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263: Motorists // Surrounded

Surrounded Motorists 2021, Bobo Integral (Bandcamp)

Rock ‘n’ roll is historically a cult of youth, but now that you’d be a little hard-pressed to find a parent who wouldn’t be kinda relieved their kid picked up a guitar instead of becoming a streamer, the genre is puttering into an increasingly Menzingerified future. As a late thirtysomething myself, I surely don’t mind seeing my peers continue to hang their shingles over at the local rock bar. One of my fondest memories coming out of lockdown was catching Toronto trio Motorists play basically the instant shows were back on the menu. Going out with a pal (blog gear consultant Haakon), tying one on, and semi-illegally pogoing with a small but enthusiastic crowd at an honest-to-God jangle pop show… if lockdown were a Warner Bros. cartoon this would be the kind of oasis-hallucination shit I would experience.

The Motorists lineup that recorded the 2020 cassette EP From the Wreckage, Vol. 1 and 2021’s Surrounded are native Calgarians with refined taste and fun musical resumes (Fahner has played in the essential Too Old for This Shit hardcore band Leather Jacuzzi, and alongside Learoyd in the fondly-remembered Feel Alright; Locke with Kiwi-flavoured indie rockers Tough Age and mini-legends Simply Saucer, plus he reviews for Pitchfork). Perhaps on account of joining forces in the economic meatgrinder that is Toronto, Motorists originally had a vague techno-dystopian concept that matched their nervous motorik rhythms and keening vocals (Wreckage has a kind of Pere Ubu meets Sloan thing going on), but Surrounded mostly drops that bit in favour of a more vibes-based lyrical backdrop. Despite this, the trio is much cleaner and more precise than most of the college rock bands from which they draw influence, which gives Fahner and Learoyd’s wistful harmonies the quality of someone staring out the window as a driverless vehicle does the work of transporting them.

The band sticks pretty closely to their template throughout, but every song is full of craftsmanlike touches that will delight vintage indie nerds and most bear fairly indelible hooks, particularly the R.E.M.-ish “Go Back” (returning from the earlier EP) and the new wave-y single “Surrounded.” While I miss the irresistible attack of EP-era tracks like “Instant Replay,” Surrounded is one of the most consistent albums to come out of the Canadian rock scene in a minute. Locke moved back to the West Coast around the time the record dropped and has been replaced with Toronto scene mainstay Nick McKinlay (an old pal, I should disclose), but the band has road-tested a heap of new material, and with any luck we’ll see another record from them one of these days.