Take your Pop Medicine with Adrian Teacher and The Subs

24 May 2018, 16:00 | Written by Ro Cemm

(Tracks)

(Adrian Teacher and The Subs)

Vancouver's Adrian Teacher and the Subs returned last week with a surprise album release in the shape of Anxious Love. Featuring 9 songs in just over 19 minutes, Teacher ropes in Karl Blau (saxophone) and Nicholas Krgovich (piano) to add their talents to the band's trademark upbeat jangle-punk.

While the melodies are bright and summery, the subject matter is somewhat heavier, dealing with illnesses of friends and family in recent years, as Teacher explained to Exclaim: "A couple of years ago, my drummer Amanda got sick, and then she got better. Then my dad got sick, and he's not really going to get better. So I wrote these songs as I was thinking about this, and a lot of other things too.”

Musically, Anxious Love mostly builds on the legacy of Apollo Ghosts and 2016’s Terminal City, but there are also hints of the more dance-based project Cool TV on "So Choked" and ambient project Arbutus on "He Found Beauty and Goodness Everywhere and in Everyone".

<a data-cke-saved-href="http://adrianteacher.bandcamp.com/album/anxious-love" href="http://adrianteacher.bandcamp.com/album/anxious-love">Anxious Love by Adrian Teacher and the Subs</a>

"Pop Medicine" fizzes with a renewed urgency - documenting a relationship and the struggles to deal with a Cancer diagnosis. There's a real sense here that there is no time to waste in celebrating the ones we love. It’s beautifully succinct as well as catchy and ultimately uplifting - not a note is wasted in delivering the song's message.

The album is available as PWYC on BandCamp.

Adrian Teacher and The Subs are currently on tour in the US with Japandroids and Wolf Parade.