Saturday night of NXNE is a tough one, where to start, what to see, what you’re willing to sacrifice and miss. Instead of going with a tried and true band that I liked and had seen, or wanted to see, I used this festival for what it is, a place to catch new, upcoming talents that the world should know about. Also I wanted to be close enough to my house that I could pre-drink between acts. I also should have been at the Radiohead show with half of Toronto at that time, but we all know how that turned out, terrible tragedy. So after scouring the lists of venues near my house, Wrongbar looked like the best bet since Doldrums were playing (who I missed to run and catch Young Liars, coming to a review near you). This is where my mind was blown by Dirty Mags for the first time.
Dirty Mags are a 4 piece local Toronto band, that have been around for a couple of years. They draw on many different influences; the closest genre description you can give them is a punk, garage rock outfit, but their influences go far beyond that. You can hear a lot of heavy 90’s grunge riffs in Justin Lemaire’s guitar playing, and also in vocalist Mike Kaminski’s long screechy drones (fantastic vocalist by the way, he has some far ranging chords on him). There were definitely times where you can hear some dark wave 80’s influences as well, giving Dirty Mags a well rounded sound all their own. Dirty Mags create a dark and heavy atmosphere with their music. It engulfs and entrances you so that you are lost in it with them. Definitely a band I will be scouring facebook events for in the future.