The Jubilant Shawn Mrazek Lives!

Of the hundreds of local gigs I've seen in the past few years, one of the few that stands out above all the rest is Apollo Ghosts' release party for their 2010 album Mount Benson. It wasn't the headliner that stole the show, however, since the highlight was the opening set from singer-songwriter Shawn Mrazek. To be more specific, the true star was a newborn baby who wasn't even in attendance: Mrazek's son Otis.

The little one had been born earlier that very day, and I became caught up in Mrazek's euphoria at becoming a father. His short solo set was bursting with joie de vivre, and the crowd chanted "O-tis! O-tis! O-tis" as Mrazek bashed away at his hollow body guitar and hollered out jubilant mantras: "There is another world inside of this one!" That's a lyric that has stood out in my mind ever since, and even though I'm still not entirely sure what it means, it captured the wide-eyed wonder of that moment, in which I briefly got to share in the joy of a new life being brought into the world.

A little more than three years later, Mrazek's solo material has finally made its way onto wax in the form of the eight-song mini-album Thought He Was Dead, released under his Shawn Mrazek Lives! banner. The mood is a little less elated than that glorious live show -- how could it not be? -- with the emphasis instead on punk-tinged indie rock arrangements and Iggy Pop-esque sing-speak.

The album features guest appearances from a host of noteworthy Vancouverites who Mrazek met while playing the drums for bands like the Evaporators and the Doers. Contributors include Adrian Teacher (Apollo Ghosts), trumpeter JP Carter (Destroyer, Dan Mangan), Chris-a-riffic, Rose Melberg and more. They give the album a sonic richness, evidence of which you'll hear in the sweetly noodling horn towards the end of Mrazek's cover of the jazz standard My Funny Valentine and in the undercurrent of keys throughout the brooding Can't See Me.

But there are a few times when Mrazek taps into that familiar feeling of exultation, and suddenly I'm back at Little Mountain Gallery, chanting "O-tis! O-tis! O-tis!" The surging Love Is Bursting Through the Walls ends the collection with ascendant cries of the chorus phrase, while Another World -- as in, "There is another world inside of this one!" -- is simply perfect. Whatever it means.