Advertisement

Music

The Strange Boys

THE STRANGE BOYS at the Silver Dollar (486 Spadina), Thursday and Friday (June 17-18), 1 am, and Saturday (June 19), 2 am. At the Garrison (1197 Dundas West), Saturday (June 19), 11 pm. $10-$15 or NXNE wristband/pass. nxne.com. Also at Kops Records (229 Queen West), Thursday (June 17), 1:30 pm. Free.


The Strange Boys are making every visit to Toronto count.

[rssbreak]

Back in March, the young Texas garage rockers opened the highly anticipated Spoon/Deerhunter show at Sound Academy before rushing to Rancho Relaxo for an unannounced headlining gig later stage-crashed by kindred spirits the Black Lips.

Back in the city for the second time, they’re making the most out of their first NXNE. The band plays five shows over the course of three busy days, including a three-night stand at the Silver Dollar, where they’ll road-test a few new tracks from their still-unnamed follow-up to 2010’s swaggering Be Brave (In the Red).

Singer/guitarist Ryan Sambol admits the new material isn’t a huge departure from the band’s established mix of Nuggets-era R&B, electric Dylan blues and Texas twang, but he refuses to talk about inspiration.

“I’ve stopped answering that question because I don’t want us to be pegged down to just one or two influences,” he says over the phone from Austin. “I like a lot of music from all different periods. I would say I just like music.”

It’s this don’t-give-a-shit attitude that makes the Strange Boys such an appealing live act and a difficult interview. Unwilling to think deeply about the band, Sambol would rather just get up onstage, down a few beers and have a good time.

“There are more important things in the world than bands,” he says. “We’re just a group of kids playing music. It’s really not a big deal.”

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.