I’ve loved a bit of sax ever since I saw Sweep the Leg Johnny fall through the ceiling at the 2002 Michigan Fest. Now I can have more, thanks to Ontario’s Autumn Stones. Have a listen to their second album, Escapists, above.
"Our sound is the sum of many parts. We’re very early-alt.rock influenced but at the same time we keep our feet firmly planted in modern subgenres, especially dream pop," explains saxophonist Gary Butler. "Also, we foreground saxophone in our music, in the style of Galaxie 500 and Laughing Clowns (versus, I dunno, Clarence Clemons), which I don’t think anyone else has ever done quite the way we’re doing." Indeed, his saxophone is very high in the mix, but there’s a definite charm there, the results not entirely unlike the Smiths covering Roxy Music or vice versa.
According to vocalist and songwriter Ciaran Megahey, Escapists celebrates "life, love and liberty" and takes inspiration from "new-atheist polemicists such as the late Christopher Hitchens… [rebuking] the rising tide of aggressive theocratic ideology." Heavy stuff, that is. For more, look here. Escapists is due out July 7.
