New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Green Light Go Entertainment) Vancouver audiences: prepare to experience a rock show that "sounds like Snatch, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and any other movie Guy
Ritchie has made without
Madonna in it," says Chris Millar. Calgary's rock trio The Lions is clearly inspired by film, and you can expect to hear them embrace the cinematic when they play bigger than life versions of the tunes from their latest album Iconoclastic Motion Picture
Soundtrack / Pub Songs and Sing-a-Longs (out Sept. 6, 2011) at Railway Club on Saturday, July 30. The Lions played SXSW 2011, Red Gorilla 2011, NXNE 2009 and The Grey Cup Street Festival 2009 and have shared the stage with the likes of Our Lady Peace, The
Arkells and Jet.
As you might expect from the title, Iconoclastic Motion Picture
Soundtrack and Pub Songs and Sing-a-Longs showcases the band's diverse approach to music making. The band produced the album with Brad Taylor at Taylor Sound, taking a different approach from previous albums. "We usually play the songs for a while before recording," Millar explains. "This time, we worked on the songs for a week, then went in and hit the record button. The guitar parts were improvised around the chords we jammed out the first day, and then we had a few months to polish the sound. We did some classic sounding pop tunes and soundtracks for short films, split into different acts and scenes."
"Roman, The Ubiitsy Mesti" is the tale of a Russian assassin tracking down his victim. Millar's slow and simmering guitar gradually builds to a discordant climax as the assassin closes in on his prey. Justin Luchinski's steady, throbbing bass and Liz Dumenko's cymbal splashes contribute to the dramatic effect. The dark, over the top rocker "Syd... Is A Serial Killer!" is an avalanche of clanging guitars, with lyrics that sound like a Tarantino script. The song was created after watching a documentary on Syd Barrett and then "
Dusk Till Dawn" right after, thus creating the idea of turning Barrett into a ballerina dressed serial killer. "The Social Commentator" is a sci-fi epic - a fight between humans and machines - in three acts. It moves through acoustic folk, stomping rock and wailing proto-metal guitar passages before coming to a triumphant conclusion.
The Lions are from Calgary, Alberta and play rock and roll that is melodic, aggressive and jazzy, often all at the same time. The trio consists of Chris Millar (vocalist, main songwriter and guitarist adept on six, seven and 12-string guitars), Liz Dumenko (drummer)and Justin Luchinski (bass, backing vocals and keyboards). "We can go from '60s pop, to groove driven riff rock, to rowdy good time pub tunes. We have a big sound, but we don't use synthesizers.
Everything you hear is guitar effects or, occasionally, Alex on piano," says Millar.
