by Slone Fox
For the most part, house parties end in questionable decisions and a hangover of such a great magnitude that you promise to never drink again, before immediately doing the exact same thing the following weekend, and then the weekend after that, too.
Sometimes, though, house parties end in a band creation so strong that you land yourself a gig headlining the Astoria alongside SIDS, Paul is Dead, Nikola Death Ray and Cheap Flavor after having just released an album a handful of months earlier. This is the case for Vancouver-based noise rock band Washers, consisting of vocalist/guitarist Garett Garett, bassist Jesse Dean, guitarist Matt Bush and drummer Tommy Donald.
Washers was conceived on the porch of a house party (a place where a lot of things are conceived) in 2017 where Bush, playing acoustic guitar (presumably in a cool, impressive way and not a one-day-playing-Wonderwall-at-parties-will-get-me-laid-I-just-know-it way), strummed out what would eventually become the opening riff to the title track of the quartet’s debut album Drown.
“WE NEED TO START A BAND,” Garett yelled over the heads of the stumbling partygoers as Bush played, a simple move that eventually lead to the two moving into a moldy Vancouver party house together - the 4th base of the punk scene - promptly followed by Dean and then Donald. The guys spent the next several months writing and refining the songs that would end up on Drown, an album in which post-rock seamlessly melts together with old-school punk influences.
In preparation for the band’s biggest show yet, the quartet has also recruited album engineer JJ Heath to stand in as the supreme overlord of the sound board:
“There’s so much fucking shit going on sonically while we play that it’s nice to have a pro behind the board looking out for our best interest,” says Donald.
Washers is set to take on the Astoria on Friday, February 7th in a show that will undoubtedly combine vast amounts of musical talent with a lesser or equal amount of just trying to not fuck up their parts.
“I think anyone who's played the Astoria has seen so many great bands there before that it's just an honour to step on that stage and perform your own music to an audience at such a legendary venue,” says Bush.
“I'm just happy to play any show as long as people show up,” adds Garett.
Washers is set to play the Astoria on Friday, February 7th alongside SIDS, Paul is Dead, Nikola Death Ray and Cheap Flavor.