Artist: The Sainte Catherines
Album: Fireworks
Year: 2010
Genre: Punk / Emo
It’s both heartbreaking and fascinating to me when a band is capable of releasing their finest record before they call it quits. Especially a band that forged a strong catalog that contains multiple releases. Montréal’s The Saint Catherines accomplished this with their swansong Fire Works and I believe it’s easily the best and most gut-punching album of their career. The Saint Catherines walk the fine line between pop-driven punk rock, melodic hardcore and the more aggressive end of 90s emo. Sort of an Avail / Leatherface / Jawbreaker cocktail, if you will. That’s a very formidable pedigree of influences. If you listen to their albums front to back you can hear improvement and advancement in their songwriting. I won’t say I’m familiar with the band’s personal history, but I get the impression they were decently young when they got together and became more proficient as they went along. Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that their last record is as great as it is, yet it’s still more common for bands’ music to suffer in quality when they’re ready to put themselves out to pasture.
The Sainte Catherines have the ability to bring both suffering and joy (thanks Scherzo!) to the surface. Lyrics aren’t necessarily my main focus on albums. I know, I know, they are important. I always find myself concentrating more on the melodies (or lack thereof), instrumentation, structure, and overall sound than the words. Yet, there are times a band catches my attention with a line or two and I end up reading along to the lyric sheet to understand what’s being communicated. Fire Works is one of the records that caught me. For a record that is consistently upbeat musically, the lyrics bring forth a despondent sense of self-implemented closure and comes across as more of a eulogy for their past experiences and predictive regret of what will be missed when the music stops. And the music did stop, as this was The Sainte Catherines’ last record. I have no idea what happened to the band, but it’s clear that music wasn’t doing it for them anymore. The lyrics are either very existential or so personal that some don’t make sense. I tend to believe it’s the later of the two, which tells me singer Hugo Mudie poured the collective thoughts of the band and his soul into them. Sincere reflection is difficult to express in music and he’s done it beautifully. If you listen to songs such as “No Friends,” “Chub-e & Hank Iii - Vimont Stories Part Ii” or “Miss The Boys” and it doesn’t tug at you in some form, you have a happier life than most, or you are just dead inside. His lyrics will hold a special melancholy for those who have done time in a band or have had a job that takes you away from home. Taking in the lyrical theme as a whole, the content comes across as if death is ready to place its pointy finger on The Sainte Catherines.
“I won't miss waiting, shaking, singing my songs
Not even the late night drinking, but I know I'll miss the boys
I won't miss stressing out, talking to bands I don't know
Not even the god damn music but I know I'll miss the boys”
One other captivating aspect of this record is that it gets stronger as the album plays. By no means are there any weak spots, yet you can feel the album ramping up as each song passes. I believe I’m used to bands using the formulaic album structure (e.g. catchy opener, strongest song in the #2 position, strong side 2 opener, little bit of filler in the #2-#4 spot on side 2, memorable closing song). Pretty typical for many albums. The Sainte Catherines rip that page from the playbook, throw it out the back of the van window and construct an album that pulls you in more as it progresses. I find this very impressive. Bands have difficulty pulling this feat off live, let alone on a record. Every time this album is closing and I’m wanting more from them. That’s where the realization begins that nothing more will be available from The Sainte Catherines. The band broke up following this album, fulfilling their foretelling lyrics. This is a passionate punk rock album through and through, but it has more feeling and genuineness than multiple 90s emo bands combined. It is simply a phenomenal effort by and talented bunch of people and is worth every second of your time. If post-punk gods Killing Joke had not released Absolute Dissent in the same year, Fire Works would've been my favorite album of 2010.
Listen to "Reinventing Ron Hextall (I Don't Want To Say Goodbye)" here.
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