The High Dials

The High Dials are an indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band started out playing a brand of pop music strongly influenced by 1960s British mod styles,[1] but their sound has evolved to incorporate power pop, psychedelic music, shoegaze and folk rock.
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Over 7 years and 4 albums, Montreal band the High Dials have turned out a varied repertoire of anthemic pop, upbeat psych and melancholic folk-rock balladry. They’ve won high marks for their live performances from Brooklyn Vegan, Spin, Magnet and the New York Post, who declared them “a must-see band”.

The High Dials debuted on NYC-based Rainbow Quartz Records in 2003 with “A New Devotion”, a mishmash of retro-freakbeat sounds and shimmering pop with a hidden lyrical storyline. The album made a fan of Little Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen fame who played them heavily on his syndicated radio show and slotted them in with the Strokes, the Stooges, New York Dolls and other music legends at his Underground Garage Festival in 2004.

“War of the Wakening Phantoms” (2005) was their follow-up album. Produced by Joseph Donovan (the Dears, Sam Roberts) and mixed in LA by Dave Bianco (Tom Petty, Frank Black, Teenage Fanclub), it won widespread rave reviews from such influential publications as NME, Spin and the Washington Post. The album went to number one on Canadian college radio charts and the High Dials supported the release as tour partners for both Brian Jonestown Massacre and Neko Case, criss-crossing North America and the UK over many months.

In 2007, the band released “The Holy Ground EP”, which featured a collaboration with Rod Argent, legendary songwriter of High Dials’ heroes The Zombies! That same year, they enjoyed sudden mainstream exposure when their song “The Holy Ground” featured in a prominent ad campaign for Rogers mobile in Canada.

In 2008, the High Dials’ released their third LP “Moon Country” (Fontana North/Universal, 2008). Begun in a remote stone cottage in Ireland, the eclectic, sprawling double album showcased everything from droning dance grooves and spaced-out rock to wistful cosmic folk. They returned to the road in support of the record, a cycle that peaked with a memorable opening slot for Echo & the Bunnymen at SXSW 2009.

In 2010, they reunited with Rainbow Quartz, and set about building a home studio in an abandoned (reputedly haunted) Montreal building that once belonged to the Canadian navy. The recordings were mixed by Michael Musmanno (Lilys, Cadence Weapon) in New York City. The resulting album, “Anthems for Doomed Youth” is out November 2, 2010.

Currently on the High Dialian roster: Trevor Anderson (vocals and guitar), Robbie MacArthur (lead guitar), George Donoso III (drums), Charles Prénoveau-Giguère (bass), and Eric Dougherty (keys).