Cat scratch fever

Japanther were on tour with Against Me! and decided to drop into Sounds Unlikely for an in-store. Matt Reilly and drummer Ian Vanek produce a fuzzy pop sound that was lots of fun. I would have stuck around to buy an album or something but had to speed off to work before they wrapped things up.



Ian hits!



Singalong - or is that phonealong? - action!



Sample karaoke action with Ian!



The really ground floor view of Reilly. Good thing no one tripped over me.



Catty action!



Matt looks over.



Ian goes from zero to sweaty as hell in about two songs.



And one last shot of Matt and DVDs.



They're still touring around through the States for the next months. We need to bring them back and put them on a bill with The Felines, Vancougar and Double Leopards.

• Show reminder: Apart from the big shows - like Feist and Hayden's sold out NAC gig or Hedley and One Second 2 Late at the Ottawa Civic Centre - The Diableros and My Dad Vs Yours play Zaphod Beeblebrox and The Rotten, The Suicide Pilots and Zero Hours do their bit for CKCU's funding drive at the Dominion Tavern. The BushPilots and Dan Gordon and The Sure Things play Irene's. Seedhill Road and Sandy play The Elmdale House Tavern.
  

Black cat bones

Brooklyn noise-poppers Japanther are on tour with Against Me! right now, but because they're cool guys they decided to drop in for an in-store appearance at Sounds Unlikely yesterday afternoon. They had to be in Toronto for a show at Sneaky Dee's that night, so they unloaded there gear around 2 p.m. and were rocking out a quarter-hour later for a fairly full house (granted, SU's not that big). Bassist Matt Reilly and drummer Ian Vanek keep it lo-fi with lots of fuzz and samples galore.



I really wish I could have stuck around to the end, but I had to be off to work by 3 p.m. I'll have to catch them next time they pass on through. As for the tour, they're in London tonight at Cowboys, then head west.

• Show reminder: Darrelle London plays sweet piano pop; she's at the Rainbow tonight with Zach Smith (I'm guessing he's not the new Senators centre).