The Stills by Arts & Crafts

Appearing on the horizon at the dawn of the aughts, Montreal’s The Stills have grown from a sharp, post-punk inspired four-piece to savvy, stylish songwriters counted among Canada’s best established indie rock outfits.

The Stills’ earliest incarnation - as vocalist Tim Fletcher, drummer Dave Hamelin, guitarist Greg Paquet and bassist Oliver Crowe - formed in 2001 and was unveiled after a two-month stint in NYC landed them on Vice Records in 2003.

The band’s early sound, a fuzzy, stylized nod to the likes of Echo and The Bunnymen, Ride and Joy Division, manifested itself wholly on that year’s debut LP Logic Will Break Your Heart and launched tours with Interpol, The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that quickly cemented the band’s profile amidst the burgeoning Montreal scene and beyond.

Tours of the U.K. helped The Stills score three chart-topping singles from their debut and seven years later Logic would appear on countless critics’ aughts-end lists for its place in shaping the sounds that emerged in the latter half of the decade.

In 2008, The Stills released returned with third record, Oceans Will Rise, at once calling back to longtime fans and drawing in legions of new appreciators with its most sonically robust and anthemic effort to date.

The Stills began the last decade as four fresh-faced new wavers with a point to prove and begin this one as a reassembled quintet flush with the experience and inspiration needed to make its most poignant music yet.

Contains tracks

• The Stills - Don't Talk Down by Arts & Crafts
• The Stills - Snow In California by Arts & Crafts
• The Stills - Being Here by Arts & Crafts
• The Stills - I'm With You by Arts & Crafts