Monday, January 31, 2011

They built this city on emo

Up next, Hamilton. Quite often, bands named after cities are terrible ... but maybe these guys are named after the guy Aaron Burr shot? This outfit includes members of the Antennas, Alaskan, The Scheme and New Teeth. I hear echoes of the emo-punk school of Braid (the U.S. one, not the current Canadian crew) and Friction (the American one, not the Japanese weirdo-wonders).

Gary Thibert was most recently seen on this here blog playing guitar with Alaskan.

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

Matt Gilmour - usually less green - can be seen playing bass in New Teeth.

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

Ben Courtice also plays in Fire Heats Water and The Scheme, neither of which I've seen.

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

More Matt! The bassist at right is John Leonard, who also apparently plays in Equalizer and Sirens. I don't know either of them.

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

Riser-standing action!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

More John!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

Singalong action!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

Assorted rocking about!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

And so on!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

The whole lot!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

Even more shouting from John!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

Neck-waggling action!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

Well, at least part of this photo - i.e. Ben's retinas - is well lit.

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

The bendy end!

Hamilton at Cafe DeKcuf

A short but satisfying set. (Jan. 31 update: They have a show coming up at Zaphod's Feb. 18 with Thrid Place and Remember The Fire.)

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Some mother's son

Next up were Toronto's Permanent Bastards. They are a very lively act, with lots of shaking about and a good, rough-hewn sound that's somewhere in the vicinity of Spencer P. Jones, David Picco, Bruce Springsteen, but twisted up with gunk rock.

First, let's start with some real Bastards: Guitarists Sean Cepeda and Simon Paik split lead vocal duties, while Jeff Mota mans the drums.

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Regular bassist Duncan Spence had to skip this show for surgical reasons; this is his fill-in Chris Cresswell of The Flatliners.

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Sean sings!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Faceoff action!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Chris sings!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

The whole lot!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Sean rocks the semi-hollow.

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Guitar action!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

More faceoff action!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Simon shouts!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

I'm depressed to report this is my best photo of Jeff.

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Sean shouts!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Simon removes a few more layers of finish from his Telecaster.

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

More guitar!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

More Chris!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Strap assistance action!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

The end!

Permanent Bastards at Cafe DeKcuf

Easy to see why they've been winning raves for their live show.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Now that's heavy

Two weeks ago I went off to Cafe DeKcuf to catch of a bunch of guitar-loving acts. It was mighty cold outside! Not cold enough to dissuade me from seeing Centretown Cripplers-succesors The Mnemonics and acts such as Hamilton, Dead Weights and Toronto's Permanent Bastards. Dead Weights were on first, and only had a couple of songs left in them as I arrived. They have a free demo out which strikes me as quite Leatherface-influenced.

The lineup is Jonathan Becker (ex-I Refuse) on guitar, Catch Of The Day man Steve Robillard on drums, Wooka Tribe guy Derek Muldoon, on bass and acoustic punker Jonathan Creeden on guitar.

Dead Weights at Cafe DeKcuf

Jonathan sings!

Dead Weights at Cafe DeKcuf

Damn microphone stand!

Dead Weights at Cafe DeKcuf

Creeden bends.

Dead Weights at Cafe DeKcuf

A shadowy Steve.

Dead Weights at Cafe DeKcuf

Microphone gripping action!

Dead Weights at Cafe DeKcuf

More sweaty Creeden.

Dead Weights at Cafe DeKcuf

And more bass with Derek.

Dead Weights at Cafe DeKcuf

And that's all, because I only had about two minutes to take pictures. If you want to see them'll you'll have to wait until Sunday, when they return to Cafe DeKcuf for a show with Currents and Tightrope; they have another show at the cafe on February 24.

Friday, January 28, 2011

What year is it?

Year Zero, that's who! Wait - wrong Mike Haddad band. Anyway, Year Zero had a bumper year, what with the release of their fancy CD and vinyl ("We promise this is the last time we repackage the same recordings," someone said), and a swanky do for New Year's Eve at Babylon.

Introduction action with Emmanuel!

Year Zero at Babylon

This is the least of Brad's tattoos that I've ever seen.

Year Zero at Babylon

Singalong action with Tim and Dave!

Year Zero at Babylon

Rhythm section action!

Year Zero at Babylon

More Brad and more tree!

Year Zero at Babylon

Shouty Dave action!

Year Zero at Babylon

Michael hits!

Year Zero at Babylon

Dave bends!

Year Zero at Babylon

More singalong action!

Year Zero at Babylon

Very fisheyed action!

Year Zero at Babylon

Super-bonus Dave!

Year Zero at Babylon

Some low-light action.

Year Zero at Babylon

And so on ...

Year Zero at Babylon

The f-stop is as low as she goes ...

Year Zero at Babylon

Extra-special guest action with Davey!

Year Zero at Babylon

Visitors audience action!

Year Zero at Babylon

Singalong action!

Year Zero at Babylon

Another shouty bit!

Year Zero at Babylon

And finally some laser-shootin' action with Emmanuel.

Shameless at Babylon

A fun way to end and begin things.