The first time I came across Model/Actriz was at a show in a gazebo deep in Verdun on a Fall day in 2021. They were opening for Faze, a local punk band, which is surprising in retrospect given the stature they’ve now achieved (not to deny Faze their flowers of course – they are an excellent outfit in their own right). During Model/Actriz’ set, I remember trying to work out if I really was witnessing something special, or if I was just swept up in a post-pandemic concert-going euphoria. Their 2023 release Dogsbody showed me definitively that the former was true; they made waves in punk and noise rock circles due to their harrowing instrumentals and intense performances by vocalist Cole Haden. Their sound almost leaves the listener feeling as though they are being held at gunpoint and forced to dance. The same type of energy can be found on their latest release, Pirouette, this time alongside a wider range of sounds and moods, and increasingly vulnerable performances all around.
The first thing likely to catch the ears of fans of Dogsbody is the vocal performance on Pirouette’s opening track “Vespers.” Here, we hear Haden diving into a more melodic approach than in the band’s previous material, something that becomes a frequent occurrence throughout the album. The result of this change is a quite palpable shift in Haden’s presence in the sonic space – it feels less dressed up in a character and more personal, in contrast to the larger-than-life character he can embody with his spoken or harsh vocals.
Following “Vespers,” the next two tracks have a sound which is a bit more akin to what listeners have come to expect from Model/Actriz. “Cinderella,” which incidentally was the album’s lead single, starts with a harsh polyrhythmic figure from Jack Wetmore’s guitar and Aaron Shapiro’s bass, which plays off of a steady and danceable beat from drummer Ruben Radlauer. It is an energetic song with a mostly spoken vocal performance, and transitions almost seamlessly into the subsequent “Poppy,” which maintains a similar energy. The transition is not dissimilar to that between “Crossing Guard” and “Slate” on Dogsbody.
To highlight the range the band achieves on the album, listeners should focus on the tracks “Acid Rain” and “Ring Road.” The former is a type of song that, frankly, I never would have expected to hear from this band. It starts with a melodic bassline before the drums enter and the lyrics come in on top of a slow and thudding groove. By the chorus, however, we hear an eerie fingerstyle guitar underneath a strikingly lyrical vocal melody, while the rhythm section continues its thudding feel. It is the most hauntingly beautiful song Model/Actriz has released, but manages not to sound out of place among the rest of their repertoire. “Ring Road” by contrast has what is probably the least melodic and most distorted soundscape in the band’s catalogue. It is full of noisy guitar work, frantic drumming, and features pulsating electronics throughout, which truly attack the ear. That these two tracks can fit cohesively on the same album (with only two tracks in between) says all that needs to be said about the record’s flow.
Pirouette is an excellent example of a project in which a band stretches its sound to new lengths without losing track of what made their previous work great. Even on the songs that feel closer to Model/Actriz’ previous work, the sonic palette is often expanded with electronics and instrumental textures. On top of that, the vocal performances really come across as someone baring their soul to the listener. With each release, this band seems to come into their own more and more; they become more difficult to categorize or compare.
