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Concert reviews Music

Less talk, more music would have been nice at Beach Slang last night

BEACH SLANG at the Cave, Monday, November 23. Rating: NNN


Beach Slang are clearly having a hella good time on tour in support of new album The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us, which we named our album of the week in late October. Their Cave gig was the second-last show, and as frontman James Alex pointed out, it’s the time in the tour when his vocals are at 40 per cent, his liver at 20 per cent and his heart at 150 per cent.

The wear-and-tear actually made his voice more effective – a blown-out rasp that added grit and passion to the Philadelphia four-piece’s emo-esque (see album title) take on anthemic pop punk. All the drinking, however, turned him into the blathering guy at the party who won’t stop hugging people (his heart really was at 150 per cent) or saying everything that comes into his head.  

And so we got a sometimes endearing, often frustrating set short on music and long on gab. There were constant interruptions by Alex, shout-outs to Drake and Kevin Drew, a FaceTime chat with bassist Ed McNulty, who couldn’t cross the border due to an expired passport and who was showering when the call came in, a lengthy dog joke few of us could hear, some excruciating humble brags and Alex grabbing two more beers from the bar, which he chugged at the same time upon returning to the stage.

When songs did get played, the band sounded mighty, tight and worth the hype. American Girls And French Kisses, Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas and Too Late To Die Young were especially powerful, and few could complain about the Replacements and Jawbreaker covers. (You could complain about the aborted attempts at Crazy Train, Whole Lotta Love and Lua.) The excellent Punk Or Lust ended the night but couldn’t quite save it.

carlag@nowtoronto.com | @carlagillis

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