Cheer Celebrate New Album ‘Pure Mass Detection’
Photo Credit: Jill Meagher
If you’re based in Calgary, you may already be familiar with Cheer and their fuzzy garage rock sound, yet there is still a mysterious air around the band. With only a handful of singles and live shows under their belt, they have garnered attention in the scene and pack a room wherever they play. The momentum is bound to continue now that the band’s debut album, titled ‘Pure Mass Detection’, is out now.
Led by Dylan Gibbs, Lyndon Lalonde, and Gus Rendell, the band recently welcomed drummer/percussionist Ethan Muzychka to the fold. The members are experienced musicians, with a presence in various bands like the enigmatic Bridgeland, Brain Bent, and Dane. However, this project melds their diverse influences, making them a stand out amongst the punk terrain.
Cheer came together at Calgary’s iconic game inspired band night Rockin 4 Dollar$, where Gus and Dylan took to the stage with their other projects and noticed each other’s musicianship. “We wanted a guitar band. We talked about our love of Cream and King Gizzard and a whole galaxy of fuzzy garage bands from California. We wanted to play melodic singing and guitar music and we were just stoked on each other as musicians”, Cheer shared.
There is no denying that Cheer is more than just their music: their friendship and connection radiates throughout the new material, despite one of their key members, Lyndon, recently relocating to Toronto. Before the interview began, the band ensured to facetime Lyndon so all members would be represented in this feature. “We all write either a huge portion of the material together, or our own parts of the material. If one person gets replaced by someone else, it would completely change what the band is. So I think we all realize how special and unique this is and how uncommon it is to have this kind of connection around music. We’ve all decided to keep it going,” says guitarist and synth player Gus Rendell.
Photo Credit: Jill Meagher
‘Pure Mass Detection’ is composed of songs that have been written and performed by the band over their years of playing together, engineered by Rendell, produced by the band, mastered by Jay Arner, and brought to life in the mind-bending world of Chris Dadge (Alvvays, Sunglaciers, Marlaena Moore, Lab Coast) who mixed the album. “Chris’ studio is one of the most extensive catacombs for music nerds I’ve ever been in. And Chris’ work…his records sound like the band playing. It always sounds natural in the right ways”. Chris’ extensive musical footprint is also one of admiration for the Calgary music scene, recently winning a Juno award for his work on dream-rockers Alvvays acclaimed album ‘Blue Rev’. Now, Chris can add Cheer’s hazy sound to his roster; part heavyweight-psych, part kosmiche-punk, part heady, mathy progressive-rock tunes. Gibbs, Lalonde and Rendell split vocal duties (sometimes in the same song), which brings an amplified layer to each track, while keeping listeners on their toes. With hints of Frankie and the Witch Fingers, The Osees, and Dead Meadow, Cheer have maintained a sonically independent style that deserves attention.
With the opening track “Intersections”, we drift in and out of consciousness until the track unleashes into a full-on frenzy. The album maintains its high-ferocity until album closer “I Can’t Tell What I’m Waiting For”; bound to be a crowd favourite with its punchy bridge, glistening guitar lines, and sing-along-while-headbanging lyrical outro. Overall, ‘Pure Mass Detection’ is admirably constructed and committed to the act, without being overtly formulaic. With their new material finally making its way into people’s ears, the band are itching with excitement for an album that has been a long time in the making.
“I’ve put out a lot of music over my life and don’t always feel great about it. But this feels substantial. It feels like we have something really good in our hands that we worked really hard on. I remember hearing some of these songs when the guys sent me recordings in its early stages, without me on the track yet, and I had an outer-body experience. Like you guys were playing that!? And I get to play that!?”, Rendell reflects.
Check out the album below and stay up to date with Cheer here.