Some Kind Of Heaven

Description

"Is this heaven / or its twin?" Mischa Dempsey asks on the opening track to Some Kind of Heaven, the debut full-length by knitting. The unsettling question sets the tone for a dense record that expertly renders anxieties about growing pains and strained relationships. Through precise lyricism, brash guitar solos and whispered vocals, knitting brings to life Dempsey's experiences as a 20-something transitioning and working to understand themself in Montreal. At once massive and intimate, Some Kind of Heaven is a rock record that you can blast with your friends or listen to alone in your room, when you're feeling alienated from everything you know - and wondering if anyone else is, too. Though Heaven is knitting's first LP, Dempsey is no novice. They've been playing music professionally since they founded the trio Lonely Parade as a teenager in and releasing two records before they hit 21. Dempsey started knitting as a solo project, releasing an EP in 2021, before assembling a band of ringers: Sarah Harris (Property, Amery) on guitar, Piper Curtis (Sunforger) on bass, and Andy Mulcair (Power Buddies, Marlaena Moore) on drums. Though they've only been playing together since 2022, knitting sounds like they've been ripping since about 1991. The band has built up a reputation for their sharp, energizing live set. In 2023, knitting went into the studio to record new material, written over a period of several years when Dempsey was navigating experiences of transition and coming into their non-binary identity. Inspired by '90s alt-rock acts like Nirvana and Hole, as well as groups putting a new spin on that era like Wednesday, Momma, and DIIV, the band wanted a sound with more depth and intensity than anything they'd done before. With some songs reaching as many as fifteen guitar tracks, they created a heavy record full of fuzzed-out guitar textures, thick bass lines, and sweeping drum fills, all cocooning - but never fully submerging - Dempsey's whispered vocals. With evocative storytelling and a dry sense of humour, Dempsey articulates how we're haunted by what we try to leave behind. "I've been scolding myself with my dead name / it's hanging on with the ring of a catchphrase," they sing on "Green," over a guitar so dirty it sounds almost like a whirring machine. RIYL: Wednesday, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Pavement, Slow Pulp, Hole, Nirvana

Description

"Is this heaven / or its twin?" Mischa Dempsey asks on the opening track to Some Kind of Heaven, the debut full-length by knitting. The unsettling question sets the tone for a dense record that expertly renders anxieties about growing pains and strained relationships. Through precise lyricism, brash guitar solos and whispered vocals, knitting brings to life Dempsey's experiences as a 20-something transitioning and working to understand themself in Montreal. At once massive and intimate, Some Kind of Heaven is a rock record that you can blast with your friends or listen to alone in your room, when you're feeling alienated from everything you know - and wondering if anyone else is, too. Though Heaven is knitting's first LP, Dempsey is no novice. They've been playing music professionally since they founded the trio Lonely Parade as a teenager in and releasing two records before they hit 21. Dempsey started knitting as a solo project, releasing an EP in 2021, before assembling a band of ringers: Sarah Harris (Property, Amery) on guitar, Piper Curtis (Sunforger) on bass, and Andy Mulcair (Power Buddies, Marlaena Moore) on drums. Though they've only been playing together since 2022, knitting sounds like they've been ripping since about 1991. The band has built up a reputation for their sharp, energizing live set. In 2023, knitting went into the studio to record new material, written over a period of several years when Dempsey was navigating experiences of transition and coming into their non-binary identity. Inspired by '90s alt-rock acts like Nirvana and Hole, as well as groups putting a new spin on that era like Wednesday, Momma, and DIIV, the band wanted a sound with more depth and intensity than anything they'd done before. With some songs reaching as many as fifteen guitar tracks, they created a heavy record full of fuzzed-out guitar textures, thick bass lines, and sweeping drum fills, all cocooning - but never fully submerging - Dempsey's whispered vocals. With evocative storytelling and a dry sense of humour, Dempsey articulates how we're haunted by what we try to leave behind. "I've been scolding myself with my dead name / it's hanging on with the ring of a catchphrase," they sing on "Green," over a guitar so dirty it sounds almost like a whirring machine. RIYL: Wednesday, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Pavement, Slow Pulp, Hole, Nirvana