Echos by The Jerry Cans | Album Review
The Jerry Cans create the true beauty of Nunavut through their fourth release.
In my journey to look for new music, I decided to look north to Canada. I wanted to go far north, to three most northern provinces of the country. This is how I ended up exploring the music of Nunavut. If you are unfamiliar with the area, Nunavut, whose name translates to “Our Land” in Inuktitut, is the far northeastern province and the most remote. In my search through the various artists in the area, I happened upon The Jerry Cans. The band got their beginnings as a cover band that met up in high school. They progressed out of hard rock covers and into the sound they are known for today after adding accordion player and throat singer Nancy Mike. The band began to sing in their native language Inuktitut and reshaped their sound. They have put out 4 albums since their formation. One of they biggest breaks was from appearing on the Canadian Juno Awards, performing their song “Ukiuq”,off of their third album Inuusiq, during the Juno Awards which would garner them national attention. They have also started their own record label, Aakuluk Music, to help get the spotlight on other artists from Nunavut.Their most recent release is the beautiful Echos. The album mixes between English and Inuktitut language songs. This album also introduces new accordion player and throat singer Avery Keenainak to the fray. Sonically, the band does a remarkable job creating a sound that albums mimics the landscape of Nunavut. It’s bright and crystalline, like the frozen tundra, while also having a warmth that only the love for one’s home can bring. It’s very rare that independent artists from Canada get much spotlight in the States. Those from Nunavut don’t even get a blip on the radar. Hopefully, I can help change that by spreading the word on the eclectic sound of The Jerry Cans.
Their sound is a blend of folk and indie rock that creates as large, cool, and beautiful as Nunavut itself. The record contains 4 different instrumental tracks that are like book ends to each section of the album. The titles of the tracks are all in Inuktitut. The opening track, “Tukturjuk”, translates as “a group of Caribou”, which is what the native people of the arctic call Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). The second of these tracks, “Ullaktut”, translates as “Good Morning/In the Morning”. The third instrumental is “Spring Tide”. The final of these tracks, “Akuttujuuk”, translates as “those two placed apart”. Each of these tracks are titled perfectly to the sound they provide. These instrumentals waft in beautifully cold strings along with other subtle instrumentation to give this large glittering landscape its physical form.
Five singles have been released off Echos: “Atauttikkut”, “Havava”, “On the Rocks”, and “Swell (My Brother)”, and “SOS”. The first single “Atauttikkut” is the first single off of the album. It’s blend of driving guitar and percussion along with Avery’s throat singing feels like running through the frozen tundra. It’s a fabulous introduction to the bands latest work. “Havava” is the second single off the album and an ode to loving who you want. This nod to the LGBTQ+ community is displayed in the artwork for the single. It’s more milky in its delivery. The pulsing of throat singing that softly echos through this song along with the more creamy instrumentation make for a truly multi-textural experience that is one of my favorites on the album. “On the Rocks” continues with their impressive since of motion in the sound landscape. This track is one of the predominantly English sung tracks. It’s a folk/indie rock explosion that seems to call for hope in a sense of loss.
The fourth single, “Swell (My Brother)”, that deals with the issue of suicide in the Far North as lead singer Andrew Morrison stated in an interview with Roots Music Canada:
“‘Swell (My Brother)’ is a song that breaks our hearts to sing, and that broke our heart to write. Over the course of creating Echoes, our new album, two of our childhood friends died by suicide. Before the current pandemic, Nunavut has been struggling with a pandemic of its own…Losing family and friends to suicide this way is not new for the band — or anyone who has spent any time in Nunavut. But this song came out of the anger, sorrow, and frustration of this experience. Even as we grow up, we never seem to outgrow these feelings… At this point, we could offer statistics that would bring tears to your eyes. We will not do that. To us, these statistics are so much more than that. They are our friends, our family members, and our community members. ‘Swell (My Brother)’ is a song to honour all.”
The band does a beautiful job in both honoring the people they have lost and bringing light to the mental health issues in Canada’s far north. These pleas and desperation show in a harrowing way in the second verse, “My brother/ Don’t go chase the setting sun/ My brother/ Don’t go stare down that gun/ My brother/ No, no/ My brother/ What are we supposed to tell our sons?”. The sorrow over this often hidden issue spill over at the song’s end as the Andrew continues the lines of “We dying, We crying” until ending on the optimistic tone of rising up from this tragedy.
“SOS” is the last single off of the record that has become one of my favorites. It’s one of the darker tracks off the album. The violin dances like the Northern Lights through this track in a truly majestic way. The title really plays well into the Inuktitut lyrics as they are a call for help as Andrew sings on the ocean of miasmic negativity that has engulfed him and the ones he loves.
The remaining tracks all build off of each other beautifully. “Qaumajuujusi” is a bright vibrant track that brilliantly mixes their indie rock/folk sound with distant strings that glisten like snow in the sunlight. “Nain” a more sunny yet chilly indie rock song. It really kicks in at the second half with more raucous guitar solos and throat singing at spin you into a whirlwind. The titular track “Echos” is one of the most mellow tracks on the album. The deeper and thicker vocal delivery is a lovely contrast to what has been shown previously on the record. “Kazabazua” is the most electronically influenced song on the album. The bouncy nature of the keyboards threw me off a bit. Avery’s vocal delivery against the electronic backdrop is almost hypnotic. I do enjoy this track, but it feels a little out of place against the others on the album. The final song, “Nameless”, ends with silky guitars and violin. Avery’s vocal talents really shine here and close out the record beautifully.
I was incredibly impressed by the album from front to back. Each listen that I have given to this project I have been able to pick something new and gorgeous out of each track that I haven’t heard before. I made sure to go to their Bandcamp page, which I will link in the sources below, to order a vinyl pressing of this fantastic record. As I have stated before, they do a phenomenal job at capturing the feel for Nunavut sonically and vocally throughout this album. As someone who can’t speak or understand the Inuktitut language, I was able to still connect with the sentiments and emotions behind each song wonderfully (while definitely peaking my interesting in learning the translations and true meanings to each). I can’t recommend this album or group enough to others. My favorites off the record are:
- “Atauttikkut”
- “Havava”
- “On the Rocks”
- “SOS”
- “Nain”
- “Nameless”
My overall rating: 9.5 out of 10 glittering echos through the tundra
Bandcamp Link:
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