Music Waste scarred me for life. Well, maybe that’s a bit harsh. Let me rephrase that: I scarred myself, physically and emotionally, at Music Waste. About eight years ago, my old band played at Pat’s Pub as part of the fest’s activities. From what I recall, it was a total blast up until halfway through our set when I let loose what had to have been one hell of a scream, lost control of my motor functions and collapsed right into the pointed, wooden corner of a Juno 60. I don’t remember much beyond that, but I can assure you I got through the rest of the performance with a stream of crimson trickling down my face and an abnormal pounding in my head. Truthfully, the gouge on my forehead was only about two milimetres wide, but I went to London Drugs the next day and bought a tube of scar remover and rubbed it on the spot religiously over the next several months. If you look real close—and I should warn you, please don’t, it’ll freak me out—you can see it, but it’s maybe about a sixteenth the size of Harry Potter’s lightning scar. Read More
Fans of The Strokes’ Is This It, Vampire Weekend and Bloc Party should take a breather and check out Eeek!’s new self-titled EP; it includes the same genuine passion and surprising diversity. Local trio Eeek! is able to develop a sound that calls to mind such notable modern indie rock acts while skillfully crafting songs that avoid monotony. Take the group chant throughout “Andy &,” or the gradual instrumental build-up of “Potential” as proof. Also, take note of the vocals, which vary from clear-headed young singer/songwriter, to hoarse, punk rock angst, to undulating moaning—as on “Lake Soux” and “Cascadia.” Read More
The sounds of ‘60s pop music are blended with the raw power of garage punk on Hunx & His Punx’s sophomore set, Too Young To Be in Love. It’s a phenomenal album. Read More
For all of its size and complexity, Tokyo has never been well connected to our independent music scene. Sure, there’s the odd emigrant or hyper-obscure punk band, but significantly less than you’d expect from a modern metropolis with the population of New York and London combined. Blame it on language barriers, physical distance, or whatever you will – we’re more likely to hear about an average band from Brooklyn than an amazing one from Tokyo. Read More
Photo by Ashlee Luk
Maybe I’m old and jaded, or maybe I’ve listened to too much Smersh and Boyd Rice–warping my idea of what weird is–but for an event labeled Wyrd Fest, put on by WeirdCanada.com in the basement of the Waldorf Hotel, things seemed pretty tame. Read More
Photo by Steve Louie
Chalk it up to too many shows going on elsewhere in town, or maybe that people were scared to leave their houses on Friday the 13th, but whatever the reason, only thirty people showed up for the long awaited Vancouver debut of LAKE. Having just released Giving & Receiving, their third album of sumptuous, low key lounge on the super hip K Records, you’d think there would have been a lot of people eager to see them. Surprisingly, this was not the case. Read More
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Riff Raff
June 2011
By Bryce Dunn
Friends, isn’t it time you got back to basics? Back to a time when music was heard on a hi-fi and not a hard drive? Where the grooves of a record, not the bytes of a computer file, sent warm, inviting, simple yet seductive strains of melody to the ear? Stop me before I sound anymore like the K-Tel compilation ads of the past, but Chains Of Love hearken back to those halcyon days befitting of dance halls and dingy dives with their debut seven-inch of seasoned soul. A fortuitous meeting between members of other current “hip” bands has begot this incredible musical maelstrom, and at the eye of this storm we find the duet-ing duchesses Nathalia Pizzaro and Rebecca Marie Gray. “You Got It,” with its Northern soul inflections, backed by the rollicking bass bounce of Clint Loftkrantz and some springy keyboard action from Henry Beckwith, will make pulses race and feet bee-line for the floor. “Black Hearts” kneels whole-heartedly at the Shangri-Las’ shrine whilst wrapped in a hazy wash of guitar grit from Felix Fung and the biff-bang-pow of drummer Al Boyle. While there has been a recent swell of girl-group-idolatry-meets-rough-and-ready-R&B building among the garage rock elite (Modern Superstitions and the Vibrating Beds come to mind) Chains Of Love add a welcome want of this immediately catchy and retro vibe to the masses. Soak it in, guys and gals—they plan to stick around for a while. Read More »