Culture Reject at Grey & Gold Cider

Get ready to experience a night of electrifying music as Culture Reject (duo) brings their vocal/guitar/synth-driven emotional dance party to Clarksburg, featuring Special Guest Krista Currie. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable performance that will have everyone dancing and feeling the vibe!

CANADIAN Culture Reject is not just a band—it’s a full-blown emotional dance party powered by vocals, guitar, and synth. Often compared to Metronomy, SPARKS, Talking Heads, Blonde Redhead, and even the “lost soundtrack to a Wes Anderson film,” Culture Reject stands out as a truly original force. What began as Michael O’Connell’s pop experiment in a 120-year-old Toronto apartment has evolved into a dynamic sound that’s fresh, soulful, and unapologetically lo-fi. Their debut on Whitewhale Records in 2009 was quickly hailed as “epitomizing the boldness of the new Canadian sound,” driven by the underground hit Inside the Cinema, which Exclaim called “one of the most infectious pop singles of the year.”

Culture Reject’s music has since found its way into short films, documentaries, and TV shows like The Best Years(Netflix/Global). Their live performances across Canada, the US, and Europe—including stops at the Hillside Festival, New York CMW, POP Montreal, Manchester: In The City, France’s Rockomotives, and Iceland Airwaves—captured the attention of French boutique label Specific Recordings. This collaboration produced the 2013 album FORCES, described as “beautiful…sad…melodically unstoppable” (Ma Petite Boite à Musique), and 2019’s Breaking with the World, a collection of lush, indie pop anthems with a futurist twist, lauded as "beautifully constructed and brilliantly orchestrated" (X-Mist).

Lyrically, Culture Reject dives deep into themes of power, justice, mental health, the natural world, and radical self-care, all set against soundscapes inspired by O’Connell’s move from the bustling streets of Toronto to the expansive open spaces hours north of the city. As Culture Reject prepares to release the intimately explosive invisible work in 2024—a guitar/synth/voice-driven dance party—the excitement builds for upcoming tour dates across the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and Canada. Get ready for a musical journey that’s as original as it is unforgettable.