Bad Animal

The boys of Calgary rock act Bad Animal are always willing to do their part.

Take, for example, during the recording of their recently released debut album Tonight at fast-approaching legendary local OCL Studios.

During the productive week they spent in the space, which is just outside of the city limits, they recorded, they lived and they did what they do best.

“We set the record for the most beer ever drank in a studio session,” proudly says frontman Ben Painter sitting in the Ship & Anchor while uncharacteristically nursing a water due to recent Thanksgiving celebrations. “It was a big feat.”

But it was for a good cause. Well, a couple anyway.

On the more charitable side of things, well, the results of that imbibing did some philanthropic work.

“We funded a high school event — our recycling,” says drummer Trevor Stoddart.

Apparently, some heartless thieves had lifted the efforts of a bottle drive collected to pay for an upcoming dance or function at a local school, and when they put out an emergency call about their situation, the studio was more than happy to offer up those bags and bags and bags of empties the band left in their wake.

Bad Animal there to save the day!

On a more selfish yet giving note, that time and consumption also helped produce in Tonight one of the most polished yet gnarly, invigorating and — why not — intoxicating straight-up rock records to come out of this city in recent memory. Recalling the smart, punchy and melodic NYC rock of early Strokes with other tart, tangy tastes from the same sonic palette as The Hives, Arctic Monkeys and Cage the Elephant, they nailed a sound and vision that is as realized as it is relentlessly catchy.

When it was released this summer, it officially, loudly and proudly announced the arrival of a band that’s actually been around for quite some time now, in one form or another.

Yes, technically, Bad Animal has been off its leash for a year and a half now, but the core of Painter, Stoddart and guitarist Marek Skiba have been working on music together for the past decade.

Different bands, different incarnations, they were finally beginning to get some traction when Painter was diagnosed with cancer, which put his entire life “on hold” for full year — a time when he didn’t write, work on his art, merely focused on getting better.

“It was the last thing I was thinking about, writing songs,” he says.

In remission for five years now, Bad Animal — which is rounded out by bassist Danny Trevena and guitarist Kyle Gritchen — has become something that he’s thrown himself into with a sense of urgency and undeniable embrace-of-life that comes through in the incendiary Tonight.

“This is finally the product we’ve come out with, this is our band,” Painter says. “It feels nice to play be able to play shows and get some recognition.”

And they are. Tonight has opened a great many doors for them and should ensure that when the quintet hits the road for a cross-country tour sometime in the near future it will be to packed rooms.

But it’s getting folks through the door and in front of the stage that both members think will cement the deal, with Painter calling their live show “the best part of our whole entire band.”

“We’re a live band,” Stoddart agrees. “We’re 100 per cent a live band … That’s the whole essence of us.”

Painter continues. “If you don’t have fun watching us play, there’s something wrong with you. We’re going to make you party and have a good time.”

That skill, again, will be put to use for good this Saturday.

The gang will headline the Listen Up! benefit for the Calgary Distress Centre — the 24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year support line (403-266-4357) for those Calgarians in need — which takes place at Dickens Pub and features other acts such as Free the Cynics, All Hands on Jane and Time Boy, and is hosted by X92.9’s Matt Berry.

“Anything we can do, play some music, raise some money, it’s awesome,” Painter says, noting they jumped at the chance to donate their time when asked by Rich Paxton who volunteers at the Centre and is also frontman for Free the Cynics.

But will they be following the lead of organizer Paxton, who has also pledged to have a unicorn tattooed on his derrière by The Dudes’ Danny Vacon if $8,000 or more is raised on Saturday night? Will they literally put their butts on the line for charity?

The pair laugh.

“It’s just Rich,” Painter says. “I’m not signing up for any of that. I’ve got enough tattoos. We’ve got some bad basement tattoos ourselves — one’s enough for us.”

So. Almost anything for a good cause.

Bad Animal perform Saturday at Dickens Pub as part of the Listen Up! charity event to raise funds for the Calgary Distress Centre. - Mike Bell

Hard drinking tattooed quintet from Calgary who have nothing in common with country music. Watch these guys. Seriously. - Alan Cross

There are artists who will search their whole life to find “it.” “It” is sometimes described as “the sound,” “the look,” and “the wow factor.” However, with such intangible concepts, there isn’t really a formula or reliable way to get there. “It” just is. Bad Animal is a band that has “it” in spades, whatever that may be. Within my first meeting with the band and first time hearing their music, they became one of my favourite local acts for a reason I can’t quite describe. Quickly building momentum with a beer soaked wake of local support, the band brings us their latest music video following a beyond sold-out album release a couple months ago, and a coveted opening slot with The Used and Blink 182 during Stampede.

IMVERYAPE is proud to premiere the video for Wonderland off of Bad Animal’s aforementioned debut album Tonight. The video (by Jim Madden) does its best to encapsulate the band’s hurricane of performance energy, and succeeds in a blistering strobe of percussive power. Clocking in just under 2.5 minutes, the song is a raucous, hard hitting party anthem that doesn’t slow down or hold back even for a moment. With the accompanying darkly lit, narrow frame shooting, the video resembles something like the Blair Witch of party footage; and with the same intensity. Drinks fly, audience members fly…It’s all a blur. And Bad Animal would have it no other way. The footage well captures what it’s like to be at one of the their packed shows. It’s one messy, breathless amalgam of sweat, beer, and grinning faces screaming for more. - Willow Grier

The opening act was Bad Animal hailing from Calgary, AB. In one sentence, these guys embodied everything that is great about live rock and roll. The opening bass sent a deep literal vibe through the crowd – the venue carried it very nicely. Their music was a combination of louder, punk-type songs and songs that were less intense, yet still had a great rock beat. Credit must be given to their stage presence: every member knew how to perform on a stage instead of just play. Lead singer Benjamin Painter even used a megaphone to sing at one point, channeling the spirit of Scott Weiland. I’m not exaggerating when I say Bad Animal is THE rock band to see live: I can’t remember the last time I saw such a genuine rock show in a venue that size. They embody talent, rock spirit, and the magic of what good live music is. It’s no wonder Charlie recommended them so much. What a fantastic opener. - Cazzy Lewchuk

CALGARY — There’s a sort of chaotic magnetism surrounding Bad Animal. Reminiscent of the raucous tornado of a similarly named scruffy pink muppet, the band has burst onto the Calgary music scene and excited audiences with their distinct brand of hard-hitting arena rock compressed into a bar setting.

To be frank, this band would not be outpaced playing with Arctic Monkeys or Cage The Elephant. In fact, there is such a cultivated and distinct sound about them, it’s hard to believe they are only about to release their first album (it’s fantastic by the way).

In reality, some of the members had been making music together for quite some time when they were forced to pause during frontman Ben Painter’s battle with cancer. Not to be held down for long, once Painter was in recovery, his mind switched back to writing songs with long-time friend Marek Skiba. Currently, Bad Animal has come to include Skiba and Kyle Gritchen on guitar, Trevor Stoddart on drums, and Danny Trevena on bass.

When asked to describe the band’s sound, Skiba quickly conjures an analogy: “You know how Dean Martin would go onstage and he would be holding a drink but never sips it? It’s the swirl of the drink. And people are just thinking, ‘Aww damn that’s cool.’”

This quote is a pretty apt representation of what the guys are like in person: energetic, clever, and quick to answer.

To their credit, their fun-having ways ended up setting a record (while they recorded their album) at OCL studios… It was for drinking the most during a session. And this even went further when the proceeds from the bottles collected ended up saving a high school’s dance, whose fund-raising recyclables were tragically stolen. Bad Animal is all heart (and a lot of rosé).

Fun and games aside, however, the album they are releasing has a ton of great moments. Drawing from heartbreaking personal experience, to comic books, to dealings with the particularly vapid, the album is “a series of vignettes. Many different windows into different people’s lives,” as Gritchen describes.

But Painter says the band’s real merit is in their live performance. “It’s all about the energy. We want to go fucking insane, and leave it all on the stage… We really believe in what we have here.”

Maybe you’ll see Bad Animal “getting lost” in the woods by your house, or maybe you’ll see them melting faces in a crowded bar. Whatever the occasion may be, you can be sure that there will be an epic soundtrack to accompany them.

Catch Bad Animal’s album release at Broken City on June 17th. Also follow their “Get Lost” video series where they take acoustic versions of their songs to strange and sometimes uncomfortable places. - Willow Grier