Riff Rock: Constantines

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WHEN CONSTANTINES RELEASED their first full-length album on Sub Pop in 2001, the band's hard-charging style quickly caught the attention of critics and college radio. The positive buzz eventually led to a nomination for a Canadian Juno Award in 2002.

But despite an early run at success, there was one thing the band simply couldn't do.

"When we were recording an EP between our first and second records, we were talking about recording 'Ride On' by AC/DC," said singer and guitarist Bryan Webb. "And we tried it, and we couldn't pull it off.

"A few years ago we tried it again, and it worked," Webb said. "I think it has something to do with being on the road together a long time that gave us access to that sensibility that needs to be in place for that song."

Expect that riff-rock sensibility to be unleashed when the five-piece takes the stage at The Rock & Roll Hotel on April 21. Webb says the band's newest material, from the album "Kensington Heights," was written with live performances in mind.

"With this album, we were writing for a live situation again, which is where we feel the most comfortable, where we're happiest. ... We've realized that some of the really basic chord-and-melody songs don't come off as well live," Webb said.

Formed in the swirl of hardcore and punk shows in Ontario, Constantines are practically elder statesman of the suddenly high-profile independent music scene in Canada. The band has been together nine years, long enough to record four full-length albums and witness the rise of other Canadian acts such as the Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Wolf Parade.

"When I was younger, there were a lot of amazing bands that would just play in Canada and exist in Canada. ... I don't have an answer as to why it's [gotten popular], other than the bands have been more interested in connecting to the rest of the world, or pursued it more actively," Webb said.

On "Kensington Heights," the band's first album for the Canadian label Arts & Crafts, Constantines have toned down their usual anthemic bombast for a more mature, dynamic sound that is highlighted by melodic, overlapping guitar lines in slow-burning tracks such as "Time Can Be Overcome" and "Our Age."

"We've had nine years to consider [band dynamics]. We've learned a few tricks," Webb said.

The story behind the band's other new release — a cover of "Islands in the Stream" with iPod it-girl Feist — sounds like a well-known scene from the movie "Almost Famous": Now substitute Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers with Elton John and you'll get the picture.

"When it first came up for us is we were traveling in Europe a few years ago after [Constantines' 2005 album] 'Tournament of Hearts' came out," Webb said. "And we were just kind of having a bleak tour; it was November and December, and it was a five-week tour with two nights off. It was just too much. None of us were feeling very well. Somebody mailed [bass player] Dallas [Wehrle] a mix CD and it had 'Islands in the Stream' on it. It just really hit us all. ... I swear, I had tears in my eyes."

Webb said the band's offbeat cover of the classic duet is meant to evoke the mid-'90s band Morphine, but he acknowledges a more straightforward cover of the song could give the band a shot at mainstream success.

"We've talked about how we want to be the band performing the song at, like, the 'Degrassi' prom. ['Degrassi'] was this kind of cult TV show that was made in Toronto, sort of based on '[Beverly Hills] 90210.' ... We talked about how we would love if it were Feist and Constantines, performing as the band at the prom, doing that song for an end-of the season episode. You know, a tearjerker.

"I think that'd be pretty great," Webb said. "It's something to shoot for."

» Rock & Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE; with Oakley Hall and Ecstasy the Flower, Mon., 8:30 p.m., $14; 202-388-7625.

Written by Express' Dustin Weaver

Photos by DustinRabin.com