LIVE WIRE: Measuring in metric.

(Because shutter shades aren't cool and never were in the first place. © 2009 Shandra Stephenson.)

Entering the Media Club is like entering the den of something that wants to sleep with you. This particular event, lit dimly with candles, had several black wooden blocks pushed together in the middle of the dance floor resembling a makeshift bed. I feel right at home.

The canned music stops and the lights dim. Everyone shouts and claps, expecting Metric's Emily and Jimmy to pop out from behind the red curtain backdrop, but instead they come fumbling awkwardly through the dense crowd and clamber onto the stage. Emily plunks down in front of the piano, Jimmy adjusts his guitar strap, and they start off with a new song off Fantasies called “Gold Guns Girls”. Emily's voice is haunting, engulfing the crowd. It seeps, it lures. It's fantastic.

(© 2009 Shandra Stephenson.)

After playing “Help I’m Alive” and “Sick Muse”, Emily and Jimmy start the rock star banter. Emily tells the room that she wanted this concert to be like a David Lynch film but there was no room to park the car inside so they, unfortunately, couldn't light the stage with its headlights. She motions lazily to the pile of black wooden blocks and says, “but we have a motorcycle.” After a few more songs, Jimmy pops over to the piano. Opening on the song’s trademark flourish, he plays Pink Floyd's "Nobody Home". A rare treat, and an intensely intimate moment in that cozy a space.

On “Gimme Sympathy”, house lights up, everyone knows the lyrics and has their own answer to “Who would you rather be? / The Beatles or The Rolling Stones”. A few people yell out “The Beatles” and one fan screams “Hendrix!” at the top of her lungs. Emily herself throws one out there: “The Kinks!” Everybody cheers.

(Archive photo: Emily Haines of Metric showing off her new Hovercharms™ at the 2009 Zune Concert Series in Whistler, BC. © 2009 Shandra Stephenson.)

Closing on “Live It Out”, Emily gets the whole crowd to sing the chorus over and over until we're all dizzy with well-being. They leave the way they came in, fumbling through the crowd awkwardly. Right before Emily disappears off into her greenroom at the back of the bar, I see a girl reach out, touch her arm, then break down into tears.

What a show.

OFF THE RECORD: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

(Courtesy of Interscope Records.)

Wowzers! I know I’m a bit late reviewing this but if you haven’t heard “Zero” yet, the first single off Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ latest album, you’ve got to check it out. As far as lead off singles go this year, it’s up there with Franz Ferdinand’s "Ulysses" and Metric’s “Help I’m Alive”, and perhaps better than either. And with the brash dance anthem “Heads Will Roll” following it as the one-two punch that kicks off It’s Blitz!, it proves that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new synthtastic approach to music has paid huge dividends.

Sadly though, while the synths stick around for the duration of the album, the energy and enthusiasm of those opening two songs soon dissipates into a parade of ballads, some more successful than others. “Skeletons” falls into the less successful category for me. A lot of reviews of It’s Blitz! seem to love “Skeletons” and maybe I’m missing something, but to these ears it sounds like one of the weaker tracks on the album. Like most songs on It’s Blitz!, the lyrics of “Skeletons” aim to evoke emotion rather than have any literal meaning. This works fine when paired with a beautiful melody or an interesting piece of music, but fails here where Karen O’s simplistic “Skeleton me / Love don’t cry” lyric slides limply into a five-minute long succession of drawn-out atmospheric chords. To his credit, Brian Chase tries to build the track up with some tribal drums, but it’s like dressing a corpse up in a tuxedo; it can’t hide the fact that its heart isn’t beating.

Unfortunately, “Skeletons” is the beginning of an uninspired middle section for It’s Blitz!. “Dull Life” attempts to rock out like Fever to Tell-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs but about a minute in, Nick Zinner leads the band into some generic rock riffage from which the song never recovers. And so far as I can recall, “Shame And Fortune” also attempts to bring some energy to the affair, but after ten listens I can’t remember a single noteworthy thing about it.

Thank goodness then for the shimmering funk of “Dragon Queen”, where Nick Zinner’s guitar and Brian Chase’s drums lock into a tight disco strut. It’s the only song on here where the endless Blondie comparisons have any basis at all, but even with Karen O cooing instead of squealing, it would sound about as at home on Parallel Lines as a giraffe in Antarctica. Combined with “Runaway”, “Hysteric” and “Little Shadow”, “Dragon Queen” helps round off It’s Blitz! in convincing enough fashion, even if by the end of the album, the headrush of “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” is long forgotten.

Although the balance between the more uptempo tracks like “Zero” and the out-and-out ballads is still decidedly skewed towards the ballads, It’s Blitz! proves to be a bold step in a new direction for Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And if it sees them leaving behind the guitar squall and vocal histrionics of past glories, it certainly doesn’t desert the ambition, energy and songwriting chops that characterize their best work.

LIVE WIRE: Gob(show)stopper.

(Tom Thacker of Gob, trying to get the kids upstairs to keep the noise down. © 2009 Josh Lavoie.)

With rock music today dominated by indie bands and Nickelback clones, many people have been led to believe that punk is dead. Though resurgent in the early 90s with bands like Green Day and The Offspring, the scene certainly isn’t as vibrant and visible as it once was. Fortunately, seminal Vancouver punks Gob march on with tremendous vigor and energy, erasing any doubts about what the genre has to offer. Friday’s show at The Biltmore was no exception.

Following openers Burn Hollywood Burn and Theset, Gob burst onto the stage with an authority earned by 15 years in punk rock. Starting with “Prescription” from their latest album Muertos Vivos, they instantly set the tone for an eager audience accosting them with the energy of a six-year-old deviant child tearing through Mom’s stash of Bailey’s chocolates. Their signature distortion and aggressive vocal harmonies bombarded the punters at unspeakable volumes, causing 6’5” heavily-pierced and tattooed veterans to wince in response, but it was exactly what they came for. Fans of older material soon got what they came for as the band played “No Regrets” from The World According to Gob and “B Flat” from Ass Seen on TV.

(Theo Goutzinakis calmly explaining how much his head hurts and how he'd gladly kill someone -- ANYONE -- for drugs. © 2009 Josh Lavoie.)

Shortly after dimming the lights for a grand total of five seconds, Gob reappeared from the darkness for their “encore”. The sing-along heavy second half, driven forward by excessive volumes, kicked audience participation into high gear. Tracks like “Beauville” and “You’re Too Cool”, belted out by singers Theo and Tom, were echoed by the Vancouver band’s hometown crowd at the top of their lungs. Truly a dedicated group, it was an impossibility to find someone not singing along. Their dedication was rewarded as the band rounded out their set with “I Hear You Calling” (of EA Sports NHL 2002 fame) and the classic skate punk anthem “Soda”. Whether or not they’re oblivious to the changes in the music scene or they just don’t give a flying fuck is irrelevant. Gob delivered an incredible, high-energy set covering 15 years of their own musical progression and not a single fan went home wanting, save for maybe some cotton to wad into their bleeding, satisfied ears.

LIVE WIRE: Speaking in Spanglish.

(Needless to say, the ghost did not take kindly to Los Campesinos swiping its favourite prosthetic nose. © 2009 Adam Maddox.)

I know you’re wondering, so I’ll tell you. A campesino is a farmer in Spanish. More specifically, a peasant-like farmer who aims to survive rather than generate a profit. But whether or not the band was aiming to be quite so esoteric, Los Campesinos! are getting their name around and they rocked hard at Richard’s on Richards on Saturday, April 11th.

Los Campesinos! are a pop-punk band that formed in early 2006. Combining chaotic British punk influences with a certain indescribable “tweeness”, they’re composed of seven young university grads from Cardiff, Wales. Initially, it was just Neil (guitar), Ellen (bass) and Ollie (drums). But then Tom (lead guitar and songwriter) met Neil after overhearing him talk about Sufjan Stevens at some club, and joined the band before being followed by Gareth (vocals and glockenspiel), Harriet (violin and keyboard) and Aleksandra (vocals, keyboards, and melody horn). I’m pretty sure I saw a cowbell somewhere in there too, but hell if I know who was playing it. I mean, did you see all those names?

(Harriet Campesinos being all hot and stuff. © 2009 Adam Maddox.)

With more energy than a pack of chimps fleeing a house fire, Tom and Neil didn’t hesitate to jump down to the dance floor or climb up onto the porch to get a bird’s eye view of their buddies rocking the stage. I couldn’t help but notice an asthma inhaler with him the whole time. I guess Tom’s not letting it get him down.

They played a solid range of songs from angsty to celebratory, covering material from both Hold On Now, Youngster… and We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (both technically released in 2008), making everyone in the crowd goosepimply in only the way a tight, solid band can. I was expecting the venue to sell out, but Richard's had space for plenty more. Must’ve been because of Easter weekend. A lot of people probably thought it would be more appropriate to celebrate the execution of Jesus with bunny rabbits, candy eggs and relatives they don’t even like instead. Clearly, Los Campesinos! is a much better alternative.

Click the link to see Adam Maddox's photo slideshow of Los Campesinos @ Richard's on Richards!

OFF THE RECORD: Peter Doherty - Grace/Wastelands

(Courtesy of EMI Music.)

Finally. 2009 has its first masterpiece. If that seems like a bold statement, especially if you’ve never heard a song penned by Pete Doherty, then let me introduce you to the man and his work. Since 2002, when he first broke through in the UK with the clanging opening chords of The Libertines’ “What A Waster”, through to 2007 when his current band Babyshambles released the severely underrated Shotter’s Nation, Pete Doherty has released 4 full-length albums (with two different bands), 2 EPs and several one-off singles. In his spare time, when he wasn’t playing shows or in jail for his numerous public misdemeanours, he also recorded several batches of new songs and released them to his fans for free online. Not bad for a six-year stretch.

For Grace/Wastelands, his first solo album, Doherty’s collected the best of his songs from those demos and bootlegs and polished them into real gems. From the almost Keatsian opening couplet of “Arcady” (“In Arcady a life trips along / Pure and simple as the shepherd’s song”) to the life-in-the-gutter romance of the closing “Lady Don’t Fall Backwards”, Doherty is in stunning poetic and melodic form. In “1939 Returning”, he details the early horrors of WWII - “Kids knee deep in rubble / London urchins gray with dust” - and then finds those war-children again in modern times “staring blankly into the TV guide in 2009”. Elsewhere, Doherty finds inspiration for his lyrics in the Bible; “Salome” retells the story of the death of John the Baptist.

Musically, the album benefits greatly from the sublime production of Stephen Street, the man behind the mixing desk not only for Doherty’s last album, Babyshambles’ Shotter’s Nation, but also for classic British albums like Blur’s Parklife and The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead. Street provides inspired touches on songs like the lead single “Last of the English Roses”, adding reverbed melodica and getting a decidedly dubby sound out of the bass. He’s also clearly been keeping his ear to the ground; the orchestration on “1939 Returning”, “A Little Death Around the Eyes” and “Salome” make me almost certain he’s been listening to The Last Shadow Puppets’ debut and borrowing from it generously. I don’t mean that to discredit him; the James Bond-like strings certainly enhance those songs and give the album a cohesive sonic focus.

However, Street’s most inspired move as producer was in drafting Blur’s Graham Coxon, arguably the best guitarist of the Britpop era. Coxon brings a nuanced approach to songs like the folksy “I Am The Rain” and his professionalism allows Doherty to get away with a bizarre foray into Dixieland jazz in “Sweet By and By” without turning it into novelty.

In the end though, it all comes back to the man at the mic. Doherty has crafted an elegant, flowing album that’s perfect for late-night listening, with a bottle of wine on the table and rain pelting the windows. Though it may not initially wow you, with its graceful lyrics and textured sound, Grace/Wastelands is an album that rewards repeated plays. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

LIVE WIRE: Arkells ain't pullin' any punches.

(Most people don't know this, but "Juno" is actually Latin for "witty pregnant teenager". © 2009 Benjamin Luk.)

If there’s one band I haven’t heard enough buzz about this year, it’s the Arkells. With a youthfully authentic Canadian rock sound perfect for the working-class twenty-something, it only takes a listen or two before you start wondering how you ever got through a day at the office without them. In spite of over 100 bands playing at JunoFest ’09 at almost 20 different venues, I knew the Arkells were the one show I couldn’t afford to miss.

Edging my way to the front at The Roxy was no easy task. News of the Arkells playing such an intimate venue in Vancouver had spread and renowned Toronto concert photographer Pete Nema and certain Battlestar Galactica stars were already in attendance. On a small stage, it’s tough to make a big entrance but it didn’t take long for the band and Max Kerman’s charisma to get the audience warmed up. By the time they played “John Lennon”, the fans who knew the words were already singing along and when “Deadlines” was blasting out of their amps, they were screaming for more. Kerman and I shared a total bromance moment belting the second chorus at each other: “And those fucking Europeans who vacation from September / They ain’t in their right minds.” I never get this worked up talking about another dude, but I guess you had to be there. (Pete Nema understands. You should too.)

But the finale of “Oh, the Boss is Coming!” was absolute insanity. Max would run up to fellow guitarist Mike DeAngelis and duel instruments, while Tim Oxford on drums was like a metronome on every fucking mind-altering drug on the planet. Next thing I knew, Kerman’s mic stand had fallen to the ground. Looking for another mic to sing into, music still pounding, Kerman hijacks DeAngelis’ microphone and all seems well. Crowd still screaming, energy still rising; Kerman’s rockin’ out, jumping back and forth on the narrow stage when he suddenly trips on his fallen stand and nearly faceplants into the floor. But not a beat is missed and Kerman finds another mic just as the final chorus blasts through the room: “There’s no room for error / So beware / When your ass is on the line.”

No really, you had to be there. You should have been there. I’m getting goosebumps just writing about it. And that’s the story of how you missed the best fucking show of JunoFest 2009.

Click the link to see a photo gallery of Arkells @ JunoFest '09!

LIVE WIRE: Tired of waiting? The wait's worth it.

("And that's why you all need to be good little girls and boys. Because the Easter Bunny is watching." © 2009 Benjamin Luk.)

The Trews have always been one of those bands that have just been a blip on my musical radar. You know the type: They’ve been around for years, but the only time you tend to notice they exist is when they pop out another single.

Their Friday night JunoFest performance may have converted me. To put it simply, they rocked their little tent hard, as evidenced by the legions of drunk crowdsurfers and screeching fans. Within moments of entering the tent, I was captivated by the dapperly dressed quartet and how effortlessly they held the attention of their audience. Despite their limited set time, they did a wonderful job engaging the crowd without getting too chatty. “Poor Ol’ Broken Hearted Me” rocked a cowbell while the guitarist, John-Angus MacDonald, jumped off the stage and into the unwashed masses, making the throng even wilder (and the security guards even wearier) than before.



Although there was nothing theoretically new or innovative in their set, it was actually refreshing to see a solid rock performance sans the experimentalism that’s rampant in the indie rock world. No Afro-pop beats, no stagey feedback loops… none of that shit. The staple singles were all present, interspersed with songs off their newest release, 2008’s No Time for Later. Aside from a finale that perhaps dragged on too long and had too many endings for its own good – remember Lord of the Rings? – The Trews put on a high-energy headbang-fest that would’ve done The Junos proud.

The Trews closed with “Tired of Waiting” in a somewhat anti-climactic manner, opting to finish on an extended jam instead of on a strong, punchy, fan-driven chorus. It was as though the entire set was nice and tight, but as soon as the Sirius Satellite Radio guy wandered over and signaled to the band they only had five minutes left to wrap the show, the wheels fell off. To be fair though, the fans damn near incited a small riot when they realized The Trews wouldn’t be coming back for an encore. Like lightning, they were here one moment and gone the next, leaving nothing behind but a low-rolling thunder across the city of Vancouver.

Click the link to see Ben's photo gallery of The Trews @ JunoFest '09!