Vancouver gigs: Strung Out

This one time at a Strung Out gig, I got dumped on stage after crowdsurfing. But more on that later...

I've kind of missed out a bit on Strung Out to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I've loved every song of theirs that I've heard but through my own fault I hadn't tracked down their albums until lately when I started properly listening to their later albums. When I saw they were playing here in Vancouver I jumped at the opportunity. Only problem was they were playing two of their earlier albums in their entirety. Joke was on me.

After some bewildering walking around in circles I found the venue, which was a rectangular underground place, at the back of a building, wedged between a Honda dealership and some other warehouses. In the queue I got talking to a guy called John whose family had been run out of Galway generations ago. Both John and I had resigned ourselves to having a quiet drink on our ownsomes and were delighted to have someone else to get merrily drunk with. John recommended me a horrible dark beer but made up for it by later recommending the beer-choice of hipsters, PBR, which was cheap and in can form.

Precursor

First off, perfect name for an opening band. Secondly, great band (more on that later). Thirdly, I've only just looked them up on Facebook to see they are made up of ex members of Daggermouth, The Fullblast and others?! Whaaaat?

So now I feel slightly foolish for thinking of them as a start up band. But let us move on. Precursor combine vocals that are melodic but gritty reminiscent of early Rise Against, Bouncing Souls or a more intense version of Polar Bear Club. They play punk rock with some fiddly bits and some nice drumming. (Again, with their history this is no surprise).

Looking back, it was clear that they know what they're doing (the singer DID say they had been around in bands for ages...) they were tight, the songs well crafted and their gear and sound were far better than any opening act I've seen in a long time. Check Precursor out on Facebook.

Handguns

I have 'defended' pop punk for about 10 years now. I don't mean it in the Man Overboard way, just in that I try to call people who hate on Blink 182 but will swear blindly that Fall Out Boy are a great band who write pop songs but play their own instruments and that makes it ok. Don't both bands do that? And aren't both bands pretty sweet? Handguns however are one of the pop punk bands that give pop punk a bad name. They are essentially the 'that guy' of pop punk.

Firstly, there's the high-pitched whiney vocals. Again, I'm someone who has listened solidly to Tom Delonge for about 12 years now and I've also enjoyed the occasional Set Your Goals song. But this, no.

Then there's the acting and dressing like the most SWAGMERCH of hardcore dudes. Stomping with a backwards baseball cap and stick your mic in the face of one of the three fans you have up the front who are fistpumping with their mouths open. Without actually really adding very much hardcore to your music. I'm not quite sure why this annoys me but it does. I mean, at least Daggermouth had the music to backup the hardcore influences.

Derp! DERP! HERP! DERRRRRP!

 Such Gold

This photo needs it's own post. So much lol.

While this almost definetely makes me a hypocrite, I quite like Such Gold! I know, they fall into the same DUDE HARDCORE INFLUENCED POP PUNK BRO style as the lads above, but I think they pull it off better and have some great songs. On the night I felt that the two backing vocalists actually sounded better than the main guy but otherwise they sounded good.

While they are expanding their influences (which should be a good thing), I think the first two EPs may be my favourite Such Gold. The strongest songs from their EPs went down the best on the night and I hope that they have upped their game for the album so that they don't end up being a 'singles' band. You know, they might be on your mp3 player, but it's just one or two songs.

Strung Out

Put simply, Strung Out are one of the most talented punk bands in the world and probably the most technically gifted punk band I have ever seen live. In a scene that is predominantly made up of young guys pumped up on angst, hormones and whatever stimulants they can get their grubby little hands on, Strung Out stand out live the scarily fit 65 year old at the tennis club.

Storming through Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues and Twisted By Design with barely a pause for breath Strung Out leave pretty much everyone in their sweaty wake and are still having fun after all the years. The set is metaphor of their career, notable for musical prowess, energy and stamina. To be honest the crowd started to wilt towards the end but that's understandable for the sweatbox that is the Biltmore. I took up residence by the bass speakers on the floor at the side of the stage and it was pretty sweet to watch the band at work from that close. Oh yeah, and I was onstage briefly when I was unceremoniously dumped there after a brief crowdsurf. After the gig, and after a bit of walking around in a bewildered daze I got a taxi with my new friend and headed for home. Good times.

How good is this Under The Sea cover by Suburban Legends

One of the worst things about having a girlfriend into Disney films and Ska/pop-punk is that I have to sit through said Disney films, listen to the songs at various times and then also have to hear various covers of the same songs.

Ah, who am I kidding, it's pretty sweet! The latest find (awhile ago) was this Under The Sea cover from The Little Mermaid by Suburban Legends.

Oh hai girls, we're rebellious but cute!

Of course this makes perfect sense from a marketing point of view for the band:

• Taking an existing song and covering it is a classic technique to get new fans but they have the plus of it being an era-spanning film soundtrack song
• Bonus 'OMG they're so different and DGAF' points for being sensitive enough to like Disney but cool enough not to care is the punx judge them. Maaaan.

I'll eventually check out their other songs (which is exactly what the band want, dammit) but for now I'm happy enough with this find.

Alan Bagh is Birdemic not the room, lol

When Alan Bagh, star of Birdemic: Shock and Terror, added me on Twitter I couldn't resist some light trolling of the man who has committed some of the worst crimes against acting ever caught on camera.

Successful troll is successful

What's even better though, is that there is going to be a sequel. How ballsy is Alan Bagh? Lolololol amazeballs.

Bill is a struggling filmmaker; Gloria is an aspiring actress.  Rod, a Silicon Valley millionaire finances Bill’s film, a dream come true until eagles and vultures attack Hollywood and its up to Rod, his girlfriend Nathalie, new friends and old to mount the resistance.  Who will survive?

If you haven't seen Birdemic, then check out my post about it here to get a taste of what it's about.

Meet Buddies Say: Ho - French Easycore Strikes Again!

If it wasn't for all the French ppl I'd consider moving to France for some sweet easycore action. As well as Can't Bear This Party!, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! and (the female fronted melodic hardcore) Bigblast, there is also newbies (I think?) Buddies Say: Ho!

Is it me or do the rest of the band seem sheepish because of ZANY GUY at the back? I'm guessing he's the keyboard player?

The Good Days And Cliches Guide To Becoming A French Easycore Band goes as follows:

1. Choose a wacky band name. It doesn't matter if it makes sense, you're French and that's charming! Exclamation marks = fun!!!
2. (Closely linked to pt 1) Grammar? You don't need it! Your potential fans won't care that you've made yourselves difficult to find online because you've thrown punctuation in like a blind man trying to season a meal cooked in a blender on a bouncy castle.
3. Sing in English, with a slight American twang while maintaining your French accent at times. This will ensure no one has a fucking clue what you're singing about and you'll seem more poetic.
4. Breakdowns are essential, if your vocalist can sing any of his styles over them, all the better.
5. Occasionally throw in a curveball to distinguish your sound from American easycore. This can be achieved with an intelligent drummer, forays into metal(core), a xylophone (though CBTP! have done that..still it sounds good so copy it) and maybe a singer who isn't whiney but can actually sing and for bonus point can do heavier stuff too.

BSH stick to this rulebook like the smell of garlic, onions and cigarettes stick to your beret. This makes for a winning combination for me at least! I'm pretty impressed with the range of vocals and while I may joke about them being slightly generic, there is a huge difference between the mid-tempo easycore and breakdowns of Breathe, My Hero, the crabcore-esque Fury and the epic Saved By A Living Dead, which could possibly be the first easycore song that could work in a festival/stadium rock gig or even as support to BMTH. 'Now everybody scream "OHHHH!"'

I can't find much of them on Ootube but you can stream their debut EP on bookface.