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All Music Guide:
While the High Dials are often classified as a latter-day neo-psychedelic or mod band, that's way too neat and simple, and ultimately inadequate (if not flat wrong by the end of the 2000s). There's certainly an air of throwback about the Montreal foursome, who bask in shimmering string arrangements cut with a Village Green Preservation Society lilt; however, their sparse and melancholy yet buoyant power pop has more in common with fellow Canadian indie rockers like Thrush Hermit and Treble Charger.
Featuring Trevor Anderson on vocals and guitar, Robbie MacArthur on guitar, Eric Dougherty on keyboards, and Max Herbert on drums, the band debuted on the Rainbow Quartz label in 2003 with A New Devotion. The record revealed a band still fairly steeped in the British '60s (but with disarmingly modern twists) at that time, and caught the eye of the E Street Band's Little Steven, who grabbed them for performances with the Stooges and the Strokes. A diverse EP, running from timeless instrumentals to sleek pop, appeared the following year, signaling an act not immune to experimentation. The High Dials continued to evolve, releasing a nicely (if not spectacularly) reviewed full-length every year or so, reaching a crescendo on 2008's sleek Moon Country, which found the band dabbling in everything from country-rock to psych-folk to post-disco. Released in 2010, Anthems for Doomed Youth signaled a return to the melodic, '60s-inspired pop of the High Dials' debut.
Wikipedia:
The High Dials are an indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada formed in 2003. They evolved out of an earlier band known as The Datsons (Later The Datson Four).
History
The band started out playing a brand of pop music strongly influenced by 1960s British mod styles, but their sound evolved to become a form of power pop, more influenced by psychedelic music. They released two albums on Rainbow Quartz Records, A New Devotion (2003) and War of the Wakening Phantoms (2005), before releasing Moon Country (2008) independently. In 2010 they released the album Anthems for Doomed Youth. They have toured with fellow neo-psychedelia band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Notably, Rod Argent, keyboardist of The Zombies performed on their song "Picture of a Fading Man" in 2006. In 2007, their song "The Holy Ground" was featured in a Rogers television ad. Professed fans of the High Dials include Steven Van Zandt and Andrew Loog Oldham.
Members
Current band members include songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Trevor Anderson, guitarist Robbie MacArthur, drummer George Donoso III (ex- The Dears), and keyboardist and backing vocalist Eric Dougherty. Past band members include drummer Max Hebert, bassist/sitarist Rishi Dhir and Robb Surridge (drums).
