THE
DEARS - DEGENERATION
STREET
Born
in 1995, The Dears is the lifework of Murray A. Lightburn. Son of a
jazzman-turned-preacher, Lightburn’s attunement to songwriting was
shaped equally by nineties rock and a broad tableau of gospel, soul,
and pop music. Early incarnations of The Dears brought bassist
Roberto Arquilla into the fold, followed by Natalia Yanchak on vocals
and keys. In the summer of 1998, the band holed up in a house in
Westmount, Quebec: a makeshift studio built of borrowed gear and a
rented tape machine. With their $1,000 recording budget they could
only get one reel of tape, and had to track strings in Yanchak's
sweltering apartment. Against all odds, debut LP End
of a Hollywood Bedtime Story emerged
in 2000 to national acclaim and cultish admiration.
The
Dears’ second album, 2003’s No
Cities Left,
swept the group from Montreal notoriety to international rapture. The
NME hailed The Dears as “Probably the best new band in the world.”
As The Dears tackled the globe and attracted hysterical adulation,
Rob Benvie surrendered the guitarist position to Patrick Krief, whose
impassioned fretwork saw The Dears through its most frenzied period.
The band toured incessantly for months …
THE
DEARS - DEGENERATION
STREET
Born
in 1995, The Dears is the lifework of Murray A. Lightburn. Son of a
jazzman-turned-preacher, Lightburn’s attunement to songwriting was
shaped equally by nineties rock and a broad tableau of gospel, soul,
and pop music. Early incarnations of The Dears brought bassist
Roberto Arquilla into the fold, followed by Natalia Yanchak on vocals
and keys. In the summer of 1998, the band holed up in a house in
Westmount, Quebec: a makeshift studio built of borrowed gear and a
rented tape machine. With their $1,000 recording budget they could
only get one reel of tape, and had to track strings in Yanchak's
sweltering apartment. Against all odds, debut LP End
of a Hollywood Bedtime Story emerged
in 2000 to national acclaim and cultish admiration.
The
Dears’ second album, 2003’s No
Cities Left,
swept the group from Montreal notoriety to international rapture. The
NME hailed The Dears as “Probably the best new band in the world.”
As The Dears tackled the globe and attracted hysterical adulation,
Rob Benvie surrendered the guitarist position to Patrick Krief, whose
impassioned fretwork saw The Dears through its most frenzied period.
The band toured incessantly for months behind No
Cities Left, then
jumped right into recording its follow-up, 2006's Gang
of Losers.
Internal
instability and the dynamics of a relentless workload led to the
band’s fracture, and once the touring behind Gang
of Losers came
to a conclusion, The Dears almost called it quits. Instead, Lightburn
and Yanchak headed into the studio, knowing only there was work to be
done. They recruited past bandmates Arquilla, Krief, and Benvie - all
of whom had moved on to other projects - with uncertain expectations.
The record that emerged would become 2008's Missiles. Though
this group of musicians wasn't ready to tour behind that album, it
was evident something special was in the works.
After
filling in on bass for a tour in 2009, Benvie said to Lightburn:
"Whatever you're doing this Fall, I'm in," before leaving
for India for months. The final hometown show on this same tour,
Lightburn recalls a special appearance from Krief: “...reprising
his role from "Lights Off" I gave him my guitar and left
the stage while he stood in the center, blazing his way through that
solo.” The writing was on the wall: The Dears would come back, from
an almost death.
The
fruits of a decades-long history: ambitious recordings, innumerable
sweaty shows, a million miles survived, and a thousand
hearts shattered. Throughout, Murray Lightburn, Natalia Yanchak,
Roberto Arquilla, Robert Benvie, and Patrick Krief have been bound by
friendship, purpose, trust, and gallons of booze and tears. Anchored
by drummer Jeff Luciani, The Dears began working in a newfound
spirit of collaboration.
Between
the group, MP3 demos began circulating via email. MB upon MB of
tracks were zipped, uploaded, downloaded, transformed, uploaded and
downloaded again. Spontaneous, late-night meetings would yield the
best work of their lives: music inspired
by
death, fearlessness, rage and promise. For The Dears, this was a
new way of doing things and hundreds of ideas were considered for the
album.
After months of rehearsals, thirteen standout songs
emerged. Rather than rush into the studio, the band headed to
their beloved Mexico City for a three-night residency to debut new
material to some of their most impassioned supporters.
Upon
the band's return, the gear was shipped straight from Montreal's
Trudeau airport to the studio. The next day, The Dears began making
what some are already calling "rock history." Sixteen days
later, a hard drive filled with 150 GBs of recorded material was
swaddled in bubble wrap and shipped across the continent to producer
Tony Hoffer in Los Angeles. As the band continued to record and
upload additional tracks, Tony began mixing down what would be
christened Degeneration
Street. The final
mixes were mastered by "Big Bass" Brian Gardner. The
result: 589 MBs of glory.
Degeneration Street,
the fifth album from The Dears, delivers the passion
and soul that has earned the band the adoration of fans and
critics worldwide. From the electrifying nihilist pop
anthem “Thrones,” to the star-scraping heights of “Galactic
Tides;” from the grimy opener “Omega Dog,” to the Motown sci-fi
of “Lamentation,” Degeneration
Street is,
definitively, The Dears.
--
The
Dears
Murray
LIGHTBURN - Vocals, Guitars, Other
Natalia
YANCHAK- Keyboards, Vocals
Robert
BENVIE - Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals
Patrick
KRIEF - Guitars, Vocals
Roberto
ARQUILLA - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Jeff
LUCIANI- Drums, Percussion
-generate -degenerate -filter
noise into a hush -reckon w/ danger -go further -be petty but
generous -live w/ youth's failing wisdom -fan/guard the flame of
yesteryear -plunge into the blinding light -charge the future -bury
the past -weigh mortgages and taxes -sling bruised guitars over backs
-lament while seeking stars -view the world in all its furor -give up
the throne -soak in blood -strum -sing -synthesize -resample -take
the amp off standby -back up the hard drive -write, with a pen on
paper -drink and disagree w/ friends -degeneration street -the
dears.
