Plants And Animals Are Smooth Operators

10/30/08 3:47pm

by Matt Littlefair (CHARTattack)

Secret City's next big band took their time getting to where they are 

Montreal trio Plants And Animals may not have been well known outside of their native city six months ago, but that was six months ago.

Between their signing to Montreal-based label Secret City, their impeccable With/Avec EP garnering a heap of deservedly praise-laden reviews, and the band's stunning new full-length effort, Parc Avenue, Plants And Animals are poised to make a boulder-sized splash in 2008.

The original incarnation of Plants And Animals took the form of an instrumental post-rock ensemble. Guitarists/vocalists Warren C. Spicer and Nic Basque and drummer/vocalist Matthew "Woody" Woodley released a self-titled EP in 2004 that went largely unnoticed outside of the Montreal scene. Then, as the band played together more and more, their sound shifted to include vocals and pop-inflected melodies while still maintaining elements of their post-rock roots, something that Spicer says helped them find their way musically.

"When we were primarily an instrumental band, we were also much more scattered," muses Spicer over a glass of wine with his bandmates prior to a soundcheck at the Mod Club in Toronto. "Nic was doing a bunch of other stuff, me and Woody were playing in different bands. Things were a little bit more all over the place. I don't think Plants And Animals really knew — we hadn't really figured out what we were or what we wanted to be."

"We started singing way back though, I remember," interjects Woodley. "When he [pointing at Spicer] started listening to Sade all the time," adding with a laugh, "Now he's not."

The band share an easy and endearing camaraderie due in large part to the years it's taken to get to where they are now. Though their ascendancy into the lexicon of bloggers and indie music listeners may be taking off at whiplash-inducing speed, the band are quick to point out that like so many who came before them, they've been at this for a while.

It took two years of toil to yield Parc Avenue's textured conflagration of interwoven guitars and dulcet, but forceful rhythmic phrasing. And now the band are finally getting the attention they clearly deserve.

"We've been working on this album [Parc Avenue] for a couple of years, just trying to make it to whatever point we were going for," says Woodley. "It was just lots of different sessions. We most often didn't get what we wanted out of the sessions, but we maybe got a little bit," adds Spicer. "Over the course of a long time of doing that we started to approach what we wanted. We could kind of see it and then once we could actually see the record, we started to move a little quicker."

While the band would be little without their stunning music, one can't deny the impact that Secret City has had on their increased visibility as well. This is the same label whose first two signed acts, Patrick Watson and Miracle Fortress, were both nominated for last year's Polaris Music Prize (which Watson eventually won). Though Plants And Animals inked their deal prior to the hullaballoo surrounding their labelmates, the attention since then has been decidedly helpful.

"It doesn't hurt at all," says Spicer, referring to the relative prominence the band have garnered given their label's pedigree. "I think if we were a new band that had just come together put our record out and got signed before Secret City became what it is now, we'd be like, ‘Oh fuck, we didn't realize that just because we're on this label, everyone's gonna listen to our record.' But it's totally the opposite because we've been working on it for a long time and it's all the better."

The band's relationship with the label has been a profoundly positive and supportive experience. Like everything else the group seems to take on, it developed at a slow, deliberate pace "Nothing happened quickly. It took a long time to figure out what we both wanted, but at the end of the day, yeah, we're totally psyched. They're [Secret City] really great people," says Spicer. "They know what they're doing.

"I'm more excited than anything."

bonus sidebar
Sade Fever

Plants And Animals aren't the only band to ever come under the spell of Sade. Check out some of the acts who've covered the singer:
Deftones "No Ordinary Love"
Pit Er Pat "Feel No Pain"
Beachwood Sparks "By Your Side"
Herbie Hancock "Love Is Stronger Than Pride"
Ewan McGregor "The Sweetest Gift"

The following feature is from the March 2008 issue of Chart Magazine. To purchase the issue, head on over to the Chart Shop.