The canon of Kristian North (Montreal, CA) has been elevated to dizzying new heights by his third album, Pseudoscience Fiction (May 19th, 2023 via Mothland). Following the heartfelt domesticity of his warm, analogue second album Passion Play, North now eviscerates the very notion of restraint with a maximalist sci-fi epic, a journey through time forwards and backwards at once. He arrives at a vision of the future that is both invigoratingly new and satisfyingly familiar, rooted in the aesthetics of ‘70s soul, funk, and rock music.

Pseudoscience Fiction marks Kristian North’s third full-length release as a solo musician. Essential to an understanding of North’s position as a weary rock and roll sage are the years he spent fronting the influential Canadian garage-punk band Babysitter. With Babysitter, North toured relentlessly across North America, releasing an extensive catalogue of albums, tapes, EPs, and splits: mastering a certain free-form lo-fi aesthetic before reinventing himself in a seamless, ornate fashion. The current live iteration of North’s music—a “real live rock ‘n roll affair with a smoking hot band,” in his words—has seen him tour across North America and Europe, dazzling audiences at festivals including FME, Taverne Tour, River & Sky, and La Noce; sharing the stage with artists including Adam Green, The Sadies, Speedy Ortiz, and Daniel Romano. 

Given the outlandish scope and subject matter of Pseudoscience Fiction, it seems ridiculous to refer to North as being in his mature period, but his ability to impressionistically explore challenging sounds and viewpoints with impartiality reveals clear wisdom. Conceptual concerns never overshadow the immediacy of his sensibility, as he keeps pop music in his back pocket at all times. An intuition for melody and commitment to groove provide the unshakable foundation that North’s house of mirrors rests upon. North’s musical evolution has been fed by his long-standing partnership with producer and multi-instrumentalist Renny Wilson (Anemone, Michael Rault, Faith Healer), whose restless pursuit of novelty, fidelity, and experimentation is locked in step with North’s lyrical worldbuilding. 

Kristian North’s musical vision is a mirage that won’t keep still; his commitment to lyrical trickery and fantastical explorations predestines his becoming misunderstood, which he welcomes. The lines between pastiche and earnest embrace, between disguise and self-reflection, between nods to the past and gestures towards the future, become so blurred that North arrives at the same wide-eyed bewilderment as his listeners. In this purgatory of interpretation, North thrives in his role as a tour guide of unlimited uncertainty.

Music project based out of Montréal, Canada.

Dec.4/2016 

Last week it was brought up to me that the band name Brazilian Money was not cool for me to claim. I’m sure not many of you know, but there was a period of extreme economic instability and “hyperinflation” in the early 90’s (also, Brazil is currently in apparently it’s worst recession since the 1930’s ** because of political instability/corruption/ and a coup) where commodity prices would fluctuate within each day so much that it was hard to know if you could afford food between morning and afternoon. 

**Edit** note from a Brazilian person: 

"It was a crazy neoliberal moment, and the solution they had was to come up with a new currency. Which is the one we have now, Real. Anyways, Brazil is going through a COUP, held by the same neoliberal white people from the 90's plus the nostalgic children of the military dictatorship that assaulted the country for the 20 years prior to the story you tell. So if there is anything you wanna do that acknowledges the past and ongoing struggles and resistance, or that tries to just a little repay for the name you took, it should be making that clear. Let people know of what is happening. Of what we are going through. #FORATEMER #OUTTEMER #COUPINBRAZIL" 

ANYWAY, originally the band name was something my 20-year old brain thought just sounded cool (which is it’s own bag of worms) but when I found out about this issue, I thought that the solution a few economists came up with was a cool idea, and started thinking about it in terms of this, but failed to realize that the whole situation revolved around real people going through real struggle that I have no part of, know very little about, and romanticized. 

So, I change the band name. I was thinking all week and thought of a lot of really bad ones I couldn’t get behind in time for a show we played, so we’re just gonna be called “The Gary Jerry John-John Band” for a second to give me a little time to think of a real name.

Love You More is an accident amongst friends. An outlet for aimless inspiration and lilting melodies, their productions drip like dew drops out of a well insulated home studio. Jonathan Barriault, Rodrigo Rubilar and Daniel Grigsby make music for people to wobble to.

JOHNNY ZITHERS is following