Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past month, you may recall that I’ve written about the Toronto,ON-based psych rock sextet The Auras. Comprised of long-time friends longtime friends, Aaron McCoy (drums), Hank Van Harten (bass, vocals), David Zboch Alves (keyboards, vocals), Peter Dasilva (guitar, vocals), Robb Schaede (guitar and vocals) and Dallas Wheeler (guitar, vocals), the Canadian sextet quickly became part of Toronto’s psych rock scene when Optical Sounds discovered the band and helped them book shows with several other local psych acts including The Hoa Hoa’s, Action Makes, The Mark Inside and The BB Guns.
Building a profile both locally and nationally, The Auras have opened for a number of renowned acts including Temples, Spindrift, Crystal Stilts and Ringo Deathstarr, and have received praise from Hero Magazine and Indie Underground for a sound that draws influence from The MC5, Asteroid #4 and Spacemen 3 among others. “Sure Shot,”the previous single from the band’s forthcoming Saturn Day EP consisted of of swirling and shimmering guitar chords played through layers upon layers of reverb, ethereal harmonies also fed through layers upon layers of reverb, infectious 60s bubblegum pop-leaning hooks and a trippy solo to craft a song that sounds as though it could have been released in 1966 — without sounding as though it were revivalist mimicry. Interestingly, the EP’s latest single “I Don’t Wanna Know You” is a towering bit of shimmering shoegaze that reminds me quite a bit of Brit Pop and of The Verve as the song possesses enormous, anthemic hooks paired with dense layers of shimmering guitar chords, thundering drumming and sneeringly bitter and sarcastic lyrics.
The recently released official video for the song features Super 8 styled video footage of the band goofing off and hanging out with some of the footage reversed or placed upside down and superimposed with psychedelic imagery of burning fire, ocean waves, swimming fish and more. It’s appropriately trippy and playful — and manages to capture the spirit of the guys within the band.