While the focus of Punks in Vegas remains punk rock music in and around Las Vegas, I would like to take some time out each month to recommend music from another region as part of a new feature dubbed “Vegas Vacation.”
The first recommendation in this series is Brooklyn folk band Laura Stevenson and the Cans, whose new album Sit Resist was released yesterday.
It might seem strange to some to begin this new feature with a band that on the surface may appear very far from punk, but like folk musicians from Billy Bragg to Chuck Ragan, Laura Stevenson and the Cans’ sound is very rooted in punk rock.
Laura Stevenson got her start as a keyboardist for ska/punk band Bomb the Music Industry!, and released her first album with The Cans on BTMI!-leader Jeff Rosenstock’s Quote Unquote Records and later Asian Man Records. Mike Campbell, the Cans’ bass player, cut his teeth as a member of the punk rock band Latterman, as well as the post-hardcore band Bridge and Tunnel. A number of Bomb the Music Industry! members, including Rosenstock, have played and continue to play in the Cans.
One of the best tracks on Sit Resist is The Healthy One, with its accordion and xylophone happily contrasting with Stevenson’s tale of a healthy child watching his friends and family drop like flies from some unknown disease. As Stevenson belts out the chorus “and you will live long, you will bury them all in the ground, and your body will grow, you’ll bury them all” she reminds us that “it hurts to be the healthy one.”
[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/punksinvegas/laura+stevenson+and+the+cans+-+The_Healthy_One.mp3]Laura Stevenson and the Cans – The Healthy One
Where The Healthy One is catchy and full, the fantastic Montauk Monster is stripped down and folksy. It gives Stevenson the opportunity to really show off her voice and talent on the guitar. Red Clay Roots, another favorite, finds the band experimenting with a bluesy sound to great effect and Caretaker showcases the band’s storytelling abilities at their finest.
Lead single Master of Art is possibly the strongest song on the album and a tour de force of songwriting and skill. Featuring a drum intro straight out of The Ronettes’ Be My Baby and a powerful vocal performance from Stevenson, Master of Art is captivating and fun and it’s the perfect choice for the album’s first single. It is a love song that begs for patience and exposes the pains of touring and being away from loved ones with heartbreaking lyrics like “I could lie and say to you that this will soon be over. I could lie and say I knew where we’d be waking up tomorrow.”
I had the pleasure of seeing Laura Stevenson and the Cans open for Fake Problems while on vacation in Anaheim last week and although it doesn’t seem possible, her voice is even better live. Here is a video I shot of the band playing Master of Art at Chain Reaction:
Sit Resist is available now from Don Giovanni Records and it’s also available as a free download, for a limited time, over at IfYouMakeIt.com. The band’s first album, A Record, is available for donation based download from Quote Unquote Records or purchase on CD and vinyl from Asian Man Records.
R.I.Y.L. Chuck Ragan, Neutral Milk Hotel, Frank Turner
-Emily Matview and Ashleigh Thompson
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