Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, CTZNSHP - Garrison (Jan 18/13)

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan

It's a little disconcerting having a band soundcheck in their makeup like this, and even more still bumping into them like that backstage beforehand.



Then when they're finally ready to start the show the two front ladies swoop a dragon throughout the crowd before climbing on stage. Here they, along with their 4 cohorts already on stage, proceed to rip through an earnest, deliberate set of choreographed music and showmanship. They all appeared quite serious as they faithfully recreated the sound of the Polaris Prize shortlisting album YT//ST by layering their soaring voices on top of strong drumming, savage guitar and stellar synths. The set closer was hard-hitting (also the album closer?) and had us calling for more. They did return, after leading us through an initialism chant, with the 'nicest' song from the album Hoshi Neko (obviously a relative scale). To close it all off they did a cover that I didn't recognize but didn't take away from the enjoyment just as the new, non-album songs featured earlier in the set were promising as well.

CTZNSHP
This male three-piece from Montreal were vowel loathing like early JPNDRDS yet more melodic than them or PS I Love You who also employ a similar guitar drone. Perhaps it's the addition of the bass or maybe it is that his singing is exactly that, more sing than scream. With all that said it was the top notch drumming and somewhat intriguing time signatures that really brought this band home. Their recorded demos online didn't turn my crank the first time through but this show has made me think twice, and think hard.

Planet Creature
With lilting synths, the five-piece all female band put on their show. Due to the somewhat tone deaf singing all around (both guitarists and drummer tried their hand) it came off as slightly amateur. That may just have been inexperience leading to a lack of comfort or stage presence. The music itself was alright if leaning toward unoriginal. A few people in the crowd seemed to enjoy it enough to dance but even that was limited.

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.

Kidstreet, Bocce (Garrison, Dec 16)

Kidstreet had a small-to-medium sized crowd who stuck around at the Garrison for their night-ending performance, and it was sprinkled with a handful of die-hards, like myself, out for a dance. Off the top they didn’t really allow for this – opening with Song which is understandable but then dropping a new track immediately following. A released tune was next as a warm-up but the slower, new song that came next broke that stride again. Finally things began to roll as they downed Old Mil tallboys on stage and cranked things up with the likes of X (X X), Birthday Boy (aka Wild Child), Penny Candy (still impressive) and Spin Twirl (yay!). They were enticed back out to play an encore but I was so busy dancing I forgot to take note of what song it was. Sign of a show accomplishing its goal! Unfortunately Bocce were just wrapping up as we entered and grabbed our beer. Equally unfortunate was that the three-piece in Young Rival were quite loud but not overly impressive. Their take on Frosty the Snowman didn’t reinvigorate the classic, nor did their take on female-fronted, indie rock. When she dropped the guitar for violin things did improve but I still was not floored.