The High Dials

The High Dials
The High Dials, March 2006
Background information
Origin	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Indie rock Power pop
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Rainbow Quartz
Members	Trevor Anderson Robbie MacArthur
Past members	Max Hebert Rishi Dhir Robb Surridge George Donoso III Eric Dougherty

The High Dials are an indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They evolved out of an earlier band known as The Datsons (Later The Datson Four).

The band started out playing a brand of pop music strongly influenced by 1960s British mod styles, but their sound has evolved to incorporate power pop, psychedelic music, shoegaze and folk rock. They debuted with A New Devotion (2003, Rainbow Quartz Records), a concept album about a boy named Silas attempting to escape from a nightmarish city of the future. The release made a fan of Little Steven Van Zandt, who began to play them on his Sirius radio show, and later invited them to perform at the Underground Garage Festival in NYC, which featured The Strokes, Stooges and New York Dolls among other major acts.

In 2005 they released their sophomore album War of the Wakening Phantoms, which marked a departure from the overtly retro feel of their first album. Produced by Joseph Donovan and mixed by Dave Bianco, the songs featured lusher, more varied instrumentation and Sam Roberts as a guest violinist. The new direction in sound was generally well received by critics, with the album dubbed a ‘latter-day psychedelic classic' by NME. It reached the number one spot on Canadian college radio charts. The High Dials toured the album extensively, including support act slots for Brian Jonestown Massacre and Neko Case.

Two further albums followed: Moon Country (2008) and Anthems for Doomed Youth (2010). The latter received airplay from influential KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. “Bedroom Shadows”, also from Anthems for Doomed Youth, featured prominently in an episode of the SyFy series Being Human. In 2014 the band's song "Uruguay" featured in season two of the Netflix series House of Cards. Though the band has toured less frequently since 2009, notable concerts include support for Echo and the Bunnymen at SXSW in 2009 and the Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal, 2011.