Rating: NNN
Toronto’s Showroom is going full on into the retro swoon of the 80s pop naïf. No surprise there. The Dears, the Stills, Uncut, Interpol and loads of other acts have been tugging at those same heartstrings for a while now. What sets Still Escalator apart is that the mood is far more eyes-to-the-sky than the shoe-gazing stuff we’re used to. Ben Hutchinson plies impressive Morrissey-straying-toward-Siouxie Sioux vox, and a predictable amount of melancholy rides along with that voice. But in flavour and tone, Showroom have a peppier sensibility that recalls the buoyant pop of Dexy’s Midnight Runners and the 80s’ other less grey artists.
Showroom play Friday (June 11) at 1 am at Clinton’s as part of NXNE.
