Cold War kids

As some folks may know, I was born in 1970, which puts my formative music-appreciation years in the early-and-mid 1980s. Those were good (or bad, depending on your taste) years for synth music. Like many a young Ottawan I had Eight Second's Where's Bula drilled into my brain, along with possibly toxic levels of exposure to groups like a-ha, OMD and ABC. Although it didn't last (the influence of friends pulled me more in the direction of AC/DC, Joan Jett and Motorhead), I still have a fondness for those synthetic sounds - my most listened-to release of 2013 is undoubtedly the Cosmic Machine comp of French synth acts. Synth music seems to be enjoying a renaissance these days. On to the reason for this post, Montreal's Rational Youth. The Montreal combo were part of synth rock's first wave, and got a bit of chart time with songs like No More and No Less and Bang On. Keyboardist and Brand New Waver Kevin Komoda apparently found a heap of old tapes from his old outfit and talked Tracy Howe into hitting the road one more time, along with his Plunt-mate Brian Arsenault, Tracy's wife Gaenor and the oh-so solid rhythm section of Paul Grainville and Scott Cameron (of Normals fame). Apparently they're big in Scandinavia, so they hit a few dates there before returning to Canada for their first show in Montreal in 27 years earlier this month. Saturday night, they were at Zaphod's, performing for a few young 'uns and a bunch of folks in their 50s.

First up, Riishi Von Rex. The last (and only) time I saw Riishi was also at Zaphod's back in November 2009. Four and a half years later, she still reminds me of P.J. Harvey. This time around she also had a drummer, Michel, on hand. She's hosting a rock'n'rolll night the first Sunday of the month at the Rainbow, too.



Michel hits!



The whole lot!



Riishi sings!



Singing drummer action!



Tapping action!



The end!



On to Rational Youth ... well, they aren't quite youth nowadays, but they sounded very solid and were definitely into it. They started things off "unplugged." With just the keyboardists Brian, Tracy and Kevin. Here's Kevin!



The Youth of today! Brian, Gaenor, Paul, Tracy, Scott and Kevin.



Brutish action with Brian.



Darn it, forgot to take any decent photos of Scott Cameron!



Tracy claps.



Gaenor provided some extra percussion and backing vocals.



Kevin sings!



Gripping action!



More Paul!



The end!



Great night, and a treat to hear City At Night, the prescient Dancing On The Berlin Wall and Saturday in Silesia again (also Holiday in Thailand, Man In Grey, and others).

Folkasaurus Rex

Riishi Von Rex made me think of P.J. Harvey when she started things up at Zaphod's November 2, 2009 - P.J. in her less strident moments, anyway. Her set was a pleasantly intense bit of singer-somngwriter stuff.



When shooting without a flash at Zaphod's, you really want o be on the side of the blue light.



The Gretsch was a new addition to the armory.



I can't stay vertical all the time.



Stepping back a bit ...



One last photo with flash - heaven knows why.



Since this show I haven't heard anything, so perhaps she's hibernating over winter.

• Show reminder: Punks go solo with Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music and Tim Barry of Avail ditching their bandmates for a gig at Mavericks with Cavaliers! and Ben Scriver.

In a cold country

Despite a nagging case of the sniffles, I decided to go to Zaphod's and check out their free showcase since there were a couple of local acts I'd heard frequent mention of, but hadn't been able to see, along with a newer combo of which I'd heard little.

Riishi Von Rex commenced the evening with some bare-knuckled balladry played on a shiny new Gretsch. Made me think a bit of P.J. Harvey in her husky-and-low mode.


Riishi Von Rex at Zaphod Beeblebrox, November 2, 2009

Bloomistry held down the middle slot with some arty pop-rock. Something about singer Wayne K. Spear's singing voice reminds me of Mark Hollis from Talk Talk, though the rest of the music isn't outwardly similar. They're a bit more like Anton Barbeau, the San Francisco cult favourite. There bassist was off with the flu, so I imagine they sound a bit heavier on other occasions. They've got a show coming up at the Live Lounge November 18.


Bloomistry at Zaphod Beeblebrox, November 2, 2009

The Donna Litas were the unknown quantity. Apart from some photos courtesy of Ming Wu, who caught them sound-checking with The Property Line a few weeks ago at the Mercury Lounge, I basically knew zip. They obviously take a fair amount of direction from the blues - they covered Robert Johnson's Me And The Devil Blues and I believe I heard some mention of lemon squeezing. They also played The Beatles Yer Blues. I'd trace their lineage back to outfits like Big Brother and The Holding Company, through seventies combos like Truth & Janey and Poobah and onto 1990s bands like Fluid and Screaming Trees, who were occasionally lumped in with grunge without being really of it. I liked them quite a bit, and they're good at working the stage, too. You'll note that despite the name there are no women in the band ... there's also another guitarist off to the left.


The Donna Litas at Zaphod Beeblebrox, November 2, 2009

And now it's time to take copious amounts of cold medication and go to bed.