Great Canadian Band Member Count-up

A counting game the Count himself would be proud of; Canadian indie rock band members, from one to twenty-one (with only a couple of gaps along the way...)


1. Final Fantasy - This is the Dream of Win and Regime (Has a Good Home)

Owen Pallet is one artist who consistently pushes and evolves his live show, taking his violin and looping it over itself masterfully to create large, lush arrangements with that solitary instrument.

2. The Famines - TWA Flight 553 (2x7")

Minimalist art-rock duo from Edmonton. They have some of the greatest merch you will ever see (cassettes, 8 tracks, 7 inches, art books, on and on).

3. Born Ruffians - Barnacle Goose (Red, Yellow, and Blue)

Toronto trio that exemplifies all of the advantages being in a small band can give; they're tight, fun, and have great chemistry on stage.

4. The Deep Dark Woods - All The Money I Had Is Gone (Winter Hours)

Saskatoon's very own fab four.

5. Constantines - Shower of Stones (Kensington Heights)

Uber-rock quintet hailing from Toronto. Are you following along okay? Know what number comes next? It's...

6. Hey Rosetta! - Red Heart (Into Your Lungs and Out Through Your Heart)

A sextet from out east (St. John's, Newfoundland, to be exact.) Right around here you can really start to feel the numbers having an impact on the music, but that might just have to do with the fact that we're now adding string sections in.

7. Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #2 (Funeral)

The Montreal septet that are at least partially responsible for the proliferation of collectives and other gigantic, orchestral bands in Canada.

8. Carbon Dating Service - Fossils (Reliquae)

Saskatoon's resident octet, rumoured to be no more. The band actually started with ten members on their first album, but have since trimmed down a bit.

9. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls (Yanqui U.X.O.)

Another prolific Montreal collective, comprising nine members into what's known as a nonet. These guys write dense, sprawling instrumentals that build and build and build. Included members from Do Make Say Think and A Silver Mt. Zion, among many others.

10. Library Voices - Kindera On the Dance Floor - (Hunting Ghosts & Other Collected Shorts)

Regina's ten-piece pop sensation. Somehow, the decet managed to go on tour with the six members of Saskatoon's Slow Down, Molasses, probably all crammed into the same van.

11. Broken Social Scene - Cause = Time (You Forgot It In People)

We've run out of prefixes by this point, so I'll try to make some up. Broken Social Scene is a decasolotet from Toronto, and, in a lot of ways, they pioneered the idea of the modern Canadian indie rock collective. The count of eleven members is taken from an earlier incarnation of the band (circa 2002).

12. Bruce Peninsula - Satisfied (A Mountain is a Mouth)

Twelftet prog-rock from Ontario, and they all like to sing.

15. The Choir Practice - Red Fox (The Choir Practice)

Speaking of a collection of singers, the Choir Practice, a quinteentet from B.C., has embraced the idea whole-heartedly.

21. Broken Social Scene - Our Faces Split the Coast in Half (Broken Social Scene)

It felt fitting to end the show with a BSS song. They've expanded to include 21 mumbers on their latest album, and that's not even including gust appearances from K-Os and others. A duadecasolotet!