Showing posts with label Devil Eyes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devil Eyes. Show all posts

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Get an eyeful

Montreal combo Devil eyes isn't the ost frrequent visitor to town, but they seem to pop round every year or two to rock out and break something.

Emilor is all sparkly.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Those Eyes! Matt and Zeelagh round the trio out.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Matt sings!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Zeelagh hits!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Emilor sings!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

More Zeelagh!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Bass action!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Guitar action!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Hurray for Satan!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Matt turns, Emilor bends!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Matt works the feedback.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

The shouty bit!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Faceoff action!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Emilor works the mike.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Zeelagh gets some vocal time.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Matt works the floor.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

Emilor switches to the kit.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

And so on!

Devil Eyes at Mavericks

You can download a fine comp of their work for free at Bandcamp.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Must be the drugs

Last time I saw The Polymorphones, at Jam For Japan, I mentioned that they were recording and suchlike with Tim Kerr. Well, the fruits of their labours has officially arrived, in the form of The Slip, their new EP. They had their CD release show with local loudsters Thunderuncle, instro-rockers The Flaps and Montreal pals Devil Eyes.

Thunderuncle were playing as I walked in - I should have left early, but Berlin Express was calling me from the DVD player - and they sounded heavier and tighter than during their Gaga Weekend set of years past. They covered Angel Witch's Angel Witch. After this set bassist Larry had to dash upstairs to play in his other band, Slim And Popular.

Thunder Uncle at Mavericks
Thunderuncle at Mavericks, July 30, 2011

Joe returns to guitar after his drumming stint in The Middens.

Thunder Uncle at Mavericks
Thunderuncle at Mavericks, July 30, 2011

The Devil Eyes played a killer set, as they always do with plenty of bumping about, hardcore screaming and suchlike. This time around, the guitar amp malfunctioned - it's always something! And yes, they played their cover of Johnny Kidd & The Pirate's Please Don't Touch.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks
Devil Eyes at Mavericks, July 30, 2011

And of course Zeelagh took a turn on the microphone.

Devil Eyes at Mavericks
Devil Eyes at Mavericks, July 30, 2011

Then The Flaps played and covered The Ventures (not much of a stretch for an instrumental band). They seemed quite a bit louder than the last time I saw them, which is odd since that was at Subway Stage for last year's Bluesfest as part of The Kelp showcase. Also, I am alarmed to see that Pat has changed from a Fender Jaguar to a Gretsch Brian Setzer model (not really).

The Flaps at Mavericks
The Flaps at Mavericks, July 30, 2011

And the rest all in a row.

The Flaps at Mavericks
The Flaps at Mavericks, July 30, 2011

The Polymorphines covered MC5's Shakin' Street and The Sonics' He's Waitin' on their encore. They also had Lidija from Roberta Bondar up to play tambourine. They apparently tried to recruit her as a permanent member a little while back, but the siren call of college eclipsed that of professional tambourining. Also, check out that snazzy glowing drumkit!

The Polymorphines at Mavericks
The Polymorphines at Mavericks, July 30, 2011

Faceoff action!

The Polymorphines at Mavericks
The Polymorphines at Mavericks, July 30, 2011

A fine evening of high volume entertainment. The Polymorphines are also courting EP release and tour help.
  • Show reminder: Ninety Pounds of Ugly and The F-Holes play The Elmdal; The Alaska Army Band and The In-Young Jazz Band are at The Rainbow; Our Kingdom Crash, Forsaken Flesh, Accursed Spawn, Denounced and Obduracy perform at Mavericks.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

The devil you know

The Devil Eyes following The Secret Loves with their ultrafuzzy, freaked-out blues rock. Their set got off to a bit of a bumpy start when Matt broke a guitar string straight out of the gate - then again when I saw them in July 2008 at the Bytown Tavern stuff was breaking right and left too. They covered Johnny Kidd's Please Don't Touch this time around too.

Matt puts the guitar on, strums strings, breaks one, takes guitar off ...

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Patrick Shanks lent him his Yamaha.

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Come to think of it, Zeelagh was wearing his Animal T-shirt back then too! Somethings never change ... or maybe musicians are just too poor to buy a new shirt every two years.

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Emilor shouts!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Goldtop action!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Slide action!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Pickin' action!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Singalong action!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Matt goes down! Patrick had restrung his guitar, which is why he switched back.

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Bending action!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

The whole lot!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Emily switchs to drums to let Zeelagh rock the microphone ...

Devil Eyes at Babylon

In a big papier mache cow skull, that is!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Guitar-whipping action!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

Japanese rapping action!

Devil Eyes at Babylon

And there you go. I bought their new CD this time around; it's really good, and plays much better than the CD sandwiched between two cement blocks did.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Saturday night garage

Off to Babylon to see a bunch of sort-of retro sounding acts. Yes, The Secret Loves include noted local garage rocker Patrick Shanks, yes Montreal's Devil Eyes have occasionally be tagged as punk rock and yes, The Uncles do have some surfy sounds in their repertoire. But all three bands are doing a bit more ... well okay, not always a whole lot more.

First up, The Secret Loves, which definitely follow in the footsteps of other Shanker-associated acts like The Glads. Patrick is joined by John Sproull (who I seem to recall playing in The Silent K way back when) and Christine on second guitar (bassist Jennifer is off in New Zealand right now). So what we get is a trio of fuzzy garage rock, and a cover of The Sonics He's Waiting. I suspect I'll see them again soon since they're playing the Kelp Barbecue at the Carleton Tavern May 15.

The Secret Loves at babylon
The Secret Loves at Babylon May 1, 2010

Another band for the "I last saw them years ago" file is Devil Eyes. To be precise, the last time I laid eyes on the eyes was at the Rock'N'Roll Pizza Party back when it was at The Bytown Tavern. This time around they sounded incredibly heavy, and the guitar noise was a hurricane. Their entire set really motored along, including a cover of Johnny Kidd's Shakin' Too Much. Guitarist Matt also set a band record by busting a guitar string in the first few seconds of the gig.

Devil Eyes at Babylon
Devil Eyes at Babylon May 1, 2010

The Uncles start with surf and end up wherever the party is. A very fun band who threw in some shirt-tearing during Jack The Stripper and a cover of Suffragette City.

The Uncles at Babylon
The Uncles at Babylon May 1, 2010 

Fun times all 'round.
  • Show reminder: The Brothers Chaffey are throwing a birthday party at the Elmdale House.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Damaged goods

The Devil Eyes skronky blues devolution was even more devolved than usual at their July 17 appearance at the Bytown Tavern. Technical failures abounded as microphones gave up the ghost and basses konked out. Even the CD I bought from them didn't play properly all the way through (this is what happens when you sell them sandwiched between two concrete bricks). Maybe it was for the best - their sound works better with chaos.

Mad Cobra!



Zeelagh the Destroyer!



At right, thunder broomist Emilor. Emilor has also performed with Thundrah! and a bunch of other Montreal combos.



Amp-perching faceoff action!



Leaping action!



And so on!





Zeelagh switched over to the microphone for some hardcore tuneage.



And some guitar whipping.





That was cool (except for their hot sauce).