Rock ‘n’ roll has always been about transcending the banality of your everyday surroundings. The Constantines know this; it comes through in their lyrics, in their ethic, in their performances and particularly on this their debut album. When this record was first released in 2001 it was only available in their native Canada. It went on to be nominated for a Juno Award (Canada’s answer to the Grammys) and very nearly broke the record for the longest charting album in Canadian campus radio history. And it garnered universal praise from the Canadian music press: ‘…Light[s] a fire beneath the post-Fugazi underground’s ass that At the Drive-In promised but didn’t deliver. Hard to imagine Canada producing a better album this year’ Toronto Star. The response was just as glowing from those who managed to track down the record in the States: ‘The antidote for every boring and insincere rock record I’ve heard this year’ Magnet. Following the success of the Constantines’ second album (first for Sub Pop), Shine A Light (“As diverse and intriguing a record as the North American underground has produced for some time” Observer (London); “Shine A Light is truly thrilling; an inventive and addictive blend of growling riffs, frantic rhythms and deranged vocals, and it’s going to make you fall utterly head over heals for them” Kerrang!), their self-titled debut is available outside of Canada for the first time.
