Daniel Busheikin started No Frills, a bedroom-pop project brought to life by a band of familiar faces in the Toronto independent music scene, including members of Hooded Fang, Twist, Rapport, and his own previous band Grounders.
With songs about life, love, death and depression, the premise is bleak. But when imbued with Busheikin’s sardonic humor and wry self-awareness, the music is playful and inviting, tracing the whimsical desperation of someone trying to eke out a drip of optimism.
No Frills’ forthcoming debut LP Downward Dog (out April 2022) is a “pandemic record.” When Toronto shut down, Busheikin channeled his newly-acquired free time into writing songs and recording them piecemeal. Drums and bass were tracked to tape at Gavin Gardiner’s (The Wooden Sky) garage-turned-studio, and the rest in Busheikin’s basement where, in lieu of a proper engineer or high-end gear, Busheikin was creatively DIY. To get his ideal vocal tones, for example, he sang through a KN95 mask with a toilet paper tube around the microphone.
The result is a memorable collection of lo-fi pop, ranging from angular indie rock to intimate ballads, woven together by warm analog production reminiscent of 50s crooners and early 60’s pop.
Glide is premiering the hazy “I Don’t Wanna Be Your Dog Anymore” from No Frills, a droll stance on avoiding the red-blooded role. Mixed with melancholy folk and tongue-in-cheek whimsicality, this smoky tune features a fiery guitar solo and is reminiscent of Yo La Tengo at its most candid.
“Reading anecdotes about Iggy Pop in Please Kill Me (super fun oral history of early punk) makes me picture a wild Iggy, crawling on all fours, shirtless, sweaty, intense, possibly bleeding, etc., and it occurred to me that I’m the total opposite of that person. In “I Wanna Be Your Dog” Iggy is recklessly throwing himself into sexual and physical domination. In my opposite universe, it would be ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Your Dog Anymore,’ where I’m pathetically trying to weasel out the doggy door. So I thought that was kinda funny, which it probably isn’t, but beyond the reference, this is a playful but sincere lamentation about being obedient and submissive,” says Busheikin.
