Thursday, March 31, 2011

Sugar and molasses

My musical plans last night were made at the last minute. Initially I had thought about going to see Born Ruffians at Ritual, but I left my ticket-buying to the last moment, and needless to say didn't manage to get one. Instead I popped over to Raw Sugar. Previous shows there have been pretty jammed, but this time around the turnout was commendable but not wall-to-wall like it was for the Kelp showcase. On hand were a couple of Saskatoon combos Jeans Boots and Slow Down Molasses, and local quintet The Ethics.

Jeans Boots is fronted by Jeanette Stewart and a cast of thousands (okay, two: her bandmates from Slow Down Molasses, Ryan Drabble and Tyson Brooks). Slow Down Molasses has already professed their love for Julie Doiron, and I'd say that goes for Jeans Boots too. JB comes in two flavours, electric and acoustic. This was the electric, "get kicked out of the folk festival" version. It was super-fuzzy, with the bass used more to build up a wall of fuzz than keep time. I liked it very much indeed, and picked up one of her two CDs the moment she cleared the stage.

Jeans Boots at Raw Sugar
Jeans Boots at Raw Sugar, March 30, 2011

They really did rock out.

Jeans Boots at Raw Sugar
Jeans Boots at Raw Sugar, March 30, 2011

Next up were The Ethics, a band I have heard much of but have yet to see live. I'm glad to have done so since they put on a very sharp pop performance, entirely composed of songs they'll soon be laying down in the studio. The pictures I took unfortunately don't do justice to the whole band - the layout of Raw Sugar isn't friendly to those musicians not up front.

The Ethics at Raw Sugar
The Ethics at Raw Sugar, March 30, 2011

Finally Slow Down Molasses hit the stage. They stretch the indie rock gamut from shoegaze to roots rock to pop. They've recorded with Julie Doiron and pulled off a cover of My Bloody Valentines' When You Sleep with aplomb.

Slow Down Molases at Raw Sugar
Slow Down Molasses at Raw Sugar, March 30, 2011

Also, everyone wished Rolk Klausener happy birthday. Yay!

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