The music of Slow Down Molasses reflects the aesthetic, environment and paradoxes of life in Saskatchewan. Summers on the Canadian prairies are glorious and bright. In June the sunsets linger for hours – as late as 11pm one can still see a patch of blue sky to the northwest, as if the land is clinging to the last vestiges of a glorious day, stubbornly reluctant to let the summer end. And when total darkness hits, it’s
only four hours until the sun peers over the eastern horizon once again.

The prairies make for an environment of extremes: winters are as unforgiving and dark as summers are
optimistic and bright, and that bipolar nature heavily informs the band’s new album. The irony of its title, 100% Sunshine, quickly becomes apparent as the Saskatoon five-piece tackles the idealisation of success, what society deems a “normal” life, and the spectre of depression lurking underneath a quixotic façade. Is the pursuit of a dream amidst growing responsibility at home worth it in the end?

In past years Slow Down Molasses felt more like a loose collective than a band, with various friends and
peers chipping in to help bring singer/guitarist Tyson McShane’s musical vision to life. That has changed
with 100% Sunshine, as the musicians who toured behind 2015’s Burnt Black Cars also play on the new record (McShane is joined by drummer Jordan Kurtz, bassist Chris Morin, guitarist/keyboardist Aaron
Scholz, guitarist Levi Soulodre and keyboardist/singer Jeanette Stewart). With the chemistry that comes
from extensive touring, Slow Down Molasses are a tighter unit than ever, which in turn lends a sense of
urgency to the new music. It’s as if the contrast in the band’s sonic portrait has been tweaked: the whites arebrighter, the blacks denser. Produced by Chad Munson and mixed in Glasgow by Tony Doogan (best known for his work with Mogwai and Belle & Sebastian), 100% Sunshine channels the bleaker side of indie rock, evoking shoegaze, dream- pop, psychedelic rock and darkwave at once. “Moon Queen” is a superblast of searing noise in true early- 1990s form, contagious four-on- the-floor rock’n’roll underscored by waves of drone and feedback.

“I’m giving up on youth As taken for granted, that I won’t ever be Torn from the times that would always bring me back taken out again, as we’ve always been”

Adrien Begrand

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

June 2016

Track Listing – 100% Sunshine

1. Faeries On High

2. New Release

3. Intentions

4. Moon Queen

5. No Riots

6. Levitation Sickness

7. Terminator iii Vs Amon Duul ii

8. Ghosts & Vodka

9. Night Terrors

10. Flowers

11. You Made Me A Ghost