>>PREVIEW
TV HEART ATTACK
Thursday, May 31
Liberty Lounge (MRC)
Think back. Before Johnny Marr joined Modest Mouse. Before the ’80s revival. Before the Gang of Four were rediscovered. Before music editors put a moratorium on the phrase "angular guitars." Imagine if the debut from Vancouver’s TV Heart Attack had come out then. According to songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Jason Corbett, that was the plan.
After honing his craft in Vancouver bands Saddle Sores and Speed to Kill, Corbett formed TV Heart Attack as a more personal musical outlet. With an ear for the ’80s pop-rock he grew up on in Castlegar, B.C., he decided to aim high and after some adept Googling he tracked down and convinced Andy Gill, guitarist for the aforementioned Gang of Four, to produce his record.
"I thought we could kind of use him to understand where we’re coming from," says Corbett. "He and I started speaking on the phone, discussing recording techniques, what we would do here and what we would do in the U.K. I was very excited. Then when it came down to him actually booking the ticket, our label started going, ‘well I don’t know if we are going to do this.’"
After talks with the label fell apart, Corbett was left with a batch of songs, no one to produce them and no label to release them. Adding insult to injury, the universe decided to show Corbett how good his instincts really were.
"It felt like six months later everybody started name-dropping Gang of Four," he says, recounting the ’80s dance-rock revival. "And then a few months later The Killers single started breaking in North America." Surprisingly, Corbett doesn’t sound bitter.
"I think a lot of people in my age group were feeling that kind of nostalgia of growing up in the ’80s and that kind of music. Even though it wasn’t a conscious decision for me to write an ’80s-sounding record, it kind of came out that way."
With no label support, Corbett was put in the unenviable position of going it alone. Making the record on his own dime tapped him financially and forced him to call in every favour he could. Then, as before, the universe showed that it was not without a sense of irony.
"My girlfriend at the time was driving my car and got into an accident that totalled my car on the Granville Street bridge," Corbett says. "She was bruised up and hurt her neck, but basically nothing was broken. She walked away from it with chiropractic visits and massage therapy, so I didn’t feel too bad that we basically used some of the insurance money to help fund the record. It was really pretty awesome of her."
Given the journey Corbett had to endure to get the record made, it’s no surprise that the album is as dark as it is. With the help of producer Howard Redekopp, who worked the boards with The New Pornographers, 54-40 and Castle Project, Corbett was finally able to get some of his songs on tape. Amid massive pop hooks, rapid fire snare hits and lyrics that required near emotional breakdowns in the vocal booth, the standout element of TV Heart Attack’s self-titled debut is the almost relentless bass grooves. Melody usually reserved for the lead guitarist bubbles up from the low end giving the album a rock solid foundation and so much more.
As you might expect, some of that commitment to bass comes from Corbett’s interest in Gang of Four. "When I first started listening to them (I noticed) how the guitars were used more sparingly and more rhythmically to complement what the bass is doing," he says. "This is rock ’n’ roll music, but it is dance music. Hearing how integral the bass is to drive things and how it works with the drums – the guitars are almost an afterthought. It’s the icing on the cake."
Now that the record has been released it looks like Corbett will get to have his cake and eat it, too. The album’s first single, "Hypnotic Eyes," is getting radio play, the band is heading to the North by Northeast music festival and there is renewed label interest in the band. If all goes well, TV Heart Attack will not only get to re-launch this disc with all the fanfare it deserves, but get down to business on a followup.
"I’m looking forward to bigger and better things for this record," says Corbett, "and I’m looking forward to doing the next record, too." |
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