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They say that life begins at 40, but in the case of Jason Collett, that’s not just some overly optimistic bumpersticker
slogan. To many indie-rock fans, Jason Collett is the wise, big-brother character in Broken Social Scene:
the calm, cool, collected totem of stability in a band defined by drama and chaos — “our Tom Petty figure,” as
BSS figurehead Kevin Drew once (half-jokingly) dubbed him.
But this reading of Collett belies the restless, curious spirit that he’s exhibited throughout his solo career outside
of Broken Social Scene. For someone who’s been a fixture on the Toronto live-music circuit for two decades,
you could totally understand if an artist of Collett’s experience and vintage settled into a country-rock comfort
zone, and kept strumming the same ol’ songs until his ears gave out.
But at the core of Collett’s big brotherly wisdom is the idea that, the older you get, the more you realize there’s
still so much to learn. To wit, Rat a Tat Tat: the fourth album to bear Jason Collett’s name, but the first to make
you double-check who you’re actually listening to: as the opening elegy “Rave On Sad Songs” blossoms from a
solitary serenade into an Irish-pub last-call waltz, we hear a voice that’s several degrees more conversational and
starkly unaffected than the one heard on previous Collett signatures like “Tiny Ocean of Tears,” “Almost Summer”
or “Out of Time.” But it’s a gesture that perfectly suits a song wherein Collett seemingly bids farewell to the
maudlin confessionals that can define — and restrict — many a singer-songwriter. And it serves as a telling set-up
to an album on which Jason Collett spends most of his time gleefully messing around with the idea of what it is to
be Jason Collett.
Integral to that transformative process is Collett’s deepening relationship with his current backing band, Zeus
(whose Mike O’Brien and Carlin Nicholson oversaw the lion’s share of production duties at their east-end Toronto
studio).
Zeus is juiced. Juiced about their debut album, Say Us. Juiced about taking it out of the incubatory state of the
studio and on to the road. Juiced about sharing with audiences what they call “the thick bro-zone layer” going on
between them. In conversation, Zeus might sound like a bunch of keener teenagers eager to break out of the
garage.
But Say Us shows that they’re far from amateurs. Lots of young bands can conjure memories of the four B’s—the
Beatles, the Band, the Beach Boys and Big Star—with the help of vintage gear and an ear for melody; very few
can write songs that have a fighting chance of taking on the canon the way Zeus does here.
It helps that they not only know their songcraft, but they’re a seasoned touring band that arranges their songs in
the studio. Which means they sound entirely relaxed as they shift tempos, surround themselves with sugary
harmonies, write countermelodies for dual guitar leads, and run honky-tonk pianos through sub-aquatic sonic
effects.
Jason Collett & Zeus
Australian Tour 2010 / 2011
Wednesday 29th December 2010: Peats Ridge Festival (NSW)
Jason Collett: Lyrebird Stage: 4.45pm
Zeus: Underworld Stage: 10.15pm
www.peatsridgefestival.com.au
Thursday 30th December 2010: Peats Ridge Festival (NSW)
Jason Collett: Bellbird: 2.30pm
www.peatsridgefestival.com.au
Friday 31st December 2010: Peats Ridge Festival (NSW)
Zeus: Lyrebird Stage: 7.15pm
www.peatsridgefestival.com.au
Thursday 6th January 2011: The Brass Monkey – Cronulla (NSW)
Tickets: Ph: (02) 9544 3844 or www.brassmonkey.com.au
Friday 7th January 2011: Oxford Arts Factory - Sydney (NSW)
Tickets: www.oxfordartfactory.com
Saturday 8th January 2011: Northcote Social Club - Melbourne (VIC)
Tickets: www.northcotesocialclub.com
Sunday 9th January 2011: Northcote Social Club - Melbourne (VIC)
Tickets: www.northcotesocialclub.com
Wednesday 12th January 2011: The Great Northern - Newcastle (NSW)
Tickets: www.thegreatnorthern.com.au
Thursday 13th January 2011: The Troubadour – Brisbane (QLD)
Ph: (07) 3252 2626 - Tickets: www.thetroubadour.com.au
Friday 14th January 2011: The Troubadour – Brisbane (QLD)
Ph: (07) 3252 2626 - Tickets: www.thetroubadour.com.au
