japandroids - near to the wild heart of life

In short, in the five years since their last record, they’ve taken a deep breath and surveyed their options. The hiatus was followed by a label transfer, from Polyvinyl to ANTI-, while King moved away from Vancouver and settled into a serious relationship, necessitating a shift in working practices. Japandroids effectively downed tools following the end of the Celebration Rock tour in the autumn of 2013. Their third album reflects significant changes in the world of the band. It turns out that King and Prowse have reached a similar conclusion. The blend on Celebration Rock was so effective it was hard to see how it could be improved upon. The album title was no empty statement: here was a band who did not regard rock with a capital R as a dirty word. “Adrenaline Nightshift” sounded like The Replacements shot through with a dose of Thin Lizzy.

The “Oh yeah, all right” refrain on “Evil’s Sway” nodded to Tom Petty’s “American Girl”. “Fire’s Highway” was equal parts John Mellencamp and Fucked Up. Though still anchored in the attack aesthetic of their stage shows, the songs now boasted an unashamed anthemic quality, filtering in overtly mainstream influences.

Whereas on their 2009 debut, Post-Nothing, “Young Hearts Spark Fire” sounded like Dinosaur Jr colliding with Hüsker Dü – all careening melody and upstart lo-fi energy – by 2012’s follow-up, Celebration Rock, Japandroids were more streamlined. That said, the influence of their more abrasive forebears has steadily decreased with time. Essentially a standard four-piece guitar band cleverly compressed into two units, their take on classic ’70s and ’80s rock comes filtered through the stringency of punk and post-punk alternative rock.

What makes Japandroids stand out from other duos, however, is the lack of an overt blues base. Like those pairs, their popularity is rooted in the kind of exhilaratingly raw live performances which offer a corrective to the pre-set, almost-live predictability of so many contemporary rock bands. The Vancouver band, comprising Brian King (guitar, vocals) and David Prowse (drums, vocals), have come to prominence during a post-White Stripes boom dominated by the likes of The Black Keys, Royal Blood, Shovels & Rope, Drenge and Wye Oak. Japandroids’ rise through the ranks has coincided with the golden age of the power duo.

Japandroids - near to the wild heart of life