Music for music’s sake. It’s by no stroke of luck that The Culls’ self-titled debut album is imbued with the mantra that Ryan Davenport has carried with him since boyhood. A rejection of narrowness and formula within his adolescent rock projects became the catalyst for The Culls’ inception. Along with a newfound wonder derived from the already timeless songs of Big Thief and Pinegrove, Ryan was armed with the ultimate influence: simplicity.
Long before The Culls were the four-piece heard on record, the project existed as an idea of lyric-forward folk-rock. It was on a plane back home to Nova Scotia from BC that Ryan penned the first dark, yet oddly humorous laments of the end of his two-year relationship out west. “I bought the land with the intent of two / Now it’s double the work, and two hands too few.”
Once they began performing locally, the band’s cross-genre identity allowed them to integrate into multiple sects of the local scene. From grungy rock haunts to folk festivals, different audiences were falling in love with the rousing thumps of The Culls’ folk-rock show. Ryan’s vision of working within the confines of organic musicianship and sonic palettes yields a performance that feels innately enjoyable. A janky telecaster nostalgically twangs below harmonies that hoist the genius of lines that beg to be sung back.
The Culls’ lead album single, “Nature” already feels like a classic–almost as if it’s been around for decades. “It’s easier to feel anger than it is to feel shame” is irresistibly singable as it leads in one of the strongest choruses on the self-titled debut. The song saw rotation on SiriusXM and CBC, as did the follow-up single, “Sandals.” The recordings themselves were produced by Nova Scotian artist and producer, Kurtis Eugene, who engineered and mixed the album, and performed auxiliary instrumentation on select tracks. The final product is a reflection of Ryan Davenport’s steadfastness in creating a record that revels in its own bareness. It is a clever multi-perspective exploration of the self through stories of separation, presented within a sonic context that is undeniably human. Music for music’s sake.
