Rarely does a bands break-up equal success for more than one ex-member. But Toronto tech-rockers the Uncut provide another happy break-up story. After garnering a reputation as one of the most startling live propositions in Toronto, one half of the act (Jake Fairley) left Ian Worang with nothing but an email, a drum machine and a band to rebuild. Luckily today the two are still tight and Fairleys ripping up the German techno circuit while Worang and his new band (still the Uncut) are turning heads with an intense live show and a record deal with hot shit indie label Paper Bag. And deservedly so since the quartet (Worang recruited Hawaii-collaborator Sam Goldberg, bassist Derek Tokar and drummer Jon Drew in just two weeks after Fairley left) run the full gamut of Joy Division incarnations, from Warsaw (the ultra-heavy "Copilot) to New Order (the pop-oriented "Day Breaks Red Light) while hitting all of the lovely yet dark moments in between. Quite simply, Those Who Were Hung Hang Here is the best album to come out of Toronto this year, and if you havent heard, weve got quite a nice little coterie down here.
What was the transition from a duo to a quartet like? Worang: Even before, when it was just Jake and I on our own, we were talking about bringing in more live elements. So it just seems like where we would have ended up eventually, maybe just a bit faster than we would have done it.
You use both drum machines and live drums on the album. How did you pull it off? Drew: One of the coolest things about the record is the texture and one of the things I try to do with acoustic drums is bring a kind of texture that a drum machine could never do. Thats the driving force behind each song; the texture over and above the verse, chorus and bridge.
(Paper Bag)What was the transition from a duo to a quartet like? Worang: Even before, when it was just Jake and I on our own, we were talking about bringing in more live elements. So it just seems like where we would have ended up eventually, maybe just a bit faster than we would have done it.
You use both drum machines and live drums on the album. How did you pull it off? Drew: One of the coolest things about the record is the texture and one of the things I try to do with acoustic drums is bring a kind of texture that a drum machine could never do. Thats the driving force behind each song; the texture over and above the verse, chorus and bridge.