four women standing in the middle bottom of the image in front of a tree leaning diagonally from the bottom right corner to the top left. the image is slightly out of focus giving the impression of multiple images gauzily overlaid on top of each other.

Divorcer

I know Divorcer well; I played at their first show: May 26, 2017 at the Alf Haus. That evening felt like a fresh beginning for us all; I was starting to feel more grateful for what was to come in local music.

With members hailing from stunning past projects such as Genderdog and Lunchlady, plus fantastic current projects like Tough Customer, Underpass, Luvgoon and Fake Fruit; they comprise a promising supergroup. A band with viola, guitar, synthesiser, drums and bass was there to rock me, and I had never been so ready. Marita, Divorcer’s drummer recalls: “The takeaway from that show is that I brought the Alf Haus a pack of toilet paper and they were like ‘That’s the most thoughtful thing anyone’s ever done, you’re a genius.’” Hannah, Divorcer’s guitar/viola player recalls,“I remember feeling ‘This is the first time that Vancouver people are gonna see me playing music, I gotta bring it.’ But it went so well!” Divorcer originally began as a two-piece, with Katie on bass and Beth playing synthesizer, They were later joined by close friend and longtime collaborator Marita on drums. Hannah, who alternates between viola and guitar, had moved to town from New York in February 2017, and found herself at Red Gate one evening for a show. “I felt like I was already having a hard time making friends.” she reminisces. Luckily Hannah ended up meeting Katie that night. Katie remembers: “At some point I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a violin?’ [Hannah and I] had been talking about jamming separately.” On a whim, Katie asked Hannah if she played violin and to her surprise, Hannah revealed that she played viola in school. With the addition of viola, the group finally felt like the songs had everything they needed. “It was so good. We were just like, the songs feel finished now. They feel right,” Katie recollects.

Prior to leaving for their first tour in August 2017, Divorcer produced an album of thirteen tracks entitled Debt Jubilee at a spacious lodge that Beth’s parents happen to be caretakers for. Beth recalls: “We got to use the lodge to record over two days. We went so fast…I swear we wrote twelve songs in three weeks. Every jam we had, new songs would happen.”” Katie also was surprised at how quickly the group coalesced “I look back at it now and I’m like, we did so much in three months.” Their songwriting process was highly collaborative as Hannah explained “We would all bring stuff to the table separately and then we would tie the loose ends together.” Marita continued “Some songs are three different people’s stories wrapped up in one and then others are a full idea.”

Divorcer takes the title of their debut album from the concept of a debt jubilee; a mass cancellation of debt. Throughout the songs featured on Debt Jubilee, a strong anti-capitalist and even anti-materialist message is  championed. While listening, I found there is something about the phrases and lyrics which Divorcer uses that feels like a cartoon mallet hitting a giant nail labeled “THE POINT”. “Where do you buy that power? / I can make myself nothing / Must be nice to have the energy / No more snakes at the punk rock show / Cause they’re all on the internet jacking each other off” While the addition of viola rounded out the group’s sound, it came at a price. Hannah rented a viola on Beth’s account at Long & McQuade but the payments proved difficult to make. Hannah recalls: “I remember feeling like Long & McQuade was a wolf on our back.” They even showed up Beth’s house one night. “You can’t rent unless you’re Canadian,” Katie remarked, “and Marita and I have too much debt from Long & McQuade so Beth had to do it.” Beth remembers “He was putting threats in the mailbox, it was crazy.”

Divorcer succinctly achieves one of my favorite ideas within music; that any concept of “punk” can be applied regardless of genre. Their tireless work ethic and desire to maintain their own identity is strong. Though the  realm of music journalism may falter with unfitting categories like “post punk” or “angular rock”, the group moves into more spacious territory that leaves you hoping for more after the album is over. Debt Jubilee lends itself to multiple listens in order to appreciate their distinct approach to music. Instead of a straightforward debut album, the group opts for a dynamic display of their styles, jumping seamlessly between off-kilter pop songs and heavy sleeper-hits.

Divorcer succinctly achieves one of my favorite ideas within music; that any concept of “punk” can be applied regardless of genre. Their tireless work ethic and desire to maintain their own identity is strong. Though the  realm of music journalism may falter with unfitting categories like “post punk” or “angular rock”, the group moves into more spacious territory that leaves you hoping for more after the album is over. Debt Jubilee lends itself to multiple listens in order to appreciate their distinct approach to music. Instead of a straightforward debut album, the group opts for a dynamic display of their styles, jumping seamlessly between off-kilter pop songs and heavy sleeper-hits.

Even though the group has been on a hiatus which lasted from the end of their tour in August 2017 to recently, the members of the group; two currently residing in America and two in Vancouver, have kept the band alive through steady communication and endless song ideas. When it comes to songwriting, the group has always made use of voice memos to share snippets of melodies or lyrics. “When we talk about songs, there’s stuff we send back and forth, but it’s the same way when we’re together too, even in WhatsApp, if someone types something, Hannah will be like ‘That should be a song.’ I was having a really bad day and I’d typed “Life is a hellhole trap” and Hannah was like ‘Well, this is a song now.’” Beth described. Katie continues “I came up with a bassline and a little vocal melody, I sent it and instantly all three were sending back the same melody but adding something to it.” “It’s like my whole life, [is] just loose ends,” comments Marita. “Digital files strewn through five different chat threads. So when it comes down to it there’s so much material. Pasting it all together again is a fun process, but also kind of daunting.” Those aforementioned loose ends may promise more material from the group; Divorcer recently reconvened to record, and play a show in Oakland this spring. “We have something like ten songs that are ready to go, so it’s exciting to all get together and start working,” Katie says.

As we wait on more music from a group that has shown much promise, I reflect upon Debt Jubilee with a sense of anticipation and optimism. Perhaps this is the turning point where rock and roll music goes to die, and perhaps that is a good thing. Perhaps we shall ride again into the sunset, newly divorced. Perhaps we shall divorce ourselves from our expectations of punk, and embrace the new sound of tomorrow.

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The North American release of Debt Jubilee will be available via No Sun Recordings in early July.
To pre-order, visit: https://nosunrecordings.bandcamp.com/