Artist of the week- At Mission Dolores
By Maddy Cristall
At Mission Dolores are a truly authentic band from Kamloops, BC. Their compelling music fuses together art rock and psychedelic pop. Their sound is dreamy yet refined which stimulates the psyche in all the right ways. The young adults are notably hard working. The project is glued together by the handiwork of JP Lancaster. He just had his second child and runs the music promotion company Factotum. He knows his way around the music industry which is apparent in their organized approach to making avant-garde music.
They are just about to release their debut full-length ‘Last Night Outside Her Apartment’. The album is a gorgeous collection of songs that showcase their complex talent. Their music emanates a compelling aching beauty. Their lackadaisical melancholic approach is similar to the likes of Kurt Vile’s ‘Waking on a Pretty Daze’ or Destroyers’ ‘Kaputt’. Just like these said albums, ‘Last Night Outside Her Apartment’ requires to be listened to from front to back which is exactly the way you want to digest it. There’s is a lot going on in the depths of this record which reflects all of the things going on inside of you. Lancaster says “thematically we were trying to come up with something that accurately depicts life in 2019. Granted we largely looked at negative elements, we wanted to try and write songs that touched on feelings people could relate to.” This is certainly palpable in the record, almost hauntingly so. A specific in particular is the title track. “That song examines an extramarital affair where one of the parties falls for someone new. At my first ever professional job there was a swingers club, something that made me realize this sort of scenario must be much more common than people think.”
The album also involves the masterwork of Jordan Koop, who engineered and mixed the record while adding some valuable input on this otherwise self-produced album. This is their second album in 2019 and they’re aiming to pump one more out this year. This approach is quite à la Brian Jonestown Massacre but there is nothing lo-if about At Mission Dolores. Their sound is much more 60s AM radio juxtaposed with emotionally paralyzingly lyrics. It’s all of that yet somehow wildly accessible, each song is worthy of a group singalong.
The band is about to kick off their album release tour through B.C. Their kick off show is this Friday, May 4th and no other than the legendary SBC. They will be joined by heavy rockers Loans and the psychedelic surf carnival that is Wrecked Beach. At Mission Dolores are going to be a national treasure after years of being a diamond in the ruff.
‘Last Night Outside Her Apartment’ will be available this Friday on all streaming platforms and on vinyl.
