The Unicorns
Encyclopedia
The Unicorns were a Lo-Fi
/Indie Pop
band from Montreal
, Canada
formed in December 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn
(Nick Diamonds) and Alden Penner
(Alden Ginger), who were later joined by Jamie Thompson
(J'aime Tambeur) in December 2003.
in December 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn
(stage name Nick "Neil" Diamonds, as well as a host of other aliases) and Alden Penner
(stage name, Alden Ginger; Elvis Presley
's fiancée when he died was Ginger Alden
). They were later joined by drummer Jamie Thompson
(stage name J'aime Tambeur).
in March 2003 through their own record label Caterpillars of the Community, with a limited press run of 500 copies.
In October of the same year they went back into the studio, recording several new songs as well as reworking a number of songs from their debut. The resulting second album, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
, recorded by Mark Lawson in Montreal, was released in November 2003 on the label Alien8 Recordings.
The album received glowing reviews from The Village Voice
, NME
, online magazine Pitchfork Media
and numerous other publications around the world, and it quickly earned the band a fanatical following on the indie-rock circuit. The band toured constantly for thirteen months following its release, initially supporting fellow Canadian band Hot Hot Heat
across North America before proceeding to play to sold-out crowds in Australia, Europe and the UK, as well as touring several more times across the U.S. and Canada.
In November 2004, a split 7" between the Unicorns and noise artists, Man Is The Bastard
, for release on Kitty Play Records
was announced by the bands website and Pitchfork media but it was never finished.
At The Unicorns last show, on December 21, 2004 in Houston, TX, Nicholas Thorburn looked over at Alden Penner and said something along the lines of, "I quit, I can't do this anymore" and walked off stage.
In early February 2005 Pitchfork Media
reported that The Unicorns had split. Also the website Solid PR issued a press statement on the band's behalf confirming the claims of break-up.
(a pop/hip-hop project) and Islands
(an indie rock project). On May 28, 2006, Thompson announced his departure from Islands. He returned to the band in June 2009, but left again a year later.
Penner released a 7"
on the Melbourne
-based Art School Dropout label. The A-side, The Ghost of Creaky Crater
, was recorded in Melbourne on December 19, 2004 while The Unicorns were touring the country. The release was limited to a hundred copies. Penner performed under the name Dub Intefadah and scored the soundtrack for the indepdendent film The Hamster Cage. He then formed a band called Clues
with Brendan Reed (formerly of Arcade Fire and Les Angles Morts), and Bethany Or of Shanghai Triad. They made their debut at Pop Montreal
in October 2007.
Related Projects
Interviews & Articles
Fansites
Lo-fi music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...
/Indie Pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
formed in December 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn
Nicholas Thorburn
Nicholas Thorburn is a Canadian musician who has fronted The Unicorns, Th' Corn Gangg, Islands, Reefer, and Human Highway. He has gone by the stage name "Nick Diamonds."...
(Nick Diamonds) and Alden Penner
Alden Penner
Alden Penner is a Canadian musician, founder and member of several indie pop bands. Penner is also a producer.Penner is additionally known in the indie music community as the founder and sometimes, owner of indie record labels in addition to producing and sometimes performing on the albums of the...
(Alden Ginger), who were later joined by Jamie Thompson
Jamie Thompson
Jamie Thompson is a Canadian musician who has been the drummer for several Canadian bands, including Islands, and Th' Corn Gangg. Jamie joined The Unicorns in 2003 for the release of the band's first major album, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?...
(J'aime Tambeur) in December 2003.
History
The Unicorns formed in Campbell River, British ColumbiaCampbell River, British Columbia
Campbell River is a coastal city in British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the important coastal Inside Passage shipping route...
in December 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn
Nicholas Thorburn
Nicholas Thorburn is a Canadian musician who has fronted The Unicorns, Th' Corn Gangg, Islands, Reefer, and Human Highway. He has gone by the stage name "Nick Diamonds."...
(stage name Nick "Neil" Diamonds, as well as a host of other aliases) and Alden Penner
Alden Penner
Alden Penner is a Canadian musician, founder and member of several indie pop bands. Penner is also a producer.Penner is additionally known in the indie music community as the founder and sometimes, owner of indie record labels in addition to producing and sometimes performing on the albums of the...
(stage name, Alden Ginger; Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's fiancée when he died was Ginger Alden
Ginger Alden
Ginger Alden is an American actress/model who is best known as being the fiancee of Elvis Presley at the time of his death....
). They were later joined by drummer Jamie Thompson
Jamie Thompson
Jamie Thompson is a Canadian musician who has been the drummer for several Canadian bands, including Islands, and Th' Corn Gangg. Jamie joined The Unicorns in 2003 for the release of the band's first major album, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?...
(stage name J'aime Tambeur).
Recordings
The band self-released their debut album Unicorns Are People TooUnicorns Are People Too
-Personnel:*Nicholas Thorburn - vocals, keyboards, drum kit, everything*Alden Penner - vocals, guitars, bass, drum kit, everything-Notes:...
in March 2003 through their own record label Caterpillars of the Community, with a limited press run of 500 copies.
In October of the same year they went back into the studio, recording several new songs as well as reworking a number of songs from their debut. The resulting second album, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? is the third and last full-length album of Canadian Indie-rock band The Unicorns. Originally released on CD October 21, 2003, the album was re-released on a black & pink vinyl format in March of 2004....
, recorded by Mark Lawson in Montreal, was released in November 2003 on the label Alien8 Recordings.
The album received glowing reviews from The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, online magazine Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
and numerous other publications around the world, and it quickly earned the band a fanatical following on the indie-rock circuit. The band toured constantly for thirteen months following its release, initially supporting fellow Canadian band Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1999 from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.-Career:Dustin Hawthorne and Steve Bays had been in many different bands together since 1995 and met Hawley in 1998. In 1999, Hawley bought a Juno 6 keyboard and asked Bays to try playing it, as no one...
across North America before proceeding to play to sold-out crowds in Australia, Europe and the UK, as well as touring several more times across the U.S. and Canada.
In November 2004, a split 7" between the Unicorns and noise artists, Man Is The Bastard
Man Is the Bastard
Man Is the Bastard were a pioneering hardcore punk band who contributed the name, and perhaps also the ethos, to the punk subgenre known as power violence...
, for release on Kitty Play Records
Kitty Play Records
Kitty Play is a New Jersey based record label formed in late 2003. The label's acts covers a wide variety of genres from straight forward rock music to abrasive noise...
was announced by the bands website and Pitchfork media but it was never finished.
Disbanding
The band's hectic touring schedule took its toll, however, and by the time of their Australian tour in December 2004 they were showing signs of exhaustion, playing reportedly lukewarm shows and verbally clashing with audience members. On December 28, 2004, a short message appeared on the Unicorns' website reading "THE UNICORNS ARE DEAD, (R.I.P.)", leading fans to speculate as to whether they had broken up.At The Unicorns last show, on December 21, 2004 in Houston, TX, Nicholas Thorburn looked over at Alden Penner and said something along the lines of, "I quit, I can't do this anymore" and walked off stage.
In early February 2005 Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
reported that The Unicorns had split. Also the website Solid PR issued a press statement on the band's behalf confirming the claims of break-up.
Later projects
Thorburn and Thompson continued to collaborate together as Th' Corn GanggTh' Corn Gangg
Th' Corn Gangg is an indie pop/hip hop band from Montreal, Canada. The band was founded by Jamie Thompson and Nicholas Thorburn as a direct off-shoot project of The Unicorns several months prior to their December 2004 break-up, but prior to the formation of Islands by those same two musicians.Th'...
(a pop/hip-hop project) and Islands
Islands (band)
Islands is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2005 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York.-Return to the Sea:In mid-2005 Islands recorded a debut album titled Return to the Sea, which was released in April 2006...
(an indie rock project). On May 28, 2006, Thompson announced his departure from Islands. He returned to the band in June 2009, but left again a year later.
Penner released a 7"
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
on the Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
-based Art School Dropout label. The A-side, The Ghost of Creaky Crater
The Ghost of Creaky Crater
"The Ghost of Creaky Crater" is a single released by Canadian musician Alden Penner. It was recorded in Melbourne, Australia while his then-band, The Unicorns, were touring the country...
, was recorded in Melbourne on December 19, 2004 while The Unicorns were touring the country. The release was limited to a hundred copies. Penner performed under the name Dub Intefadah and scored the soundtrack for the indepdendent film The Hamster Cage. He then formed a band called Clues
Clues (band)
Clues is an indie pop band from Montreal, Canada formed by Alden Penner, Brendan Reed and Bethany Or. After Or left the band, local musicians Ben Borden, Lisa Gamble and Nick Scribner solidified the lineup.-Formation :...
with Brendan Reed (formerly of Arcade Fire and Les Angles Morts), and Bethany Or of Shanghai Triad. They made their debut at Pop Montreal
Pop Montreal
Pop Montreal is an annual music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the early fall, usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. More than 400 acts are scheduled to play in more than 50 venues across the city, mostly located in the Mile End area...
in October 2007.
Members
- Nicholas ThorburnNicholas ThorburnNicholas Thorburn is a Canadian musician who has fronted The Unicorns, Th' Corn Gangg, Islands, Reefer, and Human Highway. He has gone by the stage name "Nick Diamonds."...
– stage name "Nick 'Neil' Diamonds" - Alden PennerAlden PennerAlden Penner is a Canadian musician, founder and member of several indie pop bands. Penner is also a producer.Penner is additionally known in the indie music community as the founder and sometimes, owner of indie record labels in addition to producing and sometimes performing on the albums of the...
– stage name "Alden Ginger" - Jamie ThompsonJamie ThompsonJamie Thompson is a Canadian musician who has been the drummer for several Canadian bands, including Islands, and Th' Corn Gangg. Jamie joined The Unicorns in 2003 for the release of the band's first major album, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?...
– stage name "J'aime Tambeur"
Albums
- Three Inches of Blood (2002)
- Unicorns Are People TooUnicorns Are People Too-Personnel:*Nicholas Thorburn - vocals, keyboards, drum kit, everything*Alden Penner - vocals, guitars, bass, drum kit, everything-Notes:...
(2003) - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? is the third and last full-length album of Canadian Indie-rock band The Unicorns. Originally released on CD October 21, 2003, the album was re-released on a black & pink vinyl format in March of 2004....
(2003)
Singles/EPs
- The Unicorns: 2014 - 7" single (purple vinyl) w/B-side: "Emasculate the Masculine" (March 23, 2004); limited to 2,000 copies
- The Unicorns: 2014 (2004)
- Jellybeans - CD-RCD-RA CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
promo single (2004); UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
release only
Unreleased tracks
- "Haunted House"
- "Abominable Snowman"
- "Livin' in the Country"
- "The Adventures of Bayou Billy"
- "Hanz (Suicide Is a Shame)"
- "I Do It (For Your Love)"
- "Bad Mind"
See also
- Th' Corn GanggTh' Corn GanggTh' Corn Gangg is an indie pop/hip hop band from Montreal, Canada. The band was founded by Jamie Thompson and Nicholas Thorburn as a direct off-shoot project of The Unicorns several months prior to their December 2004 break-up, but prior to the formation of Islands by those same two musicians.Th'...
- IslandsIslands (band)Islands is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2005 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York.-Return to the Sea:In mid-2005 Islands recorded a debut album titled Return to the Sea, which was released in April 2006...
- CluesClues (band)Clues is an indie pop band from Montreal, Canada formed by Alden Penner, Brendan Reed and Bethany Or. After Or left the band, local musicians Ben Borden, Lisa Gamble and Nick Scribner solidified the lineup.-Formation :...
- Human HighwayHuman Highway (band)Human Highway is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band's name is a reference to the Neil Young song "Human Highway" as suggested by founding member Nicholas Thorburn after attending a Neil Young concert.-History:...
External links
Official sites- Secret Unicorns Forum — fansite which became official after the break-up
Related Projects
- Reefer — Nick Thorburn and Daddy KevDaddy KevDaddy Kev is a prolific underground hip-hop and electronic music producer, recording engineer and record label owner. Pitchfork describes him as "one of the Los Angeles underground's most visionary producers.....
. - The Small is Beautiful — Jamie Thompson's mashupMashup (music)A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
/hip-hop project. - Human Highway — Nick Thorburn and Jim Guthrie.
Interviews & Articles
- "The Unicorns Story: After the Unicorns..."
- Audiojunkies Interview with The Unicorns
- SHZine interview with Nicholas Diamond & Alden Ginger (April 2003)
Fansites