Advertisement

Concert reviews Music

U.S. Girls at 961a College Street

U.S. GIRLS, BLONDE ELVIS, HOLLOW EARTH and SISSY BOY, at 961a College, Saturday, December 14. Rating: NNNN


It’s a good sign that Toronto music fans are actually willing to struggle through the first major snow storm of the year just to see some local bands playing a BYOB show in what appeared to be someone’s living room. Especially when the headliners U.S. Girls weren’t even officially listed, due to a more legit gig earlier in the week opening for the Kills. Nevertheless, once you got over having to take your shoes off at the door, this very DIY show was as good if not better than many in proper venues (which maybe says something about the state of live music clubs in Toronto).

The charmingly sloppy post punk of Sissy Boy kicked off the night. They show real potential but still seem to be figuring out which direction to focus their sound. Following them, Hollow Earth had a different problem: their psych-prog sound is tightly defined and well-honed, but where’s the long-promised album? Next up were Blonde Elvis, the new-wave pop side project of Young Mother’s Jesse James Laderoute, who are a more punk rock version of the Smiths (this is a good thing, by the way). It was the noise-drenched, mangled 50s R&B of U.S. Girls that made the biggest impression, though. Meg Remy has progressed big time as a performer, and is much more effective with a full band backing her up than as a solo artist.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.