Monster Truck: Warriors Of The Algorithm
In a music world where algorithms and other statistical data become more important, it can be increasingly difficult to find a band which is authentic in every sense of the word. Has a single hit thousands of streams? Is a certain social media post going viral? Who’s the current flavour of the month? There are so many trends and flash in the pan moments to get the jump on. When Jon Harvey of MONSTER TRUCK calls us from his front porch in a picturesque Canada, the vibe couldn’t be any different.
The morning Canadian sun pours through the screen before the cyclone of MONSTER TRUCK’s Warriors hits globally on September 30. To subtly break the ice, we ask the age-old question of what fans can expect. “I think it’s the best thing we’ve done so far as a group,” Jon starts, which begs the question of why. “It’s a good culmination of all the things we’ve had up until this point.”
Packed to the rafters with blues riffs and “cast your sorrows to the wind” vibes, Warriors is much more than a culmination of energies. Warriors’ cutting room floor alone is an example of that. Taking the album down from the 20 tracks written during the creative process down to a still sizeable ten tracks may sound like an arduous task but Jon tells us it wasn’t as gruelling as we would imagine. “You whittle it down and a producer comes in and goes; alright, let’s change all this,” comes with a sly smile. “But you do it and it usually sounds better. The whole process was so fun and easy for us.”
Something which made Warriors’ development easier was the lack of deadline. During the period of limbo that was the pandemic, MONSTER TRUCK was in the luxurious position of being an unsigned band. This meant there was no pressure from management or label executives to have a catalogue of material ready for a specific date. This resulted in an easy listening record steeped in themes of freedom and taking each day as it comes. What also brewed was a conundrum almost all bands faced during the unprecedented time. “The best way for us to market a record is to play live shows but to do that we need to have a record going,” Jon ponders. MONSTER TRUCK’s solution was to hold on to the record and perfect it as much as they possibly could.
Without timescales, how would a band know when a record is done? “After about 10 songs you’re just kind of like, yeah alright. Who listens to 10 all ten anyways?” Jon chortles, delighting in our shared sarcasm. “To be honest, I hardly ever listen to a whole record unless I’m working out now,” his last full-length being FUGITIVE’s Maniac EP. Like many music consumers, Jon has moved over to the world of playlists. The ability to curate bastardised compilation albums has made this consumption easier than ever. “It’s like, the whole music industry has gone back to the 50s,” he tells, likening the multitude of singles hitting the market to the double A-sides of old. “I don’t even understand it but that’s the way we’re consuming it.”
Due to this shift in music consumption, many people wonder whether we have the attention span for albums over 45 minutes long. Especially with the mental impact the pandemic had on the globe’s population. It makes us question whether albums have indeed become the lost artform some have been claiming for years now. Streaming services mean we have instant access to thousands of albums we would otherwise have had to pay, well, thousands to listen to. “We’re definitely in a world of oversaturation but it’s not a bad thing,” Jon comments. What possible downside could there be? The lost art of the album.
With this new alignment in terms of how music is consumed, the question of why bands would still make an album in a world where EPs sit atop the mountain. “I like releasing records,” Jon starts. “I like the idea of here’s ten songs from a period of time and where our heads were at then.”
What we have with Warriors is no frills, no bullshit rock n’ roll from a band whose ethos is to have a good time. It would appear the music industry has morphed into a business model obsessed with the numbers on a social media post. This leaves it feeling like a cold place to be though this is not a new sensation. “I wish I could just get rid of all that stuff,” Jon says with a semi-irritated wave of the hand. Creative types tend to attach validation to the dreaded algorithm. When a piece of content doesn’t perform as well as they think it should, it can spell a whole world of upset. Addressing the need to fight for a place within the system, Jon tells us; “this isn’t the band for that. We’re not image people. We’re just a bunch of normal guys playing music.”
It’s refreshing to see the authenticity being championed by MONSTER TRUCK isn’t a façade. The doors really are open to join in the party. So whether you’re a fan or BLACK STONE CHERRY’s Chris Robertson, pick up a drink and warm those voices up for Warriors.
Warriors is out now via BMG.
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