I always laugh when Canadian bands say their music is any sort of “Americana”. Why must we associate such rootsy music with the United States? We shouldn’t tie music of the folk persuasion to just one nation. And Canada has such vibrant folk talents that referring to the music as “Americana” feels almost offensive. After all, Neil Young is from Toronto!
Speaking of which: Also hailing from Toronto is the subject of this article, folk trio theCrates, who released their debut album Things We’ve Done back in May. It has a touch of Neil Young’s grunge, but also Whiskeytown’s twang, the power of The Gaslight Anthem, and Bruce Springsteen’s full-band-focused songwriting. The album’s eleven tracks were released one by one over the course of three years, with an original version getting sidelined due to Covid. But theCrates didn’t let time stop them from finding the music and putting it to tape.
On taking their time, the band says, “From the start, we wanted an album. That’s always been the end goal. We’re older heads, grew up listening to albums of all kinds, and knew that we had enough songs to make a cohesive album that told a story and had a specific feel.” The trio spent two days each recording most of the songs on the album, doing what they could with their available time and money.
And although the trio mentions that their piecemeal process kept them from fine tuning everything, they say “so it goes, the art of imperfection”. If there are any issues on the record, I certainly don’t hear them. The passion of making the music and the urgency of their environment are both prevalent on Things We’ve Done. The crystal clear production comes from Made Human Studios in Toronto run by Jon Lillo, along with enginners such as Harjeet Pabla and Lukas Guyader.
The final result is an album of crisp all-Canadian alt-country, with a thorough sound the whole way through, even if each song makes minor variations. For example, “By Sunday” is a down-home hoedown of a romp, with frantic guitars and distorted vocals that justify a stomp-clap, whereas “Saving Grace” brings a little Southern rock energy (in which “Southern” relates to the swampy Southern U.S., and not the southern tip of Ontario.) “Only One” slows things down for a grungy ballad, and “Hits Like a Heartache” kind of has a little of The Hold Steady in it, making it a solid straightforward alt-rock anthem.
But despite the variations on the Americana — er, Canadiana — style, each band member’s energy shines both on its own and as part of theCrates’ unit. Michael Powell’s vocals ring on each track, whether they force themselves out from his throat with grit or hang high in the air with smooth and soulful passion. And while his guitar keeps time, Javier Plana (on bass) and Shawn Willings (drums) are right there to hold up the rhythm, providing delicious harmonies to give the album a well-rounded sound.
The title track is surely one for a sing-along, and pays into the “We’ll do it live” vibe of the record. None of the songs feel overwrought or produced to death. theCrates laid down their tracks how they would play them live, the engineers gave them a little touch-up, and that was that, as the band didn’t have many resources to do much more. But they didn’t need to worry about that. The recorded natural urge to play their music is what makes this album so lovely to hear. It’s an album of tracks from musicians who know their craft, who simply enjoy playing tunes with each other rather than worrying about making something for mass consumption. And again, if there are any imperfections, I would argue the album is better off because of them.
Something to note: Our fellow writer Kinda Grizzly runs a creative community known as Black Rainbow Collective, which you’ve likely seen mentioned in graphics around the Start-Track website. theCrates are part of this collective, and so we’re very happy to feature them in order to show off the Start-Track/Black Rainbow Collective synchronicity.
In any case, theCrates’ Things We’ve Done proves a few things. One: You don’t need to worry too much about imperfections if you have faith in your abilities as a musician, your closeness as a band, and your passion to put the music out there. Two: You can take your time releasing an album, just as you can exercise patience producing any work of art; not everything needs to be rushed-out slop for the masses. And three, although many, many others have proven it before: Canadians are just as good – if not better! – as American musicians at writing Americana. Take that, Nashville.
Take a listen to Things We’ve Done below.
Written by Will Sisskind
