By Dessa Bayrock (Cascade Alum) – Email
Print Edition: June 18, 2014
Dessa Bayrock used to work for the Cascade but now she just volunteers at CIVL, serving as kick-ass co-DJ with Joe Johnson on Everything Indie. Together they surf the indie-infested waters of the internet every Friday from 2 to 3 p.m. This mix represents Bayrock’s love of Canadian content and weird indie side projects. God bless CanCon.
Prairie Cat
“Just Cuz”
“Temporary lovers / deserve longer summers,” croons Cary Pratt, the one-man band behind the moniker Prairie Cat. He played drums on Said the Whale’s very first EP, but he manages a variety of instruments in his solo band with love and a touch of whimsy. Nothing like a soft staccato set of tunes for summer, and Prairie Cat (ironically hailing from Vancouver) is just the ticket for a day at the beach or some kind of road trip. After all, it won’t be long before “summer’s done / and so are we.”
Now that I’ve mentioned Prairie Cat’s past, I can’t not mention that this band stars the skills of another Said the Whale drummer. You have to appreciate some Vancouver talent, because apparently there’s a shit-tonne of it hanging around. Sunny Pompeii just dropped their first full album, and this song is probably the closest to the tone they set with their EPs — quiet, contemplative, and rocking out by turns.
Wright is the keyboardist of Tokyo Police Club, but shows off his weird old comfortable knack for lyrics in a variety of side EPs available on bandcamp. This song, memorably, involves a saxophone and an organ solo by turns. The subject matter? Wright telling actor Randy Quaid to not feel weird hanging out with his wife. “If she looks afraid, well, I’m often away / and she lives by herself in this sweet little place / don’t be ashamed if you’re down by the lake / and you’re holding her hand and she floats away again.” Okay, Graham. I’m sure Randy will, uh, keep that in mind.
Indigo Joseph
“Honey Bee”
These Saskatoon bandmates can’t really settle on a genre, which is just fine. It sounds a little like indie-blues-rock-and-roll, with just a touch of punk. “All I want to do / is drink all day / is drink all day / oh yeah.” Sing it, Joseph. I think you’ve got the right idea and I’m willing to follow those ideals just like a honey bee. (This band isn’t a indie side project of a bigger-name band member, but they are a helluva good time.)
