Thursday, February 02, 2012

Lions and prussians and dinosaurs, oh my!

I went over to Cafe DeKcuf last night to check out a trio of previously unseen bands. The first, local quintet Sound of Lions have enjoyed a recent jump in their profile recently thanks to winning the XPress poll's "Best New Band" title, while Toronto's Dinosaur Bones apparently have a devoted local following and are currently on a miniature Quebec-Ontario tour (they have a show tonight in their hometown at the Horseshoe). Their tourmates for the next week or so are Detroit combo Prussia, who I had never heard of before but expect to hear a lot more about, since they were dynamite.

Sound of Lions go where brave bands fear to tread, blending some scratching and mixing with some rhythm heavy nu-R&B and trip-hop indy-ish sounds, and pull it off quite well. Here's some of the folks: drummer Marco Campagna, bassist Joel Soucy, who's appeared a few other times on this blog in other bands, singer and turntablist and occasional singer Christian Awad.

Sound of Lions at Cafe DeKcuf
Sound of Lions at Cafe DeKcuf, February 1, 2012

And the other two, guitarist Will Assaad and singer Whitney Delion.

Sound of Lions at Cafe DeKcuf
Sound of Lions at Cafe DeKcuf, February 1, 2012

Prussia are also a five-piece. There was something about their gangly energy that had me thinking "Are these guys from Guelph?" (The D'urbervilles/Matters were on my mind.) They put out a fair amount of volume and had a strong rhythmic presence to go along with somewhat adenoidal vocals and snarky lyrics. Here's Brenton Bober and Ryan Spencer.

Prussia at Cafe DeKcuf
Prussia at Cafe DeKcuf, February 1, 2012

And some singalong action with bassist Adam Pressley and guitarist Kasey Press (drummer Drew Spencer rounds out the combo).

Prussia at Cafe DeKcuf
Prussia at Cafe DeKcuf, February 1, 2012

Dinosaur Bones ended the night. I thought they were okay, but I wasn't as nearly excited as the rest of the audience, though I'll grant thinks started to cook a little more after the first few songs. Here are them Bones!

Dinosaur Bones at Cafe DeKcuf
Dinosaur Bones at Cafe DeKcuf, February 1, 2012

Guitar action!

Dinosaur Bones at Cafe DeKcuf
Dinosaur Bones at Cafe DeKcuf, February 1, 2012

A nice way to spend a soggy Wednesday.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Rock garden

On to the headliners, Detroit's Gardens, who put on a fine show blending 1960s tuneage with a few modern flourishes.

Shadowy action with drummer Julian Spradlin and singer Jeffrey Thomas!

Gardens at The Dominion

Justin hits!

Gardens at The Dominion

Guitar action with Matt Mueller and bassist Vincent Mazzola!

Gardens at The Dominion

More Jeffrey!

Gardens at The Dominion

Justin sings!

Gardens at The Dominion

Closeup action!

Gardens at The Dominion

And so on!

Gardens at The Dominion

The whole lot!

Gardens at The Dominion

More Matt!

Gardens at The Dominion

Rhythm section action!

Gardens at The Dominion

The whole fisheyed lot!

Gardens at The Dominion

Swell!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Can't stop standing still

Gardens have a retro-1960s sound, more toward the beat end of the spectrum than the fuzz'n'psyche end. Much like The Singles, say. That brings us to opening act Mannequin, another of Matt Oxley's brainchilds, which is very much about fuzz and psyche.

Oxley and Andrea turn things into the red.

Mannequin at The Dominion

Andrea hits!

Mannequin at The Dominion

Shouldn't this be louder?

Mannequin at The Dominion

Fisheye action!

Mannequin at The Dominion

I barely recognized Jesse in curls.

Mannequin at The Dominion

Oxley sings!

Mannequin at The Dominion

Extra Andrea!

Mannequin at The Dominion

Rhythm section action!

Mannequin at The Dominion

Extra Jesse!

Mannequin at The Dominion

They have a new tape - their debut, in fact - out on redoubtable cassette label Bruised Tongue.
  • Show reminder: Laurier, Charmian Devi and Erika Wood perform at The Rainbow Bistro.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Is it obvious?

For our final trip to the Montgomery Legion Hall (so far, anyway), we have the mighty M.O.T.O., fronted by Paul Caporino, who should be beatified as the patron saint of lifer pop-punk rockers if he hasn't already been. For this gig he recruited Ottawa's own Allie Hanlon to beat the skins.

That M.O.T.O.!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

That Allie!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

The whole lot!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Monochromatic M.O.T.O. action!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Black and white Allie action!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Reflective action!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Extra Allie!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Well-lit action!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Close-up action!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Flashy action!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Allie hits!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

The many sides of Paul.

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

The end!

M.O.T.O. at the Montgomery Legion

Looks like Paul's back on the road this summer for some West Coast dates.
  • Show reminder: The Caroline Fe Blues Collective performs at the Rainbow.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Get the point!?!

Back to the basement, or whatever the Montgomery Legion Folks call their lower show space. Needls//Pins are a couple of ex-Ontarians and a Vancouver lady who like their pop-punk rough.

Guitarist Adam Ess, drummer Macy and bassist Tony X.

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

Ess sings!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

X sings!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

Macy hits!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

Pointy action!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

The shouty bit!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

Rhythm section action!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

Adam frets!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

Singalong action!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

More monochromatic Macy!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

The whole black-and-white lot!

Needles//Pins at the Montgomery Legion Hall

They've been quiet for the last few months, but played a show in Vancouver last night.
  • Show reminder: Bum Ticket and The Mudplots rock The Daily Grind on Somerset; W!nslow, SayWeCanFly, Carry Yourself and Landslider play Mugshots. Annie Becker and Stacy Ricker are at the Rainbow.