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CHSR interview Kyle Dawe - CHSR
interview with zine A music blog, yea - A Music Blog, Yea?
"The Second Renaissance" featured as Download This feature on CMJ - CMJ
Admittedly, at first listen, The Sole Pursuit’s Opposing Force sounds like many other punk-ish indie bands we’ve heard of late. But a few songs in, something special begins to appear, a certain je-ne-sais-quoi. Opposing Force reminds me a lot of what the Front Bottoms did with their self-titled 2011 album, which is take the emotion and frenetic energy of a punk song and give it an indie, if not accoustic, twist.
Perhaps it’s a natural progression from the ‘pop-punk’ movement of the 2000s, with listeners and artists alike growing up and being drawn to more thoughtful lyrics and nuanced music. And while some tracks, like “Unabashedly Unafraid”, are definitely more on the punk side of things, others like “Tunnel Metaphysics” and “The Second Renaissance” are more indie influenced. Despite these differences in genre, the album feels cohesive. Standout tracks include “It Wanes” and “Sedan”.
Frontman Kyle Dawe provides an interesting balance, vocal-wise, between the two genres as well, playing with various amounts of roughness throughout the record. He brings an earnestness to the lyrics, as though the band were still performing in garages. The percussion must be mentioned as well, which is absolutely fantastic. I’m a big fan of any good percussionist, and The Sole Pursuit’s is no exception.
Opposing Force is a fairly short but strong record, especially for those looking to expand their ‘genre horizons’ ever so slightly. You can hear the record in full below. We’re also giving away a free copy of Opposing Forces this week, and you can enter to win on our home page. - Un Nom Deguerre
Discography
"Opposing Force" on Drive Records/Fontana North (2013)
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Bio
Talking about music, once said Elvis Costello, is like dancing about architecture. Absolutely true. Nevertheless, here for you some words about The Sole Pursuit. Indie rock, but only in the sense that we have to say that so you wont feel too uncomfortable when hearing something in one of Opposing Forces seven songs that is decidedly just-rock, or singer-songwriter esque, or just plain pop. Lush and spare, though not always in equal measure, The Sole Pursuit is the sound of the search for a very long and wondrous musical engagement. Or something else really pretentious like that.
Clocking in at just under one half hour, Opposing Force runs for its life. The songwriting is as tight and focused as the production is expansive. Though certainly void of any high-concept, thematic elements run strong. The songs may explore seemingly diverse subjects mortality, regret, the alienation inherent in much new media but never without a sense of opposition to the forces preventing deeper understanding and progress shining through.
A studio project-turned-band, The Sole Pursuit are something of a peculiarity, musically speaking. What exactly does a band fronted by a Southern Ontario suburbanite equally obsessed with the Manic Street Preachers as The Promise Ring sound like? We could answer this question by listing off yet more of front-man Kyle Dawes musical influences, and they might yet evoke the right things to catch your interest and give Opposing Force some of your time. Then again they might not. Talking about music, once said Elvis Costello
Opposing Force available on Drive Records.
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