In the House

After a week's delay, I've finally made it out to the new House of Targ (a previous effort was stymied by a huge lineup). It's not, strictly speaking, the first time I've been there. Once upon a time it was the site of the New Bayou, where I caught unlikely appearances by French black metallers Peste Noir and Belgium's legendary punks The Kids (also my first White Wires show, if memory serves). Well. the New Bayou is now old news, and local recording engineer, pinball enthusiast and perogie tycoon Paul "Yogi" Granger has claimed it for his own. It's quite spacious, so the capacity crowd of around 180 can look a little thin at times, but then as now it's a nice place to catch a band. On offer for this Saturday show were Montreal's Solids, locals big Dick and Waterloo's Life in Vaccum, who have a nice, tensile post-puk sound.

And they're off! With Dylan Bravener on bass!



Ross Chornyy hits!



Sasha Chornyy sings!



Double Dragon does not stop for music!



Pedal board action!



Fisheye action!



Dylan sings!



On to Big Dick, who have made frequent appearances on the blog, so on to the photos.



Dave sings!



Johnny sings!



Extra Dave!



Solids finished the evening - I confess I was feeling pretty damn sleepy by the time midnight rolled around (my schedule is waaaay earlier now than a month ago, and soon I'll be getting up at 5:30 in the morning - yikes!), so I didn't stay for more than a few songs, but as always they put on a heavy set of that mid-80s-meets-the-90s indie rock sound. Ready, set ...



Go!



Louis sings!



Xavier sings!



Okay, time to bust out some flash.



Extra Xavier!



The end!



A fine sort-of introduction to the new House of Targ!

Power in darkness

Well, I had planned to spend a good chunk of my weekend at the House of Targ. Unfortunately just about everyone on the Ottawa music scene made the same plans, and implemented them before I did. When I cruised past the House of Targ at 10 p.m. Thursday night, the line was a good block long. No PUP for me! I also held off on Friday, instead going over to Cafe DeKcuf to check out New York's Blackout and Loviatar (the show started earlier than I expected, so I missed out on Spilt Guts).

The Brooklyn trio deal in a sludgy doom not unlike EyeHateGod. Here's bassist Justin Sherrell (also of heavy psyche combo Bezoar, where he plays drums).



Christian Gordy frets!



Taryn Waldman hits!



The whole heavy lot!



Christian sings!



Hair-flipping action!



Extra Justin!



A shouty bit!



On to Loviatar, who, like Blackout, had some new material to show off. Here's Justin, pushing things into the red with a bit of feedback.



Grimacing action!



Stringed action with Mike Bond and Shane Whitbread!



More Mike!



Finnish action!



J.P. hits!



The whole lot!



They'll be in action again on Mother's Day (a.k.a. May 11) when they open for Kvelertak.

In a different key

You may recall a few years back that The Gris Gris and their frontman Greg Ashley putting on some wicked garage psyche shows at Babylon and The Dominion Tavern. You might not have known that Ashley was back in town this Sunday at the Dominion Tavern for something a little different. Ashley's been playing bass with The John Brothers Piano Company of late, and they were one hand to open things up with some swinging sounds.

And here most of them are: Clarinetist Thatcher Boomer, trumpeter Arlo Perlstein, drummer Jimi Martin and Ashley.



And here's the piano man, John Morgan.



Windy action!



Jimi hits!



Extra Ashley!



As for Ashley's set, the music didn't change a whole lot; it was considerably more jazzy than his previous output.



Swinging action!



Bonus Boomer!



Additional Arlo!



As you can see, Morgan uses an honest-to-goodness, if much-abused, piano.



Rhythm section action!



And a bit more Jimi.



The turnout was about what you'd expect for a rainy Sunday, but the audience was certainly enthusiastic.

Just the facts, ma'am

It's been quite a while since I climbed the stairs to Cafe DeKcuf - the last Ottawa Explosion, perhaps? - but I decided it was a good time to finally get to see local grindcore champs Fuck The Facts, after many years of trying and failing to get our schedules to align. Thus, I toddled off to Vertigo a ticket early in the day, and that night picked out a new pair of earplugs and set off.

First band on the bill was Sombre, playing their first set. It's a quartet featuring members of Monolith, two bands of which I know nothing.



Percussive action!



Jumping around!



Gripping action!



Sombre works the crowd!



On to NWOCTians World War 4. "Scream for me, Cornwall!"



Pointy guitar action!



Leigh hits!



Gripping action!



Michael works the low end.



Shirtless action!



Pushy action!



The end!



Fuck the Facts wrapped things up nicely with some raging core.



Bass-lifting action!



It was not quite like Topon's ambient set earlier this year at Pressed ...



Shredding action!



Factual action!



Bendy action!



Grinding action!



Bonus Topon!



And so on!



Well, that's one thing off the bucket list.

Need for sleep

So Saturday night I went over to Gabba Hey to check out some touring East Coasters and grab a Hot Dogs 7-inch from Pierre's wee shop. You might be thinking "Isn't today Saturday?" Yes, you read right - this post is a week late due to school and studying and wanting to keep regular hours. The main draw was The Yips, who have a new tape out on Bruised Tongue, but I had to go early (and by early, I mean around 1 a.m.).

Let's start with the surfin' sounds of The Legato Vipers, who brought switchblade combs and whiskey flasks for their merch table.



Let's just say their music is more 1960s than 1984 ....



Leather jackets for everyone!



And so on ...



On to the swell sounds of Nap Eyes, who really impressed. And yes, that is Monomyth guitarist John Salter on bass. He pulled a doubleheader, as did Seamus Dalton, who drums for the Eyes.



Nigel Chapman does the songwriting ... there's something a bit Postcard-Orange Juice about their sound.



Seamus hits!



Guitar with Brad Loughead!



Bassist-stroking action!



Back to back action!



On to Monomyth, who seem to be doing an excellent job carrying the torch from Elevator to Hell.



Seamus sings!



Singalong action!



Microphone-sharing action!



Feedback ation!



The crowd goes wild! And falls over!



Then it was time for me to head home for bed ... I'll have to catch The Yips another day.

Death and destruction

After a couple of weeks on show hiatus due to a nagging cough, I returned to the scene to catch some squall, honking, synth and guitar courtesy of local jazz noisers Death Bop Trio (who I caught at Gabba Hey in January opening for Red Mass, billed as Throes), Moon Destroyer - last seen at Cafe Luneta, also earlier this year) and Montrealers Black Piranha, who are a declamatory punk trio not unlike a less freaky Le Georges Leningrad.

I failed to notice I had my shutter speed on way too low for my first round of photos. Here's a fuzzy trio, as seen through the window of Pressed.



Karla-Jo saxes it up.



Chris mans the keys.



Percussive action with Lee!



Psychedelic action!



On to Moon Destroyer, whose heavy psyche seems well suited to being played with bands which on the surface they share little in the way of sonic aesthetic. (Witness the last time I caught them, with Kitchener hardcore combos Dervish and Two Crosses).



Guitar action!



Moony action!



More guitar!



Percussive action!



Black Piranha (or BP Black Piranha, to give their full name) finished the night off with some shouty synth-driven hardcore thate mae me think of Aerobitch crossed with Street Meat (with whom they should do a show if they haven't already). Here's a shouty bit with Nathalie Gelinas!



And another shouty but from Jonathan Bigras. "I should have taken off this jacket before we started."



Plus percussive action!



The whole lot!



Noise-making action!



Fishy action!



Jonathan sings!



Extra shouting!



The end!



A very energetic evening.