The crying game

Saturday night I headed over to Pressed. It was a chance to see a couple of bands I had neither seen nor heard of before, Eagle Tears and Moon Destroyer. Eagle Tears were the main draw for me since I like that retro-rock stuff. It was a fairly eclectic evening otherwise, with The SIck SIck Sicks' trademark Django-billy and Moon Destroyer's more post-sludge metal sound.

Moon Destroyer kicked things off ... they sounded a bit like the louder parts of Explosions In The Sky.



Feedback action!



There was also some some singing, but mostly they stick to the instrumental stuff.



Percussive action!



More guitar!



More bass!



Eagle Tears and Sick Sick Sicks after the jump ....

It's the truth

The penultimate act of the evening was Montreal's The Gospel. On record, they swing a number of classic rock influences. Live, they stretch things out a lot more.

Sam Kirmayer rocks the axe.



George Grove on the microphone ...



... and also some tambourine.



Levi Dover comes from the John Entwistle school of stoic bass-playing.



The whole lot, including drummer and purveyor of nuts Will Bustin.



They're an active lot on stage, particularly Sam.



More Will!



Fisheye and feedback.



More fishy action!



Hairy action!



The red-lit bit.



Wah action!



And so on ...



Making strange sounds ...



Big jumpy finish!



They've wrapped up their tour (this was one of their last shows) and are now plotting a trip out west, following a handful of dates in Montreal.

• Show reminder: Hunter Valentine, The Weathermakers and Jersey Hurtt and the Skid Kids rock Cafe Dekcuf; Hugh Pool plays an early set before The Roots Movement's regular reggae night. Crash Karma and Grace Over Diamonds are at Mavericks. The Elmdale House hosts Elizabeth Riley Band and David Munroe.

Mixed nuts

Harvey Cartel really wowed me when I saw them perform at The Rainbow, so it was an easy decision to pop over to Zaphod Beeblebrox and watch them headline the free Monday showcase with a trio of bands unknown to me.

First up were Monic, a young quartet with a heavy sound. They were covering The Sex Pistols' Submission as I walked in the door. That doesn't make them a bunch of first-wave punk revivalists. They reminded me a bit more of The Screaming Trees, with the addition of a double kick drum and keyboards.


Monic at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 22, 2010

In Antarctica followed with a set that made me think of outfits like Jetplanes of Abraham, The Acorn or Rock Plaza Central. They said one of their songs was about Jacques Derrida. I'm not sure if they were joking or not.


In Antarctica at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 22, 2010

If you were going by looks alone you'd say Montreal's The Gospel were a bunch of classic rock revivalists. They do have some catchy riffs, but what really defines their sound is sudden shifts from hard to jazzy and sudden tempo shifts (their 2009 CD City of Glass doesn't emphasize this aspect nearly as much as their live show). They also really know how to work a stage. As an added attraction they were selling nuts at their merch table (insert randy joke here), thanks to their drummer's day job at an organic and vegan food packaging business. They'll be back in town soon with a show at Cafe DeKcuf April 9.


The Gospel at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 22, 2010

Harvey Cartel wrapped things up with another hot set of jumped-up roots rock; they played as a trio with guitarist Elie switching to bass.


Harvey Cartel at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 22, 2010

An interesting mix all round.

•  Show reminder: It's not music, but it is Henry Rollins at the Bronson Centre Theatre; Keturah Johnson is at The Rainbow.