“On VHS” from Toronto’s The Boathouse is a fusion of AM Gold and 90s power-pop for those in line at Circle K past 2 am
The third single from Toronto yacht-rock outfit The Boathouse blends the breezy
summer vibes of AM Gold radio with the edge of 90’s power pop, taking listeners into
the mind of a character having an existential crisis in a convenience store on a
weeknight at some point past 2 am. Staring at the linoleum, slouching next to a wall of
cheap burner phones, reading about drones in Wired magazine, and running through
the cheat codes for the 1994 MS-DOS classic Doom II in their otherwise vacant mind.
The idea for the lyrics came to singer Ryan Farley, after reading an article in The Onion
called “Takeout Restaurant Patrons See Area Man At Worst”. The track itself came
together with the band jamming on numerous different arrangements in their rehearsal
space, which happens to be situated near an independently-owned convenience store
in Toronto. After returning from a break down the street to refuel on Corn Nuts and
sports drinks, the band finally landed on the slick-sounding acoustic groove in the verse.
The song enters an exciting new sonic space when keyboardist Vincent Spilchuk’s fiery
synth lines cut with the precision of a laser pointer marking the centre of an
unsuspecting high school science teacher’s bald and reflective head. The mix was put
together by Carlin Nicholson (Zeus), bringing an extra Grecian magic to the final
product.
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