You may remember Nate Henricks from a post that I did back in June. That album, “Neon for No One,” remains one of my favorite finds from scouring the internet obsessively for new unknown stuff. I bought the tape and have been listening to it fairly regularly ever since. “Sometimes I Die” from that album is definitely one of the standout tracks of the year, and will most likely (read: definitely be going on my end of year mix).
Now, the ever prolific Henricks has a new album that is every bit as affecting. It’s actually quite astounding the amount of really top shelf music that he’s able to put out in a year. Counting up everything on his bandcamp page there are 14 releases including this one for you to enjoy.
“Apple Juice” brings us even more of the collage-as-song writing and arranging style that “Neon For No One” is full of. Right out of the gate “Alligator in the Toilet” moves from fairly straight ahead rock into a hardcore punk/metal hybrid and finally to Casio keyboard drum machine weirdness at the end. Yet, as I’m sure I mentioned before, it all holds together so well that each section works like a song within a song.
“Vegetarian Dog” and “Your Arcade Prize” are two “live” tracks that, for more than a minute, had me seriously considering if he actually did play in Tokyo. I mean, I like his music well enough, why wouldn’t there be a ton of people in Japan that are way into his music? “Your Arcade Prize” is full of catchy hooks and a strangely fitting nod to doo-wop, the end morphing into a blues rock freak out that continues to manages to draw a straight line of 60s influence all the way from beginning to end.
There’s just so much creative energy and so many great musical moments across the 21 minutes of “Apple Juice” that it would be difficult to recount them all. From the rock, pop, blues, metal, punk, and sound collage’s that have found their way into these tracks, those 21 minutes are incredibly substantial. Best thing would be to just listen to the thing a few times in a sitting. Don’t even worry about which track is which, it’s almost beside the point, just take the entire release in as one long idea, as it seems that is the way it was created.
You can check out the album in its entirety above, or head to Nate’s bandcamp page to check out everything else that he’s created. He’s also created a bunch of videos and art that can be found on his website. Speaking of videos here’s one he made for “Vegetarian Dog” below. Now go buy his music, and help support Nate Henricks.
Le Rug has got pretty good timing, coming at us with a track like “Jailbait,” just in time for the Summer. This track is sure to end up on more than a few playlists designed to accompany roadtrips down a sunny highway to nowhere in particular in the coming months. It’s just one of those carefree and energetic rockers that’s catchy as hell from start to finish.
Of course, being that it is only one track from a 32 track compilation that spans several years, it is by no means representative. “Harold Camping” is a bit more varied in its approach, with the same wild vocal but a guitar sound that is more restrained. Each song throughout the compilation sounds new and familiar at the same time, and though I usually prohibit myself from saying such meaningless-sounding wordfiller type things, it’s really true. Though “Godstar” reminds me of maybe The Burdocks, in the sound of the vocals, and some of the melodies. The rhythms here are less angular, that is for sure, but the melodic sensibility is pretty similar.
Other tracks, like “Get it Over With” and “Dead in a Hole” explore a synthier side that isn’t necessarily any colder timbrally than the other guitar driven tracks, but certainly explore a whole other sound in general. The guitar is ever present, at varying levels of grit. The songs always have the ability to soar and find a way to pull the listener in.
The good news is that there is a whole lot more where this came from. These songs are coming off a 32 track compilation that is set for release June 17th, and can be pre-ordered right now on cassette (recommended) or as a download from Austin’s Fleeting Youth records. According to the press release:
Press Start: The Collection features 5 magnetic and pulsing post-punk releases from Brooklyn’s Le Rug (32 tracks overall)– 3 albums from when Le Rug was more active years ago and 2 new recent EPs released earlier this year.
For now though you can download the tracks above for free. Take some time to ruminate with them. No doubt you will find yourself wanting to listen more and more.
As a musician, and as someone that listens to a ridiculous amount of music, sometimes I am listening just for sounds. Sometimes the melodies and whether or not they are catchy take a backseat to the atmosphere that an album creates.
There have been times that I’ve been so wrapped up in a band’s unique sound that it’s a week or two of non-stop listening before I start to really focus on the harmonic structure, song structure, melodies and lyrical content that is contained therein. This was precisely the case when I first heard Shellac. I remained entranced by the sound of the Travis Bean guitars and Steve Albini’s trademark recording technique sound.
Chad VanGaalen is similar in the way that his recordings have quite a distinctive sound. His production on the 2 albums by fellow Calgarians Women is noteworthy for being characteristically and decidedly lo-fi. Diaper Island takes those production values and applies them to songs that, while still existing very much in the experimental realm, are considerably less abrasive and confrontational that those of Women. The Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth influence is pulled back while that of Neil Young and The Beatles is pushed a bit more to the front.
Chad-VanGaalen - "Diaper-Island"
There is still quite a psychedelic feel to the album with noisy squeals of guitar cutting through on “Replace Me” and the swirling hypnotic backdrop of “Blonde Hash” that fights against the jangly guitar line until it’s cut out completely when the reverb drenched chorus kicks in. “Peace on the Rise” also features an interesting, harmonically disjointed line that seems to fight the song’s own gravitational pull.
The tunefulness of the songs and the noisiness of some of the odd sounds that creep in now and again are balanced well. Neither draws focus away from the other. The songs have the ability to sound haunting, catchy, sorrowful, tender and sincere. They can also wander into delicate, quiet territory or become invasive and gritty without being jarring. The combination of these affects create a powerful experience.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the closing track “Shave My Pussy” which is, honestly, a really terrific track with a folksy harp line that is plucked out, leading to a truly great chorus. This coupled with, as one can infer by the title, lyrics that are a bit odd to say the least. All in all this is a terrific album and has cemented itself as one of my favorites of the year to date.
The much anticipated album from indie rock “super group” Wild Flag has finally arrived, giving everyone something to shout about. One could practically hear the reviewers proclaiming the, at that point unnamed project, “Best of the Year” after Carrie Brownstein announced that she was leaving her post at NPR. It was decided a priori that this group was going to be amazing. I don’t want to start to sound like I totally disagree with the excitement that is surrounding this group, I just am shuddering slightly at the nepotism of the scene.
Luckily for Wild Flag they have released an album that is capable of supporting all of the buzz that has been generated on its behalf. A backwards approach, but that isn’t their fault. From my point of view it seems as if they are starting from as new a place as they can. They can’t help that they were in Sleater-Kinney, Helium and a bunch of other more under-appreciated bands, and why would they want to? It’s that experience that no doubt influenced the formation of Wild Flag and the production of their solid debut album.
Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, formerly of Sleater-Kinney, are joined by Mary Timony on vocals and guitar and Rebecca Cole on keys to create a powerful guitar driven rock sound that seems to be influenced by the spontaneity of live performance. The album’s 10 tracks capture the rough around the edges sound of an experienced live band. Despite their only having been together as Wild Flag for about a year it is clear that their collective experience is guiding their way. This album definitely does not sound like a debut. It is a focused and confident release.
Wild-Flag - "Wild Flag"
“Glass Tambourine” and “Racehorse” are two of the more experimental and lengthy jams while “Endless Talk” is reminiscent of The Cars with Brownstein’s sharp, clipped vocals matching to a degree those of Ric Ocasek while her guitar work adds a bit of a more abrasive tone over top. “Short Version” gets right to the point, full steam ahead with blistering guitar riffs cutting through the silence.
Throughout the album Timony’s vocals are contrasted sharply by Brownstein’s. Where Timony’s voice has a more natural and relaxed sound Brownstein’s delivery sounds purposefully forceful. Her guitar style matches her vocal delivery in that it seems to cut sharp angles against the rest of the band. It’s the difference between a song like “Electric Band” and “Future Crimes”. An exciting album from one of the most talked about bands of the year. Thankfully the music seems to match the hype, for once.
Finally, after all the hype of indie culture coming to the mainstream, with Arcade Fire winning the Album of the Year Grammy and every band everywhere looking for a unique sound, we get an album that gives us exactly what we need. Yuck has delivered an album that has garnered a lot of attention for its fresh sound that, ironically, is captured by going back to sounding like the music of the 1990’s.
It is funny to think that we can actually refer to this music accurately by saying that it sounds reminiscent to the songs of late last century. A time when MTV actually played music. When shows like “120 Minutes” would showcase music that was up and coming, college radio fare that was not getting much, if any, mainstream attention. I’m sure I am not the only one that remembers staying up late as a kid to catch a glimpse of all the cool, obscure music that was coming out so that I could slyly reference it later in school when talking to my friends. Man, they would think I was so cool. Not that Yuck’s music embraces obscure acts of a bygone era. On the contrary, it captures the essence of the indie rock scene of the 90s that we all know and love but may have passed by those who were not paying attention. This music is a celebration of a time gone by, though its return is more than welcome.
I read a description online of Yuck as a “rock revival” act. Though I know the point that this particular review was getting at I still find it frustrating that the very people that listen to and love rock music are constantly claiming that it is a dead artform. Take for example every time that The Strokes, or any member of The Strokes, releases an album. The magazine covers seem to always ask, “Can The Strokes save rock?” as if it is a genre that is gone, or at least deteriorated and in need of rescuing. I don’t know if Yuck has the power, or even the willingness to “rescue” rock music but they have crafted a beautiful album that is large in scope and certainly charming in its reminiscence of music that music fans of my generation grew up listening to.
Yuck - "Yuck"
Strands of early Sloan, early Smashing Pumpkins, Thrush Hermit, Hum, Sebadoh, The Burdocks and Dinosaur Jr. (in the album’s noisier moments) shine through track after track. The album doesn’t come off sounding like some unearthed relic, nor does it feel or sound old or stale in the slightest. Ideas and sound taken from the 90s are developed a bit with tighter rhythm section behind the initial wall of shoegazey noise.
I’m sure that there will be plenty of people tossing around the term “post-modern” in reference to Yuck. Sure, if the shoe fits, but those that dismiss this album as a simple throwback are missing the point. This album and this band seem to be reminding a tired, fractured and disenfranchised indie-rock fan base, that is constantly pulled from one direction to the next, of where we have come from. Perhaps this album can serve as a reset point where we can ponder the roots of all that is coming out today. Or, perhaps this album can serve as a direct line connecteing the music of today to the music of twenty years ago as an alternate reality where an overabundance of easily reproducable, easily attainable music never came to be and therefore never forced fans to choose one of a mulitude of made up genres to which they pledge their unflagging allegiance. Imagine good music stripped of hipster culture. This, I believe, is the world in which Yuck longs to exist.
The album is an “album”. By that I mean that it is a complete journey from beginning to end. Noisy rockers such as album opener “Get Away”, “The Wall” and “Holing Out” are broken up by quieter, more contemplative material such as “Stutter”, “Suicide Policeman” and “Rose Gives a Lilly”. All the songs feature prominently catchy hooks and layered guitar work. “Shook Down”, with its duetting boy/girl vocal, is especially effective as is the up-tempo distored folkiness of “Georgia”.
It seemed to come at us out of nowhere but now we are 20 years past the Seattle “grunge” explosion and just as far are we from the surge of great music that came out of the Halifax scene around the same time. It seems that this is just about the perfect time for a band like Yuck to bring us right back to the comfort of our indie-rock roots.
Soundgarden has reformed, Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr. have been playing shows, and Beavis and Butthead is returning to television. It seems that a full on 90s reboot is taking shape. It’s a good thing that a band like Yuck can make something new amidst all this looking back.
Chikita Violenta is a Mexican indie rock band that is trying to make waves in a very crowded scene right now. They have the sound and the songs and, mostly, the production backing them up. Unfortunately they are about 6 years behind the times in their efforts making this album sound nearly exactly like what Broken Social Scene was doing back in 2005 with their self-titled release.
It’s not just the sound itself that reminds me of the Broken Social Scene album, or that the same sort of spirit is captured on this album; it is that they pretty directly steal from that album. For example there are spots in “All I Need’s A Little More” that sounds as if it was lifted directly from “It’s All Gonna Break”. Parts of “Tired” are pretty damn close to “Handjobs for the Holidays”. I was wondering what the hell was going on with this album so I started doing a very cursory look around the internet. Normally I don’t look up anything about the band online when I am writing a review, other than to find out member’s names and exact dates of albums for accuracy’s sake. I don’t ever read other people’s reviews of albums and I usually don’t care about how an album was produced unless something really interesting strikes my ear, for example with Women’s albums. I like my reviews to be completely 100% based upon what I hear, but this time I couldn’t let it go. Curiosity got the best of me.
Well….guess what? Chikita Violenta is on Arts & Crafts, the label founded by the main men behind Broken Social Scene. If that wasn’t enough, this album was produced by the very same guy, David Newfeld, that produced Broken Social Scene’s 2005 self titled album. After I patted myself on the back for having such good ears to pick that out (not that it was too difficult being that it was made completely obvious) my appreciation for this album quickly waned. If I would have written a review upon my first few listens, it would have been fairly positive, but then those little things started becoming more noticeable and before long they were spreading like a pox and I couldn’t keep myself from paying attention to them.
Chikita Violenta - "Tre3s"
The sound is molded perfectly to fit that “anthemic” sort of “new wave of arena rock” that none other than Broken Social Scene, and I suppose to some extent those “other” (well, they were the “other” and now are the ones that are more relevant) Canadian arena rockers Arcade Fire, popularized in the early 2000’s. Who could blame them? It’s a great sound. Memorable, emotional, loud and busy. It’s great at filling up all the spaces where music should go with all sorts of wonderment and awe. It’s the sound that could describe that feeling one gets when confronted with something completely amazing, and profound; some grand sight that makes a person feel a oneness with humanity for a fleeting moment. It is the sound of that experience that they are attempting to bottle and make last forever.
Don’t get me wrong, or do get me wrong if you’d like. I don’t like to rip on bands. I don’t really do it that much, or ever. Chikita Violenta is not a bad band. They have written some really catchy tunes, but it seems as though we are prevented from hearing them after all this mimicry is piled on top of it. This places them squarely in the very long shadow cast by some trailblazing indie rock bands. “The Monster (Was Last Seen Approaching the Power Plant)” begins promisingly enough with some Spanish guitar that momentarily breathes new life into the album before everything is once again covered up by a mass of loops, samples and effects in a great whoosh of sound that envelops everything in its warm, stale cocoon.
There are some shining moments on the album, beginning with “Siren” which is a truly affecting song with some emotional power behind it. The latter third of the album seems to strip away at least some of the overdone production and gives us at least some clue as to the group’s abilities as a band. “My Connection”, the album closer, is about as stripped down as it gets here and, unsurprisingly, it is one of the highlights of the album.
Being influenced is one thing, but coming off as almost completely derivitive is another. It is my opinion that this is a band that truly wants to get their music out there, and to be honest, what band doesn’t? The way that Chikita Violenta has chosen to do this though was to attach themselves to the successes of another group and totally relinquish control to the producer in order to capture that certain “sound”, a sound that has already been captured by others.
They need more confidence in their songs. If their songs can stand on their own without the studio wizardry then they will stand out in the crowd. Today’s music scene demands a certain amount of originality. I think that the songs contained within this album may have that desired level of originality, but again, it is hard to tell with all the production piled on top of it. Music shouldn’t be produced like in a factory.
Deerhunter truly lives up to the hype with their much anticipated “Halcyon Digest”. This latest release takes a sharp left turn from previous work, like the album oriented “Cryptograms”. Where that album relied much more heavily on ambiance, spacious sounds and atmospheres, “Halcyon Digest” stands as more of a collection of songs with great hooks and flat-out catchy tunes with classic songwriting rather than an album length experiment. This is an album of much more palatable music that is less confrontational in its sound than their previous work.
This time around the band is clearly influenced by the sounds of groups from the 60’s. There are obvious nods to groups like The Kinks in some of the more up-tempo, driving songs like “Memory Boy”. In that way they have taken the same route as MGMT, turning to the sound of their influences, worn proudly on their sleeves, rather than forging ahead in their formerly bold originality. “Basement Scene” takes a very familiar motive from the Roy Orbison song “All I Have to do is Dream” and runs with it. Cox’s voice trails off, melding with the feedback echo in a blurred crescendo of sound.
The songs throughout are very tuneful and vibrant, which stands in contrast to their former concentration on the more ambient elements of their sound. This is not to say that they have changed completely to an unrecognizable sound, Deerhunter still manage to pack in some hypnotic allure into these tunes. But there is a new connection made. This connection links the band to their influences, which gives the audience a better picture of where it is that they are coming from.
Deerhunter - "Halcyon Digest"
The elements of ambiance and spacey, disconnected arrangements are not completely gone. “He Would Have Laughed” combines arty atmospherics with the newly dialed up accessibility as does “Sailing” with its gentle guitar and background sounds. The slap-back echo that envelops the vocals, with the doubled guitar tone combine to become a sort of characteristic sound for the album. These effects are especially noticeable on opening track “Earthquake!” and album closer “He Would Have Laughed”, making good bookends for the album. They take out their Kinks influence on “Memory Boy” which is an upbeat, forward driving and catchy song, and immediately contrast it with the noticeably darker “Desire Lines” and its gently sung vocals, arpeggiated guitar and echoes of background singing creeping in to create a dense, layered effect. “Desire Lines” lapses into a hypnotic repeated guitar outro that continuously builds for a few minutes only to be stopped when it is faded out and left to linger in your memory.
Singer Bradford Cox’s voice is a little deeper at spots now, and there is the slightest hint of rasp in his voice that adds an element of roughness to even the sweetest tunes on “Halcyon Digest”. Also, adding to their new sound is the addition of a saxophone to “Coranado” which brings to it an interesting old school rock ‘n roll color. They also show that their experimental side has not gone away with 2 part songs “Don’t Cry” and “He Would Have Laughed”. The former song collapsing in on itself into a slow acoustic ending while the latter develops further after you begin to think that the song was coming to an end.
“Halcyon Digest” is a great album that brings together elements of the bands’ influences and works them in with their own experimental sound. The emotional content of each song really grabs the listener and won’t let go, there is a strong connection made here, a connection with the past and a connection between the band and their audience.
I know what you are thinking, “This album has been out for almost 2 weeks, we already know how good it is”. This is all true, but I’m trying to catch up with all the things that I want to write about and I have been addicted to the new Dirty Projectors album. Maybe this is because I only started regularly updating my blog within the past week and I have had the new Phoenix album for over a month. Perhaps the excitement about it is gone. Actually, come to think of it, that is exactly what is so right about this album. After listening to it regularly for over a month the magic is not gone.
This happened with my first introduction to Phoenix not too long after “It’s Never Been Like That” came out. I believe that was during the summer too. Maybe it wasn’t a summer, but Phoenix has carved a nice little niche for themselves in writing really upbeat, summer-sounding tunes that benefit from fantastic production that is not heard too often on albums. There is something warm and convivial about their songwriting style. It’s easy going. It’s carefree but extraordinarily articulate and perfectly crafted. It’s, in a word, French.
Thankfully the days of “Funky Squaredance” are gone. The albums just keep getting better and more finely tuned, no more needlessly long and unforgiving songs that wander here, there and everywhere. I think that is the criticism that I have of the album “United” as a whole. It wanders. One song is a dancy jam, the next is an over-produced ballad that sounds like it is straight out of the year 1987. Maybe the sound recording technology in Paris is slightly behind ours, but I doubt it. These guys have money, they can do what they want. Though maybe they didn’t have that much money back then, but they should now. But I digress. The point is that they have found their voice on this album.
Finally, as I have said before, 2009 is going to be a great year for music. It is already shaping up to be one. Albums like this don’t exactly come around every year.
Phoenix is not afraid to make music that is recognizable, because it is reminiscent of another era. They have captured our attention because of their ability to make songs that sound like they are from our childhood, or sound like they could be. When listening to “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” there is an overwhelming feeling of “oooh where have I heard this before?” or, if not, for me at least, the songs are already connected to memories.
Wolgang Amadeus Phoenix, the new album by Phoenix is out now.
A little less guitar-driven than “It’s Never Been Like That” it is not accurate to say that this album is synth-driven, but there is definitely more of a balance. Phoenix sounds more lush, bigger, more forceful. The production is tastefully done and everything is really clean sounding and pitch perfect. The world would be a much better place if everyone took as much care in creating their albums in post as Phoenix.
As would be expected this album is full of catchy hooks, and the obligatory instrumental track, though this time “Love Like a Sunset” is a song with an instrumental building up to it. I think this works a little bit better than previous attempts like “North”. It must be important to them that they show that they aren’t just some ultra efficient pop-song writing machine, and they want to show that they are fantastic instrumentalists as well. They can definitely craft a longer composition, and rarely does it come off overblown or long-winded. Seeing them perform on Saturday Night Live a while back (it seems like forever ago now) made me feel the same as when Spoon played last season. It feels like this is the little band that could, even though they have been around for a while with a steadily growing audience. The performance there was great, so great in fact there were rumblings that they were playing along to a pre-recorded track (they absolutely were not).
I have heard the music of Phoenix described as sounding like a sunrise. I think that metaphor is quite apt, especially for this album.
The Burning Hell are Canadian Indie Rock’s best kept secret. Mathias Kom and his clan of musicians (over 10 at last count) from Peterborough, Ontario have been creating quirky, dark and self-depricating pop tunes for a few years now. I was first introduced to them in February 2008 through their album “Happy Birthday” which has several memorable tunes on it, including “Grave Situation, Pt. 1” about a woman that comes back from the dead to take revenge on her cheating lover.
The band, on that album features Kom on very low vocals and ukulele with the assistance of cello, drums, glockenspiel, trumpet, omnichord, keyboards, guitar and bass and a perfectly placed lap steel among other things that I may be forgetting. I listened to that album so much that I think I have memorized just about every line on every instrument and all the lyrics. I almost don’t need the recording anymore, as I can just recall it in my memory. That being said I was quite thrilled when I was in Toronto this past March and found their new release “Baby” without even looking for it. Apparently it had been put on the shelf a day or so before it was to be officially released. Most likely I was one of the first people to hear the new album, which is probably odd being that not too many Canadians have heard them and I’m an American. That is beside the point. I think that everyone should hear this band.
“Baby” is a bit of a departure from the very dark sounding “Happy Birthday”, but I welcome the change. The songs are brighter and more upbeat with more ensemble work (and more chords!). Mathias writes and sings in a style that is vibrant, with lyrics that take unexpected, and often funny, or at the very least ironic, turns. “The Berlin Conference” is about exactly that, while “Grave Situation, Pt. 3” and “The Things that People Make, Pt. 2” pick up where the other songs left off. It seems that Mathias likes to develop upon previous ideas. This doesn’t mean that the songs remain sounding like their counterparts from years past, rather the new style permeates and the songs receive an updated treatment.
I was, obviously, very familiar with their work by the time I saw them at Lee’s Palace. Lee’s is a great room, with the potential for a rather large audience. The stage is large and up very high, separating the band from the audience by hoisting them up above our heads. There isa large space in front of the stage, and probably not a bad spot in the house. I have had the opportunity to see only one other show at Lee’s (The Bicycles “Oh No, It’s Love” CD release) and that was amazing and memorable, so coming back was great. This show was kind of strange in that The Burning Hell were, to me anyway, the headliners. That wasn’t really the case though. The show was actually a CD release for Polaris Prize nominated band Dog Day, and there were 2 opening bands that went on before them. The Burning Hell took the stage at midnight, AFTER Dog Day had finished their set.
I did buy Dog Day’s first album on the Itunes store and I have listened to it a few times, but I didn’t feel as though it was really that memorable. I prefer the work the singer did with Burdocks, and I listen to them more regularly. Dog Day’s set was not very exciting at all, and could not hold our interest (I was there with my girlfriend), so we decided to go outside for a walk for a bit after about 3 songs. When we went outside we ran into Mathias who was nervously standing outside waiting to load in. We had a brief introduction and said that we were looking forward to their set.
When they began Lee’s was rather….not full. I was disappointed. How could a band that writes such amazing and smart tunes not be filling places like this on a regular basis? After starting their set with a few new tunes, including “Baby” opening “Old World” they returned to more familiar territory, to me, with songs from “Happy Birthday” including “Everything You Believe is a Lie” and “Grave Situation, Pt. 1”. The set was full of energy, with a very excitable keyboard/glock player on stage right, a trumpet player that looks like he came off the set of “Braveheart” and a great guitarist and bassist in the back. There were a lot of people packed onto that stage.
Mathias’ singing alternated somewhere between preacher and conversation as he rattled off his lyrics of broken meter and too-many words per phrase. He rally takes authority up there on stage. It’s obviously great fun to be on stage and he is not afraid to let it show, even if he is dressed very proper in his sport coat. It’s all about juxtaposition. Here is a man of average build, dressed nicely in a sport coat, playing a ukulele, and singing in a low, serious baritone about things like dinosaurs, love (“It’s like a trailer park….”) and upbeat tunes about the world coming to an end. All of which are full of catchy hooks and wonderfully tight harmonies and rhythm section.
The show was wonderful and the end came with a nice surprise. The Burning Hell will be playing at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on June 18 with King Khan and Barbecue Show. I will definitely be there, and hopefully more of Toronto will be represented in the crowd. There is one thing that I hope doesn’t happen again at the show at the Horseshoe: the very strange guy that skulked around the area in front of the stage and scared everyone. He make several strange gestures at my girlfriend and I, searched around for half-empty beer bottles to drink from and then smashed them on the ground when he discovered they were empty, harassed a girl toward the front of the stage (and then took beer bottles directly off the stage) and lit up a smoke in the middle of the crowd. I needed to retreat to the side of the stage for fear of my girlfriend or myself getting stabbed by him. It was rather disconcerting that nobody at Lee’s saw him and stopped him or was out there to do anything about it. It took away from the great music that was happening on the stage. I won’t say that this ruined the show, by any means, but I was nervous through a lot of it. Good thing I will have the chance to see them again soon.
Here are the videos I took at this concert. “Grave Situation, Pt. 1” featuring the very excitable glock player I mentioned earlier, and the grand finale that starts with Phil Collins’ classic “In the Air Tonight” and concludes with “The Things that People Make, Pt. 1”. Please enjoy.
![Chad-VanGaalen - "Diaper-Island"](http://quartertonality.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Chad-VanGaalen-Diaper-Island-300x300.jpg "Chad-VanGaalen - "Diaper-Island"")
![Wild-Flag - "Wild Flag"](http://quartertonality.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Wild-Flag-300x300.jpg "Wild-Flag - "Wild Flag"")
