>>PREVIEW
THE PANTS SITUATION
Saturday, December 17
The Hifi Club
The fact that Brady Kirchner and Joey Mooney met and bonded over a Modest Mouse T-shirt back when they were in Grade 11 at Bishop Grandin High School is both fitting and misleading.
As the guitarist and drummer respectively for Calgary’s The Pants Situation, their high school roots are a natural fit for a band that has been making waves in the local all-ages scene. And while Modest Mouse is one of those classic indie rock bands that The Pants Situation emulate on their debut full-length, The Ugly Man, they prove to be so much more.
"Our goal was to play one show in the city. If we played one show we would consider ourselves a successful band and we’d all be happy with that," says Kirchner. "We ended up playing a lot."
This meant that The Pants Situation, rounded out by Dan LaPlante and Greg Newman, would not only move beyond the basement, but self-record an EP on borrowed gear, crack the bar scene and head into Calgary’s Echo Base studios with local knob-twirler Casey Lewis to make The Ugly Man. The results are a lot more sophisticated than you would expect from a goofy bunch of 18-year-olds. Not many can reference musical heavyweights like Sonic Youth and Weezer without being accused of outright plagiarism. However, these songs are a surprisingly original blend of noisy pop and crunchy indie rock. According to Kirchner, The Pants Situation’s infectious energy stems from their enthusiastic live show.
" We are all about dancing and freaking out," he says. "We don’t take ourselves too seriously."
"I think the most fun part of when you see a band is when you jump around and scream. That is what I hope I can offer people."
This is an attitude typical of bands that cut their teeth in the local all-ages scene. Like other upstarts SIDS and Günther, The Pants Situation are looking to connect with their audience and get people moving in a town that is known for watching from the sidelines. The all-ages community has responded to The Pants Situation, but as Kirchner learned, playing to audiences in the bar scene is a different atmosphere altogether.
"In an all-ages show the kids are there to see the bands," he says. "They get up and they stand all around the drums and Joey freaks out because he can’t see what he is doing. He can’t see what anyone else is doing because there are 20 kids surrounding him and they are all jumping around and dancing and screaming.
"In the bar you are in the front and the people are just there, sometimes to see you and sometimes they are just there cause it’s a Tuesday night and they want to go have a beer.
"I think we are more of an all-ages band than a bar band, but that can change and I hope it does because it’s good to have fans of all ages."
If the calibre of the music on The Ugly Man is any indication, winning fans won’t be a problem. Their album is already topping the charts on local campus radio and even in a town as notoriously jaded as Calgary, The Pants Situation’s name is on everyone’s lips. Even so, Kirchner and company don’t have delusions of grandeur.
"If someone offered us the world, we’d probably take it," says Kirchner, "but right now we are content hanging out in Calgary and doing this for awhile I guess." |
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