Thursday, March 31, 2011

Sugar and molasses

My musical plans last night were made at the last minute. Initially I had thought about going to see Born Ruffians at Ritual, but I left my ticket-buying to the last moment, and needless to say didn't manage to get one. Instead I popped over to Raw Sugar. Previous shows there have been pretty jammed, but this time around the turnout was commendable but not wall-to-wall like it was for the Kelp showcase. On hand were a couple of Saskatoon combos Jeans Boots and Slow Down Molasses, and local quintet The Ethics.

Jeans Boots is fronted by Jeanette Stewart and a cast of thousands (okay, two: her bandmates from Slow Down Molasses, Ryan Drabble and Tyson Brooks). Slow Down Molasses has already professed their love for Julie Doiron, and I'd say that goes for Jeans Boots too. JB comes in two flavours, electric and acoustic. This was the electric, "get kicked out of the folk festival" version. It was super-fuzzy, with the bass used more to build up a wall of fuzz than keep time. I liked it very much indeed, and picked up one of her two CDs the moment she cleared the stage.

Jeans Boots at Raw Sugar
Jeans Boots at Raw Sugar, March 30, 2011

They really did rock out.

Jeans Boots at Raw Sugar
Jeans Boots at Raw Sugar, March 30, 2011

Next up were The Ethics, a band I have heard much of but have yet to see live. I'm glad to have done so since they put on a very sharp pop performance, entirely composed of songs they'll soon be laying down in the studio. The pictures I took unfortunately don't do justice to the whole band - the layout of Raw Sugar isn't friendly to those musicians not up front.

The Ethics at Raw Sugar
The Ethics at Raw Sugar, March 30, 2011

Finally Slow Down Molasses hit the stage. They stretch the indie rock gamut from shoegaze to roots rock to pop. They've recorded with Julie Doiron and pulled off a cover of My Bloody Valentines' When You Sleep with aplomb.

Slow Down Molases at Raw Sugar
Slow Down Molasses at Raw Sugar, March 30, 2011

Also, everyone wished Rolk Klausener happy birthday. Yay!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Dog days

By the time Black Mastiff was on stage it was becoming pretty clear that Cafe DeKcuf might have been a better venue for the heavy duty psych rockers. Well, it was a small but enthusiastic crowd who were digging the Edmonton band's thick, vaguely Queens of the Stone Age grooves.

Guitarist Bobby Yiannakoulias in the red, plus drummer Allan Harding.

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

Meanwhile, by one of the band's pointy things we have bassist Clay Shea, who's also in Passenger Action with Allan.

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

The whole pointy lot!

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

Bobby sings!

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

Allan hits!

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

Clay rocks the frizzy hair!

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

Rhythm section action!

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

More Bobby!

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

Allan sings!

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

Extra bonus Bobby.

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

Bending action!

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

More Clay.

Black Mastiff at Mavericks

I enjoyed it enough to buy an EP and one of their very cool T-shirts.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Submission

Next up were Monic, another band that seems to owe a bit to the harder-edged sounds coming out of Seattle around the time of grunge - that, and a lot of 1970s British prog.

First, closeup action with frontman Kevin Plamondon.


Monic at Mavericks

Taylor Harris hits!

Monic at Mavericks

Can't decide which picture I like better ...

Monic at Mavericks

On the right we have keyboardist Nejra Eminovic.

Monic at Mavericks

Guitar action, plus a shiny-shirted Sebastien Belanger on bass.

Monic at Mavericks

Nejra sings!

Monic at Mavericks

Sebastien sings!

Monic at Mavericks

More Nejra and Taylor!

Monic at Mavericks

More Kevin!

Monic at Mavericks

Hair-shaking action!

Monic at Mavericks

The whole lot!

Monic at Mavericks

More hair-shaking and hitting!

Monic at Mavericks

That leaves only one question: Should Monic get on a bill with The Mnemonics?
  • Show reminder: Rostov Metro is at the Elmdale House.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Up in the sky

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ... The Superlative! If you listen to their music on Myspace you might pick up a bit of an Alice In Chains vibe on some of the songs. Said vibe was absent at this Mavericks show opening for Black Mastiff since singer Matt Beaudry was not about - thus the band was in "temporary instrumental" mode, and more than capable of covering for the absence.

From left to right we have Pat Lebrun on guitar, his brother Sylvain on drums, bassist Alex Tait and guitarist Kiel Burwell.

The Superlative at Mavericks

Sylvain hits! Also, that is the best rack tom ever.

The Superlative at Mavericks

Brother Pat frets.

The Superlative at Mavericks

Kiel picks a bit.

The Superlative at Mavericks

More Sylvain ... this rack tom is pretty good too!

The Superlative at Mavericks

Alex walks on.

The Superlative at Mavericks

Tapping action!

The Superlative at Mavericks

Wah action!

The Superlative at Mavericks

The band in the red.

The Superlative at Mavericks

Extra Alex!

The Superlative at Mavericks

Rhythm section action!

The Superlative at Mavericks

Even more Alex!

The Superlative at Mavericks

Bonus Kiel!

The Superlative at Mavericks

Grrrrr!

The Superlative at Mavericks

And that's that.
  • Show reminder: Skepsis plays The Rainbow.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Going through ch-ch-changes

Young Galaxy first came to my notice as a sister band to fellow Montrealers The Besnard Lakes. Like The Lakes, they had a jones for Pink Floyd, although they were a bit poppier and not as dedicated to skull-crushing volume. They also shared a fondness for a bit of stage flash, of the smoke'n'lasers variety. I figured that even if I didn't care much for their recent turn to a more dance-oriented sound at least I would get some cool-looking photos. Although I do like their new sound, I wasn't so keen on the snaps ... Their stage show has a new theme: Band in white, projection onto screen and themselves. Maybe it's a Montreal thing: Priestess has also gone the projector route. My opinion? These things just don't work as well in practice as in theory.

Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless go white.

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Max Henry mans the keys.

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

They also have a new drummer, who I don't recognize and can't find a name for.

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

There's one thing about the band that hasn't changed: Stephen Kamp's hair.

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Stephen frets, Catherine sings!

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Much messing about with camera settings, little results.

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

The whole lot!

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Catherine rocks the baby bump.

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Stompbox action!

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Bendy action!

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Singalong action!

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Bonus unknown drummer action!

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Max grabs axe.

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

Stephen sings!

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

More Catherine!

Young Galaxy at Mavericks

They're done with touring for now, and I suspect a hiatus lurks in the near future.