Women returns with its sophomore album, “Public Strain,” which exposes the band as a master of urban illustration.
Chalk off another tally for Calgary, right up there with oil sands, the 1988 Winter Olympics and Women’s 2008 debut record. This September the listed guitar band returns with “Public Strain,” another glaming work that expands on the expansive, garage-jam songwriting of the first and hews the northern city into a remote scene of isolation.
This second album takes its name from a lyric in the opening track, “Can’t You See,” where bowed strings grate in and out of tune, becoming partially audible and widely dramatic—think of “La Jetee.” Elsewhere on “Public Strain,” the group reopens into its familiar range of territory, cycling dissonant notes into heavy melodies, arresting the listener with pieces that seek more to be overcome than passively enjoyed.
Taking time out of his own schedule, Patrick Flegel spoke over the phone about the conception of “Public Strain.” The barest element of all, the sound, is something that emanates like a fuzz from their amps and speakers. That’s largely because of how it was recorded, which is in the same place and manner as before: the basement of their friend Chad Vangaalen. “We used the same equipment as last time on a lot of the songs, a boom box and 35mm recorder.”
Flegel also indicated that this album was largely constructed in a period of eight months after “Women” was released. This large breadth of time pales in comparison to the age of the final song, “Eyesore,” which is the perfect sum of all parts. The jangly strings and creaky vocals sound somewhat like a moldy beach rock record from the 60s, played in a low, skipping tempo.
“That was one of the first songs we wrote,” said Flegel, “about three or four years ago, and it changed over time. We’ve played that one live at practically every show.”
Certainly, the resulting outcome of “Public Strain” will draw the quartet out of the sobering midwest of Canada, far away from the numbness of the cold and whatever dullness held the members there. Flegel spent the better time of recent in a hospital for children and the mentally unstable:” I was working the graveyard shift for a while, and I think that that job heavily influenced this album. My friends would always be at work or asleep when I’d be at home, so it left me brooding all week by myself.”
For an album centered on being a recluse amidst a crowd, it’s a relief to those who want to get away from the present situation. Listening to “Public Strain” is an escape into the plot of an old flick, or a Camus novel, and thankfully it’s propelling Flegel and company into the fold of the touring circuit. As Flegel indicated, “I think that’s part of the reason why we were signed, because all we wanted to do at the time was get out of Calgary to play our music and travel.”
“Public Strain” hits American shelves on September 28th through Jagjaguar Records.
