The Populars

The Populars ….aren’t. Not yet.

But they are three road dogs who have humped their sorry asses across North America, playing every shit hole on the continent for the last 11 years.

As often as not, they toiled outside the pop music spotlight, working for little or no pay and faint attention. No matter: they didn’t seek fame. They’re a throwback to a time when musicians played for the shear joy of “rippin’ the roof off”. Their vindication was their craft and the knowledge that the crap blasting through their radio was incapable of infecting their mission … to be the best god damn players creating the best music out there.

The product of that long journey is The Vindicator LP. Produced, mixed and engineered by Thomas Payne (Joydrop, Kathryn Rose), The Vindicator LP is a record that Mad Max, Dirty Harry, or Travis Bickle might have made: uncompromising, relentless, unerringly principled, and (most of all) angry. It’s a scream in the dark, raging against all that’s phony, contrived, and wrong with music and the world.

It starts with an invitation to the complacent (“Hurry Up and Die”) and ends with the prospects of what could be if they only would (“Dreaming of You”). In between, 10 tracks chronicle the vagaries of small town life, the isolation in defending your principles, and the exhilaration of paddling against the tide.

Dave, Ernie and Meck all grew up on the Canadian prairies, and their heroes were the stuff of Canadian punk legend – DOA, SNFU, The Smalls.

They earned their chops working with Edmonton alt-country legend Mike Plume as his back-up band. They toured relentlessly over three continents, playing 250+ dates per year.

After Mike Plume quit the road, Dave, Ernie and Meck realized they knew and loved only one thing: playing. That they also happened be best friends and one motherfucker of a power trio didn’t hurt either. And so The Populars were born.

While their dedication and work ethic harkens back to an earlier time, there is nothing “retro” about their sound: it’s the next logical step in the revival of true rock n’ roll. Their sound is dirty, loud, heavy, honest, simple, and raw. Seeing the band’s love and command of their craft invariably inspires two reactions – shear infectious joy, and amazement.

Finally, The Vindicator LP brings to disk what fans across North America are craving – the real deal.