Few things excite Northwest house show scene fans like the promise of new noise to feed our ever-buzzing brains. Allow me to get a bit more specific; this upcoming Thursday, June 24, the baddest trio south of the Canadian border, Novacane, is dropping its long — and I mean long — anticipated first LP. The original pair of Eugene locals — Dylan Latimer on lead vocals and guitar and Oliver Lester on bass — have been playing together since 2013, and when they added drummer Zach Clifton into the mix in 2019, their sound amplified tenfold in its creative brainpower and density.
This impending album is a self titled work of eight tracks that far surpasses anything the guys have ever released before, proving to be well worth the wait and then some. Audiences have gotten privy to their two EP’s “Comfort Food” and “Pretty Colors” to the point where it’s likely to hear the person next to you in chemistry class humming the “Radio Song” riff while they’re taking notes. As ready as listeners are to hear what Novacane’s new album will bring, the band is equally as excited for this LP to meet eager ears.
The guys hang out in the back of one of their cars behind their rehearsal space, feet dangling toward the floor as they explain the new work.
“It’s basically just an album about youthful woes,” Latimer said. “Y’know, why is the world hard? Why do people not like me? Why is it hard to be in love?” Lester interrupted and said, “a little bit of existential dread,” with half of a laugh as the guys all share a smile. Clifton added, “Basically, we’re trying to be vulnerable in this new album.”
One of the songs that’ll appear on the LP, “Bummer,” was written by Lester and Latimer when they were freshly 19 years old. Now both 23 years old, they’ll finally share the tune in a way that does it justice. Recording wise, the boys got in the studio with Edwin Paroissein of Echo Hill in Portland in February of 2020 and only made it two sessions deep before the world went into its pseudo-hibernation. By that second session, the guys and Paroissien recount that about 75% of the instrumentals were down with no vocals to sit on top of them. It wasn’t until that July that they were able to get back up to the studio and throw the final layer onto the LP.
“Within the process of recording it we’ve definitely progressed,” Latimer, who recalls the split up recording process was a bit of a double edged sword, said. “Getting back into the recording process brought the love for making music right back out of me.”
This was the band’s first time working with an outside means of production, and its first time working with Paroissien. This newfound foursome is a force to be reckoned with on this upcoming record. Because of the pandemic, the band took the utmost precautions when recording. The boys stayed with Paroissien in his home, that doubles as his production homebase, to keep their bubble small. The three band members shared stories of passing out in Edwins’s basement and making breakfast with him before they got down to the nitty gritty. The band talks of him having the warmth of a wholesome father figure who still knew when to say “let’s try that one more time” when they got into the studio.
This unique scenario led the band to foster a closeness with Paroissien that made their relationship with him much more fruitful than just that of album making. They even named the longest track on the album (and my personal favorite piece they’ve ever put out) after Paroissein’s dog, Huck, who was there for the whole recording process. When Huck passed away this past year, the band said it felt right to honor the pup as the namesake of something he saw and heard coming to life.
“From the get-go, Ed really wanted to preserve not only the live energy, but more so a rawness instrumentally,” Lester said. “Everything was pretty much played live without a metronome. It’s probably the purest form you can get, at least coming from us.”
These tracks, by the time they were recorded, were crowd tested and matured. The majority of the album was written between July and August of 2019 at total lightning speed for material that stuck so well. Everyone brought something to the table, and everyone added their two cents when needed, the boys recall.
“We really wanted to hammer the point of not having any sort of filler songs,” Lester said. “We wanted every song to hold up as well as the next.” This blend was achieved perfectly in the collaborative nature of the group paired with the strong suits of each member.
To tease some of the best parts of the LP, Latimer penned “Metro,” which boasts a bustling energy as well as a calm feeling that keeps the listener steady as the band presses on. It is complete with a killer guitar outro to marry the juxtaposed feelings together. Latimer and Clifton wrote “French Toast,” the album’s second single, originally for another project; but, then they brought it to Novacane and there was no looking back. We even get our first peek at Lester on vocals for the first time in the stellar track “Monkey Bread” that breaks hearts in its gruff sincerity, while still serving as a perfect song for Sunday drives through the Oregon countryside.
All in all, Novacane’s impending record is one to look out for and get excited about. It’s mature, it’s relevant, it’s thoughtful and it’s relatable. The band said it’s the work they’re most proud of, and it was without a doubt worth the wait to get it out to listeners.
