OBLITERATIONS at Hard Luck Bar, Saturday, February 14. Rating: NNN
Stephen McBean has a way of bringing feel-good vibes to even his heaviest projects, including Black Mountain and Pink Mountaintops. But that isn’t the case with his L.A.-based hardcore punk project Obliterations, in which he stands in the shadows slaying guitar riffs that move between Sabbathy, grungy and vicious.
There’s something inherently anti-romance about being at Hard Luck on Valentine’s Day, but additionally, singer Sam James Velde seemed incredibly pissed off. He barked at the small crowd to get closer to the stage, then proceeded to yell at people for taking selfies. He held his microphone stand horizontally at crotch level and thrust it in a guy’s face and smashed said microphone stand into the dropped-tile ceiling so that dust, drywall and insulation (and probably asbestos) fell onto our heads.
He did all this while roaring through songs from the band’s terrific full-length, Poison Everything, whose dark and seething power translated easily to the stage. And of course Velde’s fiery stage persona also kept things entertaining. Still, the pervading sense of buzz-kill certainly played a part in the small crowd’s having grown smaller before the set had ended.
Carla Gillis
OLIVIA CHANEY at the Dakota, Tuesday, February 10. Rating: NNNN
Olivia Chaney‘s early set at the Dakota had all the intimacy of a salon. The British folksinger/songwriter – and fresh Nonesuch signee – chatted up the audience as she transitioned fluidly between fingerpicked guitar, harmonium and piano, her repertoire spanning countries and centuries.
Chaney’s breadth doesn’t seem put-on to sound impressive, though playing La Jardinera – a folk song by 60s Chilean singer Violeta Parra – beside 17th century compositions by Henry Purcell surely must. But Chaney is a song collector and interpreter as much as a strong, clear, expressive singer. Her songwriting is perhaps in the process of catching up. (We’ll see when her debut album, The Longest River, comes out March 24.)
The low, droney, unusual combo of harmonium and violin conveyed an interesting sombreness that wasn’t overused. But the focus was on the songs’ stories, whether it was Seven Curses (by way of Joan Baez/Dylan) or Alasdair Roberts’s Waxwing.
And Chaney sure knows how to please Canadians: she sang a song in medieval French, said she prefers Canada to Australia (“probably because you’re all mad”) and finished with a cover of Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You – with none of the fear and trepidation that usually causes.
Sarah Greene
LIDS, DARLENE SHRUGG, THE BEVERLEYS, PROGRAMM and MEKELE as part of Long Winter at 99 Sudbury and the Great Hall, Friday, February 13. Rating: NNN
With so many bands playing in two different venues at Long Winter, the indie music festival leaves a much stronger cumulative impression than it does moment to moment. This month’s edition was styled as an outdoor fair, but unbearable cold kept revellers primarily indoors.
Although it’s a reliable place to catch buzz bands, there are also art-world crossover curiosities who play up concept over songcraft. Montreal transplant Mekele looped operatic notes over jerky beats, fuzzy ambience and nature sounds. It was occasionally pleasant but aimless, and the cavernous 99 Sudbury swallowed up any nuance.
At the Great Hall, shoegazers Programm had fans glazed over with undulating waves of warmth. Grungy three-piece the Beverleys threw back to the alt-rock of yesteryear with scuzzy power riffs and raspy vocals. The sounds were on point, but both acts lacked a unique perspective or style.
Darlene Shrugg‘s garage rock is full of vintage glamour, tightly coiled energy and attitude. Keyboardist Meghan Remy (also of U.S. Girls) belted out odd, squeaky vocals as guitarist Slim Twig psyched out his squalling riffs with multiple pedals. LIDS kept up the unadulterated rock with a dreamier, sweatier take on 60s stoner jams. The band worked hard against the room’s swampy acoustics, especially when it came to harmonies, which added sweetness to their sprawling style and walloping dudeage.
Kevin Ritchie
MOZART’S SISTER and FRESH SNOW as part of the Wavelength Music Festival at the Garrison, Sunday, February 15. Rating: NNN
When Fresh Snow‘s first notes emerged out of the fog of dry ice, it was easy to tell why Wavelength‘s organizers are so smitten with the Toronto band: their proggy post-rock with a refreshing bend toward Krauty experimentalism recalls acts from the music series’ heyday.
But even with the kaleidoscopic visuals (care of General Chaos) now synonymous with the festival, nothing about the show felt like a rehash, including Mozart’s Sister, who headlined the final day of the 15th-anniversary celebrations. Her buoyant energy coursed through the room, and her future-focused pop sounded polished and spacious. Her voice’s dimensions manoeuvred around rubbery, homemade beats and reduced the crowd to a hot dancing mess.
Previous WL fests celebrated the Toronto institution’s many years of successes without saying much about its place in the future. But looking backward only caters to a bunch of plaid shirts still living in Torontopia. Thankfully, this year’s proved that the organizers are just as invested in what’s to come.
Michael Rancic