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Music

Loud Lullabye

LULLABYE ARKESTRA with METZ, BRIDES and DANGER BAY at the Poor Alex Theatre (772A Dundas West), tonight (Thursday, September 3). $8. 416-324-9863.


If you caught any of Lullabye Arkestra’s first shows back in 2001, you might get a sense of déjà vu when listening to their new album, Threats/Worship (Vice). Not only have the husband/wife duo returned to their stripped-down drums-and-bass format, but they’ve also included Voodoo, the first sludgy punk-metal song they ever thrashed out together.

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The record’s minimalism is a far cry from the sprawling soul-metal band they’d become by the time they released their first official album, Ampgrave (Constellation), which sometimes involved a dozen players. But, as they discovered when attempting to tour behind that debut, there’s a lot to be said for keeping things simple.

“When that lineup worked live, it was really powerful,” says drummer/vocalist Justin Small over pints and pub grub. “I wouldn’t say that we won’t return to that, but right now we’re way more focused on being a two-person band. It’s so much easier.

“There was no way we could tour with 10 people, and when we played as a duo it didn’t sound like the album,” continues bassist/vocalist Katia Taylor-Small. “I don’t feel like we have to emulate the album perfectly, but [the new album’s minimalism allows us to] pull it off live with just the two of us. When we first started, it was supposed to be this pummelling duo blasting your brain.”

For better or worse, the folks at Constellation (who also put out records by Small’s other band, Do Make Say Think) weren’t enthusiastic about dropping the horn section and organ, so the pair now find themselves on Vice, which is likely in a better position to access a receptive hard-rock audience than the sensitive, politically minded folks at their former label.

“We were surprised Constellation took Ampgrave in the first place, and then we pushed it even further with this one, so we can totally understand why they weren’t that into it,” Taylor-Small admits.

And so they find themselves back where they began: a couple of kids in love making minimalist metal together. In fact, it was metal that brought them together in the first place.

“We’d only been a couple for about a week when we started the band, so our first dates were pretty much at the rehearsal space,” Small laughs.

Taylor-Small adds, “When you hook up with someone who’s a musician, the first thing you think of is jamming together.”

benjaminb@nowtoronto.com

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