The Rural Alberta Advantage with July Talk at First Ave, Minneapolis, 10/17/14

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July Talk's creepy antics.
The summer that I discovered the Rural Alberta advantage, I was volunteering in the herpetology department of a museum of natural history. I listened to Hometowns incessantly as I looked through buckets of preserved box turtles. Hearing their music still reminds me of the smell of ethanol and hundred-year-old snakes. It may seem remarkable that I find this pleasant, but I do. Ah, nostalgia.

The RAA were here in Minneapolis last January testing out new material for their album Mended with Gold, recently out on Saddle Creek Records. They're a three piece band from (surprise) Alberta. They were on tour with another Canadian band, July Talk, whose performance was unique and surprisingly disturbing.

I've never before experienced a concert in which I liked the way a band sounded but couldn't stand their stage antics. In fact, never has my overall opinion of a band been formed exclusively or even primarily by their stage antics.

July Talk's guitarist biting its singer.
July Talk is a five-piece band out of Toronto with a guitar-wielding frontman and a female singer whose weird interactions were both captivating and off-putting. From the opening notes of their first song, the dude is grabbing her, biting her, pushing her. He mimes vomiting in his hand and making her lick it up. Meanwhile, the female singer is walking around glassy-eyed, adoring. It was the most bizarrely misogynist rock show I've ever seen. She also spit two huge loogies (I've never before needed to spell the word "loogie") onto the stage directly in front of me, which I found disgusting. Put simply, I wanted it to stop, even though I found their music to be somewhat compelling and, at times, even catchy. It was a weird experience, and it was harshing the previously-described nostalgia vibe I wanted to cultivate.
Nils Edeloff of the RAA.

Enter The Rural Alberta Advantage -- the juxtaposition was bizarre. You couldn't ask for a more wholesome or humble band. They're thrilled to be on stage, you can tell. The only comparison you can make between the RAA and July Talk is that they're Canadian.

RAA's music is driven by insistent drumming from Paul Banwatt, who is one of my favorite drummers. Back when I owned a drumset, it had an RAA sticker on it. I was amused to see on this tour that Paul's drumset sports a UUVVWWZ sticker -- so did mine. I love Banwatt's enthusiasm, and I also love that they put him right up at the front of the stage rather than behind the others, rotated 90 degrees so that you can watch his hands and feet while he plays. More bands should feature their drummers in this way.

Overall, the show was fantastic -- high-energy and well-executed. Go see them, if you can!


At the end, Paul handed me the setlist. Here it is:

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