With the release of their fourth album, Calling Out (2008), the FemBots have set off in yet another direction while in many ways returning to their beginnings. Born out of improvisation and experimentation, Calling Out sees the FemBots once more stretching themselves musically to produce an album that is daring yet accessible.
The FemBots began as a home recording project of Dave MacKinnon and Brian Poirier and their debut, Mucho Cuidado (2000), featured songs written and performed on power tools, toys and broken down thrift store instruments. The duo quickly carved a unique space in the Toronto music scene bringing their post-industrial folk songs to the stage using tape loops and reel-to-reel machines mixed with often frantic live performances.
Their critically acclaimed second release, Small Town Murder Scene (2003), adopted a more atmospheric approach with traditional instrumentation and soulful laments. The third FemBots record, The City (2005), built on this earlier work while taking it up several notches with banging piano chords, catchy choruses, soulful vocals, swinging guitars, woven strings and horns. The City – that landed on several top ten lists for 2005 – pushed the stark black and white vision of their earlier albums into full technicolor.
The FemBots originally envisioned their fourth album Calling Out (2008), as an entire album using an assortment of junkstruments, musical instruments created from garbage by artist Iner Souster. Eight months into the project it became clear that the junkstruments were simply too unpredictable and too difficult to work with to sustain an entire album. Rather than scraping the project entirely, the FemBots used the junkstrument instrumentals they had recorded as rhythm tracks, the rock and roll chassis that the rest of the songs are built on.
Calling Out also marks another departure for the FemBots. This is the first time Dave MacKinnon and Brian Poirier have collaborated with other musicians during every stage of the writing and recording process. In the past MacKinnon and Poirier wrote the songs, then brought in other musicians to fill out the arrangements. With Calling Out the songs were built up from improvisations with Iner Souster and drummer Nathan Lawr.
The result is a collection of pop and rock song built on a foundation of odd sounding home made instruments, resulting in their most straightforward and strangest record to date.
The FemBots have drawn comparisons to Califone, My Morning Jacket, Latin Playboys and Wilco but their sound is not easily categorized. Influenced by a wide range of music – from Rock ‘n Roll, Blues, Soul, Country, and Folk – they continue their genre bending approach, honing a new style from the old. With each new album the FemBots transform in ways unforeseen, yet strangely familiar.
About Octoberman:
Upcoming Tour: Marc Morrissette, C.L. McLaughlin, Nathan Lawr, Tavo Diez de Bonilla.
West Coast Members: Rob Josephson, Graham Christofferson, Anju Singh, Leah Abramson
Contributors: Shaun Brodie, Dave Mackinnon, Sarah Hallman, Dave Draves, Jessica Wilkin, Larry Crane, Rob Calder, Jon Pearce, Craig Bjerring, Peter Doig, Jason Starnes, James Henderson, Brook Houglum, Mike Morrissette, Kris Hooper, Sean Conway, Ryder Havdale, Brian Chan, Matt Magnetophone