Odds (band)

Odds are a Canadian alternative rock band based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were nominated for six Juno Awards in the 1990s. As of 2014, they are on their fifth record label.

The band was formed in 1987 in Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting of vocalist-guitarists Craig Northey and Steven Drake (both of whom had led different bands appearing on a Vancouver music compilation album, Spotlight '86), bassist Doug Elliott and drummer Paul Brennan. Pat Steward was originally asked to be the band's drummer, but he declined. The band members claim the name came when Brennan asked Drake, in a town somewhere on the British Columbia coast, "What are the odds of us ever escaping bullshit gigs like this?"

In the late 1980s, the band played up to four nights a week as a 1960s and 1970s cover band called Dawn Patrol at the Roxy nightclub in Vancouver, while playing as Odds on weekends and funding their own demo recordings at Crosstown Studios in North Vancouver, hoping for a break. They travelled to Los Angeles doing showcases and eventually signed to Zoo Entertainment.

In 1991, they released their debut self-produced album Neopolitan, which spawned the radio hits "Love Is the Subject" and "King of the Heap" (both sung by Northey). The third single, the sexually explicit "Wendy Under the Stars" (sung by Drake), charted only on the RPM Canadian Content chart, but attracted the attention of American music critic Greil Marcus in his book Dead Elvis. After the release of Neopolitan, the band were picked up by Warren Zevon, becoming his touring band for his album Mr. Bad Example.

In 1993, Zevon returned the favour by guesting on the band's Bedbugs album. Its lead single was "Heterosexual Man". The video for that song featured the band members performing in drag, with Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, and Mark McKinney from The Kids in the Hall, themselves often noted for drag performances, as stereotypically macho jocks in the audience until Foley inexplicably turns into a woman. Three more singles were released from the album: "It Falls Apart", "Jack Hammer", and "Yes (Means it's Hard to Say No)". "Jack Hammer" features a guitar battle between Robert Quine (Lou Reed, Richard Hell, Matthew Sweet, etc.) and Zevon.

In 1995, Brennan left the band, moving to Toronto during the recording of their third album, and subsequently joined Big Sugar. He was replaced by Pat Steward, who was a friend of Doug and former drummer for Bryan Adams. Good Weird Feeling, their most commercially successful album, included drum tracks from both Brennan and Steward. The album featured the top 10 hit singles "Truth Untold" and "Eat My Brain". "Satisfied" hit the top 20. "Mercy to Go" and "Smokescreen" also charted. "Eat My Brain" later found a place on the Craig Northey-produced soundtrack to The Kids in the Hall movie Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy. Northey composed the score for the movie along with Steward and Elliott.

In 1996, the album Nest was released. The albums's lead single, "Someone Who's Cool", originally intended for a sequel to the Friends soundtrack, peaked at No. 2 in their native Canada. In the U.S., it was a No. 6 hit at AAA radio, but was not a mainstream chart hit. It later was also used as the title theme for the short-lived CBS comedy Love Monkey. The follow-up single "Make You Mad" featured a video which was co-directed by and starred Bruce McCulloch of The Kids in the Hall. "Nothing Beautiful" was the third single.

Odds toured extensively during the 1990s, including as an opening act for The Tragically Hip and Barenaked Ladies. The band performed until 1999, headlining that year's Arts County Fair year-end concert at the University of British Columbia, but released no further new studio albums.