Perfect Strangers

Posted by The Link in Link Live Sessions on March 4, 2015

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Perfect Strangers made the walls shake at Fattal.

Their sound is a melodic fusion reminiscent of hard and psychedelic rock. It’s as if they had a cold electric stream in St-Henri, where the bandmates could draw out some fresh vintage sounds.

“You Should Have Been” is a distorted groove that ends with an overdrawn but orgasmic guitar solo à la Frusciante. The lyrics make you remember your teenage unrequited love — even if you don’t have one. They also make you pine for that favourite oldie stuck on the tip of your tongue.

The band is composed of lead singer Kalil F. Johnston, his brother Nicolas Lajeunesse on keyboards, Francis Morin on drums, Pierre-Yves Letellier on bass and newcomer Justine Girard on the guitar.

“I thought up that song because I couldn’t remember the melody to another,” says Johnston. “It’s inspired from an old classic latin song that plays in that movie Very Bad Things, remember?”

He says the words were inspired by an amalgam of different girls he met in his life. Johnston kept that song in his pocket, reworking it while studying music in college. Then one day, Austin Dalys-Fine, a blond taciturn guitarist at school, tried out his version of the tune.

“When I first heard him play the solo part, I thought ‘that’s the way I hear it in my head,’” Johnston says.

Nowadays, a petite redhead plays the bittersweet riffs.

“Justine has a jazzier sound,” says the singer. “It forces us to adjust our style a bit. It makes us grow as musicians and as a band.”

Still, Perfect Strangers miss Austin sorely.

“He went on to do his own thing and that’s fine,” says Johnston.

Shaun Michaud