Two Minutes of Absurdity with the Dress Whites

by Risa Dickens

This from old high school buddy of mine, Mary Jane Caro, on a band called the Dress Whites. MJ shot the pictures as well.

Note on the Dress Whites- I wrote a long and ponderous but loving review on Shoot the Moon a way while back, over on open journal. The Dress Whites opened that night, and I think it was only their second or third show. As you can tell from the last paragraph of that review, they made an impression. Here’s the most bombastic bit:

“Their second to last piece contained a switch to a minor chord that somehow coloured the whole song and characterized the whole band. Suddenly everyone was smiling and saying “I like these guys” and tapping all their trendy, grubby, pointy, sweaty toes. Dress Whites’ singer found a wry, rocking, melancholy twist on the strait country road the song was on, and it stretched out to define the band, the moment, and something in all of us.”

So man, I guess I thought they were good, eh? And is it ever nice to hear that they’re still doing well, with a show coming up right before our big Holla-Days Party in December! Thanks MJ!

Hi Risa

Here’s a quickie interview with The Dress Whites, a Montreal band that is all about ridiculously catchy indie pop, despite their decidedly punk rock roots. The short e-interview was deftly handled by Denis Woods & Jonathan Anderson of the band. They’ll be playing at Club Lambi on December 14th.

Denis Woods- vocals, guitar, piano, percussion
Scott Leblanc- piano, backing vocals, guitar, percussion, harmonica
Ryan Shearing- guitars
Matt Leblanc- bass
Jonathan Anderson- drums

guffaw and ha! MJ. Tell me about the band name, how did you guys choose it?
We chose the name because we thought people might confuse us with the White Stripes and come to our shows…….as of yet, it has not worked.

MJ. How long have you guys been collaborating?

We’ve been collaborating since that fateful morning in kindergarten when Denis asked if he could borrow a red block I was using. I was hesitant to give it up since it would have completely dilacerated the integrity of the barn I was working on. Rather than fight, we completed the barn together. Then we smashed it and blamed it on Tanya Borzomi. We’ve been collaborating ever since.

the dress whites- standing around on steps, looking fly and leathery real serious now.

MJ. Dress Whites Fill-in-the-blanks:

-Our sound is great for expensive evenings of motherly love.

-If Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens got together and died in a plane crash, they’d sound a lot like us. But we’re still alive.

Dennis gets colour

-We’d love to open for Radiohead while laughing in their face.

-On a Thursday night you can find us at Paul’s parents’ house, drinking the blood of our foes while arguing about current events.

now crouching, like as though to pounce, behind some craven bar somewhere

-Obligatory pimping of other local talent goes here: Paul’s sister gives hot blowjobs

Thanks Dress Whites. Way to make nice with the Madlibs.

www.myspace.com/dresswhites

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Published on: November 29th, 2006

Terms Used: Blog, dress whites, montreal bands, montreal music, punk_rock_roots, shoot the moon, white_stripes

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About: Risa Dickens

Risa co-founded Indyish with Elran Oded.

Aside from experimenting with these monstrous/sexy formations, producing Indyish events and developing new and existing Indyish endeavors, and trying to figure out how to do it armed[...]

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2 Responses to “Two Minutes of Absurdity with the Dress Whites”

amanda proclaims with a mighty roar:

these guys are so hot. so friggin’ hot. especially the drummer.

Posted on November 30th, 2006 at 2:22 pm [permalink]
Paul's Sister proclaims with a mighty roar:

I thought you guys WERE the White Stripes

Posted on December 13th, 2006 at 3:34 am [permalink]