Summer fun

It's summer (almost) and the hometown surfer-made-good is back in town. I'm not sure what inspired Jeremy Gluck to fire off a couple of surf-inspired singles in punk-rock London, but he certainly started something, didn't he. Back in his native Ottawa to kick off a mini-tour and gather some recruits, he started things off with an appropriate ‘Surfers Are Back’. I get the impression from some of his stage banter that he's a bit irked by the whole cult legend fandom thing, but that didn't stop him from rocking out, flinging his microphone stand one way and his exercise jumper the other, going down on his knees for a couple of songs and making the occasional crack about performing his band’s old chestnuts.

Here's a couple of shady characters: Gluck and John Sproull of Secret Lovers, etc.



Daniel Collins of Beach Blankets and Zebrassieres is on board as bassist.



The whole lot, with Mother's Children/Sick Fits /Beach Blankets guitarist Kenny!



Gripping action!



Rhythm section action!



Stand-twisting action!



Gluck goes down!



Singalong action!



More singalong action!



Gluck goes down again! This time during a cover of Codeine, if memory serves.



Kenny sings!



Gluck gets up! On the PA, that is.



Working the crowd ...



Gluck handed his microphone off to man of many bands, Davey Quesnelle for I Want My Woody Back. "I have found the man who can now sing my songs to fans in Spain!"



Summer Fun action!



Yay!



Raucous and a trifle chaotic, but all good fun!

• Show reminder: A couple of hot ones tonight ... Meisha & The Spanks are at Zaphod's with PELT and The Sphynxs; Natural Child, The Middens and Rat Tales rock the Kent St. Legion; Boneblack, Vanishing Act, Nightmare//Reality and Antimony roll into 654 MacLaren; Dissentient, Deformatory, Fumigation and Accursed Creation perform at The Rainbow; Remember The Fire are at Greenfield's Pub; the Elmdale hosts Al Tambay.

Something fishy

I booked a day off just to see Jeremy Gluck of Barracudas fame at Babylon, with performances from The Barreracudas and Mother's Children as a special bonus. Gluck is taken some Ottawa power-poppers out on the road for this brief tour, which should be fun. Things ended up a little chaotic, but it was mostly quite entertaining.

First up were Mother's Children, who sounded super-tight throughout their nine-song set, which included several tunes off the band's new EP, Are You Tough Enough?


Mother's Children at Babylon, May 26, 2011


Mother's Children at Babylon, May 26, 2011

The crowd was warned that Atlanta quartet The Barreracudas would "kick your ass." It was definitely an ass-kicking set of sharp powerpop, finishing with a cover of Cheap Trick's Come On, Come On.


The Barreracudas at Babylon, May 26, 2011  


The Barreracudas at Babylon, May 26, 2011

Gluck has rounded up Ken from Mother's Children, Daniel of Zebrassieres and Beach Blankets and John Sproull of Chandeliers, The Secret Loves and others.  The encore turned into an amusing mess when Gluck handed the microphone off to Davey Quesnelle to sing I Want My Woody Back. I gather he is also heartily sick of singing Summer Fun ... though he did give it two run-throughs.


Jeremy Gluck at Babylon, May 26, 2011 


Jeremy Gluck at Babylon, May 26, 2011 

Catch it if you can!

• Show reminder: Sparrows, Seas, Albatros and I Spell It Nature play Club SAW; Austra, Trust and Silkken Laumann land at Ritual; Farler's Fury, Permanent Bastards, The Beer Barons, Dean Lickyer and The Scally Cap Brats rock Cafe Dekcuf; Snailhouse release their new CD release at Mavericks; Street Meat, The City Above and Knives For Kids perform at Zaphod's; Ross Neilsen & The Suffrin' Bastards, Bluestone and Papa Shango hit the stage at The Rainbow; The Elmdale hosts The Beauties. The ever-busy Static Revolt play the Avant-Garde.