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Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Hear that? It's the sound of Japandroids.
Not because they're Japanese androids -- they are, in fact, a garage-rock duo of humans from Vancouver. But they are also one of the most-hyped Canadian bands of the year. Their upcoming CD Post-Nothing (in stores Tuesday) has hipster tongues wagging; their latest tune was posted on Pitchfork; publicists who don't even work with the band have touted them to me. It's not hard to understand why; between their crash 'n' bash style, duelling vocals and catalog of old-school rock and punk influences, these guys sound bigger than your average duo.
"I'm definitely making as much racket as I possibly can," laughs singer-guitarist Brian King from his Left Coast home, en route to their local debut Saturday night at Lo Pub. "The difference between us and a lot of other duos is that most of them are more bluesy garage-rock -- like The White Stripes and Black Keys. In that kind of music, it's easy to tell they're a two-piece. With us, we're both making a lot more noise. My playing has a lot of big open chords and fast strumming and ringing chords, but not a lot of that bluesy stuff. It's still just a guitar, but it's really loud and fuzzy."
King and singer-drummer David Prowse have been honing that big-ass sound since 2006 -- though it's been more a matter of necessity than intention. "We originally wanted to be more than a duo, but we couldn't find anybody who wanted to play with us. We couldn't find a singer either, so we both started to sing." It was just the first of many compromises they would have to make. "We don't really listen to any of the same music. There are like three bands that we both really love -- Wire, The Sonics and mclusky. So we thought 'If we just rip off these bands that we both like, we can get along.' " Even their name was something they both settled for -- "We were both OK with it, but neither of us really liked it."
One thing King won't compromise is the band's unpredictable live show. "We don't rehearse anything. There are no stage moves. Every night is kind of its own thing. Which is usually a good thing." It better be -- he and Prowse have just quit their day jobs and given up their apartments to spend the rest of the year on the road. "It's an epic leap of faith," admits King. "We're going on tour forever. And I feel a lot of pressure to make sure the shows are really, really great." He'd better make sure they're also really loud -- it'll be the only way to drown out the buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....