One hundred and fifty one years and one month before Canadian trio Elliott BROOD returned to London, the wagon train of the Fancher-Baker party was on its way from northwestern Arkansas to the promised riches of California.

Along their journey, while resting at Mountain Meadows, Utah, they were attacked, seemingly by Native Americans.

In reality, it was the local Mormon militia in disguise, along with Paiute tribesmen. Concerned about the repercussions involved, should any of the Fancher-Baker party report that they had been attacked by Mormons, high-ranking Mormon official Major John D Lee informed the party that he had negotiated safe passage for them to Cedar City. The party agreed and were escorted away by Lee and his men. Suddenly, an order was shouted and the entire party, except for 17 children, were executed by the militia and the Paiute. The horrific incident remains the darkest episode in the history of the Mormon faith. And now it is the foundation for the BROOD’s latest album.

Elliott BROOD are made up of Mark Sasso (guitar, banjo, ukulele and vocals), Casey Laforet (guitar, vocals and bass pedals) and Stephen Pitkin (percussion, suitcases and vocals). The trio came to name their latest album Mountain Meadows by accident.

“The title came after the bulk of the songs had been recorded,” says Casey Laforet, “Mark saw a documentary on the whole Mountain Meadows thing and we thought the title had a nice ring to it. In an odd way, I was also reading a book I bought in a pawn shop and it mentioned the massacre. It just so happened that the songs actually made sense with the title. They’re not stories of the actual massacre but maybe what happened to the kids who lived through it.”

The band have found themselves as an integral part of a blossoming Canadian Americana or Canadiana scene. Alongside their peers and friends such as The Acorn, Rock Plaza Central, The Weather Station, Jason Collett, The Deep Dark Woods and, of course, Broken Social Scene, Canada is proving itself to European music fans as so much more than the new home of indie pop.

“We had no idea that there was that kind of a scene for alt-country and bluegrass and roots music in Europe,” says Laforet, “we thought it would all be techno and dance music.

There are pockets of people all over the place who are into our kind of thing. We played with Broken Social Scene in Paris and we really noticed that they’re like ambassadors for Canadian music all over the world. They broke down a lot of barriers for people like us to introduce our music over there. The Arts & Crafts bands are making everyone look at Canada and realise that’s there’s some real talent here. Even just being Canadian has helped us sometimes. I’ve seen it advertised on billboards ‘this band is from Canada!’ like ‘wow, they’re from Canada, they must be good!’”

The BROOD have only officially been around as a band for a short time. “We’re old men but we’re a young band,” Laforet laughs. “Mark and myself went to high school together. We were in different grades and we really didn’t get along. A few years later we met again through mutual friends and we started playing together and writing and then we recorded our first little album. We made a bunch of homemade copies to try and get shows around our home here in Toronto. Steve joined us on drums for the release party for that first record.”

Steve Pitkin is something of an unusual percussionist, more from the Tom Waits school of drumming than any traditional folky style. At one point, his bass drum was a big old suitcase. “He plays all different kinds of weird percussion,” Laforet says, “he has this new thing called a junk machine which is basically all different types of metal things screwed to a piece of wood. He’s used all kinds of things, the suitcase being the most famous but I think the junk machine will be the new thing.”

Not that Elliott BROOD are in any way conventional themselves. One circular from French label Fargo described the band as ‘Nirvana with a banjo’.

“That’s one of my favourite quotes,” says Laforet, “I always remember that one. Basically Nirvana saved me from rap music. It was one of those epiphanies in high school where it came on and I was like ‘what is this?’ We use a lot of distortion and a lot of energy and there’s definitely some screaming. We like to jump around and we can get pretty loud sometimes so I guess I can see where that comes from.”

Elliott BROOD’s latest album is a kinetic mix of an almost punk rock ethos and a traditional bluegrass and roots aesthetic. ‘Without Again’ – with its pounding drums, plucked banjo, warm guitars, soaring vocals and infectious hooks – showcases everything that makes the band such an exciting prospect. The BROOD’s sound is surprisingly close to the aforementioned quote, Sasso’s voice a battered rasp, somewhere between Cobain and Two Gallants frontman Adam Stephens. The frantic racket behind him conjures images of bearded men in dark three-piece suits, dripping with sweat while their fingers bleed and their strings break. For want of a better word, it’s an organic experience.

“We always wanted it to be close to live,” says Laforet, “We always wanted to be able to play the songs without having to drop too much out of them. We don’t ever want to layer the songs to the point where they’re not properly represented live. I think we hit it exactly where we wanted to hit it and we did what we wanted to it without doing too much.”
The BROOD’s visit to the UK comes amidst a hectic schedule for the band. Two months of relentless gigging will see them play 19 shows in 20 nights around Europe. Before that, the band will have a short jaunt around their homeland. And before that is some much needed rest.

“I just got out of hospital,” says Laforet, “I had a collapsed lung. It was quite a surprise. I’m just taking it easy and recovering. We had to cancel one gig because it was too close for comfort. It was actually kinda good that it happened when we had some down time.”

But down time is not something that Casey Laforet relishes.
“I get very anxious. I try to update the website and do different things when I’m home. If I’m not on the road and not doing anything else, I get really antsy or I feel guilty. I’m trying to enjoy the time off but we really love touring. Our strength is our live shows. But it’s good to be home with family and friends. We will be away for two months so we have to squeeze all that in now. But we’re just trying to relax. Steve has two kids and I just got a puppy. Still, some days you’re just like ‘I gotta get back out there, I gotta work, I gotta play.’”