Short and to the point

Back to the  House of Targ, and another helping of Dagger Eyes!

Ilona rocks the Gibson SG.



Dave hits!



More Ilona and Ian!



The whole lot!



The shouty bit!



Ilona and the House of Targ's stage lighting.



Extra Dave!



Staring action!



Big finish!



As for what's coming up, what I said the last time still goes.

• Show reminder: Old Time Machine, Old Cabin and Pistol George Warren perform at Raw Sugar Cafe; New Swears, Mother's Children, Ketamines and Shit Happening rock Fun Boy Club House (a.k.a. 96 Plymouth St.); Thread, Everything Is Now and Swashbuckler swing into Zaphod's; The Hammerheads funk up the rainbow; Robots! Everywhere!, Shot Nerves, Police Funeral, les Sequences and Moon Destroyer get kicked out of 439 McLeod; The Bidini Band is at The Elmdale; Lynne Hanson, Amanda Bon, Andrea Simms-Karp, Jill Zmud and Kristine St-Pierre perform as part of a benefit for War Child.

Soup and sandwich

Pressed is a new eatery up on Gladstone, sort of the sandwich version of Raw Sugar, if you will, and like that Somerset cafe, it also has music on occasion. It recently ran a series of experimental music Wednesdays, and last night it welcomed a show from local garage rock duo Swollen Eyes and Toronto frenzy punkers The Soupcans, put on by the Bruised Tongue folks.

First up, Swollen Eyes. Naturally they make me think a bit of Shanker & Romps, though musically they're sliding a lot closer to Deja Voodoo.


Swollen Eyes at Pressed, May 24, 2012

Drumming action! There was no sitting down for any drummers this night.


Swollen Eyes at Pressed, May 24, 2012

On to the hectic, some might say shouty sounds of The Soupcans who put on a dynamite set. They should play with someone like Party Knives next time they're in town - they have a similar bug-eyed vibe.


The Soupcans at Pressed, May 24, 2012

Once more, no sitting down! Or cymbals!


The Soupcans at Pressed, May 24, 2012

I was going to say what they were up to "tonight" (show in Montreal, etc.), but work delayed this post 24 hours, so, oops!

Bad, bad brain

It's the last Friday of the month ... a day much like tomorrow, some might say! - and that means rocking at the House of Targ (a.k.a. Yogi's Meatlocker). First up, Montreal punk rockers Brain Size 61, who played a fine set of straight-ahead punk rock.

Craig Hutchins gets a grip,  Mike Hutchins plays the custom V, and a largely obscured rhythm section of drummer Stuart Asprey and bassist J.M. Reid are at back.



Mike's guitar eschews such things as tone and volume controls.



Gripping action!



Guitar action!



The shouty bit!



The whole lot!



Targ!



Fogbottom and Critical Convictions will be rocking the House of Targ tomorrow.

• Show reminder: The Soupcans and Swollen Eyes rock Pressed; Joe McMahon, Mikey Erg, Billy The Kid, Jeff Rowe and Woolfolk perform at 439 Mcleod; Windup Radio Sessions, Her Harbour and Jordin Kellar are at Raw Sugar; Christ vs. Krishna play Zaphod's; the Elmdale hosts Leeroy Stagger & The Wildflowers and Dennis Ellsworth.

To keep the story short

It doesn't take a lot of people to fill up Raw Sugar, but I think it was even fuller than usual for the February 19 show headlined by Nat Baldwin. To get these shots of opener Landon A.R. Coleman, I walked around behind the counter.

Landon sings, Tobias handles the low end.



Here's Nat, who plays in Dirty Projectors.



And, er, that's it!

• Show reminder: Purity Ring and AGOR perform at Cafe DeKcuf; Maladroit, Brixton Robbers, Robots! Everywhere!! and The Valveenus rock Mavericks; The Sean Duhaime Trio play the Rainbow; The Bruised Egos hurt their feelings at the Elmdale.

They are the champions

Lots of folk in town love JEFF The Brotherhood ... they've been here twice (that I know of) but I missed them both times. My timing was better this year, so here we go!

They like their smoke, those brothers Orrall!



I knew they were in there somewhere! Jaymin plays the drums, Jake handles three-string perspex guitar duties.



Jake sings!



Jaymin hits!



And so on!



Twisting action!



Extra Jake!



Brotherly action!



Head-shaking action!



Okay, time for some flash ...



Jake works the crowd!



Jake goes down!



Bonus brotherly action!



Jake steps on it!



The end!



A new album is supposedly in the works.

• Show reminder: Kittie, The Agonist, Blackguard, Bonded by Blood and Doll rock Mavericks.

Waiting for the war

The White Wires followed Dagger Eyes with their last pre-hiatus show. In the interim, Ian has been doing some stuff as Gary Voicemail, Allie has been touring as Peach Kelli Pop and Luke has been playing bass with Boyhood. They've also been working on their next album, and of course prepping for their return to the stage.

Ian! Allie! Luke!



Ian sings!



Allie hits!



Luke remembers the Alamo.



Smokey action!



Extra Allie!



Bonus Luke!



Wired action!



The end! For now!



Incredibly enough they do not have an Ottawa Explosion engagement, though both Gary Voicemail and Boyhood are on the bill.

What are you looking at?

Weezer and T.Rex loving duo JEFF The Brotherhood hit town Feb. 6. On hand to open the show was another less-is-more combo, Dagger Eyes, with their minimalist crunch.

Ilona! Dave! Ian!



Strips all 'round!



Ilona looks up!



Dave hits!



The shouty bit!



Ilona frets!



The whole lot!



The other side of Ian.



More Dave!



The end!



They're playing Pouzzafest in Montreal tonight at Foufones Electriques - and naturally they'll be back in June for Ottawa Explosion.

• Show Reminder: The Night Watch and Loh El The Minstrel perform at the Elmdale; Placentophagia, Paradigm Divide, Carneia and DJ Dolston are at the Rainbow; Tyler Hilton and Dion Roy added a second show due to popular demand at Mavericks.