Canadian Music Fest 2010: Day Two

featuring The Elwins, The Black Swan Effect, We Are The Take, Make Your Exit and Sandman Viper Command

My usual late start Thursdays meant that I wouldn't be hitting my first show until 10pm, and since I was determined to make life easier on myself, I decided that I would rotate throughout the College and Spadina corridor. My first stop of the evening was just shy of that, at the Bathurst corner at Sneaky Dee's for the basic pop rock sounds of The Elwins.

Sneaks was still pretty empty when I arrived there at 10:02 and the band was already partway through what I'd imagine was still their first song. They play a style of non-threatening, clean cut 60's inspired pop music that is pretty easy to admire, even if it's perhaps not anything that we haven't heard before. Borrowing from all of the usual suspects, lead vocalist Matthew Sweeney augments his Ray Davies-like snarl with a Peter Noone-ish innocence that laces their tunes with some jangly fun, the likes of which I haven't heard since the (very) early days of The Meligrove Band (circa 2000, the Ductape Years, when the band was a little more sugar and a little less vinegar.) Keeping it simple didn't mean that the band couldn't bring the rock however, and the last couple of songs in particular showcased some power chord laden guitar work that was as addictive as it gets. Really good stuff!

Myspace: The Elwins
Photos: My pictures of The Elwins @ Sneaky Dee's are on flickr

From there I walked down to Kensington Market and into The Supermarket to see a U.K. band known as The Black Swan Effect. Admittedly my reasons for wanting to check them out were partially selfish in the sense that I was feeling relatively anti-social and wanted to go somewhere with little buzz where I can just chill out with my own company. The empty floor space at Supermarket was just perfect for the mood I was in, as I settled in the corner with a beer, waiting for the band to hit the stage. When you think about it, it's actually rather ironic that the BSE were not one of the highly buzzed about bands of the fest. First of all, they're signed to Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, having recently opened for him on a few shows. Also, their bass player is a cat named Jesse Wood, and his father is none other than Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones. Those are a couple of big names to be associated with, but the small crowd was evidence that having a big name behind you ain't what it used to be, and personally I think it's great. Mostly though, I was there because the sounds that I heard on their myspace sounded pretty good, and I was eager to hear how it sounded on the live stage. Answer? Pretty dang good. For obvious reasons, there were plenty of classic rock influences circulating through their sound, including some intricate guitar solos and heavy drums and bass, with songs like Please sounding like the aforementioned Stones circa Exile On Main Street. The best songs were the more ambitious numbers, such as a song called Sick, which wouldn't be out of place on The Bends and Rat In A Cage which also owes its sound to early Radiohead, but is done so convincingly enough to not come across as another copycat band.

Myspace: The Black Swan Effect
Photos: My pictures of The Black Swan Effect @ The Supermarket are on flickr.

It was at this point that my evening of solitude was about to be cut short as the room was quickly being filled by tons of young girls, making me wonder if perhaps The Jonas Brothers were scheduled to appear next and I had been rashly misinformed. As I scanned the exit areas just in case, it turns out that my original sources were correct, and I was simply unaware of the fact that the ladies clearly dig the sounds of We Are The Take with an enthusiasm that is obviously not as limited to the haze of an MTV frosh week as I had once assumed. When they took the stage it was easy to see why. Boyish good looks, charming personalities and the ability to woo an audience were all apparent, and this was all before they even played a note. Still it's the music that counts and I'm glad to say that they clearly know what they're doing musically, as they played a tight set that was a sweet mix of upbeat sheeny shiny rock tunes, and a few piano laden pop numbers. It was obvious that the band has been playing together for awhile now, as their professionalism was probably the biggest selling point to most, as there was not a note out of place and their chemistry was infallible. That sheen was probably both their strength and their weakness. While it made it impossible to criticize their abilities, the lack of rough edges sacrificed a  little bit of that rock 'n roll rawness that would have brought their show to a more memorable level for me. Still, a good time was had by all, myself included, and I'm glad that after an innumerable amount of failed attempts I finally got to see this band that I'd heard so much about.

Myspace: We Are The Take
Photos: My pics of We Are The Take @ The Supermarket are on flickr

From there I had originally planned on heading to The Silver Dollar to see The Ghost is Dancing, but ultimately opted to check out the El Mocambo instead to see Make Your Exit. Originally, I wanted to stick mostly to artists that I had never seen before, but I made an exception in this case by using justificatory reasoning. Although I had seen MYE in the past, I still had yet to see the latest incarnation of the band, that is, the one featuring my personally chosen Rock Star of the Year for 2008, Robbie Butcher, who had recently joined the band on drums. I was curious to see what chemistry would ensue within the group, since the band has always been more of a subdued force onstage, whereas Robbie's work in bands like Tin Bangs has always been a little bit more over the top. Interestingly, the pairing seemed to work very well, as the band's larger than life sound seemed to gel nicely with Butcher's over the top persona. However, his presence, strong as it was, was only one factor contributing to the band's overall greatness. When I saw them back in May 2009, it was obvious that they had plenty of potential, boasting a post-rock sound that was full of intricate spaces and precious atmospheres, yet there was still plenty of room for growth. Upon seeing them this time, it was obvious that grow they did, as their sound was so large that the El Mo could hardly contain it. Placing greater emphasis on musicianship and orchestral sweeps than on anything else, the band has carved itself out an interesting niche that will only grow as they continue to work together in the months ahead. When a large sound is what you're shooting for, well the sky's the limit, as they say.

Myspace: Make Your Exit
Photos: My pictures of Make Your Exit @ El Mocambo are on flickr.

By this time I was the most tired I'd ever been in my life, and under other circumstances I would have just gone home, but Burlington's Sandman Viper Command was up next, and I really like their CD Everybody See This, and I was already there so I forced myself to stick around, at least for a couple of songs. The band specializes in some pretty catchy power pop tunes that are still a bit juvenile in their execution, but show plenty of potential for future releases. One thing that the album does showcase perfectly is a sense of overall fun that should, in theory, translate nicely to a live stage. And in this case, that's exactly what they did. As expected, I was only there to witness the first three songs, but their energy was boundless, which suited their upbeat tunes nicely, and undoubtedly contributed to the audience's second wind. They put on one of the most enjoyable live shows of the whole festival, and I can only imagine that they'll continue to get even better as time goes on. If there was one minor concern, I'd have to say that, having lived in Burlington for 8 years myself, the band doesn't do much to distinguish themselves from many of the other young bands to come out of that area, at least as of five years ago, when I was more in tune with the Burlington music scene. The band needs to find some way to stand out from the crowd, yet from what I witnessed that night, they've certainly got the talent to do so.

Myspace: Sandman Viper Command
Photos: My pics of Sandman Viper Command @ El Mocambo are on flickr.

AfterpartY @ The Horseshoe

There are many bands that work hard to be as weird as possible so as to establish a sound that is new, vital and fresh but sometimes, it's simply working with the original template of pop music construction that enables a band to stand out from the rest. This is an area where local retro post-punkers AfterpartY shine and they proved that well when they played The Horseshoe last week as part of Dave Bookman's weekly free Nu Music Nite Showcase.

I first saw the band at Sneaky Dee's about a year ago, and I thought that they really stood out amongst the other bands that night in the sense that they displayed a little too much pop polish to fit in with the local music scene, but they also weren't mainstream enough to be the latest teeny bopper fashion statement of MTV either. This put them in sort of a unique position where I found it hard to figure out exactly where they fit in. But as I've listened to their music more and more over the year that followed I came to realize that that is exactly what makes them so good. Sure, there are many bands that borrow and copy from the late 70's/early 80's pop punk aesthetic, but in most cases it's obvious that their trying hard to emulate that sound. AfterpartY on the other hand, come across as a band that just HAPPENS to sound like that without really having any preconceived desires of actually doing so. That's difficult to accomplish, especially when you watch some of their interviews and realize that were very much influenced by bands like Blondie and Talking Heads. Of course, another aspect of their appeal is the fact that they put on a great live show.

Lead vocalist Kristina B is everything a frontperson should be, exuding a mix of rock 'n roll attitude and scintillating presence that I found it impossible to take my eyes off of her while she performed. I thought that the band had really stepped up the energy level also, making the songs sound more energetic and raw. This was no doubt aided by the fact that they had expanded to a six piece for this show, recruiting a couple more members on bass and guitar, filling out their sound nicely and making it come across as a little bit more anthemic. Whether or not the band has permanently expanded to a six piece remains to be seen, since guitarist Juan Carlos indicated to me that the lineup was likely to become a permanent thing, whereas Kristina mentioned that they were just trying it out for now, so we'll see. Either way, I think that the band is finally beginning to carve out their niche and with a full length album poised and ready for release in the near future, it will be interesting to see how the indie loving public responds to their infectious melodies.

Lonely Vagabond also had some brief comments to make on the show.

Photos: My shots of AfterpartY @ The Horseshoe are on flickr
Myspace: AfterpartY

Other stuff:

The High Dials have just released a new video for the song Killer of Dragons. [Myspace: The High Dials]

Basia Bulat is playing a free instore at Soundscapes next Tuesday February 16th at 7pm [Myspace: Basia Bulat]

Make Your Exit is featured on the latest episode of Minilogues. They're playing with Dinosaur Bones and Everything All The Time at the Steam Whistle Club on March 5th. [Myspace: Make Your Exit, Dinosaur Bones, Everything All The Time]

Local photographer and music blogger Pete Nema has just started up an exciting new music site that is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already done so. It's called Sticky Magazine and it's already looking like it's going to be an excellent source for all of your musical needs.