Album flashback

54-40 | self-titled [1986]

The depth of 54-40’s lore will not be captured in one album flashback, such is the depth of their catalogue and their importance in both the Vancouver and the wider Canadian music scenes.

After all, our heroes are still actively recording after more than 40 years.

Initial duo Neil Osborne [guitar, vocals] and Brad Merritt [bass, vocals] were high school friends who approached their music a little differently. Neil briefly attended Berklee before being cajoled back by Brad to join in the burgeoning Vancouver indie scene.

They were soon spotted by Popular Front band member Allen Moy who was part of a collective called Mo=Da=Mu. Two indie EPs followed - Selection and Set The Fire.

Recording for what is now called The Green Album began in 1986, as the founding duo was now joined by the rest of the band’s classic lineup - Phil Comparelli [guitar] and Matt Johnson [drums]. Finding overnight studio time to be cheaper, the sessions took place between midnight and 6 AM before the four made their way to their day jobs.

Production was aided by Skinny Puppy member Dave ‘Rave’ Ogilvie, who helped the band settle into their more straight ahead 4-piece rock sound. After a pretty significant bidding war, Reprise Records won the band’s signature for this debut release.

54-40 probably still needed a little polish at this stage of their career, but the combination of Neil’s distinctive vocals, an airtight rhythm section and Phil’s lead guitar work made for a fairly smooth transition from their punk roots to what we then called ‘alternative’ rock.

Three singles were released and were popular on campus radio, but hitting the charts would have to wait for a bit. Or a decade in one case…

Baby Ran

This is the remastered version from a hits package, but you should get the point. Also, shout out to you know which label from blocking the real videos. 🖕🏻

Brad’s bass is the big hook here, but the duelling guitars and the drone of Neil’s vocal are pretty great, too.

Musically it’s dark, yet somehow jangly? There’s a melancholy and a tension to the lyrics that is very on point for 1986.

Great opener for the album.

I Wanna Know

Track two is I Wanna Know. The drums are banging in the mix, as is Phil’s twangy lead guitar line.

The vocals are kinda jagged, more new wave than almost anything I’ve heard 54-40 sing. And then, near the end, a band trademark - a sudden, but not entirely out of place… trumpet solo.

Trust me, it works!

I Go Blind

You know this song. You love this song. But many of you heard it first sung by Hootie and The Blowfish, ten years after it was released as Track 3 on The Green Album.

Now there’s nothing wrong with that, I mean, hey… we all watched Friends, right? You probably remember that some of the gang went to see Hootie while some others couldn’t afford to go. And didn’t one of the girls make out with a Blowfish?

Anyway, the great news for 54-40 out of all of this was that the royalties from the I Go Blind cover paid for the boys to build a studio of their own. No need to worry about those midnight session times now, unless you’re more creative at that time of night.

Sadly, the cover also gave 54-40 more exposure in the USA than any of their labels seemed to. Their Columbia years were massive north of the border, but like so many there wasn’t much traction in the States.

Nonetheless, the band are CanCon royalty and as I mentioned they are still cranking out new music in the studio that I Go Blind built, and isn’t that all most musicians want?