LUCIDMEDIA

Digging for Dinosaur Bones

Written by Andrew Skinner Wednesday, 29 July 2009 08:49

I didn’t have to dig deep to find these Dinosaur Bones with Toronto begging in anticipation for the complete skeleton. Of what just may be a new species.

What’s interesting about this band is how far they’ve come, so fast, without a full album available yet. I spoke recently with singer/songwriter Ben Fox of the five member group, who promises that the band is hard at work in studio and there will have an album ready this fall. I’m not sure people can even wait that long if you’re to judge from my own story here, but Fox downplays some of the attention.

Anyone who’s dipped into those moody beats hoping for more are probably surprised at first that they’re not a more ‘established band.’ Their dreamy lounge sound has tight pick-me-up to sway a crowd. Is the mark for attention premature?

Good enough for XM Canada satellite radio apparently, where they were recently nominated for the XM Verge Music Awards Artist of the Year and Album of the Year prize, despite not really having an album yet. The Awards are held to support Indie Canadian bands starting out and trying to get exposure. They are voted online by Canadians, so is the hype overdone or premature?

But good things come to those who wait. Having been together only about a year and a half, and recording a self-titled EP not long after forming, they nevertheless have a large following of partisan fans. The members know each other and several were in a previous band together.

People picked up on the talent right from the beginning with live audiences being the real best jury, not missing the thoughtful notes and knowing there’s a deeper recklessness somewhere. “When we did come together we were kind of with a new project, having some time pass between the last project and this one,” says Fox. “And now we’re kind of taking this one far more seriously. It was good to have that history together already.”

The anticipation for an upcoming album has many people in the Toronto music scene wondering what direction the band is going in. Influences are many and although some sounds heard call to mind Coldplay, Radiohead, The Strokes, and others, Fox acknowledges that he, like other bands in recent years have all been influenced by these groups, so it is a bit of a moot point.

It looks like Dinosaur Bones are headed in a direction all their own. Like the slow sweet rhythm of ‘NYE’ you just know is going to endure.

You can expect more like the delicious ‘NYE’ but all indications are that the blissful melancholy of ‘Life in Trees’ is probably a good guess of the most likely direction says Fox. “Overall the music is getting a little bit darker. I’m really happy with the direction its going.”

There’s a integrity in his voice, a determination to make good music, and I believe him when he says “I think the songs are getting stronger and more interesting. He adds, “So that’s always priority number one for us, not so much writing catchy pop songs but writing interesting songs.”

I asked Fox about all the attention when you’re just getting started. “We don’t see it and hear it in the same way,” he explains. “I don’t think we’re quite as hyped as the blogosphere would indicate.”

But there’s far more in the music here than modesty can hide, so it isn’t just blog chatter and free cupcakes at the Horseshow Tavern for a one year anniversary.

“You’re just focused on doing what you’re doing, playing shows, show-to-show. And then we don’t really pay attention to what people are writing,” says Fox. “There’s no additional pressure in terms of what we do and when we do it. We’re kind of just on our own schedule, you know.”

True, but he does go on to say that everyone’s enthusiasm has motivated them to get into a studio and get an album made, and that is exciting for them. Time goes fast. It’s easy to just get engrossed in shows he says, so they’ve given themselves a self-imposed deadline. What will we all find at the end though, I wonder.