Music
Press
Asthenic Process is already a hit with the iTunes Music Store's discerning staff. They made it one of their weekly Alternative Music Staff Favourites.
- www.thesmears.ca
By Shawn Conner
Publish Date: March 8, 2007
The Smears
Asthenic Process (Independent)
Rene Botha's wailing sets the tone for the Smears, a quartet with an intense approach to its pop-punk dynamic. For instance, on the band's new album, it's the singer's soaring vocal on the chorus that makes you take notice of "Wish You Would", and it's her "ooh-oohs" that give the first single, "So Scared", its hook.
But then, everything on Asthenic Process, the group's full-length debut, is played with conviction by Botha and her no-last-names-given bandmates Squid (bass), Angela (drums), and Dustin (lead guitar). The aforementioned "So Scared" dares comparisons to No Doubt at its hungriest , and "Jaded" showcases the frontwoman's ability to slam a vocal home. The Smears demonstrate the most promise when they stray from their look-how-hard-we-can-rock manifesto, however. The lost-love lament "Highway IV" benefits from a bittersweet melody that takes the fury down a notch, and "Distant Memory" proves the band has mastered the fine art of the kiss-off song. In the end, the Smears-who play a CD-release party Friday (March 9) at the Media Club-accomplish what they set out to do: create the kind of stinging, brash, hot-to-the-touch rock 'n' roll that justifies spiky 'dos, wallet chains, and melodramatic lyrics about being drunk for days.
- The Georgia Straight
By Shawn Conner
Publish Date: March 8, 2007
The Smears
Asthenic Process (Independent)
Rene Botha's wailing sets the tone for the Smears, a quartet with an intense approach to its pop-punk dynamic. For instance, on the band's new album, it's the singer's soaring vocal on the chorus that makes you take notice of "Wish You Would", and it's her "ooh-oohs" that give the first single, "So Scared", its hook.
But then, everything on Asthenic Process, the group's full-length debut, is played with conviction by Botha and her no-last-names-given bandmates Squid (bass), Angela (drums), and Dustin (lead guitar). The aforementioned "So Scared" dares comparisons to No Doubt at its hungriest , and "Jaded" showcases the frontwoman's ability to slam a vocal home. The Smears demonstrate the most promise when they stray from their look-how-hard-we-can-rock manifesto, however. The lost-love lament "Highway IV" benefits from a bittersweet melody that takes the fury down a notch, and "Distant Memory" proves the band has mastered the fine art of the kiss-off song. In the end, the Smears-who play a CD-release party Friday (March 9) at the Media Club-accomplish what they set out to do: create the kind of stinging, brash, hot-to-the-touch rock 'n' roll that justifies spiky 'dos, wallet chains, and melodramatic lyrics about being drunk for days.
- The Georgia Straight
The Smears
Asthenic Process
Independent
The Smears dabble with double-edged defiance like lunatic geniuses dabble with explosives. Their doctrine – a careful concoction of business and pleasure. Their music – neither mainstream, nor exactly against the current. Their image – equal parts beauty and balls. It seems to be a precarious place to exist, but great art often comes from tension. Such is the case with Asthenic Process. Both musically as well and lyrically, there is a taut emotional quality throughout this record. There’s fierce lament in “Days Alone,” sensual urgency in “So Scared” and “Wake Me,” sober reflection of “Highway IV,” and the spirited resolve of “Go.” It’s a mixture that shows surprising maturity for a debut record and suggests the potential for great things from this band. One minor gripe is that the mix doesn’t quite capture the hard-hitting drumming of Angela Creamer in all its lung-pummelling glory. Nevertheless, if you like your rock music with powerful female vocals and tightly wrought songs that will envelop your psyche like obsessive compulsive disorder then it’s time for you to get smeared. - The Nerve Magazine
The Smears
Asthenic Process
Independent
The Smears dabble with double-edged defiance like lunatic geniuses dabble with explosives. Their doctrine – a careful concoction of business and pleasure. Their music – neither mainstream, nor exactly against the current. Their image – equal parts beauty and balls. It seems to be a precarious place to exist, but great art often comes from tension. Such is the case with Asthenic Process. Both musically as well and lyrically, there is a taut emotional quality throughout this record. There’s fierce lament in “Days Alone,” sensual urgency in “So Scared” and “Wake Me,” sober reflection of “Highway IV,” and the spirited resolve of “Go.” It’s a mixture that shows surprising maturity for a debut record and suggests the potential for great things from this band. One minor gripe is that the mix doesn’t quite capture the hard-hitting drumming of Angela Creamer in all its lung-pummelling glory. Nevertheless, if you like your rock music with powerful female vocals and tightly wrought songs that will envelop your psyche like obsessive compulsive disorder then it’s time for you to get smeared. - The Nerve Magazine
Discography
Asthenic Process - full length debut CD featuring the single So Scared. Video for So Scared currently in regular rotation MuchMusic and MuchLoud.
Photos
Bio
The Smears , one of Vancouvers top 5 bands for the 2007 CFOX seeds competition is a band that has hit its stride, right on schedule. Started in 2001 by drummer Ange and guitarist/singer Rene, the band has been building their reputation with quiet determination and careful intention. Crafting perfect, three minute punk/pop tunes laced with emotion and power, assembling a band with the right combination of skill and personality, fine-tuning a live show that has become one of the hottest tickets in town.
“We didn’t want to release the CD until we really felt ready. It’s time. We’re ready.”
The Smears first video, for the song So Scared, was received to enthusiastic response from fans and the media. Shot in various hidden locations in Southern BC, the video combines action, terror, psychotic train conductors, and clips of The Smears doing what they do best - performing their material under dangerous conditions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVyjd5RM0Ts
While the video is doing the rounds on the Internet and is receiving regular rotation on MuchMusic and MuchLoud, the debut CD - Asthenic Process - is getting great reviews. Twelve songs with the kind of raw intensity and inescapable hooks that put the band well above the masses. The sound is a mix of old school and new punk and power-pop. It’s the kind of music that defies easy description, except to say that it is a refreshing example of how rock and punk never grow old in the right hands.
Imagine the bastard offspring of AFI, The Pretenders, Curve, No Doubt, Siouxsie and the Banshees, PJ Harvey, and, well, The Offspring. You’ll find melody, hooks, chainsaw guitars, hard-ass drums, and a female voice with the kind of power we haven’t heard since Concrete Blonde. It is a glorious mixture.
In support of the CD, and because it’s what they do best, the band is furiously booking shows. Well known to Vancouver audiences (The Nerve referred to their Halloween show as the “fucking raddest night ever”), The Smears are ready to push further afield and infect more people with their energy.
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