March 20, 1996

A Brand New Outlook
The Winnipeg Sun
writer unkown

By now, the four members of The Watchmen are used to the routine of being in a rock band. The one that goes: write some songs, record some songs, pose for some photos, shoot some videos, release an album, do some interviews, go on tour -- repeat. Right now they're in the interview stage of the process for their third album, Brand New Day, which hits record stores today. But, as three-quarters of the band sit and talk in their downtown Winnipeg rehearsal hall. It's apparent there's something different about this particular stage of this particular process. For one thing, there's a palpable air of excitement in the conversation of Daniel Greaves, guitarist Joey Serlin and drummer Sammy Kohn (bassist Ken Tizzard is on a brief holiday). They're not just reciting the litany of pre-release-anticipation quotes exuded by most groups -- there's also a sense of accomplishment and confidence that comes with knowing they've truly done something extra-special. For another thing, they're fielding questions about the difference between art and craftsmanship. And they're handling them with aplomb. Both the confident air and the line of questioning are born of the fact that Brand New Day is a fine recording. As a group, both musically and lyrically, The Watchmen has grown up on this album, finally delivering on all the promise it has shown since it first hit the boards in Winnipeg clubs in 1988. The record itself is a 12-song, 44-minute outing which takes its cue from the band's guitar-driven pop/rock sound but which also exponentially and gloriously expands on it -- adding keyboards, incorporating horns and strings, switching tempos and playing with harmonies to create a remarkably textured and impressive effort. Though the evolution may startle some fans used to the distortion-heavy Chris Wardman approach of the band's first album, the band itself felt it was headed in this direction when it came out of the sessions that produced 1994's In The Trees. "We knew that, this being our third record, it was an important one," Greaves says. "And we felt we wanted to move forward as soon as we finished the last thing we did. At the same time, we didn't set out to embrace different styles of music, we just did. "There are some different things on the record, but all of it happened quite honestly right over there," he says, gesturing to the band's gear in the back of the hall. The key to the change in Brand New Day would seem to be the fact Greaves has stepped up and added his piano and keyboard skills to the mix. One new tune, Beach Music, is essentially a solo piano piece, and the keyboard factors in several of the others. "For the first time we did the bulk of our writing with Dan at the keys," Kohn approach was focused on him sitting at the piano and doing some stuff, in fact, the first song we wrote for the record was a piece called Michael McDonald (after the Doobie Brothers' singer/pianist). It didn't make the album, but that was where we were headed." The new approach, though hardly a radical make over, did inspire the other players in the band. "This was a fun album to write and to record," Serlin says. "The point when a song is most exciting for us is when it's being written -- when we're jamming and I'm in a groove with Sammy and Ken and Danny's come up with his melody. That's when it's in its most embryonic stage, at it's most expressive, and I really enjoyed that." Excited as they were by the process and as they are by the album, band members share some trepidation about the reception this Watchmen outing will get. But they're more anxious about how people will react than they are unsure of their product. "I'm not scared, but I am unsure," Greaves says. "I'm looking forward to going on the road and seeing what people have to say and think. I'm not confident enough to say that people will take this up in their loving arms, but I am confident enough to say that if they don't, it's their loss."
Serlin sums up the band's feelings thus: "I can tell you that if there's an album of ours to be judged, this is the album I'd want judged, this is the one that is the most uniquely individual Watchmen record." Indeed it is.