MOTORAMA

Hard rock vets release new album

Seventeen years of songs, tours, and shows around North America haven't worn down Motorama, who just produced the high-energy album Found On Road Dead. This release finds them backed Vancouver scene supporters Not Yer Buddy, who produced and distributed their newest release. “We've always gone with revved up rock and roll,” founder and songwriter Marcus Lander relates. “This album has got a little bit more of a pop vibe and a little more angular as well.” Motorama is a heavy noise rock trio featuring some of Vancouver's most prolific and experimental rock musicians. Lander played with supergroup Little Guitar Army and the reformed Fiends, bassist Rich performs solo under his pseudonym Orchard Pinkish and Bertman writes songs for heavy contemporaries the Strugglers. “My aspirations have always been to just write the best songs I possibly can,” Lander explains of this project. “I don't know if I've ever succeeded in that, but that's the intention.”


Found on Road Dead's 10 tracks recall the hard rock tensions from songwriting greats of the past. Lander is quick to praise his proto metal and punk idols. “My favourite bands have always been AC/DC, Ramones, Motörhead,” he recalls, “but there's maybe a little bit of Bloody Hollies from Buffalo, NY ... and a little bit of '60s garage pop too.” Lander's favourite track on the new album, “Rampage”, kicks off the track list with a swollen bass rhythm, surfy guitar and barking bravado, a sound somewhere between the Cramps and Big Black.

Many of their shows erupt in to insane stage antics courtesy of Pinkish, an enigmatic performer. Even after a decade, Lander himself remains confused but always supportive. “I don't know where Rich gets that from, I don't think I've seen anyone behave like that onstage,” he says, perplexed. “It certainly helps keep people interested, with his weird back bends and rolling around on the floor.” Motorama often accept last-minute bookings in unconventional locations, “We played the dirt floor basement of a record store in San Francisco once and we ended up with our gear covered in mud,” Lander offers as example. Until their next engagement, Found on Road Dead can be previewed and purchased on Not Yer Buddy's Bandcamp site. Don't mistake them as slowing down, Lander assures us, “I'm still doing basically what I was doing at 20, but maybe with less psychedelics.” A track from this release can be heard on player below.

-Mathieu Youdan



Found on Road Dead can be found at http://not-yer-buddy-records.bandcamp.com