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Music

BB Guns

BB GUNS with SPHINXS, LOST BABIES and DAS RAD at the Silver Dollar (486 Spadina), Friday (January 11), doors 9 pm. $6. 416-975-0909. See listing.


Up-and-coming Toronto garage pop quintet BB Guns feel pretty lucky. They’re getting psyched to release their debut 7-inch this spring, after managing to get Brian Borcherdt to produce it. The Holy Fuck and Dusted musician came aboard despite having been introduced to the band under less than ideal circumstances.

“Brian came to see us at CMW, and it was a pretty debaucherous gig,” lead singer/guitarist Laura Hermiston explains sheepishly. Apparently, she got tangled up in her own leather jacket and guitar for an embarrassingly long time.

“It was horrible. So awful!” keyboardist/vocalist Charlotte Marie interrupts. “We were so sad and depressed after that show, thinking it was shit and wondering what the hell happened. Then Brian came up to us and said he loved it!”

Borcherdt’s experimental vision gelled with BB Guns’ punked-up 60s pop sound far better than you might guess. That wall-of-reverb aesthetic so popular in recent years is even more effective when shaped by someone who’s long used electronic echo effects as an instrument.

“There are some songs where Brian brought in his Holy Fuck equipment to sample and run our vocals through,” recalls Marie.

“But he worked with us on all the ideas and allowed us to be creative with any of his ideas,” adds guitarist/vocalist Alana deVee.

Fortune was also on BB Guns’ side when it came to finding a label to release their debut. None of them were too keen about putting their credit on the line to start their own imprint, but by chance they caught the ear of recently revived 90s UK indie label Marineville.

“Basically, he found us on Soundcloud after searching for ‘surf,'” says Hermiston, laughing. “Thank god we used tags.”

benjaminb@nowtoronto.com | twitter.com/benjaminboles

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