The rolling dead

Hmm, it seems like the music scene is undergoing its seasonal thaw following the doldrums of winter. As specious evidence I offer Monday's showcase of punk rock bands (that's how it was billed ... actual punkitude may depend upon the listener). First up were rockers The Boxcar Cadavers. The band is the only one I know of that lists both The Dillards and Slayer as influences. As mentioned earlier, I saw them a couple of times during the Lefty McRighty era but for the last four years they've gone in a harder rocking direction with new singer Scotty Sickfuck. Here's the photographic evidence.

Let's start with drummer Boxcar Porkchop Infidel.



Sickfuck sings!



Luka-Jo Cadaver handles the low end.



Fretful action!



Rhythm section action!



More Porkchop!



More Luka-Jo!



Boxcar action!



More hitting!



The view from down low.



More guitar!



The whole lot!



The end!



A fine opener.

• Show reminder: Invasions, Pow Wows, The Shakey Aches and Il Danse Avec Les Genoux make for a cool lineup at the Avant Garde Bar; Old School Politics, The Hunters, Dead Weights, The Valveenus and Benevenstanciano are at Cafe Dekcuf; Parks & Rec, Alex Newman, The Chills and Alligator Baby perform at Mavericks; The Junction, Teenage Kicks and The Strain play Live Lounge; Red River Rebellion, Dave Tough Band and Matt Ventresca grace the Elmdale.

Thorns and weeds

Back to The Rainbow, this time for a less eclectic line, since both The Jimmyriggers and Shannon Rose and The Thorns could be loosely described as Americana acts.

Last time I saw Shannon Rose and The Thorns was in November 2007, when she performed a strong folk-influenced set. This time around she was missing a couple of Thorns due to stomach flu. "But Steve is my husband, so he had to come," she told the audience. "It was this or the couch," Steve noted. The band's plan this year is to release four EPs, one per season. Winter is already out, and rehearsals for Spring begin in short order.


Shannon Rose and The Thorns at The Rainbow, February 22, 2011

When I heard The Jimmyriggers online I thought they sounded like The Cash Brothers. The vocals were a bit more roughhewn live, mostly due to a case of bronchitis striking lead singer Andre Kirchhoff. Otherwise, very strong country rock for folks who like the Jayhawks and suchlike. They were releasing their new CD I Stand In The Weeds, and stretched out a bit with a reconfigured cover of The Rolling Stones' Connection, which also features on the album.


The Jimmyriggers at The Rainbow, February 22, 2011

A nice way to spend a Tuesday night.

• Show reminder: The Sam Ferguson Band and Edison's Art perform at The Rainbow; The Sean Kemp band plays The Elmdale.

Thinking inside the box

Monday in February is not usually an ideal time to go and see bands, the Rainbow did offer up an eclectic bill of local and travelling bands. Local bands The Boxcar Cadavers and The Boxhands were joined by RedD Monkey and Songs From The Green Room (both of which redubbed themselves with "Box" in their names for the occasion).

As I walked in and out of the horrid cold The Boxcar Cadavers were performing. I have seen them twice before - sort of. Both previous viewings were when they were Lefty McRighty's backing band. They divided between country and rock, with Lefty heading off to twangier pastures while the Cadavers snagged Scotty Sickfuck  and headed for rockier ground. As evidence they covered Turbonegro's Denim Demon and Slayer's Antichrist. It turns out if you have a bluesy rock band cover Slayer it comes out sounding like Danzig.


Boxcar Cadavers at The Rainbow, February 21, 2011

Next up were the "What the?" band of the evening, RedD Monkey. They have been called an alternative punk cello trio and it's true they do have a cello player (and a fondness for covering Motorhead's Ace Of Spades). On the other hand they began and finished with what sounded suspiciously like rap numbers (even with the cello) -  and the closer was allegedly about baking cookies ...


RedD Monkey at The Rainbow, February 21, 2011

Sounds From The Green Room were the pleasant surprise of the evening for me, since I like fuzzy guitar, particularly when it's a bit off kilter. It was brief set from the duo, about which I can find no other information ...  they also had a dollar-store lightshow of various knick-knacks that light up.


Sounds From The Green Room at The Rainbow, February 21, 2011

Finally Boxhands brought the night to a close. Actually, the night finished me off before they ended their set. They're a punk rock trio with a spare sound and whose drummer uses the tiniest kit I've even seen. 


Boxhands at The Rainbow, February 21, 2011

A fairly entertaining evening.

• Show reminder: Die Atlantic!, Horizons, The Prologue, Sleep Is For The Dead, The Rest Is Silent and This Won't Last Forever play Club SAW; Be The Saviour, I, Emperor, Mercenaries, Fractures and Infecticator are at Cafe Dekcuf; The Jimmyriggers perform at The Rainbow.

Past tense: Tricky Woo

As requested, here are some early shots, dating from the film days ... if you were ever a regular connoisseur of the Birdman Sound website, you've seen them there. These pictures come from March 6, 2004, about six months after I first began taking photos of bands. In no particular order ...

Adrian Popovich goes down!



The ever-snazzily dressed Andy Dickson.



This was their neckerchief era.



Pat Sayers hits!



The view from over the PA. That's Eric Larock at right, rocking his then-new Precision bass (strange the details you remember after seven years).



The whole lot!



Adrian tips over.



I see a Setback in the front row.



Last I heard, Andy was rocking out with The Mongrels, Adrian Popovich was producing (he's handling Les Breastfeeders latest, due out March 8), Patrick Sayers is drumming for Winter Gloves, and I hear Eric has hooked up with a bunch of reprobate psychedelic rockers.

• Show reminder: Boxhands, Box of Monkeys (that's Toronto's Red Monkey having a lark) and Boxcar Cadavers rock The Rainbow.

Their number's up

I believe I've mentioned Bumpers a couple of times ... once upon a time it was quite a haven for punk rock bands and hosted quite a few Birdman Sound shows, thanks to its location right across the street, in what is now the Bank St. location of The Works. I can remember seeing such out-of-towners as Bobby Conn, Ted Leo and Bardo Pond there (alas, no photos from those shows). I also took band photos for the first time there, of locals The Golden Famile and Philadelphia country rockers The Asteroid No. 4. Since I'm out of newish photos, I'm going to resuscitate some old snaps from The Birdman Sound website of some of The Asteroid No. 4's labelmates, The Three-4-Tens. These photos hail from September 24, 2003, when the group was performing with The High Dials (and, I think, The Singles?). They had a raucous Joe Cocker-garage-soul thing going on.

Bassist Jamie Mahon likes to jump around!



Jamie sings some.



Guitar action!



Feedback action! I've long forgotten who the guitarists are, though one of them must be Joe Tagg and I believe the other would be Brian McNamara.



The guitarist gets to sing some.



The drummer is possibly Mike Ambs.



There was some lying around on the job ...



As you can see, Jamie can drink and maraca at the same time.




More maraca!



The whole lot, plus one of The Singles.



I seem to recall Kelp supremo Jon Bartlett roundly dismissed their set in the pages of Xpress, but I was entertained .... The band went its separate ways in 2008.

• Show reminder: Sleeper Skylight and Fairview are at Club SAW; Within The Ruins, Suffokate, Ligeia, The Contortionist, Right before The Rise, A sight for Sewn Eyes, Last Chance to Reason, Think Twice and Aimless Endeavor perform at Mavericks, doors at 4:30 p.m.; The Sean Burns Band plays The Rainbow; the Elmdale hosts Lauren Best and Mich Smithers.

Stuff to do February 18

Well, not only do I not have any new photos, I don't have anyway of uploading old ones (*@$#! drive!). So this morning's show preview features the lovely and talented Critical Convictions, performing at last year's Gaga Weekend.


Critical Convictions at Yogi's Meatlocker, June 12, 2010

They're playing a house show at 443 Kent St. alongside BoneBlack, Ensorcelor and Nightmare Reality. Also treading the boards tonight are Rich Aucoin, Ennuie, Life In 2D and Pete Samples at Cafe Dekcuf, Watter Brothers, Ornaments and Those Gulls at the Elmdale Tavern. Hamilton, shown below performing at Caafe DeKcuf earlier this year, also have a show.


Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf, January 15, 2011

They'll be at Zaphod Beeblebrox with Third Place and Remember The Fire. Big Jeezus Truck and The HoBo Outlaws will be performing at The Rainbow. Here's them Truckers at Zaphod's:


Big Jeezus Truck at Zaphod Beeblebrox, December 1, 2010

Finally, we bring you a message from Al The Yeti Bones (of Gypsy Rock Goliath), who also operates The Yeti Agency with Mia Tyler (daughter of Aerosmith singer/American Idol judge Steven):  

"One of Canada's most energetic rock bands and biggest kept secrets, known as The Polymorphines have traveled to Austin Texas this past week to record their upcoming album with famed producer Tim Kerr (of Poison 13, Big Boys and Monkeywrench, among others - A.C.) and engineer Mike Vasquez of Sweatbox Studios (The Damnations TX, and 70's garage rockers The Fleshtones). The Polymorphines couldn't have picked a better place to record this new album. Once the tracking is complete, they will be embarking on a 12 date U.S tour, seeing them through cities like Austin TX, New Orleans LA, Florence AL, Baltimore MD, Washington D.C, New York NY, and all the way back to Toronto for Canadian Music Week. You can also follow The Polymorphines tour blog at www.yetiagency.com."

Is this an excuse for me to post another Polymorphines photo?


The Polymorphines at The Rainbow, December 13, 2009

Yes ... yes it is. Their Canadian Music Week show is March 9, should anyone be down Toronto way.

Stuff to do

Since the cupboard is bare, here's an old shot of Monic performing at Zaphod's in honour of the fact that they'll be playing again there tonight.


Monic at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 22, 2010

Might as well throw in a drummer pic as well.


Monic at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 22, 2010

Not to neglect keyboardist Nejra ...


Monic at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 22, 2010

They'll be sharing the bill with The Boxcar Cadavers and The Five Georges. Also on offer this rapidly defrosting Wednesday is Solomon Dean at The Rainbow and The John Sutton Band at the Elmdale House.

Strange travels

The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol finished the night off with some high quality space-rock. Fortunately I actually managed to catch all of this set - last time at Gaga Weekend I had to head home and prep for the evening show, eat dinner, download hundreds of photos, etc. Now, they aren't the only band to have a different lineup each time I've seen them, but for most of those other bands it's been a different member every couple of years, not a new addition each six months (plus guest players).

Here's Heisham, who hails from Dubai, getting a shouty introduction from John.



Oud action!



Jason Vaughn twists a knob.



I think Jan Lis and I have the same barber.



Dave keeps his corner.



John attacks The Drum Kit of Dr. Frankenstein.



Mark rocks the low end.



More oud!



More hitting!



Guitar action!



Jason keys, Eric slides.



More guitar!



Mark goes down! Bill bends!



Rhythm section action!



More Jan!



Dave goes wah.



More guitars with Nate and Bill!



Grimacing action!



More Nate and Jason!



The band's next limited-edition LP, TBWNIS vs. The Purveyors of Conspicuous Authenticity,  has been sent off for mastering, expect it in stores soon.

• Show reminder: For Today, Stray From The Path, Structures, Texas In July and The Breathing Apparatus play Mavericks; Keturah Johnson releases her knew CD at the Rainbow; the Elmdale House hosts Mastikedigere and Bastien Vaultier.