Back in the ’90s, Sloan, the Inbreds and the Super Friendz formed the holy trinity of Halifax pop-rock. Now, with the resurgence of retro CanCon in full swing – anyone catch that recent Our Lady Peace/I Mother Earth show? – it’s only appropriate that some of the East Coast’s most beloved ’90s stars have joined forces for an album and tour under the name TUNS.
This recently minted band features Sloan’s Chris Murphy on drums, the Inbreds’ Mike O’Neill on bass, and the Super Friendz’ Matt Murphy on guitar, with the three splitting songwriting and vocal duties evenly. Naturally, many fans and critics have branded the project a “supergroup,” although Matt Murphy is reluctant to embrace the term.“I kind of prefer ‘dream team,’” he offers, chuckling good-naturedly on the line from a tour stop in Peterborough. “That’s also pretty arrogant, but I can live with that. There’s just no way to sound humble when you start throwing these terms around.”
The guitarist explains that it’s a thrill to work closely with musicians he has respected for so many years. “I get to play with people who I’ve always admired – their singing, their songwriting and their playing,” he says. “And now they’re in a band with me, and I get to stand back and listen to them do their thing or help them do their thing.”
The three songwriters have been friends for many years, and have even collaborated sporadically, but they were inspired to form TUNS after the two Murphys (who are not related) backed up O’Neill for a solo-project performance in Toronto in 2013. Once they began writing songs together, their musical DNA quickly melded during deeply collaborative jam sessions.“If you were to do a forensic analysis of each song, it would be a very complicated process to figure out who contributed what to what song,” Matt reflects. “It was so organic – I hate that word, but whatever. Everything was made up on the spot. And a melody that Mike came up with, I may end up singing with my own words over a chord pattern that Chris devised.”
TUNS released a self-titled debut album this past August. Its nine cuts are packed to bursting with jangling electric guitars and soaring harmonies that are equally indebted to ’90s college rock and classic ’60s pop. Jubilant opener “Back Among Friends” acts as a mission statement of sorts, as the guys harmonize on lines about the ups and downs of friendship and declare, “I’m done with this humdrum tedium / I want to make some noise.”
The sun-kissed “Mixed Messages” blends breezy psych-tinged vocals with a toe-tapping surge of six-string grit, and “Mind Your Manners” is a jittery sugar rush of yelped pop hooks. Elsewhere, mid-tempo numbers “Look Who’s Back in Town Again” and “To Your Satisfaction” venture into slightly more shadowy melodic terrain.
These cuts rarely highlight the collaborators’ individual personalities; instead, their voices and styles merge, making TUNSsound like a unified creative force rather than the work of three distinct songwriters. “The comment we’ve been hearing is that it’s actually pretty hard to know who’s singing what,” Matt notes. “We sort of sing in the same register, and to the untrained ear it could be any of us doing it. But it does help us when we sing harmonies. It makes a very cohesive sound.”
The trio will be bringing their cross-Canada tour to Vancouver on Nov. 25. (Full disclosure: This writer will be performing as part of the show’s opening act, Jay Arner.) Fans who attend can expect TUNS to deliver an unfussy show of classic-sounding pop-rock.
“I think we all feel like there’s still new territory to be charted out in that [rock music] world,” Matt says. “It may not change the world, but at least for us, there’s still some exploring to do. That’s really, ultimately, what it’s about. It’s about us finding new ways of putting traditional sounds together.”
TUNS perform Friday, Nov. 25, at the Biltmore Cabaret, 7pm. Tickets $15 at Ticketfly.com
