ROYAL CITY - Royal City 1999-2004

Any survey of the last decade of Canadian indie music would be incomplete without a couple nods to Royal City, the now defunct lo-fi alt-country band from Guelph. The group consisted of Jim Guthrie, Aaron Riches and Simon Osborne, boosted by contributions from Owen Pallet and Bob Wiseman. They disbanded five years ago when frontman Riches set off to study theology. Now their label, Asthmatic Kitty, has issued a collection of b-sides and rarities from Royal City’s short but productive career. Although newcomers would be better off starting with Royal City’s other material, Royal City 1999-2004 captures the rowdiness (the album closes with a barrage of howling), the humour (Here Comes Success is a fittingly tongue-in-cheek opener) and the tenderness (I Called But You Were Sleeping and O You With Your Skirt) of an underrated band whose endearing folk songs helped spark our country’s indie revival.

Published in Volume 64, Number 3 of The Uniter (September 17, 2009)

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