Population II

Population II is a Montreal based band that has carved out a fairly distinctive sound that combines post-rock, garage, and metal with psychedelic, prog rock, and to perhaps a lesser extent, fusion jazz. They put quite a bit of power into their power trio, with a strong attack that often pushes them straight into the noise territory. Their 2020 album À la Ô Terre was produced by John Dwyer of Osees, after all, and the attraction is entirely justified. There is also quite a display of skills on the instrumental front in their work, as one would suspect. The songs tend to be dark, though not gloomy; and they come with searing guitars laid on top of throbbing beats (with generous motorik references) driven by a jazzy touch on drums. Their earlier albums presented longer pieces of music, which the band abandoned over time in favor of the more conventional 3 to 4 minute range.