Weaves is the debut album from the Toronto-based foursome. It was mixed by the legendary Alex Newport and the band have just finished a UK tour with Beach Slang. They will be back later in the month for their own headline shows. Weaves have received a lot of attention for their weird music and bent pop tunes. Fortunately they have the songs to back up the hype.

Vocalist Jasmyn Burke's voice is a bit like Kimya Dawson, a bit like Karen O, a bit like Lou Barlow. The musical backdrop provided by guitarist and co-songwriter Morgan Waters, bassist Zach Bines and drummer Spencer Cole is reminiscent of Pavement, Deerhoof and The Pixies without explicitly sounding like any of them. Waters is deliberately arch and specializes in playing notes to the side of the ones that you expect. His guitar plays like Joey Santiago’s lead guitar and Kim Deal’s backing vocals in one package.

Weaves is experimental music wrapped up in bubblegum. The songs are at their strongest when they are duets between Burke’s voice and Water’s guitar. Opening track ‘Tick Tock’ is one such duet. ‘Birds And Bees’ again uses the guitar in lieu of a second vocalist but this time it's a call-and-response structure. ‘Coo Coo’ has a world music vibe, like a Peter Gabriel rhythm and feel, mixed with ‘80s cod reggae, and a childlike chorus that you'll be repeating maddeningly all day. Recent single ‘Candy’ is satisfyingly noisy and discordant with a faux-synth breakdown. ‘Shithole’ starts out sounding so like The Pixies that I expect to hear Frank Black’s voice. It takes a The Strokes-style turn, and blossoms into a post-punk work of brilliance.

Weaves are renowned for their weird pop but they are frighteningly adept at straight guitar pop too as on ‘Shithole’, and even more so on ‘Eagle’ which has a mellow indie swing in the vein of The Folk Implosion, with a guitar line on the chorus that is parked at the junction of The Beatles and Paradise Lost.

Weaves have tried very hard to make a pure indie pop album that sounds like nothing else out there, and they have succeeded completely. Weaves is an original take on well worn tropes and a spectacular, individual debut album that follows perfectly from their earlier EP while evolving their sound and songwriting. I'm excited to hear where they will go next.

Weaves is available from Amazon and iTunes, and you can catch Weaves on tour at the following dates:

Tour Dates
30/06, Derby, The Venue
01/07, Bedford, Esquires
02/07, Aldershot, West End Centre
03/07, Brighton, The Prince Albert
04/07, Guildford, Boileroom
08/07, Winchester, Railway
09/07, Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms
12/07, Leicester, The Musician
15/07, Southwold, Latitude Festival
17/07, Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy
18/07, Newcastle, Think Tank
19/07, Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
23/07, Huntington, Secret Garden Party Festival
02-04/09, Salisbury, End of the Road Festival

The latest single from Weaves upcoming self-titled debut album is available to stream now,

'Coo Coo' is built around an uncharacteristically mellow percussive pulse and a simple, yet subtly irresistible vocal melody and sums up the energy of the band's live performance, which, according to vocalist Jasmyn Burke, is in part the result of the song's development as a longtime staple of Weaves' live sets. 

Jasmyn said: "This one came together relatively quickly but it's really grown on us as a band as we've played it live.

“We recorded it off the floor with very few overdubs as we really feed off of each other when we play it in a live context, so we tried to capture that in the recording.

“The song sort of just fell out of me. I had been frustrated with a person who had been in and out of my life for many years and I finally decided to cut them out for good.

“So for me Coo Coo was about looking back and also letting go. I was sort of laughing at my time spent jumping in and out of some sort of 10-year rendezvous that was leading to nowhere because I don't think we ever really wanted it to work. I mean, where would be the fun in that?" 

You can check out ‘Coo Coo’ below:

(soundcloud)https://soundcloud.com/weavesmusic/weaves-coo-coo-1(/soundcloud)

Weaves UK tour

07 June - Tunbridge, Wells Forum #
08 June - London, Dingwalls #
09 June - Birmingham, Sunflower Lounge #
10 June - Edinburgh, Electric Circus #
11 June - Liverpool, Studio 2 #
12 June - Manchester, Deaf Institute #
13 June - Nottingham, Bodega #
14 June - Cardiff, The Globe #
15 June - Cambridge, Portland Arms #
20 June - Nottingham, Rough Trade (in-store)
21 June - London, Rough Trade East (in-store)
22 June - Bristol, Rise Music (in-store)
30 June - Derby, The Venue
01 July - Bedford, Esquires
02 July - Aldershot, West End Centre
03 July - Brighton, Hope and Rain
04 July - Guildford, Boileroom
08 July - Winchester, Railway
09 July - Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms
12 July - Leicester, The Musician
15 July - Southwold, Latitude festival
17 July - Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy
18 July - Newcastle, Think Tank
19 July - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
23 July - Huntington, Secret Garden Party festival