There’s the coolest Ian Dickson photo of The Jam live at the 100 Club circa 1977, Foxton caught jumping mid-air, Weller leaning into a power chord and Butler sticks raised mid-beats. The cover of rising Canadian power pop trio Absolute Losers’ second album ‘In The Crowd’ whether by accident or design captures the same visceral thrill of that punk rock moment, right down to the pose, the classic white shirt, black tie and slacks plus confident intent on the three musicians faces. This is a band, tight, focused, going places.
If you were lucky you might have caught Absolute Losers on their recent We Are Busy Bodies /Having Fun convened whistle stop tour through UK and Europe with labelmates No Frills and Mick Jones new favourite band The Boojams. The London show was a stormer which struck a powerful reminder of the joy to be had from the rock n’roll song. That’s certainly the mandate the Absolute Losers crew are laying down live and now on this fabulously addictive new release.
Formed in 2019 by two brothers Josh (guitar/vocal) and Sam (bass/vocal) Langille plus Daniel Hartinger on drums, the trio from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island made an immediate impact on their local scene. Debut single ‘Coexist/Astray‘ was an echoey Mary Chain pop-period kind of thing but their sound sharpened on their debut album ‘At The Mall’ from 2023. Angular post punk, all elbows and shout-outs, sometimes garage rock and an emerging chime of jangle signalled that Absolute Losers were finding their feet as well as that uncanny grasp of killer hooks.
Now their sophomore release ‘In The Crowd’ sees them even more assured with this direction and comfortable in their own songwriting. As bassist Sam Langille has revealed in a pre-release interview: “We just stopped worrying if what we were writing was ‘cool’ or not. This time around, we let our instincts lead, and what came out was something freer, more melodic, more personal. And way more fun.”
As soon as the needle hits the groove of opener At The Same Time, the Rickenbacker chords ring and you’re doused with a gush of the freshest indie pop. The band’s sound is live and electric, arm-wheeling power chords, drums cacophonous but locked in and a bass line welding everything together. All this frames a perfect 45 rpm moment, a sub three-minute hit of Mersey Beat harmony meets new wave swagger. As the bass yanks the band towards the close with a pumping one note stomp, “absolute losers” becomes the last descriptor that anyone could level at this trio.
It’s a song that’s not in isolation either as these PEI residents are clearly on a creative roll. There’s a completeness to so many of the tunes, yes they remind you of other things but they deserve a time of their own. Title track In the crowd has that indie pop exuberance which comes around every once in a while (remember The Drums). Bouncing along to Dan Hartinger’s cantering tom-toms and Josh Langille’s fluent jangle, it’s a song which digs around the highs of being accepted and the lows of getting left out, with a turn of phrase which connects. With thoughts of going fishing, purple sweaters and hats drifting in, you sense that these memories come close to home as does the rhyme “I would love to make you happy/I would love to make you proud/Now I don’t play Hockey/but I know you’re in the crowd“.
So, Absolute Losers bring a new poignant, personal and witty perspective to the well-trodden youthful angst territory. The scuttling post punk rumble of Bad Feeling injects pessimistic paranoia into a breaking up scenario. As well as a storming double time and handclaps exit, lines like “Thank you for the times/you remind me of myself/Your street creaking side-eye seeking continental shelf” show the band’s lyrical panache. On the Mersey Beat swing along of Don’t Go their wry realism gives an edge to the song’s sweetness as narrator pleas “Stay here, I’ll always be sincere. I’ll cut back on the beer! Don’t go”. Perhaps Better Things To Do best shows Absolute Losers flare for making ordinary words hit harder. Within this frisky country-rock ramble, there’s a classic Costello-esque bite to put downs such as “ I’ve got better things to do than spend my time growing tired of you” or “Anything thing is better than sitting here with you/anything at all”. Ouch….
There are so many moments which stamp essential onto this Absolute Losers effort. They are a band who can mix up styles from within the conventional rock n roll menu but also keep the songs true to their increasingly identifiable sound. The mid-tempo Your Colours is a swirl of Paisley vocal harmonies, Tom Petty meandering minors and sixties Brit psychedelia. Their more bluesy, guitar-licked side comes through on the downbeat hopelessness of For So Long which staggers quirkily like an over-acting vaudevillian clown. Probably it’s with the more raucous rock out numbers that Absolute Losers seal this deal: Kiss of Death with its glorious Stones-ish swagger and wired ‘Teenage Head’ tension; and the irresistible big-beat crunch and riff of Eagerness.
Clearly ‘In The Crowd’ is an upfront no frills album recorded in a way that highlights the spontaneity and musical interaction of this finely tuned trio. Closing track It’s An Understanding sounds like the most ‘produced’ song here, a catchy pop jaunt which oozes karma and gentle psychedelia in a cascade of Beach Boys harmonies. Maybe it’s a pointer to future expansiveness but let’s hope the band don’t go all Webb Brothers and consume themselves with complications. The signs are from this album that Absolute Losers are too sussed to make that mistake. They know that the secret of great power pop lies in memorable songs, filled with heart and driven by an inseparable guitar/bass/drum/vocal dynamic.
Get your copy of ‘In The Crowd‘ by Absolute Losers from your local record store or direct from Having Fun Records HERE
