DANES (CA)

Over the last couple of years, danes have cemented a reputation as Vancouver's premier peddlers of sarcastic, creepy, and oddly propulsive noise rock. Guitarist and vocalist Geordon Gaskill-Cadwallader, drummer Evan Heggen, and bassist Phillip Moore have honed their signature sound to reference genre titans like Shellac, Unwound and The Jesus Lizard, without committing pastiche, and always hinting at odd, untold horizons. Acid-cloud guitar noise lingers and curdles over roiling, mutating bass lines, creating a caustic din held together by nimble, adaptive drum work. Despite a bold and uncompromising vision, danes have become some of the Vancouver DIY music scene's most transfixed and magnetic performers.

The band's latest release, 2022's Dislocation EP, came together during a fertile creative period through long months of pandemic lock-down that saw the group embracing collaborative songwriting for the first time. Sneering, experimental and sometimes playful, the EP is exceptionally diverse in tone and mood — its six tracks represent a crest in the band's development, a snapshot of their identity coming into full focus.

Danes formed in early 2020 when Moore joined an early iteration of the project that had Gaskill-Cadwallader and Heggen performing simple, Hives-influenced, garage rock. While initially an outlet for the guitarist's songwriting ideas, the band's identity solidified during the recording of their debut LP Molds in 2021, folding in all three members' influences, and becoming something altogether more gnarly and forward-thinking.  

"All three of these players clearly have many inspirations and genres they pull from but marry it perfectly together to bring their own sound to the table. Not as harsh or unruly as other Canadian noise contemporaries such as Metz or Tunic. Dislocation finds itself somewhere between modern noise and the west coast noise pop scenes from San Francisco in the mid 2000's, beautifully bleak and chaotic." - Cups N Cakes
"The abrasive rumbling of Vancouver’s danes does not detract from the post-rock artistry at work, in fact it enhances it." - Irregular Dreams
"Post-hardcore, noise-rock, art-punk, the trio favors several angles of approach with as many different emotions to form a coherent whole. The noise-rock made in Chicago rubs shoulders with the sensitivity of Dischord's groups and sends back to fire their compatriots Rockets Red Glare or The Plan. Angular, abrasive with lots of traps and finds inside, direct and focused on atmospheres at the same time, sometimes more complex and silky, Danes is particularly convincing." - Perte & Fracas
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