This week's feature: Royal City

Royal City, Royal City: 1999-2004 (Asthmatic Kitty)

WHO

Disbanded Guelph folk-rock foursome.

DISCOGRAPHY

At Rush Hour the Cars (Three Gut, 2000)
Alone at the Microphone (Three Gut, 2001)
Little Heart's Ease (Three Gut, 2004)
Royal City: 1999-2004 (Asthmatic Kitty, 2009)

IN A NUTSHELL

As outstanding as it is -- and it really is excellent -- it's impossible not to listen to Royal City: 1999-2004 and think about what could've been.

THE STORY

I really don't know where to begin talking about Royal City. I mean, what do you say when you're talking about one of your all-time favourite bands? I could start off by talking about how, over the span of a few months in late 2002, they were partially responsible for two of the best shows I've ever seen -- first in Ottawa with The Constantines and Recoilers (known locally as "that band that Rolf Klausener was in before he started The Acorn"), then less than two months later in Montreal, when I saw them on a bill with Broken Social Scene and a then-unknown Arcade Fire. I could write about how they're responsible for two of my favourite albums ever, with At Rush Hour The Cars and Alone at the Microphone. I could also write about how sad I was when I bought their last studio album, Little Heart's Ease, since by the time it reached stores it had already been announced that the band was breaking up and wouldn't be supporting it with any kind of farewell tour. And, of course, I could go the route of talking about how they broke up right on the cusp of massive international success -- not only did the band occasionally feature the likes of Feist, Owen Pallett, Sufjan Stevens and Bob Wiseman, they'd also just signed to UK label Rough Trade (and had recorded an amazing cover of The Strokes' "Is This It?" -- which, it should be noted, also appears on this compilation, and sounds just as wonderful now as it did when it first appeared six years ago).

More than any of that, though, maybe it's best just to say how amazing it is that Royal City: 1999-2004 even exists. After all, it's been a fairly long time coming. When the band broke up in 2004, there was a promise that they'd be releasing some kind of compilation in the not-too-distant future, but when their label, Three Gut Records, closed its doors two years later there was no sign of it. The year after that I was lucky enough to find myself working in my current job alongside the band's bassist, Simon Osborne, but that just led to hearing of more delays for an album that never seemed like it'd actually see the light of day. Even when news came that Asthmatic Kitty had offered to release the compilation, I'd reached a point where I was only going to believe the album was coming out when I had a copy in my hands.

Then one day, a few months ago, I came into work and found a copy sitting on my chair.

Even now that it's actually out, I still have to say that the best way to think about Royal City: 1999-2004 is to marvel at its existence. Not in the way described above, though. No, the album is a marvel because, even though it's comprised of alternate versions of previously released songs (a plugged-in version "Bad Luck"), covers (the aforementioned "Is This It?", along with the band's surprisingly up-tempo version of Iggy Pop's "Here Comes Success") and other B-side rarities, it's still both an outstanding album and a pretty accurate representation of what made Royal City so wonderful.

A great deal of that wonderfulness had to do with frontman Aaron Riches. With all due respect to bandmates Jim Guthrie and Nathan Lawr -- both of whom have shown their respective mettles with outstanding solo releases -- Riches really defined the band with his twangy deadpan and his dense, Biblically-infused lyrics. Both of those traits are on full display here -- the former on tracks like "I Called But You Were Sleeping" and "In The Autumn", the latter with songs like "The Nations Will Sing" and "A Belly Was Made For Wine".

One of the most interesting things about Royal City: 1999-2004, though, is that it reveals a louder side to the band that wasn't really present on their proper releases (apart, maybe, from Little Heart's Ease). On both the Iggy Pop cover and the electric version of "Bad Luck", you can really hear Riches' roots in punk music. It's hard to know now whether the songs were shelved for being so different from the band's normal fare, or if they represent a direction that they may have taken had they decided to stick around, but, whichever is the case, it's nice to know that it's a side that was there and that Royal City could've drawn from if they'd really wanted to.

That said, I'm kind of glad they didn't, and even more glad that these louder songs are the exception on Royal City: 1999-2004 rather than the rule . After all, it was albums like Alone at the Microphone and At Rush Hour The Cars -- in all their lo-fi, low-energy glory -- that drew me to Royal City in the first place, and it's what has kept me going back to those albums even now, years after the fact. I'm pretty confident that it's that same quality that will make this compilation just as essential as those two albums...and, hopefully, win the band a couple of the fans that missed out on them because of their unfortunately-timed dissolution.

Want to win Royal City: 1999-2004? Thanks to Asthmatic Kitty, i(heart)music has a copy to give away. To enter to win, just e-mail me your name and mailing address, and I'll pick a winner randomly!