Peaks and Valleys

There were a few good show on Friday night, but I trotted over to the House of Targ to ctch the debut performance of Bonnie Doon, a typically swell set from Voicemail and the first Ottawa appearance of Valley Boys, a band featuring a Brutal Knight, a School Jerk and a Vapid.

First up, Bonnie Doon, an all-woman group with a penchant for post-punk. They have two bass players who switch off on vocal duties. The guitar player also sang a tune, which meant two basses going at once; I liked that part quite a bit. Covered: The Misfits' Hollywood Babylon.


Bonnie Doon at House of Targ, April 26, 2013

And on the other side of the House of Targ's floor ...


Bonnie Doon at House of Targ, April 26, 2013

Next up, Voicemail. They appeared here recently playing with Peach Kelli Pop, and soon shall again opening for Deniz Tek of Radio Birdman fame, May 18 at the Dominion. They're keeping busy!


Voicemail at House of Targ, April 26, 2013

Singalong action! They introduced Rose Tattoo's Magnum Maid to the setlist for this outing.


Voicemail at House of Targ, April 26, 2013
 
Valley Boys finished things off with a killer set. You've seen a couple of these folks on the blog before: Matt Hitch with School Jerks and Chattering Class and Jon Sharron with Brutal Knights. Bassist Jimmy Vapid hails from his namesake band. Of drummer Kalle Malloy I know nothing.


Valley Boys at House of Targ, April 26, 2013

Boyish action!


Valley Boys at House of Targ, April 26, 2013

Their LPs were going fast after the show.

Look who's talking

After splitting from the rustic sounds at Mavericks I went off to Ritual Nightclub to check out a pair of rock'n'roll bands from north and south: Chattering Class from Toronto and Walnut Kids from Montreal. The latter have a smokin' new 7-inch on Going Gaga Records, and were celebrating its release in conjunction with the club's monthly Bored To Death punk rock DJ night. Chattering Class were the opener. The trio of Dan Glassman, Catherine Ribeiro and Matt Hitch practice a shoestring punk, keeping it simple and shouty in a Reatards/Germs/KBD vein.

Introduction action from Gaga grand fromage Ian Manhire.



Matt shouts. Matt is also in School Jerks.



Dan rocks the traps.



The whole lot! Including Catherine on bass.



More Catherine!



Singalong action!



Smiley action!



Guitar action!



More singing!



The crowd goes wild!



I bought their tape, but much like their music it was fucked up - unlike their music, not in a good way.

• Show reminder: Speaking of Ritual, 3 Inches Of Blood, Goatwhore, Darkness Rites and Immersed play there tonight (but probably not in the downstairs room like CC and Walnut Kids ...); there's more all-ages action at Mavericks with The Word Alive and Stray From The Path; Caribou and Toro Y Moi will probably pack Babylon; High Five Drive, Assemble Me and Jon and Laura are at the Avant-Garde Bar; What Is Heard and The Ginger Fox are at The Rainbow.

By the Bored

There was so much on last night it was tough to decide which direction to head off in, but since there were two shows I wanted to see close by, I decided to head to Mavericks to see The John Henrys' CD release show and then go to Ritual Nightclub two blocks away to see The Walnut Kids and and their 7-inch release show at the club's monthly Bored To Death punk-rock DJ night.

When I got to Mavericks Brendan Flynn and The Terrible Liars were on stage, with a handful of songs still to go. They sounded really good, very much in the vein of Steve Earle.


Brendan Flynn and The Terrible Liars at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

Next up were Madison Violet, a couple of sweetly harmonizing and shots-drinking ladies from small-town Ontario who covered both Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson and Fox On The Run, the Manfred Mann tune that has since become a bluegrass fave. They weren't shy about calling-out crowd members who kept chatting away during their set. For this set they were accompanied by Adrian Lawryshyn, standup bassist for such folks at Liam Titcomb.


Madison Violet at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

John Henrys finished things off with their usual high grad country rock. Their new album is called White Linen.


John Henrys at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

I only stuck around for a half-dozen songs, since I wanted to go and see The Walnut Kids at Ritual. The nightclub holds a monthly night of punk rock tuneage in its downstairs room. As I entered The Avengers We Are the One was being played. As it turned out no one had gotten on stage yet - or the corner that passes for a stage.

The first band up was Toronto's Chattering Class, who sounded a bit like the offspring of The Germs and The Armitage Shanks and covered a tune by VOM. Matt from School Jerks sings and plays guitar.


Chattering Class at Ritual Nightclub, April 9, 2010

Finally The Walnut Kids put on a snappy set of punky powerpop tuneage, complete with Chuck Berry and Buzzcocks covers as well as songs from their new vinyl on Going Gaga Records. There was some tuning woes and the bass player's head cut out near the end of the gig, but other than that it went pretty well.


Walnut Kids at Ritual Nightclub, April 9, 2010

Ian told me the nightclub will also be hosting one of the Gaga Weekend shows.

• Show reminder: Greg Smith Sounds and Andrew Vincent play Raw Sugar; Kingdoms, Therefore I Am, Hunter City Madness and Assemble Me perform at Cafe Dekcuf; Good2Go, and The BushPilots rock Irene's Pub; Parallels, Politique and Blazer are at Zaphod Beeblebrox; Castor and Monobrow send the Dominion Tavern into outerspace; White Cowbell Oklahoma and Silver Creek roll into Mavericks; there's CHUO fundraising activity aplenty at the Elmdale House with Slo’ Tom, Patsy Clash, Steve Stacey and Chris Mellor and an all-star band.