Easy Targets / Postcards / The Hoa Hoa's / Volcano @ Rancho Relaxo

Under normal circumstances, the four band lineup has become something that I do not look forward to as much as I once did. My attention span and irritability level after 10pm is not what it used to be, and the thought of attending a late show with a bill of more than two bands just seems like too daunting a task sometimes. It also often results in me becoming a bit of a harsher critic by the time I get to bands three and four simply because by that point of the evening I've become a grumpy old man.

However, an evening that was billed as The Fallout Party, which took place last Friday night, was a quadruped of sorts that I was more than willing to support, since four outstanding examples of truly euphoric psych rock were joining forces to create a symbiotic "excursion of weightless significance" at our very own Rancho Relaxo. I just knew this was going to be a good one.

Kicking off the evening was Volcano, and, as far as I know, this was their very first live performance. I'm quite familiar with the work of lead vocalist Chris Hobson through his other project The Space Between Things, and when I sampled his Volcano output on the myspace page, I became very curious as to how the material would translate live. While it's true this project comes across as a bit more streamlined than the TSBT material, it still contains a fair measure of jumbled cacophony to facilitate a "how are they going to do that?" thought in my head. Still, even the mildly muffled sound system of the Rancho couldn't hide the beauty of the sounds that this band created together. It was certainly a subdued performance in terms of stage presence and banter and whatnot, but in terms of musical artistry, the band literally sucks you into its drone with a mesmerizing mix of epic space jams and lo-fi psychedelic freak outs. Their last two songs were significant highlights; beginning with an extensive instrumental number that reminded me a little bit of Atom Heart Mother-era Floyd before quietly segueing into their last song, an upbeat rocker with a Keith Richards-like riff that was about as infectious as it gets.

The biggest selling point for me was the last minute inclusion of The Hoa Hoa's into the evening's lineup. It has already been duly noted that they're one of my favorite bands in the city, but despite all of my best intentions, I had never actually gotten around to seeing them live. Yes, embarrassing, I know. Now that I have though, I have to say that my confusion as to their lack of popularity and buzz is now even more mind boggling. I'm willing to accept that they're recorded material may not be everybody's thing, especially if you're not a fan of the whole psych-rock universe. But I refuse to believe that it's possible to leave a Hoa Hoa's show without being completely blown away, regardless of your genre of choice. The reason that I say this is because their performance is tailor made for music lovers, as well as lovers of the live experience, plain and simple. The band exudes an amazing amount of energy on the stage, and the songs translate with excellence as the Manchester beat got the crowd dancing from start to finish. They showcased several songs from the new album, and I think that, as much as I love their older stuff, the newer material boasts a greater intensity that sounds so good live. I loved their performance, and I think that it's safe to say that they are one of the best live bands in the city right now. On the downside, this made things pretty difficult for any band that was put in the unfortunate position of having to follow them.

Postcards (from Montreal) were up next, and of all of the bands that performed that night, the buzz surrounding them seemed to be the greatest. They've built up a strong reputation within the community as a forerunner in the Canadian shoegaze/psych movement, placing emphasis on keeping their sounds artistic, genuine and as lo-fi as possible. As far as I can tell, their EP is only available on cassette, which is either extremely cool or extremely annoying, depending on your outlook. The fact is that their melodic brand of dreamy, slightly Smiths-ish pop music probably suits the hiss and crackle of a car stereo cassette deck warmly, and they displayed their low key sound to a crowd whose enthusiasm seemed oddly disproportionate to the laid back vibe on stage. The audience was jumping around and dancing spasmodically, which was bizarre considering the subtle tones that was emanating off of the stage. Performance-wise, the band was a significant step down from the energetic whomp of The Hoa Hoa's, and it would have been nice to see them get into what they were doing a little bit more. Material-wise however, the band was right on par with everyone else, and I really enjoyed their unique blend of subtle jangle guitar tones and 60's Phil Spector-ish pop melodies.

The evening ended with our very own Easy Targets, who pumped the enthusiasm back up to an indisputable high. There were a couple of familiar faces in the band that I recognized, most notably Jeremiah Knight who played with Volcano at the beginning of the night, and Clint Scrivener, who's in another one of the best live bands in Toronto, namely Pick A Piper (not to mention the work he's done with Caribou). While the other bands of the evening I would describe as firmly rooted in 60's psychedelia, with hints of 80's rave culture and 90's shoegaze, Easy Targets sounded to me to be more the other way around, steeped moreso in 90's melodic noise rock such as Sonic Youth or even early Teenage Fanclub, while still including traces of some of the aforementioned past genres. Boasting easily the largest band of the evening (I think there were six of them) they ended the evening in a celebratory mode that raised the level of euphoria to an appropriate height for an evening so jam packed with music.

I left the evening completely satisfied, which, as I mentioned at the outset, is a pretty amazing feat for such a huge lineup. The fact that all of the bands complemented each other so well allowed the night to flow seamlessly, and listening to Stone Roses on my iPod as I walked home seemed like the perfect nightcap for me. Needless to say, I've been on a steady diet of psych-rock since then, and it's become apparent to me that I need to go to more shows like this.

Photos: My shots of the Fallout Party @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr
Myspace: Easy Targets
Myspace: Postcards
Myspace: The Hoa Hoa's
Myspace: Volcano

Dead Leaf Echo - Pale Fire

I'm only now getting acquainted with Dead Leaf Echo, a fantastic shoegaze band from New York. The band consists of LG (vocals, guitars), Mike DiLalla (bass), Liza B (keys, vocals) and it appears they might still be looking for a full time drummer. Perhaps? Anyways, The Pale Fire EP is their second release. I have not heard their first (entitled Faint Violet Whiff) so I've got nothing to compare this to, but this one is incredibly impressive. The EP opens with a little song called Warm Hands which is exactly that ... little. But you'll notice as the album progresses that this is just the dynamic that the band likes to deliver, dolling themselves out bit by bit, until they charge straight ahead with a steady charge of captivating guitars and tantalizing vocals. The second and third tracks are Thought Talk and Tears, which are both beautiful voyages in themselves, showcasing dense sounds, coupled with thought provoking lyricism. It's on the fourth song that things get really interesting. This one is called Cry The Sea, and it's a slightly upbeat little anthem with a driving drum sound and sweeping guitars. The last two songs, Pale Fire and Reflex Motion, take up more than half of the running time of this EP, but they are also the most satisfying songs of the lot. The first song is mixed by Ulrich Schnauss (yes, THAT Ulrich Schnauss) and it nails that shoegaze sound, in the same way that Serena-Maneesh did a couple of years ago. Both of these songs believe in the 'steady build' approach to song craft, which leaves me feeling slightly exhausted at the end, but in the same way that a huge delicious meal makes me feel. The fact is, Reflex Motion is about six and a half minutes long, but I found myself never wanting it to end. Dead Leaf Echo's Pale Fire EP has already been garnering a lot of rightfully deserved praise, and seeing as they completely sold out of the first pressing, you might want to snatch yourself up a copy of the second pressing before that's gone too.

Download: Pale Fire mp3

Myspace: Dead Leaf Echo

Vision Éternel - Love and Seasons

I've been rather lackadaisical when it comes to telling you about what I've been listening to these days, so perhaps I can fire off a couple of recommendations today. We'll start with Montreal's Vision Éternel.
Vision Éternel plays inspirational instrumental music that is very mellow, yet uplifting. I suppose they realize that capturing people's attention instrumentally can be quite the tall order in this age of fast food and rap, so they've released their thematic ambient shoegaze in the form of mini-album's, as opposed to going full length. They first released "Seul Dans L'obsession" back in February 2007. They name as their influences "a very bad breakup" and every release is apparently a concept of the feelings of a period in time. This CD consists of 6 songs, and clocks in at under 12 minutes in length. It explores the theme of love, which is obviously not a new musical topic by any means, but Vision Éternel explores it through areas of beauty, restriction, autumn, narcosis, delirium and isolation. Beautiful stuff indeed. The second EP is called "Un Automne En Solitude" and it was released last month. This time it uses 'season' as its theme, and explores seasons in desperation, yonder, lust, absence and neglection. The music is incredibly moving when listened to as one whole piece, and with both EP's together running less than 30 minutes in length, it never becomes too daunting. I find it also works just as well placed in amidst whatever else you happen to be listening to. The tunes can act as an intermissionary vignette, soothing the soul and calming the nerves.

Myspace: Vision Éternel
Video: Love Within Narcosis on youtube

epo-555 - Mafia

epo-555 are a Danish electro-pop band that have been around for about 5 years or so. They claim to be influenced by many of the shoegaze bands of the 80's and 90's, but don't let that fool you. They are not a shoegaze band. I would say that their music has more of a pop sound than a droner shoegaze sound, although I suppose some of the elements are still there. It doesn't really matter. However you want to label them, the fact remains that their latest release Mafia, is a very enjoyable CD. The first few times I listened to it, it almost flew by without me hardly noticing it. It played out as if it was one long dreamy song. That's not meant as a criticism, but as a term of endearment. I'm not saying that the songs all sound the same. On the contrary, the songs are so brilliantly organized that they flow into one another in a very comfortable way. Some of the highlights for me are "Harry Mambourg" which is a perfect slice of indie pop, sounding like an amalgamation of Yo La Tengo and Mates of State, with some very powerful guitars chiming in joined by some sweet orchestral sounds towards the end of the song. "Maid In China" starts off heavily with the electronica before settling into a very smooth synth-pop groove. "Grisslapen" has a nice dreamy sound to it, while "Examinor" jumps out of the mix with a steady chug that thumps along nicely whilst leading into the instrumental album closer entitled "Uberholen Hat Keinen Zwecki", with a few accents thrown on there for good measure. I don't know what that means, but regardless, it was a good move for the band to finally release the CD here in North America because we're poised and ready for its overdue welcome.

Download: Hyperschlieb mp3 / Maid In China mp3
Myspace: epo-555
Video: Hyperschlieb youtube
Purchase: Mafia on Amazon.ca

Coyote Bones: Gentleman On The Rocks

"Gentleman On The Rocks" by Omaha, Nebraska's Coyote Bones is a very impressive record, both in terms of skill and variety. They've enlisted the help of a large number of impressive names in the world of indie rock, including members of Azure Ray, Bright Eyes, Tilly and the Wall, The Faint and Now It's Overhead. This variety in contributors is evident in the sweet miscellany contained in the various compositions throughout this release. The album opens with "Expire In Style," a Steve Earle-like stab at alt-country, complete with mouth organ and barking dog. Most artists would use the opening track to set the pace for the entire album, but this album is beautiful in its refusal to commit to any specific pace. "Lightweights Drinking" is a driving progressive thump, "Grand Eclipse" dives head first into a shoegazey wading pool and "39 Forever" is a straight forward pop song that wouldn't feel out of place on your typical Counting Crows record. Those are only the first four songs, but they demonstrate the rule that the band chooses to follow, that is, the rule that there ain't no rules. Although there are a couple of less impressive moments, overall the album contains a little something for everyone. A couple more standouts for me are "Don't Lose Your Cool," a slight throwback to the early days of emo and bands like The Get Up Kids or The Promise Ring, and album closer "Your War," which is easily the heaviest and most frenzied track on the album. The scattered pacing of this album also bodes well for their next release, because the chances that Coyote Bones will repeat themselves is basically unthinkable. There are too many different styles being showcased here that the question is posed: which style will they repeat? It'll be interesting to see.

Downloads:
Grand Eclipse mp3
39 Forever mp3

Myspace: Coyote Bones

Purchase: "Gentleman On The Rocks" at the CoCoArt store.

The Playing Fields - Hello New World

“Hello New World” is the debut release from U.K’s The Playing Field. I’m not sure how long it took to record this CD, but it sounds like it went through a very well thought-out process in order to reach such a level of atmosphere. The melodies are very well-structured and mesmerizing. Glancing at other reviews, mesmerizing and hypnotic seem to be the catch phrases of description when it comes to these guys, but I think that creative should also be added to that list. They take a style that has been done quite regularly and make it their own. The theme seems to be set with the opening track “Nonesuch Nameless,” which has a slightly moody drone and chiming guitars. The CD does not deviate too much from that feel, except that each song adds something new. You could not really refer to them as progressive shoegazey alt-country, because they’re not, but one does feel compelled to come up with a term for the music they record. They called it Urban Desert. Whatever it is, you’ll find it very easy to forget about life for a while when you’re listening to their CD. The vibe completely sucks you in, and you’re captivated. The best song, in my opinion, is the title track, which is also the final cut. It leaves you wanting more, and I actually found myself smiling when the song started up again after the mock fade-out at 6:03 into the song. A few more seconds of music…abrupt ending…and this brilliant CD is done. I can’t wait till the next one.

Downloads:
Glass And Concrete mp3
Protect The Humans mp3

The Playing Fields myspace page.
Purchase “Hello New World” at Melodic Revolution.com