The Tenants - The Tenants and Visions of Our Future

Today I'm writing about The Tenants, one of those bands who got together, released a couple of albums and then disappeared. They are a band who was new to me and  their two albums were in stark contrast to one another, and only one is available to stream.

Shall we begin?

Every so often I'll pop in to Krazy Bob's and see what I can knock off my wish list. I went earlier in the morning mainly because the store would likely be empty, and for me that's when Bob is at his best. I hadn't seen him since well before Christmas and he greeted me warmly and he asked me what I was looking for. I mentioned a few things and he helped me look through the bins. His filing system is organized chaos, but it is organized.

Within a few minutes I had crossed a couple things off my list and then Bob did what Bob does. "Hey, have you heard of these guys?" He's done this to me many times, and generally I try to glance at the price before committing, but he seldom pulls out anything (too) pricey. He was showing me a rather cool looking album by The Tenants called Visions of Our Future. He had placed a sticker on the outer plastic sleeve, "If you enjoy "The Police" try this Canadian band."

I glance at the back cover, and it was from '84 and was produced by the legendary Paul Gross and recorded at the equally legendary Phase One studios. This was enough for me. So I took it and put it on my pile. He then said he had to run off and get hot chocolates or coffees for the other guys working there, and he flitted off.

I looked around a little more and then took my stuff to the counter. My favourite part about the checkout is the chance to get some complimentary albums from the cheap bin. Most of the time I may get one, sometimes two. However this trip I'd dropped a little more cash and I was told I could get a handful or records. A banner day. You can't dicker with Bob or the staff, but there are times they throw you a bone. The golden rule is don't be a dick and use your manners.

I start rooting around, and boy howdy Bob has been looking to clear inventory I found a few really awesome items and then low and behold there was the debut album by The Tenants. Well, this was fortuitous. 

After thanking the guys who were waiting for their hot chocolate I brought my treasures home and gave them a good cleaning. The one thing that drives me crazy is Bob's propensity to put grocery stickers on the album covers with the price and occasionally an "all sales final" stamp or sticker on the insert. The cover stickers can be a pain in the ass. Sometimes soaking them in lighter fluid doesn't work and carefully trying to remove the sticker with the edge of my fingernail just ends up bringing up bits of the cover too.

Ah, first world problems.

You didn't come here for all of this silly preamble, at least I'm pretty sure you didn't. Back to the topic at hand: The Tenants. There isn't much out there on the band, or at least the Canadian band called The Tenants. The band released two albums, and then disappeared. From what I read, and like I said there wasn't a lot of information to corroborate anything, the band's first album did okay and sold well enough for CBS to pony up a bigger budget for their follow up. Between albums the band changed management and there ended up being questions as to where the budget went. Lawyers and such got involved, with the upshot being the band was on the hook for said money. This no doubt sucked and I suspect led to a less that harmonious working environment within the band. They would break up shortly after.

However, the band did leave behind two albums, and this is where I finally get to the meat and potatoes, or if that's not to your taste the tofu and chickpeas, and actually start talking about the band. That little hand written note on the cover of Visions of Our Future had planted an expectation of what I was about to hear. The first song on the debut, "Look the Other Way" was new wave power pop, but I didn't really hear the police, if anything they sounded a bit like The Records. That would soon change as vocalist Gary Brown was soon channelling his inner Sting complete with long "ah aaaaaaaaaahs" and sing along yodelling (I was at a loss as to what to call it. It wasn't the yo yo stuff, but it was a close neighbour) and guitarist Andy McLean had cranked his chorus pedal and his articulated playing was very much akin to that of Andy Summers. There were also times when he sounded like Jamie West-Oram from The Fixx. That's the problem when you try to snap things to a grid, you start hearing things that may or may not be there instead of taking the music at face value.

However, I should be very clear - THIS WAS NOT THE POLICE. Sure the band was swimming in the same musical pool, a lot of bands were mixing new wave and reggae with synthesizers. While Sting's delivery was pretty unique, the '80s were bringing with it a new way of singing and The Tenants were merely reflecting what was going on. Still there were times it's kind of hard not to say, "Boy that sounds like them." Them of course not being Them and Van Morrison, but ... you know, The Police. That said, the single that seemed to be getting airplay (I can't remember it) was "Sheriff" and boy howdy it was good ... and yes it did bear more than a passing resemblance to The Police. I suppose since they were Canadian they could have been called the R.C.M.P.

I know I keep harping on The Police aspect, but the band crafted some really good songs, and there were a lot of sax solos. That's why I'm here - for the tunes. I have to admit that up to Synchronicity I could not have given two shits about The Police. Sure there were songs I liked, but more often than not I found them sort of annoying. So it's a surprise to me how good this album by The Tenants is. The performances were loose but energetic and the songs are catchy, fun and infectious. The band was so tight and while it would be easy to dismiss them as merely inferior clones of The Police that's like shitting on Rhino Bucket and Airbourne for sounding like AC/DC.

Let's pause to introduce the band:

• Fraser MacDougall - keyboards
• Derek Gassyt - drums and percussion
• Andy McLean - guitars and vocals
• Lewis Mele - bass
• Gary Brown - vocals and guitar

Gary and Andy wrote the songs, and then in a small box there are more credits, Mike Beer played bass, Norm Ryan played sax (his solos are great) and Wendy Marshall played orgasmatron, which I'm not sure I even want to know what that is, but she diddled it to great effect on "School Girl". I just picture her dressed like a young Jane Fonda and that's as far as I've let my imagination go.

I have to say this was really good, and I've spun it several times now, and each time I like it a little more ... and I have to say The Police comparisons are hard to ignore but it's more an influence and a tip of the hat. These guys were really good and this album is a wonderful example of early '80s power pop. It's a shame the cover art looked like a failed art project.

A year later the band was back with their follow up Visions of Our Future, and from the first song it's a night and day experience. It's funny, this is the album that had the little handmade hype sticker saying "If you enjoy "The Police" try this Canadian band." (yes I felt I had to repeat it) There's nothing here that evokes The Police on the album. This was a more mature work, and it was more polished - I suspect Epic coughed up a little more cash for the recording, which in a round about way ended up killing the band (which is merely me being an armchair purveyor of bullshit, how would I know?). While there were still new wave elements the band had moved right to the middle of the AOR lane and while this feels like an early '80s rock album with synth textures the band was trying to carve out a niche for itself. If there's a downside it was a tad too generic and homogenized as if they were trying to force it to fit with what was on the radio.

Fraser and Andy were still the creative force behind the songs, and the band was intact with the exception of swapping out roles on bass. Michael Beer was in, and Lewis Mele was a guest on a song. The band also added an additional  keyboard player, Lou Pomanti and a Linn programmer - John Andrews. I suspect they were just sidesmen and listed in the credits. Don't think it matters.

It's a bit strange listening to this one right on the heels of their debut. I'm a bit torn as well. I know I was being more than a little heavy handed in constantly comparing them to the aborted lovechild of The Police and The Fixx. Here the band sounds more nondescript but there's also a deliberateness to the band's direction, as if this is where they wanted to be in the first place. The music is heavier, the guitars more atmospheric and the general tone more menacing, but there's also something really cool too.

In many ways I wish this had been my introduction to the band as this is the kind of broody rock and roll I really like. There can be a tendency for this kind of pop to veer into pretentiousness but the guys managed to find the right balance and the results are worth a close listen. Gary Brown dropped his Sting affectations and had adopted that new romantic style that had come over with a lot of the British acts in the early '80s. 

I really like the album and the songs are all pretty good. The band didn't totally eschew the new wave reggae elements they just incorporated them into a more straight ahead rock format. There are some standouts, "Something Else" is solid, and I wonder if Edwyn Collins heard it because his song "A Girl Like You" that came out a decade later sounds a bit like this one in places. The other song that got under my skin was the "We All Live Here" as I'm a sucker for a sing-a-long choir.

The one song that had a little more vitriol was "The Critic" which took aim at the armchair experts whose opinions were able to make or break bands back when the music press had some power. I'm guessing at some point the guys in the band had enough of being pissed on for being derivative.

An interesting band, and one I'm a little torn over. They put out two albums and were done. The streaming services do have the band's debut but not the follow-up. While I'm partial to Visions of Our Future, the album that's the most fun is the debut. 

Go figure.

With the passage of time we do have the answer to the question the band asked in "The Critic"

"Will you be ... here tomorrow"

Yes, they will be, sort of ... but you have to know where to look.

It's worth looking.