Plants and Animals

Like all great flora and fauna, Montreal trio Plants and Animals know that evolution is a simultaneously delicate and rough endeavor. It's important to have solid roots and serious chops (which this bands has in folds), but you've also got to know when to go out on an newly sprouted limb that's just steady enough to blow minds. And that's pretty much what they do.

The first seeds of the band were originally planted on Canada’s salty-aired East Coast in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Young Warren C. Spicer and Matthew ‘the Woodman’ Woodley had begun playing together in high-school bands. The sea winds eventually carried them through the vast plains of Quebec to Montreal (a journey they would come to know intimately as the years wore on). It was in the now hallowed halls of Concordia University’s music department that they would come upon Nicolas Basque, a strange francophone native that shared their musical inclinations (and a trappeur’s finely-tuned taste in cuisine). It wasn’t until then that the three boys truly became men, signified their union with a name, and that Plants and Animals truly emerge from the wildlife.

By 2003 they had bat out an instrumental menagerie of song-like folk-beasts, and put some of them to tape in the form of a recording that local label Ships at Night would later release. By 2005 the three young men were taming the sprawling wilderness of their sound and sculpting real songs, as Spicer also lead the way to a (hitherto unheard of) vocal domination of their material—as if he had been possessed by the ghost of some recently departed soul singer. During this time Spicer and Woodley would occasionally stop by to care for some of the neighbour’s Timber, the Socalled…Katie Moore’s of the hood, and play. All the while, the Halifax-born were jamming and pruning with Basque, harnessing the band and its songs like a wild horse. Some called it post-classic-rock. Some called it folk-prog. Those who knew better didn’t say anything at all.

In about the summer of 2005 they carried a 24-track bull up the stairs of Spicer’s apartment and split their time between their new makeshift studio there (aka Le Carilion Tropical), and the Treatment Room. By fall 2006 the foundations of what would later become Parc Avenue were layed, the band was playing shows (and singing), and a relationship with Montreal label Secret City Records was formed. By summer 2007 the once-monster was complete, temporarily tamed, housed, and ready to be unleashed again upon the world as the blossoming love-letter that is Parc Avenue.

Plants and Animals hit the West coast

Fresh off their first European jaunt, Plants and Animals are set to make another round of great first live impressions, this time on the U.S. west coast. The short tour starts next Monday in Seattle, where they'll also be appearing live on KEXP (12 noon Pacific time), performing a few songs and chatting with Cheryl Waters. Do to fan-driven demand, they've also added a show in Phoenix at the tail-end of the tour. They'll be back in Canada in time for Canada Day on July 1st for a gig at Habourfront in Toronto.

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PopMatters Review - 9/10

"The Montreal scene has itself a new champion."

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Plants and Animals to play Central Park with the National, Yeasayer

Concert in the park! Plants and Animals are adding at least one more fun outdoor show to their summer festival itinerary this summer, and it's a fun one. On August 4th they'll be in some very good company at Central Park's Summerstage, where they'll get things rolling for a night of music that will also feature The National and Yeasayer.

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Plants and Animals on the Canadian summer festival circuit

Plants and Animals will be playing on a bunch of big, sunny, outdoor stages across Canada this summer. The quintessential summer festival band? You'll be able to decide for yourself as they hit summer faves like Hillside, Ottawa Blues, Wolfe Island, Salmon Arm, and play some home-province stages at Osheaga, in Quebec City, and at FME Abitibi. They'll also be making the trek all the way up to Yellowknife to get some fresh air at the Folk on the Rocks Festival. More to come, too!

The band does part one of their summer U.S. tour starting next week in Philadelphia. All details can be found in the shows section.

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Plants and Animals to play a bunch more US dates

Plants and Animals will be hitting both coasts of the USA as the summer months creep in, starting with a string of dates in the North East in May. In June they'll be off to the West Coast for their first ever shows out there, including stops in Seattle, Portland, San Fran and LA.

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Parc Avenue out in the USA next week...band head West through Canada

People everywhere seem to love Parc Avenue, and on March 25th, people in the USA can go to stores and buy copies of it. Meanwhile the band is headed West for a string of more Canadian shows that will take them out to Vancouver and back.

The album is also avaible across North America on iTunes and eMusic. A really nice gatefold 2LP is coming, too, but we're taking our time with that one and getting it right, because this album deserves it. Check back soon or sign up for our newsletter for official updates on the catalog and release-territories.

If you haven't already checked out Plants and Animals (or Secret City), by all means do so now, and feel free to start with Parc Avenue...it's a whale of a record.

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Pitchfork Review - 8.0 Recommended

"Like a distant Canadian cousin of Blitzen Trapper, this Montreal three-piece spins shaggy songs into expansive, genre-bending symphonies."

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