AC/DC Will Rock You Straight to Hell

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of Aussie rockers AC/DC. They’re awesome. So I’ve been pretty stoked about all the hoopla surrounding their latest release Black Ice. It’s really good, as far as post Back in Black AC/DC records go.

The thing is, every story I read says the same damn thing. Blah, blah they sing about rock, blah, blah Back in Black sold a bajillion copies etc. Tell me somehting I don’t know. And then the kind folks over at Slate.com did. This is the best story about the band I’ve ever read. It’s the only one that makes the link between their bad boy boogie and the nascent punk rock scene when the band toured the UK in 1976. Thanks kids.

Record Review: Skydiggers – City of Sirens

City of Sirens, the eighth album from these Toronto stalwarts, finds singer Andy Maize searching for love and immortality, but continually being sidetracked by the pursuit of women and success, i.e., the sirens of the city. “Hello Beautiful Life,” is a fine slice of mid-tempo piano pop, while “Laura Love” could show any songwriter a thing or two about balladeering. But too much of Sirens relys on the second-rate REM guitar hooks the band have employed over the past two decades. At least Maize gets his priorities straight on “Honest Day’s Work,” pledging that “an honest day’s work still couldn’t take the sweetness of your kiss.”

This story originally appeared in EYE WEEKLY.

Live Review: Golden Dogs, Waking Eyes & Rich Aucoin @ Lee’s Palace Oct 16, 2008

With hipster garage punks and psychobilly vixens already eating up a good portion of Toronto’s live music audience Thursday night, it was no surprise that Lee’s Palace was extra roomy for a bill stacked with Toronto regulars. It’s a shame, because in a city teeming with blog-hyped gigs, a bullshit-free rock show is a humbling experience.

After turning heads last year with his unofficial score (or “synch,” as he calls it) to How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Haligonian Rich Aucoin has to prove he’s more than a one-trick pony. He still soundtracks films clips, but now uses pieces in the public domain following some stern warnings from Dr. Seuss Enterprises. The cut-and-paste pastiche method he employed for new tracks plays like more of an afterthought than when he performs with the Grinch visuals, but the songs themselves are tight, catchy and filled with (figurative and literal) bells and whistles. As fun as Aucoin’s soundtracks are, his skills as a songwriter are slowly outpacing his need for visual aids.

Up next, and sticking out like sore thumbs, were Can-rock cast-offs The Waking Eyes. The Winnipeg quartet have come a long way since the heady garage rock days of 2004, pulling a Panic! At the Disco and morphing into a ’70s-pop–inspired indie-rock band. Whatever merit their new songs might have though was obscured by an onstage air of self-importance punctuated by choreographed head bops and leg kicks. The Waking Eyes came off like Spinal Tap dropping “Jazz Odyssey” on a half-empty bar. The guy playing video game and movie themes on piano between sets was more engaging.

Finally The Golden Dogs hit the stage, ripping through three tracks off 2006’s Big Eye Little Eye to start the show. These Toronto locals have played a smattering of gigs around town over the past few months to try out new material. But that hasn’t stopped the band — particularly keyboardist Jessica Grassia-Azzolini — from playing like 10-year olds hopped up on pop-rocks and Coke. Her face was hidden under a thick mane of brown hair for most of the show as she bopped along with each new tune, stopping only briefly to throw her formidable background vocals into the mix.

The half a dozen new tunes the Dogs dropped into their set show the band continuing to develop their propulsive power-pop sound. Some of the arrangements remain rough and there aren’t any hints at an upcoming artistic breakthrough, but they’re strong enough to stand next to the band’s best work and were enthusiastically greeted by the crowd. After exhausting their catalogue and themselves, the band left the stage having reminded everyone how much you can do with a little heart and some great tunes.

This story originally appeared on EYE WEEKLY’s website.

Live Review – The Dears @ Music Gallery Oct. 9

There was an air of skepticism going into Thursday night’s Dears show at the Music Gallery. The band helped carry the torch to Montreal’s indie-rock renaissance three years ago but stalled with 2006’s Polaris-nominated but under-performing Gang of Losers and saw many contemporaries roar past them. The choice of such a small venue seemed to confirm that even The Dears themselves know a lot is riding on their forthcoming record Missiles. It’s a lot easier to meet your audience’s expectations when they’ve been sufficiently lowered.

But all skepticism was put aside when the band hit the stage and launched into the first of five straight new songs. The tunes blend the arena-rock leanings of Losers with the herky-jerk rhythms and traded lyrical barbs between Murray Lightburn and wife Natalia Yanchak that typified 2003’s No Cities Left. That album’s “Lost in the Plot” and “22: The Death of All Romance” were greeted warmly by the 150 people in attendance as were the new songs that filled out the rest of the set.

Lightburn is of course the band’s undisputed leader; only he and Yanchack remain from the group who made Losers two years ago, a fact that was obvious as the band looked intently to him for cues throughout the show. He was short on words for the audience, pausing only briefly mid-set to address the crowd with typical “how you all doing?” banter that even he thought was ridiculous (Although he was unintentionally hilarious when he responded to one fan’s cry of “we love The Dears!” with an equally patronizing “and The Dears love you.”)  But Lightburn looked genuinely humbled when, after finishing the final song of the night, he stepped down into the audience to exchange handshakes and hugs from appreciative fans in the front row.

This story originally appeared on EYE WEEKLY‘’s website.

Record Review: The Buttless Chaps – Cartography

Cartography, the sixth record from Vancouver-based The Buttless Chaps,
balances the sounds developed by the band over its decade-long
existence. Producer Jesse Gander (Ghost House, ex-Operation Makeout)
weaves Ida Nilsen’s vocal and keyboard flourishes into the band’s
alt.country core, though the results are mixed. “Broken Transit, Broken
Soil” and “Coal Grey Sky” are superb songs, and lead singer Dave
Gowans’ deep tenor is reminiscent of Matt Berninger from The National.
But where that band fill out their sonic experiments with hooks that
are infectious without being obvious, several of Cartography‘s tracks
take too long to get anywhere, making what could have been a great
record just pretty good.

This review originally appeared in Eye Weekly.