Hardy D’Urbervilles
Naming your band after a 19th-century book implies a certain restrained and overly serious style, which doesn’t come close to describing the exuberant indie pop anthems the D’Urbervilles (August 13) create. Also on the bill are Forest City Lovers, who craft delightfully subtle, low-key tunes.
Miracle worker
Montreal’s Miracle Fortress (Thursday, August 6) take sunny, laid-back, major-key pop tunes and cover them in a wall of glittery textures that evoke Phil Spector (if he’d been sent back from the distant future). Main man Graham Van Pelt also plays in the highly rated bubblegum disco-punk band Think About Life, who play the following night (Friday, August 7).
In bloom
Local upstarts Great Bloomers (August 15) are enjoying a huge amount of buzz that’s recently culminated in a glowing endorsement from Gordon Lightfoot. Somehow they manage to make back-to-basics country pop sound brand spankin’ new again.