Constantines is an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, Canada.

History

Constantines was formed in 1999, by vocalist and guitarist Bryan Webb, drummer Doug MacGregor, and guitarist Paul Bright, all of whom had played together in the emo band Shoulder from 1994 to 1997; with the addition of bassist Dallas Wehrle. Bright was asked to leave early on and was replaced by Steve Lambke. Their style has been described as "art-punk", and they have been compared to bands like

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, The Replacements, and

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

. The name of the band is taken from an episode of ''Coast to Coast with

Art Bell Arthur William Bell III (June 17, 1945 – April 13, 2018) was an American broadcaster and author. He was the founder and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program '' Coast to Coast AM'', which is syndicated on hundreds ...

'', in which Bell was playing recordings of ghost voices in static, and one of the ghosts' names was Constantine. From their hometown of Guelph the band relocated to

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

and then to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where in 2001 they released their self-titled first album. '' Constantines'' enjoyed widespread play on

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

and was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Best Alternative Album. The first track, "Arizona", is based on the suicide of Danny Rapp, the lead singer of Danny and the Juniors of "

At the Hop "At the Hop" is a 1950s pop song written by Artie Singer, John Medora, and David White and originally released by Danny & the Juniors. The song was first issued circa October 1957 on a small Philadelphia label (Singular 711) and included a ...

" fame. The song begins with the lyric "This is a song about the death of Danny Rapp. And that great gospel jest called rock 'n' roll." That year they performed at the El Mocambo in Toronto with Oneida and Grand Total. In 2002 they added keyboard player Evan Gordon to the lineup and released the EP '' The Modern Sinner Nervous Man''. Gordon left the band soon after to pursue his own song writing. He was replaced by Will Kidman, and the band released '' Shine a Light'' in 2003. This album was the band's first to be released outside of Canada on the

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

record label. It topped the !earshot National Top 50 chart in September that year. ''Shine a Light'' also earned the band their second Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year. In 2004, the label Sub Pop reissued the band's self-titled album. The next year, they embarked on a cross-Canada tour with

The Weakerthans The Weakerthans are a Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive. History The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by John K. Samson, after he l ...

called ''The Rolling Tundra Revue''. Later in the year their album '' Tournament of Hearts'' was released September 27 by Toronto record label Three Gut Records in Canada, and on October 11 by Sub Pop in the United States. The members of Constantines have occasionally played shows under the name Horsey Craze, covering

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

songs. In early 2006, they released a

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

only split-album with The Unintended. Constantines recorded four Neil Young covers for the LP, while The Unintended performed four

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

songs. In 2007, following the demise of their Canadian former record label Three Gut Records, Constantines signed with Arts & Crafts. On January 15, 2008, they released a limited edition 7" on white vinyl, entitled ''Hard Feelings''. Their fourth full-length album, '' Kensington Heights'', was released on April 15 in Canada and April 29 in the US. The band played SP20 that summer, a festival in

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. The city h ...

celebrating the 20th anniversary of

Records. Guitarist Steve Lambke has released four albums and a split 12" under the name Baby Eagle, and keyboard player Will Kidman has appeared and recorded under the name Woolly Leaves. In December 2009, the band celebrated their tenth anniversary with a tour of southwestern Ontario. Shortly thereafter, keyboardist Will Kidman left the band. This, coupled with Webb's move from his home in Montreal back to Guelph, fueled rumours of the band's demise. Although Webb hinted that the band might return. The Constantines at Hillside Festival 2015

The Constantines at Hillside Festival 2015

Constantines went on an unofficial hiatus for several years. In 2014 Constantines reformed for a reunion tour, performing at festivals around Canada, including SappyFest and at Kazoo!Fest in Guelph."Constantines Mitchell Hall, Guelph ON, April 8"
''Exclaim!'', By Tom Beedham, Apr 09, 2017 In May 2015 the band performed at Massey Hall in Toronto with Chad VanGaalen Constantines were on the line-up for Wayhome summer 2017 music festival in Oro-Medonte, Ontario. and once more performed at Kazoo!Fest. In 2020, Constantines digitally self-released charity single "Call Me Out" written in 2017 and recorded in 2018. The song was not published on streaming platforms and instead was only made available as a purchasable

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

download with 100% of its proceeds being donated to

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

Toronto and the

Unistʼotʼen Camp The Unistʼotʼen Camp is a protest camp and indigenous healing centre in northern British Columbia, Canada. It is located within the traditional Aboriginal title, territory of the Unist'otʼen clan of the Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation peoples. E ...

Legal Fund.

Members

Current members

*Will Kidman – keyboards, guitar,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, backing vocals * Steve Lambke –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, keyboards,

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*Doug MacGregor –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Bryan Webb – vocals, guitar *Dallas Wehrle –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Former members

* Evan Gordon – keyboards

Discography

Albums

*'' Constantines'' ( Three Gut Records) – June 5, 2001 (

Sub Pop Records Sub or SUB may refer to: Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB People * Bottom (BDSM), or "sub" for "submissive" * Substitute teacher Christianity * Sub tuum praesidium, an ancient hymn and prayer dedicated ...

- August 10, 2004) *'' Shine a Light'' (Three Gut Records/Sub Pop Records) – August 19, 2003 *'' Tournament of Hearts'' (Three Gut Records) – September 27, 2005 / (Sub Pop Records) - October 11, 2005 *'' Kensington Heights'' ( Arts & Crafts) – April 15, 2008

EPs

*'' The Modern Sinner Nervous Man'' (EP, Suicide Squeeze Records) – April 16, 2002 *'' Nighttime Anytime'' (EP,

) – July 8, 2003

Singles

*''Young Lions'' (single, Sub Pop) – August 10, 2004"A Completely Biased Ranking of the 60 Best Canadian Indie Rock Songs of the 00s Part II"
''Vice'', Cam Lindsay Apr 10 2017 *''Hard Feelings'' (7" single, Arts & Crafts) – January 15, 2008 *''Islands in the Stream'' (7" single with Feist, Arts & Crafts) – 2008 *''Our Age'' (7" single, Arts & Crafts, B-side is cover of " Fuckin' Up" by Neil Young and Crazy Horse) – November 25, 2008 *''Too Slow for Love'' (Electronic-only companion for Kensington Heights) – March 17, 2009 *''Thank You For Sending me An Angel'' (7" included in vinyl reissue of ''Shine A Light'' ) 2014 *''Call Me Out'' (digital, self-released) - June 9, 2020

Splits

* '' Constantines Play Young/Unintended Play Lightfoot'' LP (Blue Fog Records) – 2006

Compilation appearances

* ''The 20 Year Design Theory'' (AntiAntenna Recordings) – "The Young and the Desperate" – June 1, 2001 * ''Patient Zero'' – "Young Lions" (Sub Pop) – June 1, 2004 * '' CBC Radio 3 Sessions, Vol. 1'' – "Blind Luck (live)" – June 15, 2004 * ''Wide Awake, Crescent Shaped: Volume 10'' – "St. You (live)" – June 15, 2004 * ''Songbook Of Songs'' (Sub Pop) – "Working Full-Time" – May 24, 2005