I’ve been playing a lot of The Tragically Hip lately, and I blame Toronto indie band Meteor Heist. Not only is that a 10/10 band name, but “Straw Dogs” is top-tier Canadian indie rock. It’s an endlessly listenable car song — I’ve had it on a road-trip playlist for a long time and somehow never listened to the rest of the band’s material. I don’t know if the members of this band grew up as fans of The Tragically Hip, but it sure sounds like it.
A few weeks ago their latest single ‘bones’ was featured on Exclaim’s Friday playlist, and it cued me to go back and listen to their other music. This band’s strength is setting evocative, erudite lyrics against lush and intricate instrumentation, and ‘bones’ is a strong example of that:
Meteor Heist released their debut self-titled EP in May of 2024. It’s a record clearly intended to be heard in a single sitting: the five songs on it not only loosely reference each other, and run together, buffered by a couple of interludes. It feels like something from the glory days of 90s Canadian alt rock. The first song, “Know You” (below), has a vocal melody in the chorus that reminds me of a Hip song that I can’t place (I want to say “Flamenco” but I feel like there’s another one). “Know You” and “Straw Dogs”, are the standout tracks on this EP for me. They have a real Trouble at the Henhouse feel to them:
The band’s lyrics also share some Gord Downie DNA in their very specific Canadian-ness. The songs reference places and landmarks (in “Light Unavenged” and “King City”) and even sample a legendary Candian metorologist (I learned this from the Demo magazine profile).
Not only is Meteor Heist a fantastic debut, if I’d heard it in time it would have certainly made the Best EPs list from last year. I haven’t seen the band live, and I plan to change that soon — they play around Toronto pretty regularly.
Along with a stellar performance of EP track “Future Fossils”, the band debuted a new song titled “Scarecrow Parts” from late 2024 in the video below. The audio quality is excellent — almost impossibly good for a venue so small.
If you dig that, there’s a full set at the Horseshoe on their YouTube page as well.
Further reading and listening
Valentine de Ghaisne de Bourmont profile of singer Lila Wright
For non-Canadians: Rolling Stone Magazine on The Tragically Hip
