Yukon Blonde with Janky Bungag

If friendship comes naturally to Jeffrey Innes, Brandon Scott, Graham Jones & James Younger, so too does rock n’ roll. Yukon Blonde has always sounded classic, but they live in the present day. You won’t see them placating the myth of rock n’ roll. Never have they slipped into a “throwback” caricature of some supposed glory day. No posturing, or pretending - it’s guitar music that doesn’t wink at the camera. 

On their new album Friendship & Rock n’ Roll, the riffs are bold and the vibes are bright. Even when the lyrical tone is defeated or heart-broken, we get the sense that everything is going to be alright. There’s whimsy in the subtext of Keep On Breaking My Heart, where Innes welcomes the punishment from his distant lover. The mid-tempo burner harkens to Tom Petty’s golden era in tone and playfulness - a cheeky grin behind the melancholy. 

This is a seasoned quartet making music for the joy of it with songs that were cultivated the old-fashioned way: in a jam space. The band spent the summer of 2024 pooling song ideas and crafting air-tight arrangements before getting to work at Innes’ Vancouver area studio, Midvale Sound. 

“It all became clear during the tours for Shuggie,” says Innes of the F&RNR’s impetus, “For one reason or another, everything that required a synth or drum machine would break; or our keyboardist was busy. We ended up playing more and more shows just the four of us. It felt really rock and roll. So we just went with it and started rehearsing the set this way, and kinda rethinking about how we wanted to travel and tour. It really started to feel and sound like the music we actually listen to and adore.”

“This is a straightforward, fun record, made by four people in a jam space,” continues Innes, “and the thing is, it was probably the easiest and most fun record we’ve ever had the privilege of making.” 

The pursuit of building a career in music can involve a great deal of struggle, but music can also be fun. And, if four best buds are going to love each other for as long as Yukon Blonde have, perhaps it must be fun in order to last. Perhaps that’s why this album feels so settled and comfortable. They’re older, wiser, and back in the pocket of the energy that spawned the band in the first place. 

If you’re going to go it alone out there, you may as well have company. Yukon Blonde are still leaning on each other and tapping the well of their bond. And what better glue is there to bond them than Friendship & Rock n’ Roll? 

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by Dan Mangan

Host or Publisher Green Auto