Concert Review: Hooray For Earth, Architecture in Helsinki, June 11th, Mod Club

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Toronto – Early shows are both a blessing and a curse. On one hand you have the benefit of having the rest of the night to go out and cause trouble after the show, but on the other, if say, you have to go on stage half an hour before you are suppose to be on, you play to practically nobody. New York’s Hooray For Earth, riding a tidal wave of momentum following the positive reviews of their latest release True Loves had the pleasure of playing to a small crowd when they took the stage at 7:30 pm, at least twenty minutes before they were supposed to go on. I unfortunately arrived at 7:45 pm and therefore missed a good chunk of their set, as did most people. As Architecture in Helsinki lead singer Cameron Bird would later say, “No band should have to play that early”. It really is a shame that more people did not catch the Hooray For Earth set. Employing dual synths, the four piece band played tracks off their latest release. Creating a large, mostly synth driven wall of sound, the band sounded much better than the last time I saw them. I did not get to hear the singles off their EP Momo but I will assume those were played early. You can always tell how good an opening act is by how many people go closer to the stage as the band plays and there was a decent amount of people had moved up by the time Hooray For Earth ended their short set with the single True Loves. While the band might not have had the large crowd that they wanted, they did impress the people who were there. Quality, not quantity, I say.

Hooray for Earth – True Loves by Dovecote Records
(For a Free track from Hooray For Earth, click here)

Around one entire hour later, Australia’s Architecture in Helsinki took the stage to a rather large crowd. The group’s most recent release Moment Bends had been on my rotation for awhile and I was also excited to hear their old material but was still a bit miffed that the opener didn’t get some of that empty time in between sets. Anyways, the band took the stage shortly before nine and instantly launched into one of the many radio friendly feel good tracks off the album –Desert Island. Playing primarily songs from their new album, Architecture in Helsinki charmed the crowd to a feverish pitch. The band’s music to me, exists in a place that is between happy and really really happy. You can’t possibly not have a good time at a show when the band members do goofy choreographed dances to their own songs. It wasn’t before long before the majority of the crowd was moving and dancing to each song. Singer Kellie Sutherland has one of the sweetest voices you can encounter and the vocal interplay between the singers provided a nice balanced for the bands saccharine infused eighties prom style. As expected, the two classic Architecture in Helsinki tracks – Do The Whirlwind and Heart It Races generated the most excitement with two girls jumping up on stage to dance to the latter. An encore featuring current single Contact High rounded off the happyfest, leaving everyone energized and enthused as they descended into the night.

Contact High by Architecture In Helsinki

You can also download a Bjorn remix of Contact High Here

Concert Review: Junior Boys, Caribou, Miracle Fortress, June 9, Phoenix

Posted on by sarahw in Concerts | Leave a comment

Junior Boys in a Boat

Toronto – Miracle Fortress is a side project by Graham Van Pelt, keyboardist of Think About Life.  Van Pelt hails from Montreal and is touring after the release of his sophomore album Was I the Wave off Secret City Records.

I went into this show expecting more of a shoe gaze, electronic sound.  Miracle Fortress is from Montreal after all and those French people love their electronic music (Chromeo etc.).

I was pleasantly surprised with the 80s, pop show that Miracle Fortress put on.  Van Pelt’s voice has been likened to that of Brian Wilson, which is complete poppycack (Ricky put a ban on swearing, I’m being creative here).  While the music is catchy and interesting, Van Pelt’s voice is pitchy and breaks a lot, no where close to that Beach Boys falsetto.

Miracle Fortress: Raw Spectacle (Diamond Rings Remix) by -gaga

Good friend and touring partner to Junior Boys, Caribou (Dan Snaith), had a DJ set in between Miracle Fortress and Junior Boys.  What I thought was going to be a 45 minute show turned out to be a 1.5 hour never ending ordeal.  He was very good, but I think a DJ set is better suited to the end of a show.

Junior Boys have been a mainstay in the Canadian music scene since 1999 (read: they’re old) and have 4 albums under their belt.  They opened with my favourite tune, Parallel Lines, one of the most played songs on my iPod.

Miracle Fortress had hints of 80s sound, but Junior Boys have the 80s, New Order sound down to a T.  That being said, I feel as though Junior Boys’ love lies in studio as they have absolutely zero stage presence.  Which is okay, but this is an electronic show, with some relatively upbeat songs.  People will dance regardless but on a Thursday evening at 12am I definitely need some inspiration (yeah, next thing I’ll be telling teenagers to get off my lawn).  Junior Boys played songs from all 4 of their albums and saved their new single Banana Ripple for the encore. Their new album It’s All True is out today (June 14) off Domino Records and you can grab a free track off that record from Domino Records here.

Junior Boys – Banana Ripple by DominoRecordCo

It’s nice to see a sold out show consisting 3 solid Canadian acts,  however the only one I’d see again is Caribou, and for his studio material…not a DJ set.

Additional Junior Boys + Miracle Fortress Tour Dates:

06/16 Washington DC – Black Cat
06/17 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
06/18 Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theater
06/20 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
06/21 Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge
06/22 Louisville, KY – Headliners
06/24 Chicago, IL – Metro
06/25 Detroit, MI – Crofoot

NXNE Song of the Day: Louise Burns – Teen Angst

Posted on by Ricky in North By Northeast, Song of the Day | Leave a comment

Toronto – On the eve of what might be the biggest night in Vancouver history, it’s only fitting that I write about an artist from Vancouver. Louise Burns is a singer-songwriter from Vancouver that recently released her debut album Mellow Drama. Blessed with a sweet voice and honest personal lyrics, Louise has quietly put herself on radars of many Canadian music lovers across the country. Just have a listen to this track for example. “Teen Angst” sounds like a classic track right from the get go – it’s equally familiar and fresh. It reminds me of some of the classic mid-’90s singer songwriter tracks, and would fit perfectly on some coming of age movie featuring Winona Ryder. Louise Burns is playing NXNE so go check her out.

NXNE Showcase:
Supermarket Saturday, June 18 @ 9PM

Other Canadian dates:
June 18 – Kelowna, BC@ Habitat
June 20 – Penticton, BC @ Voodoo
June 21 – Kamloops, BC@ Pogue Mahones
June 22 – Kelowna, BC @ Longhorn Saloon
June 24 – Calgary, AB @ The Palomino
June 24 – Calgary, AB @ The Bamboo
June 24 – Calgary, AB @ Broken City
June 28 – Fort St John, BC @ On The Rocks
June 29 – Grande Prairie, AB @ Better Than Fred’s
June 30 – Edmonton, AB @ Brixx
July 1 – Edmonton, AB @ Broadmoor Lake Park
July 02 – Olds, AB @ Tracks Pub
July 05 – Saskatoon, SK @ The Fez
July 07 – Regina, SK @ The Club at The Exchange
July 08 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Rock Bar

Concert Review: Total F*cking Destruction, Idiots Parade, June 11, La Miroiterie

Posted on by Paul in Concerts, Everything | Leave a comment

Paris – Ah, Saturday night in Paris.  What to do?  Perhaps a late night stroll along the Champs Elysees, a visit to one of the city’s hottest nightspots, or a ridiculously rich and fattening meal accompanied by some pricey wine?  No, instead I opted to spend this night crammed into some tiny little punk squat watching some grindcore bands.  And so, after arming myself with a can of beer purchased at some dodgy shop that seemed to specialize in selling wigs and weaves (and was perhaps also an internet cafe … I’m unclear on this), I dove into the seedy underbelly of Parisian nightlife.

Up first was Idiots Parade from Slovakia.  They put on a really solid, enjoyable set.  Singer Petra has quite the set of lungs, her high pitched, guttural scream punctuating the short, fast bursts of noise from her bandmates.  Grindcore is not a genre known for it’s lengthy musical numbers, as evidenced by the setlist for headliners Total F*cking Destruction  – four sheets of paper taped together featuring I don’t know how many songs.  TFD also put on a solid  set with more of an old school hardcore punk influence to their sound than Idiots Parade, although I enjoyed their set less.  This could have been  due to being mosh pit adjacent for a bit too long as much as it was to the quality of their music though.  That was one crazy moshpit, albeit one that could also stop cold at one point so one fellow could find his glasses.  He found them, in case you were wondering.  On a side note, as I perused TFD’s merch table between sets, I wondered to myself who would buy a shirt with this band’s moniker on it and more importantly, where would they wear it?  I did see one guy in the crowd wearing one, but as he already had several neck tattoos, I guess he’s used to people looking at him disapprovingly.  Also, I guess if you’re French, swear words in other languages on your shirt probably aren’t a big deal.

As TFD’s set came to a close, the crowd called out for more.  “The only other songs we know are cover songs,” announced drummer Richard Hoak, and the band launched into a series of covers including The Misfits’ “We Bite” and The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated.”  They closed things off with the old standby “Louie Louie,” though guitarist Dan O’Hare didn’t even make it through the entirety of that song, leaving the stage and wading his way through the sweaty, energized crowd.  Rumour had it that the band was going to follow this up with a short unplugged set later on, but I felt that this was enough for one night and made my way back home, satisfied with my choice of entertainment for a Saturday night in Paris.