When Armchair Cynics released the Killing the Romance EP in 2005, the Victoria-based four piece established itself as a sturdy modern rock outfit in a market already crowded with sturdy modern rock outfits.
And the Cynics might have disappeared forever inside that too-often dreary throng if it hadn’t been for the nuances rattling around inside numbers like “Bang” and “Surprise Ending” - an almost covert pop sensibility behind the arrangements and atypical chord changes that lifted Killing the Romance out of its stubbornly earthbound genre.
With its 2009 full-length Starting Today, Armchair Cynics is finally revealing how deep those nuances run, allowing that pop sensibility to bloom fully, and lifting the veil – at last – on a big, boisterous, expressive personality.
Or, as guitarist-vocalist Kenn Coutu shrugs, “We didn’t feel like we got what we wanted with Killing the Romance. We were a little too hard rock on it, and it’s just not who we are.”
“What we’ve done this time is closer to what we think of ourselves as a band,” bassist Aran Puritch adds.
Perhaps the purest dose of the Cynics’ fresh sense of self-awareness is in the title track.
“Starting Today” is a shot of radiant sunshine pop, a soaring feast of hooks big and small, and an anthemic throwdown for any and all optimists. Coutu says he likes its “airiness”. And when Puritch pleads that his band “likes danciness and a bit of fun” - in contrast one assumes to the agenda offered on the more minatory Killing the Romance - it’s almost as if “Starting Today” should start playing somewhere in the background.
Or “Kelly” for that matter - a delirious, hit-seeking bubblegum missile that lands somewhere between the Killers, Fountains of Wayne, and Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” given a post-ironic vitamin shot. It could have fallen off a John Hughes soundtrack. Coutu describes it as “this almost euro-pop thing,” while Puritch notes, “There was a fair amount of mucking around with the synthesizer during jams, so you throw that in and wow! That’s ‘80s radio rock.”
“Ablaze” opens the album on a bedrock of synth, keening guitar, drummer Ryan Rae’s ever-beefy rhythms, and maximum melody. “Remain” follows with Coutu oscillating between sugary and full-throated vocals, before an enormous, cascading chorus of wailing background voices sweeps into view. It’s like Coldplay with all the self-importance (mercifully) removed.
“I love British music,” Coutu says. “I always have. I just think they have a great sense of melody. Like Oasis, or Kasabian - they have that rock vibe, but it’s not cheesy. That was my angle.”
All over Starting Today, the Cynics gleefully indulge any and every opportunity to colour outside the lines. “All the Way” initially recalls the band in 2005, and then swerves into Panic! At the Disco territory.
Arena-sized rock is tackled in “If You Can’t Sleep”, “The World Is Mine”, and “Something To Believe In”, but in all cases saturated in melody and voices.
On “You Never Really Gave It a Chance”, horns and choppy guitars ala Franz Ferdinand and a whipsmart ska-punk beat from Rae are used to animate Coutu’s tragicomic tale of a Walmart employee gone postal. The vocalist is quick to credit the nerd-fi relationship between guitarist-keyboardist Adam Sutherland and producer Dave Genn for some of the more outré effects that embellish Starting Today, and this track in particular.
“He’s got a funny brain that boy,” says Coutu of Sutherland. “He comes in with weird things. He and Dave had some fun with the octave guitars and the crazy solo, which sounds like a creepy circus to me. It’s really just Adam and Dave being crazy.”
Naturally, Genn’s presence is felt throughout Starting Today - the highly regarded producer is generally inclined to “leave his mark”, as Puritch puts it.
“Dave is just stupid good at music,” he says. “You just don’t feel worthy. His own abilities are so great that I can only imagine it’s like working with a bunch of little kids for him. On the other hand, he gets that the band is gonna come in with its own bent way of doing things, and it’s own passions, and a lot of what we brought in was unorthodox, but it worked.”
Genn put the band through boot camp once he got his hands on them. “Dave’s tough,” continues the bassist. “I liked it, but he wants to makes sure that you’re doing it as good as you possibly can. ‘Tough beans, you’re gonna have to sit down and forget what you used to play’.”
That the Cynics emerged from the immersive Genn experience as a better, truer, and happier outfit justifies the faith shown by its label 604, and the faith the band had in itself.
“We said let’s make the music that we want to,” Puritch states, before concluding - with a laugh - that artistic integrity “does exist!”
Which leaves Coutu to come up with the snappy tagline. “The album is just a whole bunch of different emotions,” he says. “Like ten days of the week.”
Sharks
Armchair Cynics Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Waiting to come and drag me down
With copious amounts of pills
And amphetamines to combat ourselves
What used to be the simplest days
Became so complicated with cocktails of colourful meds
Now I'm just another stray dog on the boulevard
Don't tell me in your little tone
I hate to say I told you so
Could you just let it go
Help me find a way out of this mess
I'm sick of all the choices that I made
When there was simply nothing left
Help me put a distance to my past
Scars I have
Sharks below the surface
Talk is getting serious
About the future and all my big plans
But like love lost in los angeles
It comes and goes with the latest of trends
What used to be a lucrative business has just gone to shit
With the collapse of the meaning itself
Now I'm just another stray dog on the boulevard
With the last of the boomtown whores
Don't tell me in your little tone
I hate to say I told you so
Could you just let it go
Help me find a way out of this mess
I'm sick of all the choices that I made
When there was simply nothing left
Help me put a distance to my past
The scars I have
I cannot forget
Sharks below the surface
More, more
Oh, can you help me get
More, more
Oh, just a little bit
More, more?
Oh, will you help me get
Just a little bit more?
Help me find a way out of this mess
I'm sick of all the choices that I made
When there was simply nothing left
Help me put a distance to my past
Scars I have
I cannot forget
Sharks below the surface
Sharks below the surface
Sharks below the surface
The lyrics to Armchair Cynics' "Sharks" depict a sense of struggle and desperation in the midst of addiction and the aftermath of bad choices. The opening lines "There's sharks below the surface, waiting to come and drag me down" are a metaphor for the darkness and danger that lurk below the surface level of our lives. In this case, the singer is referring to drug addiction and the constant threat of relapse or overdose. The mention of "copious amounts of pills and amphetamines" highlights the severity of the situation and the desperate measures taken to combat the pain.
The second verse refers to the singer's past, which they are trying to distance themselves from while also acknowledging the scars it has left behind. The line "What used to be the simplest days, became so complicated with cocktails of colorful meds" suggests that the singer's problems have only escalated with time and the use of medication. The reference to being a "stray dog on the boulevard" and the "last of the hometown stars" implies a loss of identity and purpose, as well as a sense of loneliness and abandonment.
The chorus pleads for help and relief from the situation at hand, emphasizing the need to move on from the past and find a way towards a better future. The repetition of "sharks below the surface" throughout the song reinforces the idea that the danger is always present and the singer must remain vigilant in order to avoid being pulled under.
Line by Line Meaning
There's sharks below the surface
There are hidden dangers that I fear
Waiting to come and drag me down
These dangers could overpower and harm me
With copious amounts of pills
I've resorted to relying on drugs to cope
And amphetamines to combat ourselves
We take drugs to fight our own demons
What used to be the simplest days
Life used to be easier and uncomplicated
Became so complicated with cocktails of colourful meds
Now, life is complicated due to the different drugs we take
Now I'm just another stray dog on the boulevard
I feel lost and aimless, like a stray animal wandering the street
With the last of the hometown stars
The shining lights of my community are no longer present
Don't tell me in your little tone
I don't want to hear any condescending comments
I hate to say I told you so
I don't want to sound like I'm gloating or rubbing it in, but I did warn you
Could you just let it go
Please don't dwell on it or bring it up again
Help me find a way out of this mess
I need assistance in getting out of this difficult situation
I'm sick of all the choices that I made
I regret the decisions I've made that led me here
When there was simply nothing left
I was desperate and had no other options
Help me put a distance to my past
I want to move on from my previous mistakes and experiences
Scars I have
I carry emotional wounds and pain from my past
Talk is getting serious
People are discussing important matters with me
About the future and all my big plans
We are discussing my aspirations and future goals
But like love lost in los angeles
My dreams and plans are fleeting and may not come to fruition
It comes and goes with the latest of trends
My hopes and dreams are subject to change depending on what's popular
What used to be a lucrative business has just gone to shit
My successful enterprise has now turned to ruin
With the collapse of the meaning itself
The purpose and significance of my work has disappeared
Now I'm just another stray dog on the boulevard
I feel like an insignificant wanderer on the street
With the last of the boomtown whores
The last remnants of my once-thriving community are now forgotten and neglected
More, more
I still want and need more
Oh, can you help me get
Can you assist me in getting more?
Oh, just a little bit
Even a small amount would be appreciated
Oh, will you help me get
Can you aid me in obtaining more?
Just a little bit more?
I want just a little bit more, please
Sharks below the surface
There are still hidden dangers that I must be wary of
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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