54•40 Drop New Autobiographical Album 'West Coast Band'

"If 54•40 was a Broadway musical, this record would be the original score"

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Nov 3, 2023

Surprise! Okay, well it actually doesn't seem to be entirely a surprise, but with little fanfare, Canadian rock diehards 54•40 have dropped a brand new album — their 14th studio release — called West Coast Band.

Produced by the band's own Dave Genn and Neil Osborne, the 11-track collection follows this summer's Live at the El Mocambo and their 2018 full-length, Keep on Walking.

"This album is the story of 54•40," reads the West Coast Band description on 54•40's Bandcamp page. (We'd be remiss not to mention that it is, in fact, Bandcamp Friday.) "The songs explore individual stories involving singular band members or incidents that all have their place in the 54•40 handbook of stories. The record is an experiment lyrically, the stories are very literal and linear. If 54•40 was a Broadway musical, this record would be the original score."

Elsewhere, it continues, "54•40 has been telling Canada where they came from and where they're going for the last 40 years. Now, it's time for Neil, Brad [Merritt], Dave, and Matt [Johnson] to reveal their band culture in a collection of songs called West Coast Band. Through self-referential and often very literal stories, the songs explore bizarre shenanigans, odd dynamics and personalities of its members."

Listen to West Coast Band and get newly acquainted with the Tsawwassen, BC-formed band below.

 

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