Boats

Boats is a Winnipeg indie rock and indie pop group from Winnipeg, Canada. The band forms in 2001 and is active to the present. It centres on Matt Klachefsky and Louis Lévesque-Côté, and the line-up given also includes Ashley Roch, Rory Ellis and Luke Bergen.

Style and themes

Boats makes hook-driven pop songs that mix indie pop with lo-fi and indie rock elements. Its songs draw on unusual and often dark subject matter, including death, ageing, girls, glowing bears and surreal escape narratives, while still using a playful pop sound. The group’s music also ranges from short, energetic songs to more ambitious pieces and ballads.

Albums and recording

The band’s third album, A Fairway Full Of Miners, is recorded in spring and summer 2012 at Prairie Recording Studios and UMFM with Ryan McVeigh, and mixed in Vancouver by David Carswell. It follows the 2010 album Cannonballs, Cannonballs, which Winnipeg college radio station 101.5 UMFM names its No. 1 album of 2010 and which receives praise for its inventiveness and charm. A Fairway Full Of Miners includes songs such as “O Telescope,” “Animated GIFs” and “Advice on Bears.”

Activity and touring

Boats has completed eight North American tours, a run that helps shape the focus and refinement of its sound over three albums. The band also releases a three-song cassette tape.

Label and associations

A Fairway Full Of Miners is released through Kill Rock Stars, a label associated with Corin Tucker Band, Elliott Smith, The Decemberists and Deerhoof. David Carswell, who mixes the album, is also associated with Destroyer and The New Pornographers.