The 1980s are so 2003.
At least, that's the attitude of The Stills, a band born in Montreal, nurtured in New York City and branded Bunnymen/Joy Division disciples upon the release of their retro-'80s-friendly 2003 album Logic Will Break Your Heart.
Three years later, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Dave Hamelin sniffs, "Everything sounds the same now. You just hear band after band trying to sound like Interpol. I can't believe there are still new bands coming out that sound like that. When is it going to end?"
If The Stills' excellent sophomore album, Without Feathers, has any say in the matter, the end is nigh.
Drawing from a range of influences across rock 'n' roll's generations, Without Feathers loudly declares that The Stills are not just for the '80s anymore. The melodies echo not Bunnymen but everyone from doo-wop to Dylan. Keyboards, though prominent, are of the piano rather than synth variety.
Rumours of a brave new Stills have been circulating since the departure last fall of founding member Greg Paquet.
And for those who have not yet heard the album (released yesterday) one significant change will be instantly apparent once the band hits the stage at the Capital Music Hall this evening: Until recently, co-frontman Hamelin (alongside singer Tim Fletcher) was The Stills' designated drummer.
(That role now belongs to Colin Brooks, who joins another newcomer, keyboardist Liam O'Neil, behind Hamelin, Fletcher and bassist Oliver Crowe.)
"We all knew that I was not always going to be the drummer," Hamelin says of the shift. "It was just a matter of time.
"Even when I was recording the drums on our first record, I was like, 'I can't do this drummer stuff. I'm not a drummer; I'm writing the tunes; I'm writing guitar parts; I don't want to be the drummer. It makes no sense. We should get a good drummer and I'll just play guitar and sing.' "
Presumably, had that first album not garnered the attention it did, that inevitable adjustment might have happened sooner. And under less scrutiny.
But, as Hamelin notes, The Stills' time in the spotlight has brought on changes within the band that go beyond personnel and instrumentation.
"The whole lifestyle of this thing is really peculiar," he says. "It's something I could never have predicted. It changes you; it changes your perspective on things.
"Everything happened a bit fast for us. We're not like U2-huge, but everything clicked and there was a lot of buzz about us and we didn't know why. It felt kind of undeserved. We were like, 'Well, we're not the best band ... yet. Let's take it easy here.' So with the new album we felt like we needed to step it up."
And that meant leaving the past behind. Record label and public alike might crave another radio-friendly rocker like Still in Love Song, but, well, times have changed.
"I wrote Still in Love Song when I was in CEGEP," Hamelin says. "I was 19 or 20; now I'm 25. And between the ages of 20 and 25 a lot of things happen.
"I'm not saying I'm an adult or anything now, but I'm a different person. I have trouble relating to that song in a lot of ways; I'm really not in the same place in my life I was when I wrote that.
"That's another thing: Everybody's like, 'Why did you make a different record?' Well, we're different people now. I don't understand how you could always feel the same and always listen to the same music. I don't know how that happens."
