| Heavy WeatherC’Mon unleash the lightning | Keith Carman |
In terms of career-defining albums, Bottled Lighting hits virtually every milestone an independent rock band can face: it marks the debut of a new member (drummer Dean Dallas Bentley), finds them with new label support and most importantly, follows two acclaimed releases, 2004’s Midnight Is the Answer and 2005’s In The Heat Of The Moment. It must therefore live up to “third album maturity” scrutiny where a band is expected to continually grow without alienating core fans a la Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All/Ride The Lightning/Master Of Puppets trilogy. As many a critic will tell you, it isn’t until a band has fully settled into their collective shoes—around the third album—that comfort, grit and angst unify into an impenetrable force.
“We read a quote from recently deceased Factory Records dude Tony Wilson that roughly said, ‘A band doesn't really know what it is until the third record,’” notes singer/guitarist Sir Ian Blurton. “We think that's true for us. Musically speaking, with this record we wanted to come into our own and stand apart, not just be considered a typical rock and roll band re-hashing clichés.”
Mission accomplished. Quite possibly one of the most beautiful brick shithouses Canadian rock has had the pleasure of embracing, Bottled Lightning massive, eliciting both sighs of relief and head-banging, beer-swilling fury. Those familiar with the band’s dirty sonic blasts tempered with sugary vocals and explosive—visually and aurally—live shows have been waiting two years for a collection of new tunes to decimate their ear drums with. The wait has not been in vain. Bottled Lightning is concise yet explorative, dynamic yet straight-forward and quite simply one motherfucker of a rock record, featuring a strong mix of the band’s staple straight-ahead, greased-up drive while expanding via strings (courtesy of members of Final Fantasy and Broken Social Scene) and the fiery lead singing debut of bassist Lady Katie Lynn Campbell.
“Just using strings on the record is an attempt to expand our musical palette and that continued thru the songwriting and production. We consider our influences to be rock music from the ‘50s to the future: Link Wray through Hendrix, Sonic's Rendezvous Band through SST Records, Tight Bros. from Way Back and beyond,” says Blurton, adding that, “(Katie Lynn’s vocals) came about because it's an expression of who we are. It adds another element we can draw on. Our palette has yellow, red and green and purple but also includes volcanoes erupting, lightning strikes and stars imploding.”
Speaking of imploding, Blurton admits that the tension surrounding the start of Bottled Lightning was a strong impetus for the final product’s fervent aggression.
“The recording was hard. Dean stepped up when our first drummer (Randy Randy) quit just as we started, then the tape machine blew up when we discovered a combination of tones that created an electrical surge. It took a month to get the part and get it repaired. Then our old record company said they couldn't hear a ‘hit’ and wanted us to write with Avril Lagvine. We ran out of money and we ran out of time but we just put our collective heads down and got 'er done.”
Blurton accredits much of that “get ‘er done” attitude to Bentley, whom he describes as, “the third point to the triangle. He puts the ‘power’ in ‘power trio.’” Rightfully exuding tempered confidence, Blurton beams with his own anticipation; is one bolt of bottled lightning waiting to explode.
“We think of the band as Play-Doh that is constantly being played with so it changes shapes all the time. We think it has sharpened and brought into focus our strengths, but our approach remains the same: get in the van, do it now, jam Econo and take no prisoners…or torture them.”