Karl Escape, a post-hardcore band from Whitby, released its debut record, Songs About Nothing, at an album release show at The Atria in downtown Oshawa on Saturday, Jan. 17.
The band was supported by indie-punk bands Glass Cactus, experimental trio Two Cats and DJ Gregorino.
The Atria is no stranger to hosting upcoming local acts, and this show was no different.
The four artists offered a high-energy performance of original music and a peppy DJ setlist to end the night on a high. Karl Escape previously played in Oshawa at Kops Records last November.
Guitarist Juan Mendez and drummer Austin Gauvin are friends from high school and played together in a band for a time before reuniting as Karl Escape in 2023.
The band began writing material the next year. Mendez says his influences for this project include rock and post-hardcore bands Slint, At the Drive-In, and Shellac, all of which were active in the 1990s and early 2000s.
“Juan and I, we really connected with At the Drive-In, so that’s one of mine for sure. I’m very into, like, heavier post hardcore,” says Gauvin, naming Alexisonfire as another favourite.
Gauvin’s hard-hitting yet controlled drumming balances much of what makes this album sound ‘casual’ at times.
Karl Escape’s eight-track album was recorded live and not multi-tracked, with the exception of the vocals. The band’s presence in the room gives the album a gritty, DIY feel dotted with callbacks to grunge, punk and garage rock.
While the band says there is no specific message behind the lyrics, there is definitely an intention and a drive to convey as much of themselves as possible.
“That’s what I like about our band. We kind of just throw everything at the table, see what we like, and we have screamed vocals, we have cleans (conventional vocals), we have beautiful pop songs,” says Gauvin.
There is a basic ‘soft-loud-soft’ structure to all the songs, following in the footsteps of 90s rockers such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Melvins, and the like. All four band members share vocal duties, which brings variety to their songs and performances.
Songs like “Emily Stormdrain’” and “Hey, Where’s My Phone Charger” present a softer, pop-influenced side, whereas others, like the opening track “Me At The Zoo,” follow hardcore conventions with a free-flowing tempo, chunky, mid-heavy guitar riffs and harsh vocals.
Nothing about their songwriting is ‘proper,’ and the record often puts its ideas through a noisy grinder, yielding a raw, authentic expression without pretension.
There is no blunting the edge or shaving it down to a reel-friendly hook. Songs About Nothing is not an ‘easy’ listen and resists being taken too seriously, staying true to friction and dissonance over being ‘understood’ or popular.
“Dirt,” the last song of the album, was in fact the first song Karl Escape wrote, hinting at pop-punk and balladic influences and an amorphous emotionality teetering over the edge of sounding “corny.” But the band is in no hurry to commit to the bit.
“”The Dirt” originally had a lot of meaning behind it. The issue is that, like, we are always scared of being corny, but I feel like now we’ve learned, you kind of have to embrace being corny a little bit, versus just being absurdist in your lyrics,” says Mendez.
Gauvin says there’s “almost no better feeling” than being on stage and playing to a crowd.
“And as cheesy as it sounds, sometimes, you know, life is hard, and it’s really an escape. And again, it sounds cheesy or corny, but it does give you life,” he says.
Speaking over the beats of DJ Gregorino’s closing set, Mendez wants the community to support the local scene.
“Come see us play live, in particular buy [merchandise], and give us the most money possible!” he says with a grin.
The new eight-track album is available to stream and to purchase digitally and as a tape.
Karl Escape is Austin Gauvin (drums, vocals), Juan Mendez (guitar, vocals), Robert Lyons (guitar, vocals), Logan Leclair (bass, harsh vocals).