Racoon Wedding / The Schomberg Fair / Black Hat Brigade @ The Garrison

I went to a life altering show last night, and I'm going to another one tonight, so I figured that I'd better get off of my round rump and review last week's excellent show at The Garrison before the backlog gets too ridiculous to handle.

The promotional teaming of two of the city's finest, namely Dan Wolovick of TWM fame, and Tyler Wade of Zygiella fame, couldn't help but boast a lineup that would satisfy the need of every local music loving hipster in town. This was my first time checking out the latest venue addition to the ever burgeoning Ossington / Dundas strip and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the place. The sound was decent, the stage was nice and high, and although the attendance had apparently reached capacity levels, it didn't feel that way as there was plenty of room to move around. It was probably the reddest place ever, which meant that my pictures didn't turn out as great as I would've liked, but otherwise it was still a pretty cool place. I was not able to stick around right to the end of the show, which meant that I would have to catch Germans' 90's indie rock sound at a future date, but I certainly enjoyed the three bands that I did get to see.

Local favorites Black Hat Brigade were the first band to play the evening and apparently they were sporting a slightly smaller band member count than when I had seen them last, all the way back in march during Canadian Music Week. What is interesting is the fact that the difference was hardly noticeable to me. The band still sounded great, and in many ways their compatibility with one another seemed more focused and assured. They can't help but be a bit quirky, since this is their whole dynamic, from the complex and structured arrangements to the spit and growl of their gruff vocalizations. But it seems that this time around they set aside a smidgen of that quirkiness and replaced with a little more old fashioned rockiness, and I have to say that the slight shift served them well. There were even a few moments where the audience was borderline head banging, particularly one really hilarious tall guy who seems to pop up at every Black Hat Brigade show and given the fact that this event was taking place at the tail end of the month dubbed Movember, the jumping, dancing audience looked like an action sequence out of a really bad 70's cop show. But in a good way.

Photos: My red shots of Black Hat Brigade @ The Garrison are on flickr
Myspace: Black Hat Brigade

I was shocked to discover that I hadn't been out to see The Schomberg Fair since October of 2008, even though their album Gospel has been in fairly regular rotation over the last few months. They've been touring their brains out lately in support of that album, and it's amazing to see the results of all of that experience. They were tighter than tight, as they blasted their particular style of cowpunked raunchabilly speed gospel at an alarming pace; one that left me exhausted by the time they were done. The amazing contrast between their onstage persona and their offstage amicable, down to earth demeanor is a thrill to witness in action. The set was composed of the usual blend of old time standards and original numbers, and Nathan Sidon's deep baritone was intoxicating, as was Pete Garthside's impeccable drumming and Matt Bahen's lightning fast, yet precise banjo work. They are definitely a band that will continue to rise with more exposure and I want nothing more than to see them gain the success that they deserve.

Photos: My red shots of The Schomberg Fair @ The Garrison is on flickr.
Myspace: The Schomberg Fair

Personally, I have never witnessed the celebratory matrimonial joining of two raccoons, squirrels, aardvarks or any wildlife creature, but I can only assume that the event would be touching, jubilant and likely a little bit nutty. And if this is the case, then The Racoon Wedding's moniker could not possibly be more accurate (with the possible exception of spelling 'raccoon' properly) since their show was all of those things and more. Admittedly, I went into the show mentally equipped with nothing more than the buzz that I had been reading about them since I had still never gotten around to actually listening to their music. The fact that I've been listening to their Gather Gather Bones Rattle Rattle Truth CD fairly regularly since the show is a testament to how good they actually were. If I remember correctly, there were about 9 people on stage, including a keyboardist, a trumpet player and two background singers, and at times their music was sort of like the comic book version of Bruce Peninsula, with their beautiful sounding choirs coming across as a little bit less inspiring, but quite a lot more fun. The band ran into complications pretty quickly when the lead singer / guitarist broke a couple of strings partway through the first number, and without a backup plan, the scurry for another guitar held up the proceedings by quite a few minutes. Once things got going though, the band more than made up for it with an energetic set that was an eclectic mix of folk, country and crazy chamber pop. The fact that the band looked like they were having a blast onstage was also quite endearing, and literally every single thing that the keyboard player did and said made me laugh. Although there were occasional moments that showcased how young and inexperienced they still are, they're definitely a band that's worth keeping an eye on.

Photos: My red shots of Racoon Wedding are up on flickr
Myspace: Racoon Wedding

Interesting update: As I mentioned, I was too tired to stick around for the evening's final act, and decided that I'd just wait to catch Germans at some later date. I'm typing the final part of this post upon returning home from seeing Handsome Furs at Lee's Palace and guess who was their opening act: that's right! More on that later...

CONTEST: Win tix and CD's to the Hottest Indie Showcase in Toronto!!!!

I hope that you're enjoying my deliberately dragged out and unabashedly self indulgent list of the top 50 albums of the decade, as selected by me; but I currently interrupt the countdown to bring to you this very special announcement and contest.

There have been many exhilarating unions made in the past: Superman and Muhammad Ali; Run DMC and Aerosmith, and Vodka and Red Bull come to mind, but none have had the universal impact that is sure to result from the joining of forces that is to take place at The Garrison in Toronto (1197 Dundas Street West) on Saturday November 28th.

That is the day and the venue where two of the greatest local indie music superheros, namely Two Way Monologues (altar ego Dan Wolovick) and Zygiella (secret identity Tyler Wade), join forces to showcase a performance by the best bands on the local indie music scene today.

Black Hat Brigade are insane which, if you've heard their album or seen them live, then you already know this. The Schomberg Fair's brand of "speed gospel" is so authentic sounding that it's hard to believe that they don't actually hail from the deep dark south. The Racoon Wedding have apparently received a little bit of lovin' from Now Magazine, who described them as "exciting, catchy and loud" and "worth checking out." And then there's Germans, who were Spin's Artist Of The Day, as well as co-players on Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds CD. That there is a lot of talent for one night, and to be able to see a show like this and then go home and listen to these bands again once the show is over is a state of euphoria that a person should not expect to experience too often without possibly exploding. Now imagine if you could do this all for free.

Well, tickets for this show are only $7, which is a steal in itself, but I'm actually here to give you the opportunity to get in for free. And if that weren't enough, I'm also going to throw in some CD's as well. So here's the deal:

CONTEST: Courtesy of TWM and Zygiella, as well as the bands themselves, I've got CD's by Racoon Wedding, Schomberg Fair and Black Hat Brigade to giveaway as well as 2 tickets to the show taking place at The Garrison on November 28th. Now, since most of my readers are apprently going steady with most of J-Polk's readers, you've probably noticed that she's holding the same contest. What I recommend is that you enter both and double your chances at winning!

To win the tickets here, send me an email at quadb2001 [at] gmail [dot] com with the words "I Want To TWM with Zygiella" (what does that even MEAN?!?!?) in the subject line and your full name in the body.

Contest is now closed. Congrats to Andrew L and thanks to all who entered.

I now return you to my regularly scheduled countdown, already in progress...

One Hit Wonders Night #2 @ Rancho Relaxo

A few months ago, Two Way Monologues hosted a special evening at Rancho Relaxo wherein a whole bunch of local bands got together and played covers of all of their forgotten one hit wonder songs of the past. Although I had intended on attending, I was unable to do so. Apparently, the evening, masterfully entitled One Hit Wonders Night, was a rousing success, which made me determined not to miss it should they ever attempt to try it again. Well, just over a week ago, this is exactly what happened and although I have nothing to compare it to; I couldn't imagine an evening being any more fun.

The bands that were showcased that night were some of the newer bands in the city, and that being the case, I was largely unfamiliar with most of them. But hearing them play songs that, for the most part, I knew quite well, provided me with an excellent opportunity to hear what these acts were capable of, without having to keep myself entirely steeped in unfamiliar territory.

The first band of the night was The Stepfathers, who are a rock band from here in the city. So far, they don't have much in the form of recorded output, but they're in the process of trying to establish a reputation as a face melting live band. For their set on this particular evening, they chose some of the dancier hits of yore, kicking things off with Stardust's 1998 hit Music Sounds Better With You. Their version didn't stray too far from the original but it was an excellent way to get the party started for the evening. The band kept themselves in synth heavy mode by wasting no time with their segue into Gary Numan's Cars, before ending their set with Culture Beat's dreaded hit from 1993, Mr. Vain. I always hated that song, but they added a bit of a fun edge to it, making it fit in nicely with the evening's vibe. It also wouldn't be the first time that night that a band would take a personally despised tune and make it tolerable for me.

The Quantam Jitters are another new band in the city who were scheduled to perform next, but for reasons that I can't remember, they were unable to do so. Lead singer Bruce Clement was clearly determined however, as he took advantage of the opportunity to perform an acoustic solo set. He opened with Stars by mid 90's alternative band Hum. That was followed by the similarly styled, yet mildly psychedelic tune I Got A Girl by Tripping Daisy, which is a song that I had actually forgotten all about. It admittedly took me a few minutes to clue in to what it was while he performed it. The highlight of his set however was his acoustic version of The Dandy Warhols' Bohemian Like You; a controversial choice by his own admission, based on the fact that the Dandies are apparently one of his favourite bands.

Up next was Matt Bahen of The Schomberg Fair; a band that I've seen perform a couple of times and of whom I've grown quite fond of. He was the first artist of the night to take his wonders of choice, and really make them his own. He opened with an alt-country take on Blind Melon's No Rain, which is a song that I've always enjoyed, (although I would argue that Tones Of Home was a minor hit of theirs as well, and another great one at that.) His folksy cover of The Proclaimers' I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) was less successful, but still quite interesting. He really capped it off though by taking it upon himself to cover Patrick Swayze's She's Like The Wind which is a song that I have gone on record as declaring to be the absolute worst song of all time, hands down! Bahen's take on the song was very admirable indeed, as he transformed it from the smaltzy pool of dreck that it once was, and turned it into something that sounded as if it was straight out of the Neil Young catalog. Wholly entertaining!

Wendy Leung is another artist that I have reviewed in the past who specializes in sweetly serene piano ballads. This time she had a full band at her disposal who she masterfully referred to as The Exposed Leungs. This made her set far more upbeat than one would expect as she opened with a cover of Wheatus' Teenage Dirtbag. Her bandmates falsetto during the song's final bridge brought the house down. The next song she did was the Top Gun classic Take My Breath Away by Berlin. You'd think that she would have showed her piano-meets-stellar-vocal abilities off by playing this one straight, but when she announced that this song would remind us of the time when Tom Cruise was still normal, you just knew that she was going to power pop it up a little bit for us, and that she did. She ended with that head jerkin' at the Roxbury classic: What Is Love? by Haddaway.

Next up was Blanc and White who are a groovy new band from the city who specialize in some very fresh indie pop sounds that showcase just a hint of funk. Their choice of covers was accurately conducive to their sound as they chose Elastica's 1994 hit Connection, Modern English's 1982 hit I Melt With You, and Norwegian band a-ha's 1986 hit Take On Me. although most of my Norwegian readers will be sure to inform me that a-ha was NOT a one hit wonder. (Yes, I know here in Canada they basically were, but those a-ha fans can be pretty expressive from what I've heard, and I wanted to do a preemptive acknowledgment of such.) That last song enabled the audience to sing along at the top of their lungs which, I've noticed, is not all that unusual whenever this song is played. Classic.

Jeff Geady is a man that I do not know personally, but as soon as he hit the stage (under the moniker Fresh Blintz,) I recognized him as a Rancho Relaxo regular who I happen to see milling about everytime I attend a show at the double 'R'. Turns out that he's a pretty talented guy too as he opened his set with an acoustic version of The Verve Pipe's Freshman, I song that I heard to death on the radio back in 1997. The next two songs of his set are another couple of songs that I can't stand, namely Biz Markie's Just A Friend and LFO's Summer Girls which contains possibly the worst lyrics in recorded music history. Geady and his friend with the ipod had a lot of fun performing those songs and the crowd responded favourably to their performance. Their final song was a grand guilty pleasure of mine: Len's Steal My Sunshine, which culminated in Geady singing his part from the audience while several people hopped up on the stage and helped by singing their hearts out.

The last act that I saw that night was the Rancho house band Santa With Muscles, fronted by man who has served our drinks on several occasions, the charismatic Greg LeGros (pictured above). They were easily the most entertaining band of the night as they blew us away right from the get-go with a powerhouse version of Der Kommissar which was a hit in Austrian for Falco in 1982, and redone in English by After The Fire in 1983. Their next song was Pulp's Common People, although it became clear rather quickly that they were performing the William Shatner/ Joe Jackson version. He warned us beforehand that he would not be able to hit the high notes for his next song, but Steve Perry's Oh Sherrie was the most hilarious thing I've seen in a long time. He didn't really know the lyrics but nobody cared as he hammed it up big time to this one. The band was so tight and talented and LeGros was such a captivating front man that I never wanted their set to end. They did have one more song to perform though, and after LeGros informed us that his father is George LeGros of the legendary 60's band The Buckinghams, he went on to perform their biggest hit Kind Of A Drag which also sounded great.

At that point, the wife and I had to take our leave, which meant that we had to miss what was an apparently amazing set by The Lovely Killbots, as well as a surprise performance of That Thing You Do by Amos The Transparent, who I was able to speak to briefly as they showed up shortly before I left. Upon searching around, it doesn't look like they got around to performing the song after all, which means that maybe I'll get a chance to see them do it the next time around. After the success of this second installment of TWM's One Hit Wonder Night, I'm sure that this will be a glorious and oft-repeated tradition.

Photos: One Hit Wonders Night #2 @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.

Olenka and the Autumn Lovers w/ Secret Japanese Girlfriend and Sleep For The Nightlife @ Rancho Relaxo

There is no doubt in my mind that by this time next year, London Ontario's Olenka and the Autumn Lovers are going to be one of the great Canadian local buzz bands. Think of what they got going for them: the multi-membered indie collective thing, a very cute and personable lead vocalist and songs that are both uplifting and mesmerizing.

Lead singer Alexandra Krakus spent her childhood in communist Poland, and the influence of being raised in such a tumultuous environment seems to have served as a great inspiration to her music. Most impressive is that many of her songs are definitely emotive and personal, but never jaded or overtly angry. I was really taken in by her lyrical depth, her warm stage presence and her genuine interaction with the rest of her band. That band was very impressive too; which included, but was not limited to, a stand up bass, cello, violin, accordion, glockenspiel and guitars. That's a lot of instrumentation to throw up on the teeny tiny Rancho stage. At one point, we in the audience were also allowed to be a part of the band as tambourines, shakers and the like were handed out throughout the audience, (who incidentally were seated on the floor for the most part, creating a very warm and fuzzy ambiance.) The songs encompassed all things from alt-country to folk to indie pop, with some gypsy flavoured Eastern European stylings added to the mix.

Olenka and the Autumn Lovers will be at The Drake (Underground) on Aug 28th, 2008.

Photos: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers
Download: Flash In The Pan (demo) mp3


Secret Japanese Girlfriend is one of those artists where I understand why people don't like them more than understanding why I do like them. But the weird and eccentric side of me that has always embraced albums like Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica found itself getting absorbed into Doc Pickles bizarre little world. His talents as a musician and vocalist are questionable to say the least, but I have to say that his strange, witty and self deprecating lyrics were enough that, if I didn't take him too seriously, I could just sit back and enjoy this maniacal indie rock ride. From what I understand, Doc Pickles is an intense lover of all things related to Toronto's indie scene, and as the man behind the hugely successful Wavelength series, his efforts are to be applauded. For this performance, he only had a couple of musicians on stage with him, with the sound guy joining in on the flute. Sometimes it felt like the other members had never actually heard the songs before and they were just following his lead. But the goofy little songs had the crowd laughing out loud on more than one occasion and I think, for the most part, they were pretty well received. Whether they were laughing "with" or "at" him is another story, but I was laughing "with"him, if that means anything.

Secret Japanese Girlfriend will be at The Boat on Kensington on Aug 21st, 2008.

Photos: Secret Japanese Girlfriend @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: Secret Japanese Girlfriend
Download: A Great Day For A Bookburning mp3


Kicking off the evening was some instrumental post rock in the form of Sleep For The Nightlife. I've always loved instrumental music but admittedly, I need to be in the mood for it. What's most impressive about SFTN is the fact that they put me in the mood. Their jovial and energetic live show exudes a very engaging feel, that sucked me in immediately. Another cool thing about being an instrumental band is the fact that you can name your songs virtually anything you want, thus song titles such as I Heart Pandas and Chinese Fire Drills. Besides having all of the usual elements of modern instrumentalists, I actually heard touches of jazz fusion in their songs, which is a sound I haven't been acquainted with for years. I welcome its return and, although the band is obviously still in its developing stages, it'll be interesting to track their development in the months ahead.

Sleep For The Nightlife will be at Duffy's Tavern at 1238 Bloor St W on August 23rd, 2008.

Photos: Sleep For The Nightlife @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: Sleep For The Nightlife

BTW, I was totally at peace with missing the Radiohead concert on Friday night until I saw Frank's photos of the show. Now I'm filled with green eyed jealousy.

Clouds That Look Like Things & The Superstitions @ Rancho Relaxo

Well I certainly don't attend as many TWM Rancho Relaxo shows as I once did, but this is the second one in a week and there's a strong chance that I'll be checking out a couple more before month's end. They are just as strong and as entertaining as they ever were, even if the poor lighting is starting to really get on my nerves. Definitely not conducive to picture taking with one's crappy point and shoot camera. Also, it's the hottest place in the entire world. I mean that in the temperature way. Still, Dan's discoveries are almost always phenomenal and Friday night was no exception.

I missed the first band of the night (and I also left before the last band of the night) but the first artist that I saw was Toronto's own The Superstitions. They reminded me a lot of The Detroit Cobras, boasting a late 50's, early 60's garage rock sound, with a female lead vocalist that a dude like me could not take his eyes off of. Their brand of full out guitar driven rock 'n roll got the crowd dancing pretty early, and they genuinely looked like they were having a lot of fun on that stage. Guitar playing Matthew broke a string relatively early into their set, and foolishly forgot to bring backup, but the next band lent him a guitar so we won't hold it against him. The show carried on regardless and I loved every minute of it. Nyssa's voice is reminiscent of Nancy Sinatra or perhaps some of the girl groups of that era, but unlike some of the other revivalists that we see these days, they don't come across as another corny amusement park band. (Yes, I'm talking to you Pipettes!) Regardless of what type of throwback genre you want to pin on these guys, the fact remains that they play infectious rock music that sounds awesome in any era.

Photos: The Superstitions @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: The Superstitions
Download: Boy In Black mp3


TWM photographer Jenny told me about Clouds That Look Like Things a few weeks ago, and she expressed some great enthusiasm about them. They were the band that I was really waiting to see and thankfully I didn't have to wait until all hours of the night to see them. Technically, Skip Jensen was scheduled to perform next, but by set time the band had still not arrived. Happily for all who came to see him, he did show up shortly thereafter, but CTLLT had already set up and were ready to tear the walls down, which worked out just fine for me.

The best way to describe their sound to me would be to simply call it huge. Yes, they have a larger than life sound that could easily be compared to all of the multi membered Canadian bands on the scene these days, but they do have their own spin to offer as well. Darcy Pease is a captivating front man, showcasing the persona of David Johansen, the mystique of Jim Morrison and vocals that are reminiscent of Ian McCulloch. That sounds like incredibly high and ridiculous praise, but you have to see this band. They exude a bombastic energy that was almost too big for the tiny Rancho stage to contain. The ying to Darcy's yang was synth and violin player Owen Norquay, who was the perfect distraction from Darcy's cool demeanor. Owen bounded around the stage with rabid excitement, even hopping into the audience to make more room for his antics. I anticipate big things for this little band and although I've made such proclamations before only to be greeted with great disappointment, I hope this time exceptions are made because Clouds That Look Like Things really are THAT good.

Photos: Clouds That Look Like Things @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: Clouds That Look Like Things
Download: Stardust mp3

The Craft Economy, Karma Controllers, The Dress Whites w/The People of Canada @ Rancho Relaxo

It's hard to believe that the Two Way Monologues Showcase has already reached #19, but here we are, ready to enter adulthood, as Friday night showcased one of the Rancho Relaxo's most eclectic lineups yet.

This time I'll start at night's end and work my way back. The last time that I saw The Craft Economy was back in December when I was incredibly enthused about checking out Amos The Transparent and the excitement from having seen them must have overshadowed any memory I have of these guys. I remember liking them, but that's about it. Apparently, they have only played one other show since that performance and, with very little time to jam, one might wonder how solid this one was going to be. No need to worry.

This was one major broohaha of a party, as the band turned up the mega-fun and blasted out a spazzy set of new wave energy. Once again, I definitely heard a major B-52's influence, and the chemistry between vocalists Linda Lu and Kostaki reminded me of an indie rock version of the Wil Ferrell and Cheri Oteri cheerleader skit on SNL. The Rancho was a sweat heap of tangled neurosis that night, and the way those two were jumping around with such hyperactive zeal made me wonder how they kept themselves from passing out. I loved it! All the songs sounded great, but one of the most memorable performances of the night was The Kissing Song, which Kostaki declared to be the shortest song ever. Not true, but he was the undisputed king of exaggeration that night, from his dance moves to his facial expressions to his between song banter, he, as well as the rest of the band, did not let up for a minute.

Photos: The Craft Economy @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: The Craft Economy
Download: The Kissing Song mp3


I've been really enjoying Karma Controllers' Sirens CD, and I've been wanting to catch a live show for quite some time, but due to circumstances, I've been unable to. So, it was quite a treat to finally get around to seeing them play.

First off, it should be noted that Helen Kuan's voice is flawless. I really appreciate that she never oversings, which shows a maturity that some vocalists who have been around for a long time have failed to display. It's a unique contrast to Jack Jamieson's slightly harsher vocal delivery, making for a perfect complement. The band seems to draw just as much influence from boy/girl bands like Stars and Young Galaxy, as it does from past and modern day troubadours like Brian Setzer and Johnny Favourite. This was their first time performing with a live drummer, and when listening to the first few songs of their set, I wondered how they ever survived without him. The drums really were the backbone of this performance. However, there was a moment where the band's chemistry was lost for a little bit, making for a slightly awkward attempt at completing that particular song. Still, minor setback aside, I appreciated that they forged their way through it, and then followed up with the strongest song of the night. Good on ya Karma Controllers!!!

Photos: Karma Controllers @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: Karma Controllers
Download: Whisper Sister mp3


Filling in for The Hots, was Toronto's (by way of Montreal) The Dress Whites. The band had recently moved to our city after having made it big in their hometown, with the intention making it in both markets. They're an incredibly busy group of guys, moonlighting in The Maydays as well as several other projects. They usually play a very straightforward style of classic pop music, along the lines of The Odds or early Fountains of Wayne. This was a bit of a different night for them however, since their drummer was apparently sick in bed with the flu. Not having a drummer, the band decided that they would perform an acoustic set of mostly country covers as well as a few originals. If this was to be a montage of Garth and Shania songs I would have ran out of there kicking and screaming, but this set was all about authenticity, and man, did they ever sound good! They included covers of songs by George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Gram Parsons, including one of my favourite songs of all time, Hickory Wind. It was absolutely breathtaking, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I could have listened to them all night.

Photos: The Dress Whites @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: The Dress Whites

As an added treat, the first act of the night was The People Of Canada (aka Alexander James Squire.) Alexander and his ukulele was on a quest to perform at as many different clubs as he could throughout the course of one weekend. Basically he was performing these 10 minute impromptu sets all over the place, and filming them as part of a documentary project about the experience. His songs were quirky and wacky and very very short, and I thought it was a gut wrenching way to begin the evening.

Photos: The People Of Canada @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
(The lighting was really bad and I was too far away to get a decent shot with my crappy point and shoot so I did a little bit of a Warhol-like photo editing job so that the shots could at least look semi-cool. I'm not sure that it worked though.)
Myspace: The People Of Canada
Download: Life mp3

TWM-Fest Day 2 featuring Coast Guard, Amos the Transparent, Fox Jaws and Beth In Battle Mode

I hope TWM Fest days 1 & 3 were as successful as day 2 was because it could only be described as rousing! This is the way to celebrate such a successful series of local indie talent and Friday night just confirmed that all of the best music is still to be found right here in the city of Toronto. Even though my two favorite acts of the night were technically exported from slightly outside of the city but still….

The openers of the night were Coast Guard, an indie pop gem consisting of Dennis Keough (drums), Justin Mahoney (bass), Jimmy Rose (guitar, synths), and Rhiannon Thomas (vocals, guitar). Their music has a slight east coast edge to it and reminds me a bit of Thrush Hermit, only with female vocals. It’s unassuming and pleasant enough but I can’t say that it really grabbed my attention as much as I would’ve liked it to. However, this criticism should be tempered with the fact that I actually ran into a whole whack of friends at this show and spent the better part of the Coast Guard’s set catching up with them. So the band didn’t really have my undivided attention.

Photos: My shots of Coast Guard @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr.
Myspace: Coast Guard

Ottawa’s Amos the Transparent were up next and the last time I saw them was also here at Rancho and their slightly inebriated presentation was one of the most entertaining shows of the year. I was speaking with Jonathan Chandler before the show and he was mentioning that he was dealing with a little bit of a strange sinus thing and they were making the drive back to Ottawa that evening. That meant minimal drinky drinky. That gives the band an A for responsibility and an obviously more reserved performance than last time. But if a band can play a tight show while under the influence, than just imagine how tight they are when performing sober. And they were tight and sounding as great as usual. It was cool that the band was willing to play this small venue considering the significant amount of exposure that they’ve been receiving as of late. The fans were all there, and the interaction between the band and the crowd gave me that warm and cuddly feeling, like a giant indie rock hug. They mentioned that they'll be returning to the city for NXNE, and that they're performance is going to quite the extravaganza. Whether or not this means a show with their original significantly larger line up I don't know, but colour me intrigued.

Photos: My pics of Amos the Transparent @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr.
Myspace: Amos The Transaprent

The stellar Amos performance left Fox Jaws’ Carleigh Aikins remarking “How am I supposed to follow that?!?” Well she needn’t have worried because I think Friday night’s show was they’re best performance to date. How does she do that thing with her voice? It was there in all of its raspy glory. My friend and local musician Haley Zalesky said it best when she exclaimed “That voice! I want it!” I noticed that they seem to be introducing more and more new material at each show, and this performance didn’t feature as many songs from Goodbye Doris as I would’ve liked. Still, unless you’re someone like Queens of the Stone Age (who incidentally were playing a surprise intimate show at the El Mocambo just up the street) a band only has a minimal allotment of time and Fox Jaws clearly wanted to feature as much new music as possible. And that’s all good because the songs sound awesome. I obviously don’t know the names of these new tunes but there was one about dancing or something (lol) and the last song of the night in particular made me all eager with anticipation for the new album. Another thing to look forward to is the fact that, I believe they’re going to be recording their next album with Nevado Records. That’s the label that recorded Bass Lions latest, which so far contains the best production I’ve heard all year. So there is no reason that the upcoming Fox Jaws CD should not be the greatest thing that I’ve ever heard. Ever. No pressure.

Photos: My pics of Fox Jaws @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr. (Compared to the last two times that I saw them, these ones actually turned out pretty good.)
Myspace: Fox Jaws

I was so tired at this point that there should be a new word to describe how exhausted I was because words like ‘tired’, ‘exhausted’ and ‘fried’ just don’t cut it. However, I’ve been wanting to see Beth In Battle Mode since I reviewed Technical Know-How last year and darned if I was going to miss them again! So I figured, I’ll catch a couple of songs, take a few crappy pictures and call it a day. Well c’mon! That just can’t be done at a show as fun as the show that BIBM puts on. The self proclaimed world's premier garage-prog-disco power trio put on a show that was every bit as fun as one would expect from such a crazy tag, Andrew Ennals is the most entertaining synth player I’ve seen since watching Good Rockin’ Tonite in the 80’s and every band member was more than happy to mug for the various cameras of the night. David Gilgan was pounding the drums like a madman and Edward Mahen’s voice was here in all of its Loverboy-ish charm. (I hope he doesn’t mind that I keep comparing him to Loverboy but I’m sorry, the voice constantly conjures up images of a red spandex clad Mike Reno. But in a good way. If that’s even possible.) Finally, the ultimate proof that I was thoroughly enjoying this show was the fact that the band was even making my usually stoic booty shake and that rarely ever happens. Although, apparently it’s debatable as to whether or not what I do can actually be called dancing. Thanks for crushing my self esteem Jen. Just kidding. My ego is actually still as huge as ever.

Photos: My shots of Beth In Battle Mode @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr.
Myspace: Beth In Battle Mode

Two Way Monologues One Year Anniversary

The Two Way Monologues Showcases at Rancho Relaxo have been my greatest source for learning all about what's new and exciting in local indie rock. It's through these shows that I've been introduced to some of my favorite acts such as Fox Jaws, Entire Cities, Deadbeat Dads and Schomberg Fair. I've also seen many of my other faves grow and flourish by means of these shows; acts like Tin Bangs, Amos The Transparent and Oh No Forest Fires. Sadly, this year circumstances have prevented me from attending as many of these shows as I did last year, but from what I've heard, they're as entertaining and as strong as ever. Dan Wolovick has his ear firmly pressed to the indie ground and he will no doubt continue to expose more great artists to a wider audience by means of the TWM Showcase.

To celebrate one year of providing such fine entertainment, the TWM Mixtape Volume 1 CD has been released and it is chock full of some of the greatest bands to have performed on the Rancho Relaxo stage over the past year. I've been listening to it pretty much non-stop over the past week, and there isn't a dud track to be found on it. Starting tonight, TWM is showcasing the first of three evenings to commemorate this remarkable achievement. The lineups are all gold, and although I'd love to attend them all, it looks like I'm only going to be able to make it to day 2, tomorrow night's show. Thankfully, that's the day that looks like it was tailor made for yours truly since three of the four acts have received rave reviews on this blog. Anyways, here are the lineups:

Thursday May 8th - Key Witness, Five Blank Pages, Numbers & Figures and The Eatons.
Friday May 9th - Beth In Battle Mode, Fox Jaws, Amos The Transparent and Coast Guard.
Saturday May 10th - Tin Bangs, Schomberg Fair, Mark Berube and Cheap Speakers.

All these shows are $10 with a CD, or $7 without. But seriously, get the CD.

I'm a little too lazy to post mp3's today, but go to the various band myspace pages and you'll find a whole slew of downloadable toonage or better yet, GO TO THE SHOWS AND GET THE CD! IT'S AWESOME!!!!

TWM Presents: The Job, Invasions, Leonids and The Diamond Teeth @ Rancho Relaxo

I hadn't been to a TWM Showcase for a little while, and interestingly enough, my return to Rancho Relaxo on Friday night had me seeing one of the bands that I saw last time: The Diamond Teeth. When I saw them before, I thought they were a grand slab of fun, but there was definitely room for improvement. So how were they this time? Well, what can I say .. they improved!

The sound was a lot more controlled and the band was significantly tighter. But the best thing about this performance was the fact that the band was still having a blast onstage. Oftentimes that enthusiasm is sacrificed when a band reaches a greater level of professionalism, but if anything, the band was even more enthusiastic. And Friends Forever still had me busting a gut, along with a ridiculous cover of M.I.A's Paper Planes, complete with hyperactive spazzy sound effect screaming. Way too much fun.

Photos: My pics of The Diamond Teeth @ Rancho Relaxo are on flickr.
Download: Friends Forever mp3

Myspace: The Diamond Teeth

The next band of the night was Leonids. According to wikipedia, the literal Leonids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle that is visible every year around November 19th, give or take a week. All fun facts aside however, the band Leonids are equally as impressive. I really appreciated the non-threatening nature of their songs. They were easy on the ears, without ever being boring, and they were non-controversial, yet far from stagnant. Incorporating elements of Yo La Tengo and Pavement, with also a touch of the Velvet Underground, Leonids have the potential to be real indie rock contenders. I'd personally like to see them showcase just a tad more confidence in their live show, but that really is only a minor quibble. I think there are more good things ahead for them and it'll be interesting to catch their live show again in a year or so.

Photos: Leonids @ Rancho Relaxo on my flickr page.
Download: Ark mp3

Myspace: Leonids

The rest of the evening was all about the rock, and to kick that off was a local garage band called Invasions. I don't like to throw the genre term 'garage' around unless its receiver is firmly ensconced in authenticity. That having been said, Invasions are definitely authentic. They display a rock swagger and a U.K. punk attitude that I haven't seen or heard since I first saw Tangiers a few years back. That band went on to streamline their sound significantly since then, which I guess some people like, but I prefer my garage rock rough, and that's the sound that I was hearing from Invasions on Friday night. Their raunchy vocal rasp coupled with their guitar rock assault whipped the already enthusiastic crowd into a frenzy. They've obviously already built up quite the local following as I noticed several people screaming along to the lyrics while tearing up the dance floor.

Photos: Invasions @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: Invasions

And if Invasions didn't rock hard enough, well The Job cranked the rock level right off the rock scale, so to speak. They rocked! Their punk influenced high energy blast was a great way to end the evening. It was as if they took the frenetic vibe created by all of the other bands of the evening, loaded it into a weapon of mass destruction and fired it into the air so as to create a mushroom cloud of intensity that was going to make it very difficult for people to simply leave the Rancho, call it a day and go to bed. This is the spirit of rock 'n roll, and I'll bet that people must have felt the same way leaving CBGB's in '75 after watching The Ramones or Television play. I love the fact that, although the likelihood of these bands solidifying a comparable spot in rock history is probably non-existent, an event like this still has the power to raise an eyebrow and get people excited about local talent. The people in that room were clearly having a great time, and creating a personal rock history of their own.

Photos: The Job @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Download: Killer mp3

Myspace: The Job

'Sup In May?

The months of May and June are absolutely jam packed with non-music related events that it's going to be quite difficult for me to get to many shows. My weekends for the most part, are shot. However, there are still several possibilities and if I make it out to even a portion of these, I'll be rather contented.

Regrettably, I haven't been to a TWM show for a couple of months but I've got two that are very strong possibilities. This Friday, May 2nd shows an excellent lineup of very unknown but promising young acts. The Job, Invasions and Lionids all sound great on their respective myspace pages and I think this'll be an outstanding show. Diamond Teeth cap off the evening. I've seen them before and they're tons 'o fun. $6.

Also, this month marks the one year anniversary of TWM shows at Rancho Relaxo. To commemorate this amazing feat, Dan Wolovick is hosting not one, not two, but yes, three days of unbelievable lineups. The dates for these are May 8th, 9th and 10th. You can found out all of the details about these shows on the Rancho myspace page, but huzzah, it looks like I'll at least be able to make it to day 2, which features three of my favorite bands, (and one more that could certainly become such, except I don't really know them that well.) The one that I don't know that well is Coast Guard, but they definitely intrigue me. The other three bands you've heard me rant about ad nauseum, and I will continue to do so until you get the point! They are Amos The Transparent, Fox Jaws and Beth In Battle Mode. It can't help but be one outstanding show! All three of the TWM Anniversary shows are only $10, and you get a special mixCD featuring 15 of the best and most exciting acts to grace the Rancho Relaxo stage. The cost is $7 without the CD.

In-Store Performances are all the fad these days, and there are some interesting ones coming up in May, but the only one that I plan on attending is the irreplaceable Aimee Mann at Sonic Boom on Friday May 9th. She's in town promoting her new album @#%&! Smilers, which drops on June 3rd. As much as I love her, I still have never seen her live, and seeing her in this intimate setting has me filled with teenage anticipation. This is especially true since her next "real" Toronto appearance is on August 28th at Kool Haus. I don't do Kool Haus. Anymore. So I must be at this show, see? I'm guessing that this is going to be a pretty big deal so if you're as interested as I am, I'd get there early. She's on at 6:30, I believe.

Download: Aimee Mann's Thirty One Today mp3


On Friday May 16th, British Sea Power come to Toronto to play Lee's Palace in support of the most obvious CD title ever, Do You Like Rock Music? The backlog of CD's that I'm supposed to be listening to is ginormous, so I haven't let this CD sink in as much as I would like it to, but so far, so good. Opening for them are The Rosebuds and Jeffrey Lewis. The show is $15.

Download: British Sea Power's Waving Flags mp3


The very next day on Saturday May 17th has Two Hours Traffic at Lee's as well. I've almost seen these guys approximately 800 times, but actually seen them none times. To be honest, it doesn't look too promising for this time also, but as of right now, I don't have anything else going on that day, so who knows? They're playing with We Are The Take, another band in my personal "800 almost" category. Mardeen are also playing. They're in my "never heard of" category. $8.

Download: Two Way Traffic's Stuck For The Summer mp3


Hello Operator has just released The Breaks, which offers more of their impressively accurate Cars influenced new wave style. I saw them at last year's NXNE at, quite frankly, they killed. They're playing for free at The Horseshoe on Tuesday May 20th as part of Edge 102's Nu Music Nite. The other bands on the bill are Craig Smith & the Saints, The iSpies and Harm.

UPDATE: For those that go back into these archives, I just realized that there was one more show that I plan on attending that I originally forgot to mention in this post. Friday May 23rd has Cardiff's Los Campesinos! playing at Lee's Palace. I salivated over their EP, but have not gotten around to taking in the full length Hold On Now, Youngster... yet but this is a rare occasion where there is no doubt in my mind that it is a fun CD. They're just too good. I promise to listen to it before the show though. Apparently Jeffrey Lewis is opening this one too, but with his backup band The Jitters.

Download: Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s) mp3


Finally, have you heard M83's Saturday = Youth CD yet? Did you like the Pretty In Pink soundtrack? Anthony Gonzales nails that sound so perfectly that you should definitely run down your hallway, pull a Judd Nelson by throwing your fist to the air and head on down to The Mod Club with me on Friday May 30th, as he brings his 80's throwback sound to T.O. I love this CD so much that I'll be posting an actual CD review sometime in the near future, but in the meantime, listen to the songs on myspace or follow the link to his video for Graveyard Girl below. $15.

Video: M83's Graveyard Girl on youtube.

Here are three other shows that I would go to if I could but I can't so I won't but you should cuz they're good.

Sun May 11th - El Perro Del Mar w/Lykke Li @ Mod Club. $15.
Sat May 24th - Laura Veirs w/Liam Finn @ El Mocambo. $10.
Fri May 30 & Sat May 31 - Golden Dogs @ Horseshoe $13.

A TWM Feast Of Indie

featuring After The Weather, Diamond Teeth and Idle Tigers.

I hadn't been to one of Dan Wolovick's Two Way Monologues showcases for awhile, so I was all pumped up for the one that was taking place on Friday night. As usual, it was a gi-normous funbag 'o fun, even if all of the acts didn't necessarily turn my crank.

I didn't stick around for the last act, even though they sounded quite good on their myspace, simply because it was getting late and I'm an old man. (They were Whale Tooth, if you're interested.) But the band right before them was the most impressive act of the night.

Montreal's After The Weather are an amazing band to see live, especially if you're into lightning fast musical licks. They're a three piece, consisting of three very impressive musicians creating a cool sort of prog-jazz-fusion type of sound. Matthew Hills is the lead singer and guitarist, and watching his fingers fly across that fretboard is nothing short of astonishing. Rob Helston's bass duties are very prog-like, reminding me a bit of Geddy Lee before Rush got all boring and stuff. And Trevor Zaavedra is the drummer with mystique, who had no problem keeping up with the advanced time signatures that makes After The Weather so unique. I'm looking forward to seeing them return to Toronto sometime in the near future.

Photos: After The Weather at Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Myspace: After The Weather

One thing I'll say about The Diamond Teeth, is that they do know how to have a good time, that's for sure. Their music, while still quite rough, definitely shows a lot of promise. The instrumental aspect is solid, creating a very enjoyable indie rock sound. It's the vocals that I thought could use a little work. The soft songs were too soft and the loud songs were way too loud. Why do people have to scream so much? Seriously, my ears can only take so much. Dang, there I go, sounding old again. The show got better as it went along and the last few songs were definitely the stronger ones. I would also be lying if I didn't say that the tongue in cheek performance of their song "Friends Forever" didn't make me laugh out loud more than a couple of times.

Photos: The Diamond Teeth at Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Download: Time mp3 / Friends Forever mp3
Myspace: The Diamond Teeth

The opening act of the night was a one man electronic band known as Idle Tigers. I'll probably just leave it at that. (I guess I will say that the music he has featured on his myspace page is actually sort of interesting.)

Photos: Idle Tigers at Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: Idle Tigers

Exciting Local Music Sites

In my sidebar, I added an elite set of links for the local music sites that I personally find very exciting. The sexiest of the bunch by far is Zygiella. The complicated explanation of their mission statement is to combine the work of Myspace, Facebook, CDBaby, Flickr, Last.Fm, etc, etc, etc into one wicked awesome DIY band promotion site. The simple explanation is that they want to support and promote good music. It's still in its beginning stages but it is easily the spiffiest looking site around. Most sites (including mine) all look the same but Zygiella is the future. I'm excited to see its progress. I hope it blows up real big and stuff.

www.zygiella.com

And because I'm just a redundant kind of guy, I'll throw up the links to the other exciting local sites right here, even though they're probably located immediately to the right anyways.

Two Way Monologues - OK, I've told you about this one already, right?
Toronto Indie - You should already know about this one. It's been around longer than I have.
New Sound Now - I suppose technically, this is just another music blog but it's a video music blog. Ooooh. You mean I don't have to read anything? Cool. (OK, there's some reading...)

Two Way Monologues 7.0 @ Rancho Relaxo

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have had to miss seeing Amos The Transparent every time they've come to town. This is highly unfortunate since Everything I've Forgotten To Forget is easily one of my most listened to CD's of the year. So imagine my elation as I found out that, not only are they coming back to the T-Dot, but they are performing as part of Dan Wolovick's awesome Two Way Monologues series. This made me as giddy as a schoolgirl.

The first act of the night was The Craft Economy. If Devo and The B-52's joined forces and transported themselves to 2007, they would be The Craft Economy. Catchy, fun and with just a slight hint of the theatrical, it's clear that they are actively campaigning for the title of world's greatest party band. I came in just as they were starting, and for some reason I didn't notice it right away, but they all had little glowing electronic bar graph type things on their chest. Like Twiki from Buck Rogers. That made me laugh. (OK, looking at the Twiki link I just posted, I guess it's not even remotely similar. But that's what it reminded me of anyways.) Their energetic brand of new wave indie pop kept the crowd dancing and, if you get the chance, I highly recommend downloading their tunes. In fact, their entire EP can be downloaded for free on their website. It's quite good, but seeing them perform live is way more fun.

Photos: The Craft Economy at Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
(I think the lighting may actually be getting darker at Rancho. It's getting increasingly more difficult to take a good picture with my Sony point and click at that venue. Please look at my shots, but make sure you look at Frank's awesome shots taken with a good camera on Chromewaves.)
Downloads: The Lives of Captured Scientists mp3 / Drag-On mp3
Myspace: The Crash Economy

I think Oh No Forest Fires is one of those bands you're going to be hearing a lot of over the next year because they seem to be playing their brains out. I saw them only but a month ago, however, their show has improved in leaps and bounds. Not that they weren't good before, far from it, but their ability to keep a crowd interested has been honed and is reaching near perfection. The greatest challenge in reviewing their show is thinking of new ways to describe the spasmodic powerhouse that is Rajiv Thavanathan. Well, this time around I'm going to refrain from such descriptions so as not to overlook the rest of the band and, most importantly, the music itself. This time around I became far more aware of how experimental and varied their musical style actually is. The songs are layered in tons of atmosphere as they rise well above your typical indie rock fare. I love the instrumental powerhouse voyages that some of the songs veer off into, always encouraging the listener to expect the unexpected. Speaking of which, they evening ended with a rollicking cover of "Footloose," that brought the house down, as any good Kenny Loggins cover should.

Photos: Oh No Forest Fires @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: Oh No Forest Fires

Finally it was the moment I had been waiting for, Ottawa's Amos The Transparent. Obviously the Rancho stage is not conducive to their typical 8 or 9 member lineup, but the stripped down four piece was just as exhilarating to experience. Sadly, much of the audience had cleared out by that time, but hey, it's their loss. I loved the show that I was watching. The band had been dipping into the sauce during the course of the night, which made them positively giddy, but thankfully it didn't have any negative effect on their musical performance. They opened the night with the title track from Everything I've Forgotten To Forget and played most of the tracks from that album throughout the course of the night. The between song banter was hilarious , and oftentimes downright silly, but in the hands of charismatic lead Jonathan Chandler, you couldn't help but have a good time. Some of the funniest moments came when their keyboard player told a really lame joke about Metallica that he had heard on Conan O'Brian. The rest of the band mocked him, and then broke into a 30 second rendition of "Enter Sandman." An audience member asked if they could play any good licks, and they obliged with a little bit of tapping, Eddie Van Halen style. It was this type of laid back demeanor that made the band so endearing, and the fact that the songs themselves still sounded strong made for a very balanced night of pure showmanship. Can't wait to see them again sometime in the upcoming year.

Photos: Amos The Transparent @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Download: After All That, It's Come To This mp3
Myspace: Amos The Transparent
Purchase: Everything I've Forgotten To Forget at mymusic.com
Video: Interview with Jonathan and Christopher on Rogers TV on youtube