Organ - Brother
by John Clarkson
published: 6 / 3 / 2006
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Format: CDS
intro
Haunting third single from Vancouver all-girl new wave five-piece the Organ, shortly about to release their debut album in the UK
Vancouver all-girl new wave five-piece the Organ have been making a slow, but steady impression on their native Canada since first forming in 2001. Their impact has been more sudden in Europe. Three tours in quick succession of each other last year , and two well-received singles on small labels, the ‘Sinking Hearts EP’ (Sink and Stove Records) and ‘Memorize the City’(Queens of Noize), have lead to a deal with the large scale independent, Too Pure. ‘Grab That Gun’, their debut album, which has been out in their homeland since 2004, is due for release in early April. ‘Brother’, which is taken from it and which is being released to coincide with the start of a fourth European tour, is, like the other two singles, a mesmerizing experience. Ashley Webber’s dark, churning bass and Shelby Stock’s hefty drum work contrast with Debora Cohen’s chiming guitar lines and Jenny Smyth’s jangling Hammond Organ to create a work of tense, haunting atmospherics. Singer Katie Sketch’s urgent, forlorn vocals meanwhile merge the global and the personal, fearfully imagining what it might be like if the world was at war and her lover was prised away from her. “Sometimes it hurts when you care about me/But it’s going to hurt more when they take you from me” she sings with awed anguish and horror. The B side, ‘Love, Love, Love’, recorded for a BBC radio session in November, is an acoustic reworking of another song from ‘Grab That Gun.’ Cohen’s fluttering guitar work is pushed to the fore, while Smyth’s usually more dominant organ is a gently pealing, hazy background presence. With another evocative performance from Smyth that finds her feeling alienated from the world and desperate for love, it shows, in contrast to ‘Brother’ and the songs on the previous two singles, an otherwise unheard softer side to the Organ. The last year or so has been a good one for Canadian music with acts such as the Arcade Fire, the Dears and the Hidden Cameras all breaking out into the international scene. On the evidence of ‘Brother’, and with ‘Grab That Gun’ on its way, the Organ look like being a considerable addition to that already impressive roster.
Track Listing:-
1 Brother2 Love Love Love (Gideon Coe BBC 6 Music Session 14/11/05)
interviews |
Interview (2008) |
The Organ broke up in December 2006 just as they had started to taste success both in their native Canada and Europe. Have briefly reunited to record 'Thieves', a final set of six songs, singer Katie Sketch speaks to John Clarkson about the reasons for the all girl group's abrupt break-up |
Interview (2005) |
live reviews |
Late Room, Manchester, 17/7/2006 |
Back to see Vancouver all girl five piece the Organ for a second time, Dixie Ernill at the Late Rooms in Manchester watches them play a fiery and aggressive set and onceagain prove themselves to be very special indeed |
Metro, London, 15/8/2005 |
reviews |
Memorize The City (2006) |
Atmospheric and ambiguous latest single, re-released from last year, from Vancouver-based all-girl five piece, the Organ |
Grab That Gun (2006) |
Memorize The City (2005) |
Sinking Hearts (2005) |
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