Rheostatics

The Rheostatics rank among Canada's most cherished indie rock establishments, an eclectic outfit whose diverse output has spanned whimsical tributes to hockey figures, sharply crafted power pop, visionary concept albums, material for younger listeners, and a recording drawn from a work of fiction that later prompted the ensemble to score its motion-picture adaptation. Starting out as adolescent funk and soul performers in Toronto and advancing through their mid-1990s pinnacle as critical and college-radio favorites, the group routinely embraced unexpected directions, accumulating considerable esteem while remaining outside the commercial mainstream. Equally celebrated for their energetic and improvisational concerts and their studio inventiveness, the Rheostatics earned endorsement from the Tragically Hip, who invited them onto an arena circuit, even while enthralling their own loyal followers with repeated headline engagements across modest Canadian venues; both facets appeared on the standout 1997 set Double Live. The band sustained creative momentum well into the 2000s until disbanding in 2007. They stayed on good terms and remained remarkably visible through multiple reunion appearances in the ensuing period before issuing their official return, 2019's Here Come the Wolves, their first album in fifteen years.

Formed in 1980 in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke, Ontario, the Rheostatics began while their members were still teenagers and below the legal drinking age for the venues they frequented. Songwriting and vocal duties initially divided between guitarist Dave Bidini and bassist Tim Vesely, with drummer Dave Clark anchoring the rhythm section. Their initial style reflected pronounced funk and R&B leanings, and through 1985 they frequently performed alongside a horn section known as the Trans-Canada Soul Patrol. The addition of second guitarist and singer Martin Tielli supplied a third principal songwriter and solidified the core lineup that defined the band's most successful era. Their first proper release, the playfully named 1987 compilation Greatest Hits, gathered highlights from prior singles, among them the fan favorite "The Ballad of Wendel Clark, Pts. 1 & 2," which saluted Toronto hockey legend Wendel Clark. Although it received modest airplay on college stations and late-night CBC broadcasts, the Rheostatics disbanded the following year and pursued separate paths for roughly two years before reuniting in 1990 with the identical roster.

Reinvigorated, the quartet reached a creative peak with 1991's Melville. Mature and assured, the record found the group expanding into extended, intricate compositions with more unconventional subject matter. After securing a major-label agreement with Sire, they delivered the career peak Whale Music a year later. Titled after Canadian author Paul Quarrington's novel about an idiosyncratic, Brian Wilson-like hermit who fashions symphonic pop in his basement studio, the comparably idiosyncratic album prompted Quarrington to engage the Rheostatics for the score of the 1994 film adaptation of Whale Music. This placed the band in the unusual circumstance of issuing two successive yet entirely distinct projects sharing the same name. Though largely instrumental, the Whale Music soundtrack yielded a hit single with the richly harmonized "Claire." The track also surfaced that same year on their fourth studio album, Introducing Happiness, a varied collection that incorporated several of the film's instrumental pieces now fitted with lyrics. Shortly after its appearance, drummer Dave Clark departed to explore other pursuits, and Sire dropped the Rheostatics, uncertain how to position them.

Following a transitional phase with new drummer and multi-instrumentalist Don Kerr, the Rheostatics received a commission from the National Gallery of Canada to create a forty-minute work paying tribute to the painters known as the Group of Seven. Issued in 1995, this predominantly instrumental effort became their next album, Music Inspired by the Group of Seven. Soon thereafter, the more pop-focused The Blue Hysteria returned the band to more recognizable, albeit still eclectic, terrain. Although the Rheostatics had not attained broad commercial success with their recordings, they had earned substantial respect and critical praise for their live performances, from audiences and fellow musicians alike. Much of the tour supporting The Blue Hysteria occurred while opening for the Tragically Hip's cross-country trek. Blending select arena dates with smaller club and in-store appearances, the Rheostatics captured the distinctive scope of their stage presence on 1997's Double Live, which alongside many of their better-known songs also featured several rarities and previously lost tracks.

Longtime favorites of Canadian late-night radio, the Rheostatics were invited to contribute to the final broadcast of CBC's long-running Nightlines program. For the special, the band assembled a sound collage of new material, older selections, and segments resembling skits. It appeared in 1998 as The Nightlines Sessions, though it stands more as a curiosity than a central entry in their catalog.

Having abandoned any notion of operating as a standard rock band, the Rheostatics again chose an alternate route with 1999's Story of Harmelodia. Presented as a children's album, the CD arrived inside a jewel-case-sized hardcover book that included a story by Bidini and hand-painted illustrations by Tielli, who had supplied artwork for nearly all prior releases. Ahead of 2001's Night of the Shooting Stars, Kerr declared his departure to concentrate on engineering and his role in Ron Sexsmith's band. Although he participated on the album, longtime producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda assumed the drumming position. In the following years the group concentrated chiefly on live work, reviving an earlier residency practice they had called Green Sprouts Music Week for an eleven-night engagement at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern that evolved into an annual event titled the Fall Nationals. This produced both the 2003 DVD Maple Serum: Rheostatics Live at the Horseshoe Tavern and the 2005 live album Calling Out the Chords, Vol. 1. Between these releases came the studio album 2067, a loosely conceptual set placed in the future on the bicentennial of Canadian Confederation; it would remain their final recording for fifteen years. In late 2006 Vesely announced the group's retirement, and the Rheostatics performed their farewell concert at Toronto's Massey Hall in March of 2007.

Throughout the ensuing decade the band reconvened periodically for select events while its members pursued individual endeavors. A further reunion performance at the Horseshoe Tavern at the close of 2016 unveiled several new Rheostatics songs and the return of original drummer Dave Clark, signaling that the group had effectively resumed activity. They confirmed that status in 2019 with the release of the new studio album Here Come the Wolves.