When it comes to defining character imperfections in human behaviour, no one does it better than Vancouver's Stabilo.
With such radio hits as Flawed Design, Everybody, One More Pill and Kidding Ourselves, one can safely assume that the topical balance in the songs that comprise the band's first full-length album Happiness & Disaster lean more toward the "disaster" portion of the equation.
Stabilo's Jesse Dryfhout, who shares songwriting and lead vocal duties with Christopher John, wouldn't want it any other way.
"I've always been better at creating songs when I'm in the midst of depression or when things aren't going so well," Dryfhout admitted Monday from his Vancouver home, where Stabilo is currently writing material for its next album.
"When I'm happy and life is really good, I'd rather be out doing other things than songwriting."
It's to their advantage that the four-piece band, which also includes bass player Karl Williaume and drummer Nathan Wylie and appears Saturday at a free show headlined by Hedley at City Hall's Civic Square in downtown Kitchener, can match unapologetic lyrics with irresistible melodies, doing it in such a manner that there's no finger-pointing, only confessional acceptance.
For example, in Flawed Design -- which topped Canadian radio BDS charts last year -- Dryfhout, John and collaborator Kevin Kadesh cooked up a catchy refrain revolving around pathological fibbing: "I lie, Not because I want to, but I seem to need to all the time. Ya I Lie, and I don't even know it, maybe this is all a part of my Flawed Design."
On Everybody, reprised from 1994's excellent introductory EP Cupid?, Dryfhout paints a desperate picture of insecurity using a rather wide brush: "Everybody takes, everybody steals, Everybody cries when something feels, Everybody's looking for a drug that heals."
Granted, there are songs of longing and ambition in the Stabilo canon that involve lighter bouts of misery, but there's a reason Dryfhout says he in particular weaves sweet appealing melodies around cynically sour prose.
"I just want to show people that I'm never going to change," he jokes.
Then, on a more serious note: "I guess the songs are just something that a lot of people identify with -- that they strike a chord that resonates with what they're going through at the time."
Stabilo got their start as the ambassadors of pain in 1999 under the name Stabilo Boss. In 2001, a Vancouver radio station playlisted Everybody and the band came to the attention of Marcy Playground's John Wozniak, the American musician who had moved to the West Coast and purchased Mushroom Studios after the success of his band's single Sex And Candy.
Encouraged by the strong songwriting chops of Dryfhout and his high school pal John, Wozniak mentored the band and underwrote much of their studio time.
"John was really instrumental in helping us out," says Dryfhout.
When labels came a-callin', it was EMI Music Canada who got the nod. After re-releasing Cupid?, EMI helped Stabilo lasso esteemed Chicago producer Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins, Ben Lee, Pete Yorn) to helm the Happiness & Disaster sessions, an experience Dryfhout would like to reprise.
"We're just at the beginning stage of looking at the next album, but Chris and I agree that we'd love to get Brad back, even though we haven't asked him yet," says Dryfhout. "It was just an amazing experience and he taught us so much."
Stabilo's Saturday night performance at City Hall is going to be their first -- and last -- for a while.
"I've been suffering from some vocal problems, which I think are stress-related," says Dryfhout. "My neck was kind of stiff and for awhile I even had some trouble talking."
To partially remedy the ailment, Dryfhout recently relocated back to his native Vancouver from a three-year stint in Toronto.
"It was a little too hot in the summertime and a little too cold in the winter," he admits.
He's got one more cross-Canada trek in him, as Dryfhout will take some time with his wife and drive his vehicle back to Vancouver.
"It'll be great to just take it easy and spend a few days here and there," Dryfhout explains. "We've been across Canada before (touring with INXS) and really haven't had the time to explore some of these places."
Expect a new Stabilo album in 2008.
LIVE STABILO WITH HEDLEY, FABER DRIVE, LIVE ON ARRIVAL KITCHENER CITY HALL, JULY 28 1 P.M. FREE