bands. That’s why we do it. We’re not doing it to get on the cover of Teen Beat."
CELEB TOP FIVE
Top Five favourite songs by the Police as picked by Dan Sioui of All State Champion:
1. "Message in a Bottle"
2. "So Lonely"
3. "Roxanne"
4. "Man in a Suitcase"
5. "Outlandos d’Amour" |
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