Music

Published on September 9th, 2021 | by Craig Silliphant

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The Garrys – Get Thee to a Nunnery

Saskatoon’s psych surf rock sibling trio, The Garrys, are releasing a new album, Get Thee to a Nunnery on September 24th, via Grey Records. It is produced by Dallas Good of the Sadies.

One of the cool thing about The Garrys is that they’re adept at taking something classic and making it new, while not losing the nostalgic reverence that made that thing worthwhile in the first place. Hell, even their name is a nod to their father, Garry, taking the classic and repurposing it.

Another example is found in their music; they play updated takes on both surf rock and doo-wop music. They take elements like Dick Dale’s alternate picking and reverb-drenched guitar as well as the group vocal harmonies of doo-wop. They twist it all up with a helping of modern psych rock, creating what they call “dreamy blood harmony surf rock doom-wop on morphine.” They find new thoughts, new ideas, in the rubble of old temples.

Their music often tells stories about Saskatchewan and their own family history. On their new single, the title track, ‘Get Thee to a Nunnery,’ sisters Lenore, Julie, and Erica Maier pull from their mother’s experiences at an all-girls Catholic boarding school and convent in a small town in Saskatchewan in the 60s. Some of it is through the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia — nostalgia for a time and place that came before their lives. But there’s an extra layer that’s important, which is the idea that while it’s fascinating to look back on a simpler time in history, some of those times weren’t as good as we want to remember them. After all, the song is about Catholic repression and the oppression of women. But it’s that push pull that makes it great.

The Garrys are telling stories about their lives and where they come from, where many of us come from. They prove that it’s possible to look back at certain times and find the good and bad in them. It’s not forgetting history, but it’s not whitewashing it either. It’s simply presenting all of it, with a good beat behind it. And when you can do that, it gives you the power to recognize (and maybe even change) the things that were damaging as well realize the things that were special and should be guarded with our very souls.

Here’s the official music video, directed and animated by Montreal artist Amery Sanford.

You can order the album after September 24th, as well as their back catalogue, here on their Bandcamp page.

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About the Author

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is a D-level celebrity with delusions of grandeur. A writer, critic, creative director, editor, broadcaster, and occasional filmmaker, his thoughts have appeared on radio, television, in print, and on the web. He is a juror on the Polaris Music Prize and the Juno Awards. He loves Saskatoon. He has horrible night terrors and apocalyptic dreams.



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