It isn't a party until Jesse takes his shirt off — Pine Tarts releases its new 10-inch single on Thursday, February 4 at Broken City.
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Broken City
Thursday, February 4 - Thursday, February 4
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According to a recent photo comment on Facebook, “A party doesn't really start until Jesse starts removing articles of clothing.” The Jesse in question is not this article’s author, of course (though I have been known to loosen the ol’ tie on special occasions), but rather Jesse J. Powell, founding frontman of grungy garage-pop combo the Pine Tarts. He’s a fun-loving man-boy-about-town and voracious party animal the likes of which Calgary hasn’t seen since the glory days of Tommy Chong.
Dating back to the Tarts’ earliest gigs, Powell’s high-energy performances — not to mention his trademark leather pants — have thrust him into the local spotlight.
Fast-forward to February 2010, and his band is set to drop a brand new collection of tunes onto your turntable via the stylish blue-coloured 10-inch vinyl mini-album Two Moons. From fiery instrumental opener “New Moon” to the Morrissey-inspired hopscotch of “Mosel,” all-out rocker “The Horrors” and four more toe-tappers, it’s by all accounts the culmination of the Pine Tarts’ recorded output to date. The collection also includes “Twilight Blue,” a song Powell first penned back in the 1990s.
“When we went into the studio, there were a lot of new songs, and I had a feeling those were influenced by my contemporary tastes,” he says. “To make it true to my heart and the essence of everything in terms of my songwriting, I thought the album should include some older stuff. ‘Twilight Blue’ is almost the very first song I wrote by myself, so I felt the need to bring it out.”
It’s also one of two numbers — along with “New Moon” — that could remind listeners of a popular series of teen vampire romance novels and films. According to Powell, this shared imagery was completely unintentional and is actually starting to drive him a bit batty.
“I’ve always preferred werewolves to vampires, and people with a tan rather than being completely pale,” he laughs. “The album title, Two Moons, just references the two songs with the word ‘moon’ in their name, and could also be related to the forces behind the tides of your life. Those could be other people, and traditionally, the moon is also connected to a feminine energy. So yeah… no vampires.”
That might all sound somewhat mystical, but the songs also remain rooted in the real world thanks to Powell’s lyrical allusions to people and places in Calgary — ex-girlfriends, Kensington, the Bow River and his dog. He returns again to the Beach Boys as an inspiration, along with several possibly surprising touch points.
“There doesn’t always have to be a separation between art and life,” Powell muses. “As a band, we aren’t a different group of people at night as we are during the day. Brian Wilson’s lyrics are always personal and confessional, and it’s the same way with Of Montreal. If I could imagine the confessional style of the Beach Boys mixed with the fantasy of the Misfits, that’s what I’d like it to be.”
Following the recording of Two Moons, two band members who appear on its sleeve have amicably parted ways with the Pine Tarts — drummer Mike “The Nuder” Bressanutti to focus on his other project, Sharp Ends, and bassist Jester Suzuki to study kung-fu. Now, Powell has enlisted an all-new rhythm section with bassist Harvey Hinton and former Endangered Ape stick-man Stuart Bota. The trio will make its live debut at the release show.
“The new lineup is blowing my friggin’ mind,” Powell says. “We’ve been practising like crazy and I really love how it’s the same but new, with some unanticipated powers surfacing. I think it’s simultaneously wilder and more cohesive than ever before. So the release show — which both Nuder and Jester are going to attend, but not play — is going to be a fond farewell to the past and an exciting meeting of the future.”
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