Vancouver Gigs: Dear Landlord w/The Murderburgers and more

I can't keep up with the amount of gigs here. This was in a great little venue called The Media Club that was like an Irish sitting room with a small stage and dancefloor area attached.

After some initial concern that there was no sign of Dear Landlord merch/band members we shuffled up towards the stage to watch The Hextalls, a band from (according to their bookface) nearby Surrey Kamloops* (wherever the hell that is) who were playing their first gig in two years. The band were a curious affair, they had the look of a band that formed in school because it seemed like a fun idea. Friends who weren't punk enough for a punk band, metal enough for a metal band, or who just became a band because they knew each other and played the necessary instruments. Maybe I'm wrong, it just remind me of some early bands I was in.

Except unlike some of my bands, these guys had their shit together, with a (mostly) tight sound and nice vocals. Their lyrics were NOFX-esque, which sounds good except writing a song about how it's the opening song of your new album works better when you have a huge discography and thousands of fans but what harm. Having said that, if you measure how 'punk' a band is by how little fucks they give about what anyone thinks, then The Hextalls are punk as heck. They sweat, laugh, sing, and in some cases haphazardly tumble through their setlist and have some quality songs to back up their wise-cracking stage banter and unconventional looks. I mean they don't even have any mohawks..Still though, if you like fun, melodies and punk rock about drinking and regular dumb shit then these guys are right up your alley and I'm hoping to check them out again. Click their name up there ^^^ for their bookface where you can listen to songs and read more about the Surrey vs Kamloops debate.

Next up were The Murderburgers from Scotland. While it was nice to hear some Western European jokes, their set was kinda ruined for me by the Scottish Situation, some BEEFCAKE dude who looked like he was from joisey shoah but was loud and from Glasgow and had no idea of personal space or his own strength...They play fast fast fast punk rock that is angry and melodic and breakneck and breathless.All the songs kinda merged into each other though.

Dear Landlord took to the stage with very little fanfare and gave a lesson in getting the job done live. Nearly every song was played to precision and the three vocalists and instruments were barely distinguisable from how they sounded on CD. The most noteable thing besides the masterclass in having your shit down as a live band was the clusterfuck of a crowd. It was like the worst all ages battle of the bands crowd you've ever seen. About 5 people stood directly in front of the stage, maybe 12 young lads stank and push moshed all over the floor behind them and then everyone else stood towards the back and sides.

Was I uncomfortably close to them? Perhaps..

Most notable was the HARDCORE kid with the backwards baseball cap and wifebeater who kept trying to stage dive on top of about 3 people and the sweaty Rancid t-shirt guy who kept grabbing the mic and trying to stage dive on top of about 3 people... Then there was also the Asian kid who kept trying to stage dive..well you get where I'm going with this.

Dear Landlord, to their credit, battled on even as people trampled over their gear, grabbed their mics and generally sweated all over them. I think they were probably a bit disapointed that they came up to Canada to play to such a strange and small crowd. And they must be sick of playing their one album (and two or three other songs) at this stage. Maybe time to hit the studio again lads! Personally, I had a great night. The Hextalls were a fun new find, Dear Landlord were really good live and the crowd provided entertainment for all.

*Oh, and by the way, Kamloops looks amazing, hook me up with a tour if you guys are actually from there. Plus when I did a google image search this was on the first page of results -

Ain't no party like a Kamloops party!

Pop Music I like: Pink Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

I've always liked the idea of Pink more than her music. I mean, I get it, she's edgy and not your average pop star but I've never really felt her songs stacked up.

Could her eyes get any smaller? Could her mouth get any bigger?

Ah..

Anyway, she'll be happy to know she can stop making these feisty, empowered woman poses and bask in the glory of her latest single, which is a certified choooon, the cleverly titled Blow Me (One Last Kiss). OMG SHES SOOO FIESTY!!1!

Of course, being Pink, she has to cling to the image of being a REAL ARTIST, so she adds in French, that's right, FRENCH credits and a black and white film filter. After a strange Killers/generic indie intro the song picks up, she throws wine or something in the lads face and at about 00.43 she takes off some clothes (this is classy/empowering though, not like that skanky ke$ha..) and the chorus starts! And now we have a choon, straight out of the Kelly Clarkson songbook!

The gamechanger however is around 1.00 when she throws in some swear words, hits some ridiculous high notes and some hooky backing vox that are just 100% instant hit powder. The second verse is great for all da single ladies/recently dumped ladies who can feel like edgy women singing along to the 'whiskey dick' line. The rest of us can put up with the NOTHING COMPARES 2U verse because the bangin' chours isn't far away.

I kind of zoned out of the video towards the end, I dunno it all goes a bit Lady Gaga and then there's something about a flying machine..good song though.

Vancouver gigs: Bouncing Souls

I miss my gig friends from home but I'm loving how many bands come through Vancouver. Back home if I made a last minute decision to go out to see a band I would usually face a choice between acoustic, a cover band or some indie/dance mash up. There has been a scene of dedicated promoters and attenders in Galway for a long time but a lot of gigs I went to were not really bands I had a huge interest in, I was just going for the craic.

Here, however, I can decide to go to a gig later that night and it's only fecking Bouncing Souls that are playing. There's such a choice of stuff to do here that Bouncing Souls were only a 'maybe' for me. My reasoning behind this was that I don't know many of their songs. Turns out I was wrong on that front!

Luther started off the night and, despite their vaguely edgy name, they were generally inoffensive and slightly forgettable. They're the kind of band that could achieve some level of success if they stay around long enough, but you're just not quite sure why anyone would seek them out and be really into them. A bit like Coldplay or Travis I guess.

Next up was The Menzingers. I'd heard both good and bad about these guys so I wasn't sure what to expect. The first few songs were great and I thought I'd found a sweet new band to get into. About 20 minutes into the set however I felt a bit drained by their constant mid tempo punk rock. And then they played more songs that sounded the same. They do have two singers, but one mic was very low so maybe on CD it changes things up a bit but I found myself losing interest by the end of their set. Very good at what they do, I'm just not that hugely into it.

For some reason (maybe because gigs here are so frequent) I've found it easy enough to get a good spot near the front for every band I've seen here. I'm a small guy but I've had no problem getting that nice area just to the edge of the moshpit where I can go maaad or just stand and watch the band. Bouncing Souls was no different. It's been almost 10 years since I first saw them (opening for Dropkick Murphys, lololol) and even though they open with their new single, Static, they really haven't changed much over the years in terms of sound, stage presence, even looks! In other words they bring the singalongs, happy dancing and Hopeless Romantic girls by the bucketload.  I've never seen so many girls at a punk show, it was pretty much 50/50. What was great was that it didn't go the RVIVR route. Everyone had fun at the front, if someone fell over they were picked up, no one was overly aggressive (for the most part) and there was an actual sense of community and equality, not a forced equality segregation as RVIVR seem to want...
 
I'd forgotten how many of their songs I know and love and it was a real trip down memory lane. I found they played a little long but again, I'm not a superfan of the band, I just like a lot of their songs. Also of note were the ridiculous amount of crowdsurfers/stagedivers. I thought the venue was too security-filled/pretentious to allow such carry on, but from the first song there was a steady flow of people on and off the stage. These included:

• token FAT PUNX guy complete with leather jacket sweaty liberty spikes, patches and studs who bellyflopped off the stage 

• one girl who was all OMG I'M ON STAGE about 5 fucking times during the set

• the 'it's my first gig I want in on this "stage jumping" guy' who gets up and then panics and sort of rolls off
• the happiest mosh-pitter ever, wearing zany suspenders who got onstage, did a wicked backflip and then humbly got off stage down the side

Much respect has to be given to the lads in the band for having this clusterfuck of sweaty messes trample over their pedals etc, especially the guitarist who seemed to draw them like a magnet. I would have been thinking I'm too old for this shiz if I was him.

I swagged a setlist at the end, taking it away from some of the real, true, hardcore fans with tattoos and all. Ah well, maybe you can buy it off me on ebay.

Vancouver gigs: Walk Off The Earth at Fusion Fest

Herself has a huge music/teenage crush on Walk Off The Earth and in particular the charasmatic Gianni. Despite technically being the second best looking in the band, I have to agree that he does have a certain charm! When we came to Canada 'See Walk Off The Earth' was on our list of things that were improbable but nice to pretend we'd actually do. After a few days of not simply just looking up their tour dates, I took it on myself to check the dates and whadyaknow, they were playing the very next weekend for free at the Surrey Fusion Fest.

Surrey seems like a terrible place from what I've seen of it on the news (gangland shootings, robberies etc) but the festival was just on the outer edge of the district in a huge outdoor park. We got there after work, poked around the international food stalls and then wandered up to the stage to see Walk Off The Earth. It was fairly easy, like.

The band pretty much bounced on stage and never stopped moving the entire time. Sprinkling in original songs with their own unique cover versions (okay, usually reggae/ska-tinged cover versions) WOTE throw guitars around the stage, change between instruments at will and even get their crew invovled at various points of the gig with drum interludes and backing vocals.

The band are making the most of their rising popularity and are, wait for it, are a touring band that are actually having fun. Be it cheesy choreographed stage moves, sign-prompted audience participation or ukelele prizes (for real), they try to get everyone in the party mood. Including, in a very direct way, myself and herself. Mid-song, Gianni gets off stage and heads in our direction to dance with us. I get into a strange   hug/bounce/singalong with him (I'm not the most gifted dancer in the world and being at the centre of attention isn't a natural place for me) and herself screams herself silly before dancing with him as he dances past. Life made.

I don't go to many non SCENE gigs these days but I'd recommend these guys to anyone. Check 'em before they get MEGA famous as opposed to regular famous - Walk Off The Earth

Have you listened to Tsunami Bomb?

Like Farse, Tsunami Bomb are one of those bands I associate so much with listening to skate punk as a teenager (and watching P-Rock TV) that I forget other people might not know them so well. Like the college brah wheeling another keg into another house party who doesn't know why the singer of The Wonder Years doesn't just loosensup and has some fun, I have a mental block where I just assume everyone into punk etc had the same musical upbringing as me. Where in reality I lived in rural Ireland, yada yada..

It's like god looked at Brody Dalle and went 'Crap, let me try that again..there..that's better.'

Tsunami Bomb had what seemed like a winning formula: Relatively good looking female singer (who is automatically hotter in the sausagefest that is punk) + catchy major key songs + vaguely rebellious subject matter = $$$. Unfortunately after some quality work Tsunami Bomb hit a shitstorm of band drama and eventually broke up in 2005.

In a nostalgia multipack, this video is ripped from p-rock AND a drummer in a band I was in based our band name around this song and passed it off as his own idea. The fiend. So this is probably one of their most famous songs. Based around the same 4 chords as in every other song, with a snazzy riff  and of course sweet vocals and a catchy chorus. Not sure what's going on with the tattoo segments of the video. I mean, obvious there are continuity errors all over the gaf because she doesn't have any tatts in the 'live' parts..but..there's photos of her with tattoos from Tsuanmi Bomb era and then without in more recent pics...hmmmm.

In this video Agent M spends alot of time running for some reason and generally looking a bit lovely and she sings with a dignity, restraint and grace that everyone can enjoy. For some reason the band really seem to be holding back during the 'live' sections, not sure why, maybe they were told to tone down the punk elements. This song also showcases the backing vocals of the guy who wants to look like Matt Skiba. While his vox are somewhere in a middleground of meh between singing and a hardcore shout, his parts do add a hook. Also, the drummer never seems to look at the camera. Does she give the finger at 2.20?!?

This is one of my favourite TB songs. It sticks to the same formula pretty much but it's a winning formula.

This was unreleased for the most part and bloody hard to find on youtube. Another song based around G, C and F, another winner.

They also did crappy teenage pop punk style songs in their earlier days, yay! This one is about how Irish boys suck cos they chat her up and then pass out so naturally it strikes a chord with meself. I still love you, Emily. Or at least the version of you who sings this song.

And a last one, a fast one with some PUNK RAWK SHOUTING! She can do it all folks.

So yeah, I could post all of their songs here because they're all classics. Some of the best songs are the ones that were never released as singles. Check them out if you haven't already.

I found this in a second-hand (Martin Millar) book

Writing a blog can seem like fun and games but the truth is that much of the time it's a slippery slope towards becoming a hipster douchebag. You're always just one pretentious post with some black and white photos, some dodgy poetry or a guide to skinny jeans away from being someone Michael Cera would play in an indie comedy for young adults.

I fear this post could be the catylst to this blog becoming another self-absorbed plea for gratification of a clusterfudge but sure what harm. I like second-hand books and I especially like when books have notes left inside them. This goes back to library books that would have ultimately pointless instructions scrawled in the margins under the pretence of a bit of juicy goss at the end, and was rekindled when I found a Terry Pratchett book that had been given as an anniversary present and then eventually given away. But I resisted the temptation to start compiling such discoveries..UNNNTILLL NOOWWWW..

My copy of The Good Fairies Of New York contains this note -

 
It's innocent enough. Presumably 'C' didn't find it as Fab as the gift giver as the book was subsequently given away. I mean, if this was a horror film there would be some more sinister reason but then I'd have to find a photo in the book of a creepy kid or something to thicken the plot..