The Laundronauts | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Spincycle Records |
| Members | Stephen J. Horak Germán Ebert Gareth Wynne Gordon Marshall |
The Laundronauts are a Canadian indie rock music trio formed in late 2007 from Victoria, British Columbia. Founded by Stephen J Horak and Gareth Wynne, the Laundronauts release their material on their own label, Spincycle Records.
The first published use of the term laundronaut comes from a 1963 Cornell University publication describing a new fad. “[A laundronaut is someone who backs] into a coin-operated dryer. After he is in position, his ‘crew’ deposits a coin in the slot and he begins to revolve in the dryer.” [1]
The etymology of laundronaut comes from the two roots: laundry + nautes. Nautes, [2] of Greek origin, refers to a ship or a sailor and is used in English words such as nautilus, nautical, astronaut, and cosmonaut. Laundry, meaning 'things to be washed,' comes from the French lavare, 'to wash.' [3] A laundry list, in the figurative sense, arose in 1958 and the term, launder, in the criminal banking sense was introduced in 1961. Using the invented prefix, laundro-, taken from the word laundromat , the Laundronauts have coined several neologisms: laundrock, laundrotainment, and Laundromeda, their mythical home planet.
Prior to the formation of the Laundronauts, bassist Wynne and guitarist Horak played in the seven-piece sixties garage-rock band, Captain Cook and the Nootka Sound, which broke up in 1998 and who performed at Fuzz Fest ’98 and toured with El Vez. When the band broke up Wynne left Canada for South America in 1998.
In 2007, Wynne reunited with Horak and the two decided to form the Laundronauts. They recruited drummer Gordon Marshall, with whom Wynne played in the Edmonton garage-rock band, the Drastics.
The inspiration for the band name came after learning of the fad from Patrick Sheehy, a laundronaut of the 1960s. The name was chosen as both homage to Sheehy, who had since died, and as a reference to the youthful craze he described.
The Laundronauts played shows throughout North America throughout their career. They were selected as "Band of the Month" by commercial modern rock radio station, The Zone 91.3 FM, [4] [5] receiving regular airplay. Horak's guitar solo for the song Stain [6] was featured in a Vancouver Island Brewery beer commercial starting in November 2009.
MuchMusic began airing the Laundronauts' music video [7] for Stain [8] in December 2009 on The Wedge, [9] the same month that the Laundronauts' album The Laundronauts Come Clean arrived at the number one position on the national campus and community radio report, Earshot. [10] On February 13, 2010 "Come Clean" won Best Original Music at the Vancouver Island Short Film Festival. The award was described as recognition of music that best complemented and enhanced the film experience. [11]
Gareth left the Laundronauts in February 2011, though work continues on the band's second album In Filth, set for release in late 2012.[ needs update ]
The idea of using laundry as a metaphor become a creative writing project for Horak and Wynne, influencing the band's style and musical direction. The lyrics appear on the surface to be concerned with laundry, however, “The songs are heavy on double entendres [and] each song is couched in reality: Come Clean is about love while Lint Trap is about lying.” [12] Other critics agreed, “With some bands of this ilk, things get gimmicky, but listening to the album, it’s just easy to enjoy the rock ’n’ roll and have the occasional chuckle at the lyrics.” [13]
Branding itself as laundrock, a combination of garage-rock, mod, beat, psych, punk, and doo-wop, the Laundronauts sought to create a new sound from what they considered were the best elements of various genres. The Laundronauts' songs seldom run longer than three minutes and the arrangements are designed to be tight and punchy. Vocal harmonies are a key element of the sound and every band member has vocal duties. Horak's guitar effects are also a characteristic element of the Laundronauts' sound. An electronics expert, Horak has created a broad range of sounds through use of upwards of twenty pedals – several of which he created – and multiple amplifiers that make the trio sound more like a five-piece.
After releasing a three-song 45 RPM EP in May 2008, [14] recorded locally, the band decided to look for a studio that would better realize the sound that Horak and Wynne had in mind for the full-length album. They found Detroit producer, Jim Diamond, known for his work with The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, The Romantics and other notables.
"The band’s first [album], Come Clean, a fuzz-bomb of bubbly garage rock, was recorded in Detroit with producer and one-time Dirtbombs bassist Jim Diamond (the White Stripes, Mooney Suzuki, Electric Six), a producer of note in the garage-rock revival community." [12]
The Laundronauts chose to work with Diamond in Detroit at his analog studio, Ghetto Recorders, to get the gritty sound they were looking for, "the sound of broken glass, spilled beer, hot rod engines, and burning pork." [15]
The Laundronauts' signature look is white-on-white uniforms with white-rimmed sunglasses. Live shows are bathed in blinding white light, smoke, bubbles, strobe effects, and a pneumatic laundry cannon that fires socks, undergarments, and the occasional Laundronauts T-shirt into the audience. All the devices used are custom designed by Stephen J, and triggered onstage as part of the performance.
A critic from a Vancouver monthly music magazine says, "Really, they’re a giant washing machine of kick-assery whomping and rattling around the stage, and one wouldn’t hesitate to witness their fury live." [13] The Laundronauts have had their live performances highlighted as a tourist attraction in their home town of Victoria, BC. [16]
Gareth Wynne: bass and lead vocals. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Germán Ebert: drums and backing vocals. Germán was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His musical credits include drumming for Los Barreiro (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and touring as the drummer for the L.A. rockabilly band 3 Bad Jacks. Ebert replaced original drummer Gordon Marshall in December 2009.
Gord Marshall: drums and backing vocals. Originally from Halifax, Gord has drummed for many Canadian independent musical acts, including the Vinaigrettes, the Drastics, and Grrr!. Gord was the original drummer for the Laundronauts and his work is heard on all of the Laundronauts' releases.
Stephen J. Horak: guitar and vocals. Born and raised in Calgary, AB. He created the band's pedal-operated laundroscope (capable of filling a venue with bubbles in seconds) and pneumatic laundry cannon featured in the live shows. Horak used upwards of ten guitar pedals during a live show. Horak was also one of the founding members of Bovine Love Jelly, who toured with Sloan in the early ‘90s.
The Laundronauts release their material on CD, digital download formats, and on limited-edition white vinyl (in keeping with the band's theme) with the motto "Spincycle is a-goin' around and around" etched between the run-out grove- a reference to a lyric in Spin Cycle, the first song they wrote as a band.
Hard Water EP, released 2008
1. "Hard Water" (single version)
2. "That Kind of Laundry"
3. "Outta My Head"
According to Bryce Dunn from CITR 101.9 FM, the Laundronauts' Hard Water EP on white vinyl “brims with Sonics-style energy.” [14]
Come Clean LP/CD, released 2009
1. "Stain"
2. "Come Clean"
3. "Stop, Drop, Fluff-N-Fold"
4. "Unbalanced Load"
5. "Launder-Annette"
6. "Colourfast Girl"
7. "Slow Dry"
8. "Laundrendezvous"
9. "Spin Cycle"
10. "Lint Trap"
11. "Whirlpool"
12. "Hard Water" (album version)
13. "Agent Detergent"
The album is described as "garage-rock, full of fuzzy guitars, '50s style backup vocals and dirty bass," and "raucous but focused, especially on those instrumental surf-rock tracks that showcases the band's musical presence, making sure you know they can rock out even without their chosen lyrical theme." [17]
Mike Devlin from CanWest News and the Times Colonist said, "only a dead fish could resist their rambunctious brand of garage punk and mod-infused rock and roll." He goes on to add, "the songs are heavy on double entendres [and] each song is couched in reality: Come Clean is about love, while Lint Trap is about lying." [12]
In Filth LP/CD, released November 2013
1. "Wishy Washy"
2. "Smells Like This"
3. "Between Cycles"
4. "Planet of Mud"
5. "Skid Mark"
6. "Filth"
7. "Mucky Muck"
8. "Shoes In The Dryer"
9. "Yer Laundry"
10. "Sloshy"
The 2009 video [18] for the song "Stain", [19] currently[ as of? ] in rotation at MuchMusic, [20] features the Laundronauts on board the Laundro1 spaceship in a frenetic reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Calgary director Troy Niemans shot the video on a green screen/stage at one of the movie studios in Calgary's Currie Barracks in the summer of 2009. For the digital effects, Niemans collaborated with Toronto artist Lee James Ormerod.
The video [21] for the song "Come Clean" [22] was chosen for the 2010 Vancouver Island Short Film Festival. [23] The video was a collaboration between the Laundronauts and University of Victoria film students Alina Cerminara, Megan Russell, and Chantal De Brouwer. The film students were tasked with making a music video featuring a local independent band as a term project. The video was shot at Sparkle Bright Launderette in Victoria and the University of Victoria's Finnerty Gardens.
The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit, Michigan formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White and his ex-wife Meg White. After releasing several singles and three albums within the Detroit music scene, the White Stripes rose to prominence in 2002 as part of the garage rock revival scene. Their successful and critically acclaimed albums White Blood Cells and Elephant drew attention from a large variety of media outlets in the United States and the United Kingdom. The single "Seven Nation Army", which used a guitar and an octave pedal to create the now iconic opening riff, became one of their most recognizable songs. The band recorded two more albums, Get Behind Me Satan in 2005 and Icky Thump in 2007, and dissolved in 2011 after a lengthy hiatus from performing and recording.
Alexisonfire is a five-piece Canadian post-hardcore band that formed in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2001. They describe their music as "the sound of two Catholic high-school girls in mid-knife-fight". When the band emerged in late 2001, it was enough to impress critics as well as earning their self-titled debut album a platinum certification in Canada. The band has released three subsequent successful studio albums since then: Watch Out! in 2004, Crisis in 2006, and Old Crows/Young Cardinals in 2009, each achieving platinum certification in their native country. Plus three special edition live albums from Manchester Academy, Birmingham Academy, and Brixton Academy. Their accolades include a 2005 Juno Award for New Group of the Year.
3 Inches of Blood was a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, last consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson, none of whom were original members of the band. They are marked by strong influences from the new wave of British heavy metal movement.
The Dirtbombs are an American garage rock band based in Detroit, Michigan, notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and soul while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum and guitar lineup. The Dirtbombs were formed by Mick Collins as a side project and started recording songs by 1995.
Reverie Sound Revue is a Canadian indie rock group formed in 2002 in Calgary. The group consists of Marc De Pape (guitar), John-Marcel de Waal (drums), Bryce Gracey, Lisa Lobsinger (vocals) and Patrick Walls (guitar). They are fronted by Lobsinger, who occasionally contributes to indie band Broken Social Scene. The group originally formed in Calgary, Alberta in 2002, disbanded in 2004, but later reformed in 2005. They have established a large fan base in Canada, but have had little success outside the country. Their albums have received mostly positive reviews from critics, although their songs have been criticized for not being memorable enough.
Priestess is a Canadian rock band formed by singer/guitarist Mikey Heppner in Montreal, Quebec in 2002. Since its inception it has featured Heppner, singer/guitarist Dan Watchorn, singer/drummer Vince Nudo, and bassist Mike Dyball. Priestess were considered one of the most important bands in the early millennial "retro rock" movement, although they denied intentionally attempting to emulate the sounds of classic rock bands such as Black Sabbath and AC/DC, whom they idolized and to whom they were frequently compared.
Marianas Trench are a Canadian pop rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, formed in 1999 by Josh Ramsay and lead guitarist Steve Marshall with Ramsay's sister Sara on keyboards and vocals, Erik Scott on drums and Trev Spilchen on bass. Originally called Ramsay Fiction, Marshall suggested a name change when Ramsay's high school friend Matt Webb, drummer Ian Casselman and Morgan Hempstead on bass, replaced Spilchen and Sara Ramsay. Mike Ayley, a long time friend of Casselman took up bass responsibilities when Hempstead and Marshall left the band in 2004, taking the 5 piece down to 4. The band's current line up has released five full-length studio albums: Fix Me (2006), Masterpiece Theatre (2009), Ever After (2011), Astoria (2015), and Phantoms (2019).
The Pack A.D. is a Canadian garage rock duo from Vancouver, British Columbia. Known for their explosive live performances and the ability to generate a massive sound with only two members, the Pack A.D. plays garage rock with an eclectic variety of genre influences including pop, punk, psychedelic, new wave, and blues.
"Icky Thump" is a song recorded by the American alternative rock band the White Stripes. Written by Jack White, it was the first single released from their sixth and final album of the same name. The song is a heavy garage-rock piece whose lyrics challenge anti-immigration pundits for their hypocrisy. It was recorded and mixed at Nashville's Blackbird studio.
Said the Whale is a Juno Award-winning Vancouver based indie rock band started by Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft in 2007.
Breathe Carolina are an American electronic music duo from Denver, Colorado, currently composed of David Schmitt and Tommy Cooperman. The band formed in 2007 and have released five albums, and nine EPs. Their latest studio album, Dead: The Album, was released in November 2019.
"Gives You Hell" is a song by American rock band the All-American Rejects, released as the lead single from their third studio album, When the World Comes Down on September 30, 2008.
Japandroids are a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting of Brian King and David Prowse.
Hollerado was a Canadian indie rock band from Ottawa, Ontario. Formed in 2007, the band consisted of Menno Versteeg, Nixon Boyd, Dean Baxter and Jake Boyd. Hollerado went on to release four studio albums, before disbanding in 2019. They were nominated for awards such as the Juno Award that included Best New Group Award at the 2011 Juno Awards.
"Break" is the lead single from Three Days Grace's third album, Life Starts Now. It was released three weeks before the release of Life Starts Now.
"The Good Life" is a song and the second single from Three Days Grace's 2009 album Life Starts Now. It was released for radio airplay on February 9, 2010. It charted at number 85 on the Canadian Hot 100 before becoming a single. The song also was featured on ESPN's Winter X Games XIV, and was used during the Professional Motocross Freestyle show Nuclear Cowboyz. "The Good Life" was the featured song for the 2010 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, and also during the 2010 NFL Draft. The song was also performed during a concert of Three Days Grace along series of concerts during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver on February 15, 2010. The song hit number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Rock Songs chart and number four on the Alternative Songs chart matching "Break". This is the most recent Three Days Grace song to hit the top 10 on the Alternative Songs chart.
Yukon Blonde is a Canadian indie rock band originally from Kelowna, British Columbia. The band has been based in Vancouver since 2009.
You and What Army was an English four-piece rock band formed in 2005, originating from Telford. It consisted of David Brown, Kieran Charles Smith, Jamie Hancox and Zak Hammond from 2008, and previously with Joseph Allen (guitar), Darren Smith (bass), and Thomas Bridgwater (drums). Although they are predominantly a rock band, they combine several different musical styles into their sound and are mainly influenced by heavy metal and electronic music.
Ty Garrett Segall is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his solo career during which he has released thirteen studio albums, alongside various EPs, singles, and collaborative albums. Segall is also a member of the bands Fuzz, Broken Bat, the CIA, GØGGS, and Wasted Shirt. He is a former member of the Traditional Fools, Epsilons, Party Fowl, Sic Alps, and the Perverts.
Wasting Light is the seventh studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on April 12, 2011, through Roswell and RCA Records. Wanting to capture the essence of their earlier work and avoid the artificiality of digital recording, Foo Fighters recorded in the garage of frontman Dave Grohl in Encino, California, using only analog equipment. The sessions were produced by the band alongside Butch Vig, with whom Grohl had worked on Nirvana's Nevermind. Since the old equipment did not allow for many mistakes to be corrected in post-production, the band spent three weeks rehearsing the songs, and Vig had to relearn outdated editing techniques. The band sought a heavier and rawer sound in contrast to the experimentation of their previous albums. Most of the lyrics were written as Grohl reflected upon his life and possible future. Guest musicians include Bob Mould, Krist Novoselic, Jessy Greene, Rami Jaffee and Fee Waybill. Pat Smear played as an official member of the band for the first time since The Colour and the Shape (1997); he appeared on their previous album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007), as a session musician only.
