NO ALOHA. No Problemo

Des del Canadà ens arriben aquests No Aloha amb el seu segon treball que duu per títol "No Problemo", un exercici de surf pop i surf rock a parts iguals que destaca per la seva gran qualitat en la majoria de temes. El que més ens ha enganxat d'aquesta genteta ha estat el tractament que fan a tots els temes de les guitarres sempre presents en un primer pla. Tot i que no s'hi veu la qualitat d'un Minion o d'un Mercer dels nostres estimats Feelies, l'estructura dels temes és una mica semblant. Un treball que hem descobert una mica tard (es va publicar a finals d'agost) però encara que no sigui de rabiosa actualitat es mereix una entrada a aquest blog. A gaudir-ne!

It’s been a while since we caught up with the guys from No Aloha, the surf rock-inspired, pop-loving four piece formerly known as She’s. Between changing their name, going on tour, and grabbing the attention of arguably the world’s most famous skateboarder, they’ve had quite the busy year. And amidst all the chaos, they’ve even managed to crank out a brand new album, which they’ll be dropping at their release party on Thursday, August 20th at L’Escogriffe Bar Spectacle. 

Comprised of Canadian music scene alumni Andrew Bates, Ben Griffiths, Fraser Roodbol, and Marshall Vaillancourt (Lake Country, Annette’s Beach Party, Archery Guild), this Montreal-based foursome plays one hell of a show, and their EP launch promises to be one of their best yet. In celebration of their upcoming album, we spoke with Ben about the band’s recent success and what you can look forward to next. 

Before taking a surprisingly snowy tour through the East Coast last spring, the guys hunkered down here in Montreal to create their forthcoming sophomore album, No Problemo. After taking the winter to rehearse, record, and start mixing everything themselves, they came up with the cash to complete the EP by winning over an unlikely fan: Tony Hawk. 

“Tony Hawk’s film company bought one of our songs on Bandcamp, and then we got an email from them saying they wanted to buy the rights to it […] and we ended up getting a bit of money from that, which was awesome!” says Griffiths. “And because of that, we were able to pay Patrick McDowall (Director of recording at Concordia’s CJLO radio station and recording studio) to finish mixing the album, and we were able to get Jordan Koop (of BC’s Noise Floor Studio) to master it properly, so we were really happy.” 

The result is one killer sophomore effort that makes for the ultimate end-of-summer soundtrack. Bursting with jangly garage tunes, No Problemo features the kind of pop harmonies and power chords that get you psyched for lazy days and wild nights. And like their previous releases, the album was recorded live off the floor, capturing their infectious energy perfectly.

“We didn’t do any overdubs, which I think is good because it meant that we had to be really tight,” Ben explains. “You have to do everything in one take, so the songs that made it onto the album are songs we’re really confident in.” But the fact that it’s not too clean and pristine is exactly what makes their sound so endearing. As Griffiths humbly points out: “We are just a rock and roll band — it doesn’t have to be flawless.”

Though they’ve still got the same loveably gritty, high-energy sound, they’ve been playing under a new name since last summer, switching from She’s to their current title No Aloha. When asked why, Griffiths gives us a few good reasons, but one in particular really stands out.

“Every time we’d say what our band name was people would be like, ‘Cheese?’ ,“ he says, laughing. “And it just got to the point where we were like, we can’t put any more effort into this, I’m not explaining this any more.” Taking their new name from a Breeders song from Last Splash—“it’s a great power-pop record, and we all love that kind of shit”—they settled on No Aloha and haven’t looked back since. 

With their new name, new album, and a few exciting new opportunities on the horizon, things are looking promising for these four loveable locals, and deservedly so. Along with recently winning the Greenland Music Award at the Montreal Fringe Festival, which secured them a mentorship with Greenland Productions, they’re already looking forward to recording their third album and have quite a few shows lined up as well, including their much-anticipated No Problemo launch party this Thursday. 

But even with all they have to look forward to, there’s still nothing more exciting to Ben than playing for a rowdy crowd. In his own words: “It’s just really cool to see that there’s people out there as excited about rock and roll as I am about Abba or Barry White.” (themainmtl.com)