One thing that always brings me joy is being able to follow a band from the very start — to hear that initial promise and experience the group's progression and growth in real time. I swear it feels like it was just a couple years ago that Self-Cut Bangs emerged as one couple's pandemic home recording project and one of the most pleasant surprises of 2020. But no, that was six years ago (yeah, really!). And the project was such a smashing success that Self-Cut Bangs became a bona fide, permanent band. And now another four years have passed since the band released its second and most recent album, Circle Around The Free. So what have Self-Cut Bangs been up to since 2022? Quite a lot, actually! Two pairs of band members got married. One of them had their first baby. And so the title of the new album, Growth Spurts, makes perfect sense. The band says the record is "inspired by and about the rapid musical, romantic and familial growth within the band." What's not to love about that?
To recap: Self-Cut Bangs feature two married couples in Cayley and Shawn Petsche and Nicola and Dillon Cavanagh-Whitfield along with Joel Nye. They describe themselves as "like Fleetwood Mac, but replacing the drama and drugs with more guitar solos." Sign me up for that, please! I notoriously love family bands, and I notoriously like Canadian bands. And on this third long player, SCB has fully realized a sound that's super appealing to me, one that lives at the intersection of the power pop/indie rock/arena rock Venn diagram. On this release, the band noticeably expands its repertoire but doesn't stray from its love for simple, hooky rock songs that are just the right mix of thunder and sugar. A band that's equal parts Redd Kross, Blondie, New Pornographers, and April Wine is either going to be an absolute mess or just about the best thing ever, and this evolved, more adult-oriented version Self-Cut Bangs is truly firing on all cylinders. Of course more power pop-ish tunes like "Stonewalled" and "Be My Shelter" have become fast favorites, but I'm just as keen on pure rockers such as "Witness" and "Baby Blues." Elsewhere, the likes of "Ouroboros," "One Day," and "Hot for Me" acknowledge post-punk, glam, and butt-kicking garage rock influences that have become defining pieces of the modern-day indie/punk underground.
Growth Spurts is the work of five talented individuals who have grown as both musicians and people since we last heard from them. I love the idea that you can become more serious and self-reflective in your songwriting without abandoning that fundamental mission to make the kind of music you wish they still played on the radio. This is an album that's simple and satisfying and at the same time deeply relatable on a human level. Somehow these songs pull from the past and still manage to sound like the present and future of rock 'n' roll. File this under "well worth the wait"!
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