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Dam Ships
Dam Ships EP (independent) - 2013
Michael Panontin
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This Montreal quartet first started plying their hushed guitar-based instrumentals sometime in early 2012, and it took just a few months before the band checked in with their first offering, the intriguing Ugandan Sun EP. On their second effort, the four - that's Jason Apostle on keyboards and very occasional vocals, guitarist Max Farrell, bass player Fraser McLaughlin and Liam Blackwell keeping the beat - have managed to polish up some of the rougher edges of their first record, dishing out five ethereal, seemingly effortless pieces. Dam Ships is a home recording, which in Montreal these days means a spacious high-ceilinged loft somewhere in the Mile End neighbourhood. Apostle explained on McGill University's CKUT radio, "It was nice to be in a space where we weren't paying by the hour...It was very low stress and we were able to play around with ideas a little more. We really got exactly the kind of live experience, which is what we were trying to go for." Much of the EP, especially the uplifting 'Volkspark' or the opener 'Islets', hints at the subtler moments in Do Make Say Think's back catalogue, with the talented Farrell's guitar picking in particularly fine form on the closing 'Find a Place, Anywhere'. A recent gig in Toronto for Canadian Music Week was Dam Ships' first foray outside Quebec, so keep your ears peeled for these guys.
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Dam Ships
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