Music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
Jordan Carrier & The Soviets (2012)
Absence of Wonder (2007)
Photos
Bio
Several times in the last few years the walls at Vancouvers legendary Commodore Ballroom shook with a thousand people shouting the lyrics to local radio hit single Club People. Jordan Carrier and the Soviets brought the anthems and the crowds did the rest. Infectious melodies, powerful rock songs performed by a killer band and a singer whose intensity is almost scary.
For their debut album as Jordan Carrier And The Soviets they do exactly what the name implies. Long before political fear mongering, Soviet had a simple meaning an organized group of workers and working hard was what the band wanted to do. As Jordan puts bluntly, Our work is making music.
When front man Jordan Carrier first decided to step back into production following his win from Foxs Seeds 2008 contest, his time was spent writing and crafting the music and he hadnt given a single thought to what the band should be called.
We chose The Soviets for several reasons. First, there are no more Soviets and The Soviet Threat is just a ghost of a boogeyman the term itself has become archaic. Secondly, it sounds fucking awesome with the added bonus of making the right people angry. Billing it as Jordan Carrier was increasingly unfair. I wanted to scrap using my name since it was only in there because I was too busy making the music to even think about a name. But with the positive press around the name we decided to commit that dreaded and the.
The Soviets came into being, like all good things, over pints in a pubwhen Soviets drummer, Brendan Mclean first expressed interest in working with Jordan on something. If youre not familiar with Brendan you may have to peek your head out from the rock its hiding under as hes one of the busiest drummers in Vancouver, said Jordan. He comes from more of a Jazz and Math Rock background but is also a sought after turntableist . Calling him the human metronome wouldnt be risking hyperbole.
The next Soviet would be bassist and recording engineer Brad Graham. Jordan met him when Jordan was doing some session work with Vancouver Folk Singer Jason Mitchell. Brad also had a hand in Absence Of Wonder since it partially recorded at Turtle Recording Studios in White Rock the studio where Brad has worked for several years.
All that was left was the acquisition of guitarist Darren Henderson, another old friend brought into the fold, and once the band had finished the Seeds competition they started working on a new batch of songs.
The result was the new self-titled album that blends influences as diverse as Coldplay, The Shins, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. To Here builds tension and suspense only to come crashing to an epic finale, whereas other songs like Things and Im Able, Im Abel have a more introspective shade. High energy songs like Spill and Tanks and Planes verge on the heavier side and lyrically have more political poignancy. Compared to Jordans first album Absence of Wonder, the tracks are decidedly heavier rock, but the songs all retain Jordans complexly woven lyrics over tracks that distilled the bands varied musical influences.
Since his early days when Jordan was the front man for the regionally successful band Cozybones, Jordan has never quite left music behind.
You never take a break from writing and arranging music. Ive been doing it in my head since I was a kid, but I did take a definite break form recording, performing and producing music. It was time to grow up and see where I was going.
In 2007 he started heavily writing and producing again and that seed germinated into Jordans solo effort, Absence of Wonder (One of the best local releases of the year. Tom Harrison, Vancouver Province) which was followed by his Fox Seeds entry in 2008. Club People became one of the most requested songs that year and launched the band into a streak of high profile opening gigs. Jordan Carrier and the Soviets have since shared the stage with Loverboy, Daniel Wesley, Wide Mouth Mason, Odds, Marcy Playground, Thornley and, most recently, Trooper. I think that the bigger acts know that well do the leg work for them, said Jordan whipping up the crowd and frying the stage It happens every time.
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