Got rhythm

Another night, another doubleheader ... thankfully this one didn't last as long as the previous evening's. First, off once again to Babylon to see Think About Life, Tuneyards and Videotape.

Videotape played another fine set of Velvets Underground goes krautrock. When I saw them at Zaphod's, Adam was using a Strat - now he's gone the electronics route, but it's much the same as before, with his deadpan vocals over Nathan Gara's motorik drums and Ryan Patterson's guitar shards.


Videotape, Babylon, May 23, 2009

For some darn reason, I thought tUnE-yArDs (I'll be damned if I ever spell it like that again) was going to be Duchess Says ... then I thought she was the frontwoman of Duchess Says doing a solo thing ... then my brain restarted and realized it didn't know what the heck it was talking about (an all-too-familiar feeling, I might add). In fact Merrill Garbus is one woman with loops, drums and ukulele, and much of her music has an African feel about it. She only had five albums with her and I'm guessing they all went pretty quickly, as she put on an impressive show.


Tune-yards, Babylon, May 23, 2009

I've heard from several quarters what an amazing show Think About Life put on; I figured I'd get a chance to see them in some basement (possibly 59 Argyle's), but the chance never came to pass. I'm happy to report they're every bit as good as promised, putting on a wickedly fun show of dance-pop. They don't fill up Babylon quite as well as a basement, but they had the crowd shaking their stuff with ease. On this occasion Matt, Martin and Graham were joined by Caila on bass and excellent backup vocals.


Think About Life, Babylon, May 23, 2009

After that energetic show I traipsed off to Irene's .. it was only about 11:15 p.m., way before my bedtime, and I figured I could catch a good chunk of the (Norman)Shanks-Garaga-Mississippi Grover bill at Irene's - and so I did. Unfortunately I missed Greg's set, but Garaga were just a couple of songs into their set when I walked in the door.

Their performance was undoubtedly the loudest and sharpest I've heard them - a really good set, featuring a cover of The Cynics.


Garaga, Irene's, May 23, 2009

Headliners (Norman)Shanks' name is apparently just pronounced Shanks ... I'm guessing some other band with a similar name and a longer provenance persuaded them to add the qualifier. They say they hail from the unaligned state of Mono, and work as butchers on a farm, or something like that. There's a definite meat products theme going on. As I headed down the stairs to the bathroom I heard the drummer telling someone "What we lack in talent we make up for in volume" - and they have the cabinets to prove it. Although all things considered they weren't crushingly loud, but perhaps that's just because I'm getting deafer with age. For some reason they made me thing of 80s dance-pop. I'm not sure if this was a hangover from Think About Life or because of the bassist's slightly melodramatic vocals and the lyrics about conquering donkeys. And yes, the bassist did make himself electrical tape eyebrows and sideburns. There was also a cover of Got My Mojo Workin' in there somewhere.


(Norman)Shanks, Irene's, May 23, 2009

That was a very full evening - and tonight I'm staying home, damn it!

• Show reminder: The Tony Danza Tapdance Experience, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Stray From The Path, Did You Just Hex Me and Sleep Is For The Dead rock Mavericks. Tricot Machine is at Zaphod's.
  

All night long

I went to Zaphod Beeblebrox last night to see noted pop purveyors The Figgs. The New York band is probably best known for backing Graham Parker, a duty they've also pulled for ex-Replacement Tommy Stinson; I first heard of them about a decade ago when someone gave me a very scratchy CD of their The Figgs Couldn't Get High. I think I might have seen them on one of their rare visits to Ottawa, but my memory is cloudy.

The opening band was The BushPilots, who I last saw at Bluesfest 2008; as then they were joined by Maureen from Good2Go for The Flying Burrito Brothers' Sin City.



The Figgs put on a hot set and debuted a few numbers - they must be thinking it's time for their next album.



That would have been enough entertainment for anyone's evening, but since Token, Guillotine and The Double Pumpers were playing a stag-and-doe party for Johnny O. of The Million Dollar Marxists and his fiancee Kiera I figured I'd go over to Babylon and catch the tail end of that.

The Double Pumpers were just starting as I walked in the door. Last time I saw them was for the release of Old Gold - more than a year - and since then they seem to have spent more time doing their Ukrainia thing. They were sounding super heavy at this gig, and played a great version of Iron Maiden's Wrathchild.



They finished things off around 12:30 ... I thought they were the last band of the evening, but I got the hint from Dave Martindale's remarks about "a reunion happening up here" that that was not in fact the case. As DJ Gaga Man (a.k.a. Ian Manhire) confirmed, Guillotine and Token had yet to hit the stage - I should have guessed from the lack of broken glass on the floor. I went off to eat some nachos and wait around for the chaos to come.

I haven't seen them play before as Guillotine, but drummer Tim has recently graced the blog as bass player and vocalist for Year Zero and behind the kit for Million Dollar Marxists. The rest of the guys I caught years ago at Mavericks performing as Roll Gypsy Roll.



Token features one time Million Dollar Marxists Steve Adamyk, Lee and Johnny O. on bass, guitar and drums respectively and the inimtable Owen Token on lead strangeness. Owen's been fronting Grizzlar of late, and is certainly one of the region's craziest lead singers. Last time I saw him he was sporting beach gear. This time around he went for an appropriately nuptial look. Ken Vermin of four-stroke caught the bouquet, but he's already married, so I guess it doesn't count.



As you'd expect, there was much broken glass on the floor and moshing for their woozy hardcore set. I also scored a test-pressing of the new Gaga Records compilation. Yay! Mind you, I finally got home around 2:30 a.m., which is why you're getting this post now.

• Show reminder: The Studio Rockets, Cold Coffee and Salty Boots, Andrea Warren and EmmaJean Campbell perform at the Clocktower Brew Pub; Katie Caron, Slowly, Slowly and Ok Vancouver Ok roll into the Exile Infoshop; Think About Life, Tuneyards and Videotape are at Babylon; Toronto drum and bass duo (Norman)Shanks, Garaga and Mississippi Grover rock Irene's Pub; Fiftymen and Mother's Children play the Dominion. Apostle of Hustle plays Zaphod's. Jack De Keyzer is at The Rainbow.
  

Barbecue sauce

Where King Khan goes, Mark Sultan is often not far behind. The too regularly perform together as The King Khan and BBQ Show, share a past in the notorious Spaceshits and generally seem to travel in tandem. I've seen Sultan on several occasions, post Spaceshits and Les Sexareenos. His voice was in great shape, and as always his soul-garage tunes hit the spot, even with the between-tune gibbering.

Shouty Sultan!



The Sultan setup ... two drums to kick, two amplifiers to blow.



Suave Sultan!



Simon Wojan (of Cloudland Canyon and King Khan's Sensational Shrines) came on stage to play some base for Sultan's final number. Apparently Choyce from CPC Gangbangs and Les Sexareenos is helping Sultan out on stage as well these days. I'm sure I saw him hanging around at this gig, but he didn't join in.



He was kind of kooky for this set, but the audience sure dug it.

• Show reminder: The Flatliners, Hostage Life and The Toughtones hit Cafe Dekcuf ... later in the evening the same venue hosts City of a Hundred Spires, Black Hat Brigade and The Death of Apollo; Token, Guillotine and The Double Pumpers rock Babylon; The Famines are shakin' the basement at 854 Bronson along with Crazy Ocean. Backing band extraordinaire The Figgs and The BushPilots roll into Zaphod's; The Trews perform for a second night at Mavericks.

Some weird sin

The King Khan-headlining show at Babylon earlier this month really got off on the right foot with a fine set by The Sunday Sinners. They're a band I'd hoped to see some time ago, since they were once slated to open for The Bellrays way back in 2005. They couldn't make that show, so Four'n'Giv'r played instead. They never did manage to schedule another show in town, so this was their first trip to Ottawa. I hope I don't have to wait another three and a half years for them to schedule another show, because their Detroit Cobras-style sound really hits the bull's-eye.

Superb vocalist Jenna and organist Work With Me Annie.



Since Jordan is also a member of the Mystery Girls, I think that makes the Sunday Sinners an all-girl band. Bassist Kieran is at back.



Chantale pounds the skins.



Work With Me Annie works the Farfisa.



Down low action with Kiera on guitar.



The whole lot!



"Is everyone in the audience from Montreal?" It did see a bunch of that crowd milling around.



Big finish!





I wish they had some recordings with them ... I would have snapped one up in a jiffy.

• Show reminder: Katie Melua and Windsor's Pat Robitaille perform at the Bronson Centre Theatre; Great Bloomers, The Allrights and Anchors at Cafe Dekcuf; Rock'N'Roll Pizza Party has moved down the street from The Royal Oak to the Atomic Rooster for the next while. The Trews are performing at Mavericks ... this is apparently an acoustic show. East of Gatineau goes to Westboro for a show at the Elmdale House.

Wonder material

I went over to the Bytown Tavern last night to see Tyvek, Beach Blankets and Fucked Corpse ... well, to be precise I wen to see Detroit's Tyvek (a.k.a. Tjivek and TVK and who knows what else), since though I like both other bands on the bill I worked Tuesday and didn't get home until midnight. Everyone but the headliner had come and gone by the time I descended the stairs to Yuk Yuk's new Ottawa home. The band seems to have a fluctuating membership depending on where they are. For this show they were down to three, which is really all they need for their O-Levels via The Reatards with a pinch o' Buzzcocks clamour. I'm just going to throw out all my decent (and half-decent) photos now since I didn't take many.

Power trio action!



Kev sings!



Matt Z.! I think!



Shelley basses ... and contemplates putting on a pair of Groucho Marx glasses.



The whole lot from up high!



The whole lot from down low!



And so on!



Singalong action!



A pretty good way to spend 40 minutes or so.

• Show reminder: Joel Plaskett performs at the Bronson Centre Theatre; The Outspoken Wordsmiths, Testament and Cryptic Mystikz rap at the Exile Infoshop; Antoine Caron et l'Orkess perform at The Rainbow.

Bomb you live!

The Hot Blood Bombers are just one of the many fine Canadian acts carrying the torch of power trio rock'n'roll aloft with pride. Stick them on a bill with C'mon, The Double Pumpers, Tokyo Sex Whale, Flash Lightnin, the late Shikasta or Tricky Woo and they'd do just fine. They certainly played an explosive set at The Royal Oak a couple of nights ago. I also highly recommend their EP Dirty Little Party.

Them bombers explode out of the gate.



The guilty parties are Shane Grass on bass, Herb Exner on drums and Dave David on guitar.



Shane sings some.



Dave sings some more.



And so on!



Miesha - who is 50% of Miesha & The Spanks, which I guess would make her the non-spanking portion - makes a guest appearance for a cover of The MC5's Ramblin' Rose.





Fun fact: Herb Exner is Canada's tallest drummer.



Faceoff action!



Singalong action!



Big finale and ducking action!



A fine way to cap the evening. They're probably back in their hometown of Regina now preparing for their opening slot with Monotonix on May 22.

• Show reminder: Hey kids! Tyvek, Beach Blankets and Fucked Corpse are performing at the Bytown Tavern!

To Centretown and back

I hoofed it over to Mavericks last night to check out what, at one point in time, had been a show with The White Wires and The Balconies. For some reason in the interceding weeks it turned into a show with Modernboys Moderngirls, The Paint Movement and Centretown Cripplers , but that was still enough reason to go since I've wanted to check out the Cripplers for some time now and had heard intriguing things about MBMG. This was also my first encounter with Mavericks new stage, which is now about Zaphod's height, with the ceiling recessed to match.

As I walked in the door The Centretown Cripplers were just finishing off a cover I'm Not Your Stepping Stone. You'll not Allrights keyboardist Chris Cook slinging some guitar; Allright Mel Sturk was off to the left.


The Centretown Cripplers, Mavericks, May 17, 2009

Up next were the Paint Movement. They quickly left an impression of being very adept musicians - and how many indie rockers are there with saxophones these days? (I guess the answer to that question may actually be "quite a few", so never mind.) That aside, they didn't bowl me over. In their favour lead singer Kevin Kralik sounds quite a bit like Stephen McBean of Black Mountains, but otherwise they were a bit too polite for my taste.


The Paint Movement, Mavericks, May 17, 2009

The Modernboys Moderngirls get a lot of comparisons to The White Stripes. This is because most music writers are too young to remember The Panther Burns. Mainman Akira Alemany even looks a bit like a younger, more compact Tav Falco. At times I thought they sounded a bit like a pumped up Talking Heads (perhaps due to their keyboardist). They strike me as a band that would put just as much energy into performing for an audience of two as 200, which is to say a lot. I also have to give props to bassist Juan Carlos Rivas who was a very livelys stage presence.


Modernboys Moderngirls, Mavericks, May 17, 2009

A pretty good show: Sure could have benefited from more Wires and Balconies, though.

• Show reminder: The Woodrunners, No Fly List and Sun's Command are at Zaphod's.

Sphere of darkness

If The O Voids had been active 30 years ago they'd probably be on a Messthetics compilation today. They have a sort of post-punk sound I associate with dwindling British industrial towns and bands like Swell Maps or very early Wire (back when Howard Devoto was a member).

Peter!



Leah!



Chris!



The whole lot!



Rhythm section action!



Yelling action!



And so on!



Brief yet tasty. I bought their LP on Troubleman Unlimited and may actually find the time to listen to it this weekend (I've been busy, eh?).

• Show reminder: There's black metal at The Bayou with The Agonist, Woods of Ypres, Ceremonial and The Epilogue; Mavericks hosts Modernboys Moderngirls, The Paint Movement, and Centretown Cripplers.