Bruce Peninsula, Dusted, Skeletones Four (Great Hall, May 24 '12)

Bruce Peninsula put on a jubilant first show back after a string of at least four late last year. Not only was the crowd enthusiastic but the band themselves were ecstatic to be reunited; hugging and laughing amongst themselves. It is always a treat to see them in full and that's what we got as all ten members belted it out for us in the lovely and relatively full Great Hall. At one point the crowd unanimously broke into a massive handclap on the first beat of the breakdown which brought a large smile to lead male vocalist Neil Haverty. Similarly when second man sang The Swimming Song, one of my favourite covers (period) I had an equal beam back. Their own material was just as great and following Adrenaline they closed out strong with Steamroller with Neil finding himself steamrolled to the stage, a move he'd concede afterward were accidental but evidenced the power of the song nonetheless. The encore cheers were legitimate, hauling everyone back out for the first song they ever wrote together, Weave Myself a Dress, into Crabapples that Neil climbing to the balcony to close the triumphant set.

Dusted

Dusted is Brian Borcherdt's incarnation outside of Holy Fuck that isn't his stripped down solo work. This project borrows from both - the high vocals through mic effects, the similar guitar of his solo work, but the more full sounding and effects of Holy Fuck. The drum set carried a keyboard, effect knobs and electronic drum pad (as well as a backlit, transparent kick drum). Volume was up and music enjoyable though as it was a first listen the set did run slightly long, even with the mid show appearance of a large, red-panted and bearded violinist to mix it up. Outside of Holy Fuck this may be the happiest medium for Brian's musical output.

Skeletones Four, as the name suggests, are a 4 piece from Guelph, Ontario. They embody the guitar

as their clear, ringingly sound is obviously technically polished and sounds great. Primarily guitar-focused there are some lyrics to surround the instrumental breakdowns that are sincere and do not come across as proggy or pretentious. The bass lines emanating from the Gordon brother, Evan, in his signature cowboy boots and buckle, were strong and smooth, especially on third from last, also the best song of the set. Someone said they should score a movie and I could hear it; a gripping tale of adventure and suspense.

PS I Love You (Garrison, May 15 '12)

Second album, second shot. Skipping the openers in favour of Hey Ocean I arrived just in time for the duo's set. However they aren't a live duo anymore, being joined by a Matters (formerly D'urbervilles) member who augmented their guitar/drum barrage with either keys, bass or more guitar. The Garrison was full but not jammed and frankly I thought the audience was going to be more into the band that had double cover stories the previous week (both Exclaim and Now). Off the top the band didn't kick it (opener saw Paul on bass, not guitar) and nobody, myself included really got into it. Maybe five tracks deep when some more standout tracks (Muster Station's 2012 and current single, Sentimental Dishes) were added it began to pick up. There was a perfunctory ovation for an encore and it satisfied but wasn't mind blowing either. I'd been promised a show I could feel as well as hear so despite the ear plugs it hardly came across as such. That being said when I disengaged them for the final number it was definitely loud, if not earth shaking. That could be said for the entire show in fact.

Hey Ocean, By Divine Right (Clinton's, May 15, '12)

Sound checks always seem to take forever, especially so when you've gotta leave. This was the case but finally Hey Ocean! were ready. All eyes fall to the lead singer (and lead, well only, clarinet) but the five other band members deserve recognition for crafting the upbeat, indie pop for her to lay her impressive vocals over. This was exhibited right off the top with A Song About California and carried through the handful of tracks I was able to stick around for. I Am A Heart was one highlight of these. A revealing intro to Change set us up for the whistle/synths, claps and exquisite vocals. I didn't get a chance to Make a New Dance Up but was pleased to have caught what I did while supporting Skate4Cancer in the process.


By Divine Right is the name of the band retained by the lead singer and guitarist. After all he told a story of playing their second anniversary at Clinton's in1992, at which point his female bassist chimed in that she was 5 at the time and the equally young-looking drummer was definitely still a minor. There was a little variation, a couple acoustic guitar tracks to close and a few catchy riffs would pop up, but for the most part it was a couple chords strummed repeatedly. Sure this works in punk bands and apparently it worked for a Toronto indie band in the 90s too, but here it seemed to fall flat. The room was packed, sold out actually, with what one had to assume were eager Hey Ocean fans as the chatter raised whenever you could be heard over the sound system. I definitely know the band's name however all night I couldn't place a single song.

The Burning Hell (Lee's Palace, Apr 26 '12)

Lee's Palace seemed a little more like a cavern for this sparsely attended Thursday night gig. Mathias Kom asked us all to come forward so he could at least see who he was playing to and being the good Burning Hell sports that we are, we obliged. Besides a familiar bassist the backing band has changed significantly since the good ol' Guelph shows, not to say these guys were any slouches. Besides it is Kom's brainchild and he reaches well beyond mediocrity in all aspects. His songwriting is wonderfully literate and it was fun just to listen to the new girls beside me as they heard the jokes (as well as the outrightly heartbreaking lyrics, eg. Remote Control) for the first time. In fact the only new song was a duet with Berlin-based opening lady Freschard. A lovely, simple English song sung through her endearing French accent. Not to say the set was totally a rehash though either nor that she was the only guest. Actually during Flux Capacitor's Nostalgia Matthias called for any sax players in the building to make themselves welcome for this song, without any real expectations. Sure enough following the first verse the man to follow on the bill, Stanley Brinks, strolls out from backstage nonchalantly and joins in without missing a stride. Matthias is so caught off guard by how awesome this is that he momentarily forgets the words to verse two.

It wasn't the most prolific BH set by any stretch but it did make me smile, such as when Matthias introduced Let Things Slip Away by saying 'I was going to call this Losing My Religion but somebody told me that was already taken. By U2.' Who ever said hell couldn't be enjoyable?

Set

Remote Control
Let Things Slip Away
Nostalgia
Kings of the Animal KingdomDuet with Freschard "I liked you from the start"
Everybody Needs a Body (to be somebody)
Old World
The Second Cigarette

Whaletooth @ Humblemania XLI (Ossington Apr. 25,'12)

"Humblemania XLI" yelled the announcer in his booming wrestling voice. Okay that didn't happen, at least not at this, the forty-first incarnation of Humblemania. What did happen is that a plentiful group of Torontonians packed into the warm, brick back room of The Ossington to watch a performance. Whaletooth were the night's entertainment, performing a selection of their own songs, mostly from their forthcoming release, in addition to a couple covers. These were a mid-set rendition of Chad VanGaalen's Willow Tree which was quite sweet with the female vocals, followed immediately by an intentional singalong to The Beatles' With a Little Help From My Friends. The leading lady had as much energy bopping up and down throughout these as she did for their originals. Flanked by three guys on guitar and bass the band was rounded out by a very bearded timekeeper on drums behind her. The final number was catchiest and left a lingering good feeling. (Though that may have been sleepiness too as I was too tired to stay for the music video premiere.)

CMW 2011: Russian Futurists (Bait Shop, Mar 12, 2011)

Unrelenting pop with opener Hoeing Weeds, Sowing Seeds. The Russian Futurists also did Let's Get Ready to Crumble and a new song Golden Years. One Night, One Kiss was a duet with an obviously new, or perhaps just forgetful, female vocalist who required crib note lyrics throughout. Introduced as an urban song ("Ever heard of rap?" challenged the ginger Matthew Adam Hart) he hardly strayed from the vibe that had already been set when playing Precious Metals. 2 Dots on a Map was 'a sensitive song for the girlfriends in the house' while "hit" Paul Simon was dedicated to the Russian Futurist Bald Spot Viewing platform, aka the upstairs viewers at the Bait Shop "because we're old". Even if the live show isn't astounding at least he's got a sense of humour to go along with the perky prerecorded pop!

Gramercy Riffs (Parts & Labour, Jan 29, '12)

As soon as I spotted the lead singer the memories came flooding back. I had seen Gramercy Riffs before (opening for Hey Rosetta) and I'd been underwhelmed by that performance. Ah well, here I was only minutes from home, checking out Parts and Labour as I'd been trying to for over a year now, plus it was for a good cause and they were already on stage. Stage may be a strong word as they were really just at the end of the P&L basement venue rocking without monitors. This meant the sound was slightly off at times but not a problem overall. The five piece carried on with the lone female handling most of the singing duties though one of her guitarists also tried his hand on a couple. The song before Dreaming caught my ear, then the one song I actually know was a slightly lighter sound for the set but set up an enjoyable latter half to the set. Presumably much of the Sunday night crowd had dispersed by this point, having seen some ten-year-olds from Girls Rock Camp perform earlier, and supported that cause for which this was a fundraiser. The epic levels portrayed in most of the awesome pictures adorning the walls of the place weren't quite reached but the Riffs closed it out fine.