Pants and Tie

Hailing from Toronto, Pants and Tie will suit up at the Alex P Keaton Jan. 3 and strike their electro-soul pose.

The trio of Mark Colborne, Rory Hanchard and Chris Trigg combine some danceable robo-synths with scorching rock vocals that sound like the ghost of James Brown being exorcised. This year they plan to release a much-delayed 12-inch and CD single that includes remixes by Shout Out Out Out Out and soft-wave purveyors Hot Chip.
- The London Free Press

Heads up! Pants And Tie are awesome. The Toronto trio make it their mission to sound like Suicide with guitars. Imagine that type of cold, hard fuzz and then add shrieking soul/blues vocals and a hint of synth glitch and you've got this band nailed. As a single, there isn't much to this self-produced CD, but it's enough to get a tantalizing taste of what these soul-punk innovators are about. "Washing Machine" sounds like a blues song fed through an angry, malfunctioning computer. It's rough sex with a vibrator. On "You Rub Me The Wrong Way" the guitars mostly step aside to let vocalist Mark Colborne wail like James Brown over a minimalist computer beat. The other two tracks are remixes of the first two songs by Shout Out Out Out Out's Nik7 and DVAS, respectively. They're typical boom-boom dance club fare and are nothing special. What really makes Pants And Tie stand out is the way they contrast their flat, frigid electric guitar with the heat of Colborne's big-dick vocals. You don't dance to that shit. You just let it jolt through your nerves like an electro-shock and wait out the seizures. - Evan Dickson - Chartattack

PANTS AND TIE
Pants and Tie at the El Mocambo. It's funny because the Bowie records that I'm most into at the moment are from the Plastic Soul phase, but this is a type of Spastic Soul, coupled with the best band that Mute Records never signed in 1980, Neue Deutsche Welle funk-brutalism/bruit, performance pop (Mark Colborne is a Hell of a performer, all wired and worrying. Pants and Tie's New Music Canada page makes mention of a "phallic Diamanda Galas," no less)! Compelling.
- The Ideal Tiger

Huge thanks to those who came out to the Shout Out Out Out Out show we promoted last Friday. About 450 people were there, which put the club at capacity, and caused some line-ups (thanks to the girls at the door for helping things run smoothly). Sorry if you were one of the people who had to stand around for a bit. Both openers (Pants & Tie and Crystal Castles) lived up to expectations, and everyone came away happy.


Speaking of Pants & Tie, they handed me a copy of their demo, and damn is it solid. A two-piece, fronted by Parkade's spastic actions and gritty vocals, they come off a bit like a more accessible 3RA1N1AC, mixed with whichever of the various '80s post-punk references you'd like to name-check. - Are You Familiar?

PANTS AND TIE

WHO ARE THEY?
Pants and Tie is a Toronto by way of Edmonton and London, UK trio that’s been lighting up dancefloors for almost five years now. With an aesthetic that’s rooted in the stark electro of Suicide — though guitarist Rory Hanchard says that “the loose idea of Suicide with guitars” was not so much trying to sound that way, but an approach to music-making — there’s an equal mix of post-punk production and sweat-drenched soul in their show. Check out singer Mark Colborne’s throat-ripping choruses on the band’s first single “You Rub Me the Wrong Way” for a taste.

WHAT’S THE 411?
Colborne moved from Edmonton to Toronto with his previous band some eight years ago, but when that fell apart he finally convinced Hanchard to join him as an Albertan expatriate. After playing for about a year as a duo, they met up with bassist Chris Trigg and moved towards a more developed sound. “Adding Chris’ bass definitely had a big effect,” says Hanchard during our conversation in Trinity-Bellwoods Park. “It was harsher before Chris came,” adds Colborne. Triggs, who’s often cracking wise, chimes in, “I’m much too polite for harsh music.” Since then, it’s been just over three years of steady gigging for the Pants and Tie crew.

WHERE HAVE I HEARD THEM?
Aside from the aforementioned single — which was released on an eponymous 12-inch EP in late 2008 — Pants and Tie has dropped a couple of tracks via compilation albums such as High Art for the Low Down, and have had tracks remixed by DVAS and Shout Out Out Out Out. And, most recently, you might have seen them opening up for a couple of upstart bands called Hot Chip and The xx. “I went to university with Alexis from Hot Chip and I played in an early incarnation of the band for a couple of years,” says Triggs, adding, “and then I left and they got massive.”

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR PANTS AND TIE?
Their most pressing project is finishing their long-gestating full-length album. For a band that seems able to adapt their sound to fit onto any bill (they’ve played hardcore shows and DJ affairs), arriving at a finished product is something of an elusive process. “The first tracks were laid down a long time ago now, so the sound of the band has developed,” says Colborne. “There’s been a lot of stop and go — recording and then figuring out what we want. We’re adding some horns and strings, so we’ll see what that sounds like. It probably won’t be what it sounds like it will sound like.” » CHRIS BILTON

Pants and Tie play The Piston (937 Bloor W). Saturday, May 29, 1am. PWYC. - Eye Weekly

Bands : Pants And Tie
Purveyors of: soul and Suicide

For everyone who's ever wondered what would it sound like if James Brown formed a band with Suicide and The Misfits, Pants and Tie at last provide an answer. Their robo-mojo no-wave soul-punk is not only fun to hyphenate, but kills on the dance floor. It washed us in sweat at the Sneaky Dee's 20th anniversary show on Sept. 19 and is coming back for an overdue Wavelength appearance. Gird your loins, people.

When I saw you at the Sneaky Dee's anniversary I called you "Devo with balls". Response?

Rory Hanchard: I honestly didn’t realize that Devo didn't have balls.

Chris Trigg: I'm trying to remember the times I've actually listened to Devo. It's under 10. But I really like the Rugrats theme song.

Mark Colborne: Well, the balls were really an afterthought, I think. Devo's like one huge ball to me, so putting balls on a ball just seems kind of awkward.

How did you get together and arrive at your unique sound?

RH: The original plan was really to be a kind of Suicide with guitar instead of keyboards.

CT: Well, truthfully, I was crashing Kate McGrann's birthday, a party that Mark was actually invited to. We just got talking about soul music and American literature. I joined a few months later, after a period of probation.

MC: The only thing that all three of us can agree on is soul music. Oh, except for Rory.

This summer you teased us on your MySpace blog about an upcoming 12” vinyl and CD single. Has that been released yet?

RH: I guess... no.

CT: We have some pins for sale.

MC: Not exactly, we've been waiting on a remix to come back and we're ashamed of the delay, so we're trying not to mention it. Um, early spring!

Tell us about the remixes that will be on it.

RH: There's a huge synth-driven remix by the guy who does the high kicks in Shout Out Out Out Out.

CT: The other one is coming across a vast ocean. We think it's somewhere over Greenland at the moment.

MC: We got really lucky and a couple of much bigger bands agreed to do remixes. One of them rhymes with Shot Schip.

Tell me about the tech gear that you use on stage.

RH: I use a couple of mediocre drum machines and a couple of nice synths.

CT: Fender jazz bass (Mexican).

MC: My backing guitarist has this crazy pedal that basically just completely fucks up everything. It's just blue and it's called "The Blue Box". I wreck a lot of mic stands, but they're not mine, so...

It seems like dance parties have been becoming more common in Toronto at venues that might have otherwise featured bands. Meanwhile there are a lot of bands that play danceable electronic music. Are live bands taking back parties from DJs?

RH: Chris is an excellent dancer.

CT: We played a great show at an amazing loft off Queen East called Labspace, which was kind of an art show/dance party. Marshmallow suits and violinists on trapezes. We'd like to do more of them.

MC: I've always felt that DJs are just another type of live performer. A great DJ and great band do the same kinds of things in terms of engaging the audience and creating a good set with strong energy and dynamics. I wouldn't make a distinction. We love playing with DJs.

You were the only band at the Sneaky Dee’s 20th anniversary show on Sept. 19. Am I just way out of touch? What's your relationship with that bar besides the fact that they have the best nachos in town?

RH: The Peter Project and Woodhands Wavelength (ed's note: WL 364) night was an especially memorable show there.

CT: I always associate Sneaky Dee's with several great Rock Plaza Central shows that I've seen there. It's always a fun place to play. Plus, I love the sweeping vista you see through the window as Bathurst runs down towards the lake.

MC: The Huckleberry Friends and Creeping Nobodies played that night too and the Nobodies were probably the best I've seen them. It's a fantastic room with great sound and a nice stage. I've seen some crazy amazing shows there. Ian Svenonius TOUCHED me in that room!

By Evan Dickson

- Wavelength