Wilson, Renny

Wilson, Renny

Punk Explosion / Extension

Mint

Punk Explosion / Extension, or Punk Ex for short, is the latest musical detour from the loins of Canadian avant-pop artist Renny Wilson. Recorded between 2007 and 2014, Punk Ex follows Wilson’s natural progression from the breakup of his high school garage punk band The Subatomics to his present-day life in Montréal. Originally available in an extremely limited, abridged cassette version simply titled Punk Explosion, the album was a collection of Wilson’s more abrasive recordings from the past seven years. Adding a handful of previously unreleased songs recorded at his home studio in Park Ex, Montréal, in late 2014, Punk Explosion / Extension sees the original recordings back and bulkier than ever. Recalling snotty ’70s punk, cornball classic rock and scratchy ’90s garage punk, the album makes more than subtle hints at the past while painting a clear picture of the future. From the lighter fare of “Youngsters” and “Clean” to the cheeky cock-rock of “Stiffed” and the guttural, cartoonish power-pop of “Escaping Alive,” Punk Ex offers a variety of leather-jacket-bound jams, as one would expect from an album made over so many years. Setbacks and stylistic evolutions aside, Wilson’s own personal Chinese Democracy is available to the public at last!

Wilson, Renny

Sugarglider

Mint

After almost a decade of struggle, strain and delay, the debut record from Edmontonian Renny Wilson sees the light. Sugarglider draws from disco keystones like “Bad Girls” and Arthur Russell as well as elements of chillwave, krautrock and a healthy dose of Haunted Graffiti, employing bold, tempo-matched digital delay.  The album opens with a saxed-out, psychedelic, electric-bass-powered dance party, riddled with the sounds of late-’80s FM synths, 12-bit horns and regret. The soul-plane flies high, low and back up again, fizzling away into a motorik opera, only to slap back with deep, white-boy funk, cosmic pulsar-pop and sampled-string schmaltz. The contrast of upbeat music and melancholy lyrical content provides a tasty combination for any groove-oriented listener. Tap this valiant freshman effort into your varicose and you’ll find yourself crying vaseline tears of self-pity on the dancefloor.  “Um, best new band of the year? All we’ve heard is these three singles streaming from Edmonton’s Renny Wilson and we need more right away. Perhaps this record ranks with Ariel Pink himself. These three songs certainly suggest we have an incredible talent on our hands here.” —Silent Shout