A-haunting they will go

>> Shedding some light on Picastro’s
dives into darkness

THEY HAVE GHOSTS: Picastro

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Toronto’s Picastro will certainly stand out amid the bleating sounds coming out of Toronto the Good these days. Their new record, Whore Luck, is as dark and sombre as it gets, with a sense of despair that burrows deep. Vocalist Liz Hysen’s soft, lilting voice lets the melancholy and sorrow drip off her lips while supporting players, with their discordant notes and odd arrangements, refuse to let songs lie comfortably. The Mirror had an e-mail exchange with Hysen, who was at a tour stop in Prague.

Mirror: Canadian bands are garnering a lot of attention in Europe. Has that helped Picastro stir up attention internationally?

Liz Hysen: I think if you play weirder music, it’s definitely easier getting noticed in Europe than, say, somewhere in Saskatchewan. I’m not saying no one in Saskatchewan would like us, but they’ve never asked us to play there. I think there is some interest in Canadian bands—it’s definitely a smaller pool, but for the most part, people in Europe just seem interested in what North Americans are doing.

M: Why did you choose to cover the Fall’s “Older Lover” and Roky Erickson’s “If You Have Ghosts” on Whore Luck?

LH: I just wanted to do a cover for a long time, and the Fall song was finished a long time ago and fit in with the album, mood-wise, really well. The Roky song was just one I thought sounded like a Picastro song anyway—most people don’t even seem to register them as covers until they are told.

M: The songs seem to be very dark and haunting. Is the band a bunch of Gloomy Guses outside of the band, or is it just a natural musical expression?

LH: A bit of both, I would say. I just seem to write a certain way and it lends itself to a certain kind of accompaniment, I guess. Most of us in the band like to joke around a lot, so it’s certainly not a direct reflection of our personalities, but who isn’t a bit dark sometimes?

With Scout Niblett at Divan
Orange on Wednesday,
Oct. 24, 9 p.m., $12