Live transmission

>> Tuning in to Radio Berlin

by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Somewhere between the explosion of British punk, the standardization of goth culture and the mainstream assault of synthpop, the U.K. produced a frenetic, lo-fi noise that flirted with pop electronics and often delved into very dark territory. Joy Division, early New Order and Cure, Wire and Magazine were key players in that post-punk, proto-new-wave mould, a sound that continues to bubble in indie music here and overseas. In Canada, nobody does it better than Radio Berlin, a Vancouver four-piece whose energy and discordant pop craft somehow make old new again. Their latest album is The Selection Drone, and their drummer is Josh Wells, who the Mirror was pleased to speak to about all things old wave.



Mirror: Is Vancouver a particular hot spot for this ongoing new wave revival?

Josh Wells: There's [singer Jack Duckworth's side project] A Luna Red, and the Red Light Sting, that's another fantastic band you could lump into that category, although they're of a slightly spazzier nature. It's definitely around a lot more but we don't quite understand why. For me, the main reason I was so drawn to it is that it takes me back to being 13, but, in and of itself, the reverence and nostalgia for that music isn't that interesting. It's just a palette to work with. It seemed like the right thing to be doing, using that sound to make new music, and the point has never been to sound like those bands. Our shared interest in that particular era was just the spark that started it all.

M: Vancouver's about as far from Germany as you can get, so I'm guessing your band name references that weird, retro Euro-cool, like Joy Division's Warsaw?

JW: It was more of an in-joke. When we first started, we thought we were really funny so it seemed even funnier to choose a pretentious-sounding name and, you know, things like that tend to stick whether you like it or not.

M: Also on the retro tip, I notice you place a lot of importance on vinyl releases.

JW: If I had the choice, I would always buy vinyl, so it's extremely important for us to be able to offer that, and I guess it's just fun. We get to see this record that's ours, that we made. CDs just don't seem as real. Most of the music I buy is either indie rock, which typically comes out on vinyl, or it's old, which just means searching through old record bins. Whenever we get a free moment we drop into thrift stores, especially across middle America where the picking is good.

M: I was pretty impressed by the energy of your live show, but if you could describe it for me--

JW: At times, befuddling, and awkward, but always fun, and the big hope is that we'll capture the audience too. It's really surprising, we've played in situations where it seemed like we wouldn't go over at all, where the audience was young and the only kind of music they'd been exposed to was pop-punk, but even they like us sometimes.

With Femme Fatale and One Candle Power at Casa del Popolo on Monday, Nov. 5, 8:30pm, $6