ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 18, 2013
By Steve Newton
There have been a few songs about Saturday night that have caught on over the years. Tough guy Elton John always thought it was all right for fighting, while Lynyrd Skynyrd didn’t care for the way gun makers profited from making it special. And then the Bay City Rollers… Well, let’s not worry too much about what they were trying to spell out.
In true Canadian fashion, Calgary indie-rockers the Dudes take a hockey-based approach on “Saturday Night”, a track off their latest album, Barbers, Thieves, and Bartenders. Frontman Dan Vacon recites a litany of NHL facts that will perk up the ears of anyone raised on Hockey Night in Canada.
“When McCarty got his hat trick on Patrick, it was Saturday night,” he croons to an anthemic groove. “When Sittler scored 10 Dave Reece never played again, on a Saturday night.”
“It’s just a tip of the hat to our Canadian heritage,” says Vacon, on the phone from Edmonton before hauling ass to Regina for a gig that night. “If you were to fact-check all the actual occurrences in the song you would find that those things all happened on Saturday night. I’m pretty proud of that.”
Considering Calgary’s dismal record this year, Vacon admits that it’s hard to be a Flames booster right now, so he throws his support behind other Canadian teams. “Saturday Night” sees him celebrating the fact that Winnipeg got its Jets back, and predicting that Quebec will see the return of the Nordiques in time to win the cup in 2017!
His ode to puckin’ around is one of six tracks on BT&B, all of which live up to his general description of the Dudes’ music as “fist-pumping sing-along rock”. Sing-along fans will be pleased to note that karaoke versions of all six tunes are also included on the disc.
“We had enough money for about two weeks in the studio,” explains Vacon, “and when you work with [Vancouver producer] Jeff Dawson, he likes to take it easy—which is cool, ’cause we like to take it easy. Six songs take about two weeks to do, so we picked our favourite six and just rolled with it. Then we thought it would be hilarious to have a karaoke side as well.”
No word yet on whether any karaoke tracks will make the set list on the Dudes’ upcoming Western Canadian tour with Vancouver indie-pop act the Zolas, which hits the Vogue Theatre on Friday (April 19). But Vacon is pumped about how his group—which includes guitarist Bob Quaschnick, bassist Brock Geiger, and new drummer Matt Doherty—has caught on in their tourmates’ hometown.
“It definitely was a slow build,” he relates. “But you gotta tip your hat to [local radio station] the Peak. Soon as anyone hears radio play, it’s such a game-changer, man. That’s why I love what these new independent radio stations are doing for independent bands. We’ve gone from putting 50 butts in the seats to… Well, we sold out the Vogue, and that’s like a 1,200-seater or something. I’m really excited.”