The young ones

Young and Sexy finished the night off, performing for a smattering of an audience. I reviewed their latest album, The Arc, for Pennyblackmusic. It didn't wow me the way my initial exposure to the Mint band, Life Through One Speaker, did. On the other hand, where their live show last time didn't hit the heights of their recorded, on this occasion it far exceeded them. They were certainly more in tune.

Lucy Brain and Paul Pittmann.



Andre Lagace and mystery bassist.



Paul emotes.



Far less emoting.



Singalong action!



More Lucy!



The whole lot! (You can just make out drummer Alex Brain in back).



More singin' and shakin'.



They really lived up to their potential this time.

• Show reminder: Former Northern Pike Jay Semko and Amanda Bon play Zaphod Beeblebrox; The Epilogue, Hartford, Lacerda and Assemble Me rock Mavericks; Willis Pride plays The Rainbow.
  

Mix and match

There have been a lot of bands coming through Ottawa from faraway places: No doubt Pop Montreal is to blame. Both Neins Circa and Young and Sexy, the bands performing last night at Zaphod's come from Vancouver. Unfortunately, as on previous occasions the audience turnout was meagre.

Cameron Dilworth - still sporting his Pop Montreal bracelet - has been the one constant in the Neins Circa. He was joined by Shaun Brodie (an early member who you may recall being mentioned in the last post - he was playing trumpet again tonight), Erin Jane on keyboards and bass and Sean Gilhooly on drums. Paul Pittmann and Andre Lagace from Young and Sexy also kicked in on guitar and bass. The band had a slightly quirky pop sound - Dilworth strikes me as a man with a dry sense of humour.


Neins Circa, Zaphod Beeblebrox, October 5, 2008

Last time I saw Young and Sexy - also at Zaphod's - their performance left a little to be desired (mostly due to out-of-tune guitars). They must have gotten those promised guitar tuners for Christmas, because this time around they were really super. I'm not sold on their new album, but all the tunes from The Arc sounded good in a live setting and such classics as Life Through One Speaker, Oh My Love and Herculean Bellboy sounded top-notch. They finished with a storming version of Television, and also threw in a fine version of Squeeze's Pulling Mussels (From The Shell).


Young and Sexy, Zaphod Beeblebrox, October 5, 2008

Too bad for all the folks who missed it!

• Show reminder: Art-punk legends Wire perform at Barrymore's with locals The Suppositories; Brainhunter, Flatlined, The Stans and Melody Unwinding play Zaphod Beeblebrox; Scandinavian metal monsters Watain destroy Mavericks with Withered and Book of Black Earth. Ross Neilsen and The Sufferin' Bastards bring the East Coast blues to The Rainbow.

Hello, young lovers

I first encountered Young and Sexy when the folks at Pennyblackmusic.com sent me a copy of the band's second album, Life Through One Speaker. I love that Beach Boys via Belle and Sebastien Stuff (one reason why Saturday looks Good To Me is another of my favourite bands), and eagerly sought out their first album, Stand Up For Your Mother. Considering that their website lands on top of a Google search, they must have plenty of other fans, too - just not so many in Ottawa. They put on quite an able performance. Vocally, they were just what I'd hope. Good musicians, too, though I can't say I blame singer Lucy Brain for saying that the band's two guitarists would be getting tuning pedals for Christmas ... anyway, here are pictures and double entendres.

Paul Pittman; some of the band's frisson is derived from a since-ended relationship with Ms. Brain.



Bassist Brent McDonald holds the bottom ... end.



Guitarist Andre Lagace in the red light district.



Lucy Brain, the lady in red.



Brain's brother Alex.



And now a bunch of group action shots.









Two Brains are better than one.



Andre shows off his moves at set's end.





The crowd goes wild! Hello? Crowd? Where are you, damn it?!?



They also played Grateful Dead's Box of Rain ("Are there any Grateful Dead fans in the house? ... no, I didn't think so.") and Neil Young's Cowgirl in the Sand. Well, there were a couple dozen people there for a good show.

• Show reminder: The HorrorPops, Million Dollar Marxists and Left Alone play Babylon. The Silver Hearts and Andre Ethier play Barrymore's. The Polytones, Department of Foreign Affairs and Postage Stamps play Mavericks.
  

Tres Sexy

Vanvouver's Young and Sexy are one of my favourite pop outfits. Unfortunately they seem to lurk in the shadow of that other fine Mint group The New Pornographers, and the turnout for their gig with Ben Wilson (also known as That's The Spirit) was so-so. Well there was a lot of good stuff to see Saturday night - c'est la vie. Here are a couple of pictures.

Ben, who also plays in The Polytones.



Young and Sexy - somewhere out there a very disappointed man has discovered this picture via Google image search.



You may of course expect further blather and photos at a later date.