City and Colour
Sometimes
Vagrant Records
By Kevin Hakansson
The year is 2004, and Alexisonfire is on top of the world. They’re dominating the Canadian punk/hardcore scene with a blistering live show that’s gaining notoriety all over North America. Their new record, Watch Out!, has been picked up by American hardcore forerunners Equal Vision Records. And, well, they’re living the life of being in a semi-popular touring band.
However, while the life of the band is getting busier, guitarist Dallas Green is adding something else to his plate. 2004 also marks the debut release from Green’s solo act, City and Colour. A stark contrast to Alexis’s shout-along sound, C & C is an acoustic project that showcases the beautiful voice that occasionally peeks through in AOF backing vocals. 2004 marked the debut, in the form of The Death of Me EP, a project that, expected or not, would soon become a major priority for Green.
In February of '08, Vagrant Records released Bring Me Your Love; the album has made Green a star, sending him on his first full U.S. tour. The record showcases a more fleshed out sound than City and Colour initially played. It's chock full of guest vocals and instrumentals, whereas, understandably, Green performed primarily by himself on earlier recordings. To give new fans an appreciation of said early sound, Vagrant has now re-released Sometimes, the record that made City and Colour huge in the Great White North shortly after its 2005 release. While U.S. C & C fans have no doubt had Sometimes on their hard drives for quite some time, Vagrant's release is the first time most U.S. fans can get their hands on a physical copy of the record.
It's not hard to figure out that Sometimes is the work of an artist who's still figuring out just what he's doing. Green starts the record off with the brief "...Off by Heart" and "Like Knives," songs that, while certainly demonstrating Green's talents as a vocalist, are a bit lacking in substance, save for "Knives" endearing "I will blame myself" chorus.
After a slow start, though, Green picks up steam as the album progresses. The Wayne's World inspired "Hello, I'm In Delaware" does a couple things to draw listeners. First of all, the maturity that Green shows on the guitar is top notch. The chords and leads are simple, yet intoxicating. Additionally, Green's vocals get a lot clearer. The lyrical doesn't seem overly deep - most of the songs here follow the standard "lost love" formula - but at the very least, starting with "Delaware," Green's lyrics are well thought out and easily understandable.
Green really knocks it out of the park next with "Save Your Scissors." Like Delaware, it features some great guitar hooks that you'll be whistling for hours, but the energy that come through in Green's lyrics and vocals is inescapable. This was the first song that really made music fans aware of City and Colour after this record's initial release, and it's no wonder why. After a full listen to Sometimes, there's little debate that Green and friends are at their best, when playing with the type of energy that makes "Save Your Scissors" the album's finest song. "Casey's Song" is the tune that comes closest to replicating said energy, highlighted by a simple chorus, Green shouting "Break me!"
While Sometimes was Dallas Green's first full-length venture into solo-hood, there are signs all over the record that these are songs performed by a seasoned musician. Take, for instance, the closing "Sometimes (I Wish)." Somber and contrite, it's just one of many songs that are, to say the least, fleshed out, clocking in at just over six minutes.
Yes, Green is about as formidable a musician as you'll find in independent music. He's become one of the most revered solo artists around, and what's more, Alexisonfire is still kicking too, with a new record reportedly out later this year. The quantity and diversity alone of the music that Green has been a part of in the past five years makes him a musician worth following, something more and more seem to be doing every day.
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