In a little over two short years, Weaves have gone from a collection of voice memos on Jasmyn Burke’s iPhone to establishing themselves as one of the most stridently individual acts to emerge from Toronto’s fertile and multifaceted DIY scene. Led by the collaborative efforts of Jasmyn Burke and Morgan Waters, the band have built a devoted audience while capturing the attention of the international media with a brand of ebullient, art-damaged pop music as difficult to categorise as it is to ignore.
The group began in a series of sessions in the bedroom of Water’s Chinatown apartment, where Waters and Burke would record increasingly elaborate demos built from Burke’s phone full of songs. They transitioned to a full band line up in late 2013, adding bassist Zach Bines and drummer Spencer Cole, and quickly set to work recording their debut EP which was released on Buzz Records in the summer of 2014. The EP made an immediate splash, garnering praise from Noisey, Rookie and Spin, and earning Weaves a “band to watch” tag from Rolling Stone. Glowing write ups of the band’s performances at that year’s CMJ from The Guardian and NME followed, cementing Weaves’ reputation as one of the year’s most exciting new bands.
Word continued to spread in 2015 with the release of their single “Tick,” ahead of the band’s first European tour, which included dates with Hinds, Dan Deacon and Pissed Jeans, and appearances at Glastonbury and Iceland Airwaves. With their already sterling live show only sharpened by their time on the road, the band returned to CMJ in October and emerged as one of the hottest acts of the festival, earning “best of the festival” write ups from NPR and The New York Times among others, and further building the anticipation for their forthcoming full length.
Weaves have been working on their debut LP for almost as long as they have been a band, tracking with Leon Taheny (Dilly Dally, Owen Pallett, Austra) in sessions that span most of the last two years. Mixed by Alex Newport (Death Cab for Cutie, Melvins, At The Drive In) and mastered by John Greenham (Death Grips, Sky Ferreira), the result is an album that traverses the band’s history, exploring every facet of their always adventurous approach to pop music and leaving no idea unexplored.
Filled beyond bursting with hooks and possibilities, it’s the sound of a band propelled forward by the thrill of discovering the limits of their sound and gleefully pushing past them. “We’re always trying to push ourselves,” says Waters, “sometimes it feels like bands aren’t necessary, like they’re not the one’s pushing music forward, so I think we’re trying to hopefully prove that bands aren’t boring. If we are going to be a band and if we are going to do this guitar, bass and drums thing then we might as well see how much we can fuck it up.”
Having played across the UK on a triumphant UK summer tour, including a standout set at Latitude Festival, and a rapturous, raucous debut headline show in London, Weaves return in September to play End of the Road Festival before heading around the UK with tour buddies Dilly Dally.
02 Salisbury, UK, End of the Road Festival
03 Kent, UK, In The Woods festival
05 Antwerp, BE, Trix *
06 Rotterdam, NL, V11
07 Groningen, NL, Vera *
08 Hannover, DE, Lux *
09 Aarhus, DK, Radar *
10 Berlin, DE, Rosis *
11 Wiesbaden, DE, Schlachthof *
12 Vienna, AT, B72 *
14 Milan, IT, Serraglio *
15 Lucerne, CH, Sedel *
16 Paris, FR, Point Ephemere #
17 Nottingham, UK, Bodega *
19 Manchester, UK, The Soup Kitchen
20 Cardiff, UK, The Globe *
21 Bristol, UK, The Exchange *
22 London, UK, Scala *
* with Dilly Dally
# with Sunflower Bean
“the whole band is simply a sonic treat.” – NPR
“a harebrained avalanche of guitars like a Rhys Chatham-style orchestra involving tUnE-yArDs, Mica Levi, Speedy Ortiz, the B-52’s, and Pat Jordache”. – Pitchfork
“It’s effervescent with an edge, like early-90s US alt rock dipped in sugar: bubblegrunge, Nirvana playing Looney Tunes” –Guardian New Band of the Week
“already sounding like one of the debuts of the year.” – Sunday Times Breaking Act
“Postpunk hooks, surf-pop jangle and manic soul to charm stoned basement punks and genre-hating oddballs alike.” – NME
