When mentioning local bands or artists from Vancouver you can’t not mention Said The Whale. The band was formed in 2007 almost 20 years ago by group members Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft. In their almost 20 years of work the group has won multiple Juno Awards and came 2nd in the Peak Performance Project. From almost 2 decades in the spotlight, Said The Whale has built up a very big and sturdy fanbase, the type of fanbase that sticks around. 
With their most recent release and the band’s 9th studio album, fans were very curious to see what direction the band would take. Lets just say the band did a 180 because not many people would have expected this from this album. Said The Whale released B-Sides + Rarities in 2022 and to fans’ surprise it was a collection of songs that did not make it on their previous albums. Now you can take this two ways: you could say that the band was lazy and just needed something to put out, or you could say this is a cool way for fans to look into the past. For me I have seen artists do this before like Drake when he released Care Package in 2020. In my opinion I think that the band going this route is cool and it really shows their evaluation in music.
What makes this project special is its unfinishedness. It’s kind of like seeing the blueprint of a house. It looks very cool, but it’s not built yet. These songs on this project or even the demos on this project are not meant for radio, it is meant for the listener to take a look behind the curtain. Going from song to song on this album you can really hear the change in style. It is like going from era to era whenever you hit that next button.
Listening to this album is like going through an old photo album. Everything is on your phone now but it’s still cool to flip through the pages. Seeing cut tracks get their moment to shine is always cool for artists to see, and listeners to wonder why some of these tracks weren’t released earlier. In a world where you have to be perfect it is nice to show all your imperfections on the road to perfection and that’s what Said The Whale did with this project.