I’m a sucker for a band that can melt my brain like it was Chernobyl round two. Sure I like most bands I see live and it’s always easy to pick a few things you love and focus in on them, writing a dazzling puff piece about their originality, song structure, cute members and the list goes on and on. However when you see a band and they catch you off guard within the first minute of their set, draw you up to the front and forget everything that was happening prior to this sudden magical moment, thats when you have something special and I’ll say that Bad Fate is beyond just a special band. Having your eardrums beat half to death with overwhelming distortion and feedback hasn’t been this pleasurable since I heard Pere Ubu’s ‘Nonalignment Pact” and the music of Bad Fate isn’t too far off from that. Bad Fate tells me they are embarrassed of their non-existent stage presence, I say who needs it. I would be satisfied if they played these songs sitting down, laying down on a bed under a foot thick comforter. It’s an incredible wall of sound with triple guitar harmonies, furious drumming and perfect vocal accompaniment. I’ll let the music speak for it’s self, I’m done being the obnoxious fan boy for a band ‘so underground it’s Fraggle Rock’ as their myspace will tell you. Please please please check these guys out here and if their playing near you anytime soon, you wont be disappointed.

Who Are You:

chester aaron chuckles

What Role Do You Fill In Bad Fate!:

plunky mistake guitar

What Is Your Favourite Local Diner:

burnt down slickity

Feelings On The Vancouver Music Scene:

sweaters are in

Least Favourite Venue To Play:

“turn amps down”

Most Handsome Politician:

the lovely suffragettes

Describe Your Guitar Tone:

banana nut muffin

How Many Times Have You Been To Science World:

fear not honesty

Band Tshirt You Where Wearing In Grade 10:

pumpkins fer sure

Favourite Vancouver Bands:

thee ahs + hermetic

Bad Fate – Brain Enthusiast

We live in a culture of throw backs. A time of retro-chic where anything that’s current seems to be ‘passe’.  Now I know this can be all confusing, however I’ll try my best to walk you through this. At some point, lets say in the early y2k era, bands/designs/cool bros said to them selves, “dudes, I think thats it for music/clothes/our lives, what do we do!” to which some one said, “Lets start playing music like our parents/grandparents!” Thus came the culture of musical, fashionable, and cultural throwback. Although it may not have went down exactly like that, and I’m sure its been around much longer than 10 years I’ve yet to find an era of music so hell bent on not sounding like themselves. Now don’t get me wrong, I love this shit. There are a ton of bands our there who are able to capture something our generation may have never heard before, tinny guitars, muffled drums and distant vocals. Mostly this comes down to shitty recordings and your usual 4 chordal progressions. This approach to music has exploded in the last few years with more and more bands with older and older sounds becoming extremely popular. Now that you know how it happened, lets wade through the shit and talk about a band combining that old psych sound with some wicked modern sensibilities.  I have a theory, if you took a Black Angels song and played it for a ‘Nam veteran they either would claim they heard it in the jungle, or claim they where bunk mates with the drummer/singer/whoever. The music of The Black Angels stirs up something in you that seems to have been repressed, probably by your genetics, age and location but some how its still in there. If a twenty something guy from the north-west-pacific can relate can relate to dusty retro-based shoegaze drone, than I hope anyone can. The sound is altogether southern american, as the Black Angels are from Austin Texas, however in a non-nationalistic way, I guess I’ll call it North American. The lyrical content deals with topics these men/woman could never have dealt with in their lifetimes such as the horrors of the Vietnam war, being on the run from the law and yet they seem to describe these events perfectly in song… “We got off that boat, Charlies everywhere, lots of killing and dying, and no one seems to care…” The music defiantly has that old Velvet Underground drone and noise aspects, but The Black Angels where able to cut through most of the bullshit sticking to a formula that works flawlessly for them, and me. With 3 albums under their belt and a current world tour with Wolfmother (huh that band even still exists?) I think its time this band really blew the fuck up.  Now enough babbling from the fan boy that is myself, lets here some Black Angels shall we?

The Black Angels – 18 Years

The Black Angels – Bloodhounds On My Trail

-lionsteeth

I’ve cared about No Age since the beginning. Few bands sum up punk rock so perfectly for me. No Age manage to capture many different aspects of old and modern music, taking elements of ambient noise, looping and sampling and adding frantic punk riffing, yelling vocals and painstakingly catchy melody.  Despite their recent commercial success thanks to high rated Pitchfork reviews, a Coachella performance, and hilarious Narduwar interviews they are still mostly unknown to the public. I was shocked yesterday to find the hoops one had to jump through to obtain the newest No Age single “In Peril”. I had to take a picture of a picture. Crop it with Microsoft Paint, email said picture to some strange email address, await a reply and follow the link to the Mp3, and finally listen to the song, which was only 37 seconds long. I’m not going to talk about how this made me feel, lets just say I really did enjoy this song. If you’re unfamiliar with No Age, I am now going to introduce them to you:

Get Hurt EP:

This was the first No Age album I purchased, and was the album that turned me on to the band. The first song I heard, which may still be my favourite No Age song “Everybody’s Down”. It’s quite the headbanger once it gets going (haha) and the line “not afraid of laughter” always gives me goose bumps. The intentional lo-fi guitar, which is now so prevalent, was one of the first times I’d ever heard anything like that.

No Age – Everybodys Down

Weirdo Rippers:

Again No Age delivers with a huge album of distortion washed guitars, ambient noise and catchy punk tunes. You find yourself wading through seas of noise waiting for them to pick it up to something more, not exactly wanting more, but hoping for a beat, and when you get that beat, everything feels alright. Check out this gem from the album Weirdo Rippers:

No Age – Neck Escaper

Nouns:

This to me is No Age’s best release. Everything was figured out, and I couldn’t have been happier with it. I feel like a bastard but I downloaded it weeks before it was released, however I did by the CD the day it came out and had it signed at Coachella by the members of No Age. Every song provides the listener with the perfect dose of noise, riffing and beats. I’ll give you two tracks from this masterpiece, I cant choose just one.

No Age – Brain Burner

No Age – Cappo

Losing Feeling EP:

This album came out only a few months ago, and I am notorious for tossing albums on the back burner if they don’t catch me right away. I was hoping for more Nouns or Weirdo Rippers and this album isn’t exactly what I was looking for. It sounds like No Age left the whiskey at home and picked up a few hallucinogens on their way to the studio. As most No Age albums are a cross between ambient soundscapes and punk rock bangers, this album provides almost solely noise songs, only delivering on the classic No Age sound with the song “You’r A Target”. As I mentioned before, I haven’t given this album too much of a listen over, but here is a song I dig thats no the aforementioned single.

No Age – Aim At The Air

and now finally the newest No Age song, I went through all the hoops so you don’t have to! Enjoy, and hopefully I’ve made a fan out of you.

No Age – In Peril

-lionsteeth

Woolworm is a band that is close to my heart; I want to hug them. As far as I know most members hail from North Vancouver, and I was lucky enough to meet them. Unfortunately, I happened to be so broke at the time that I sold my guitar to their singer Giles (He was kind enough to pay in cash). You can see the guitar in the picture above.  Their music is right up my alley: dueling guitar chords, driving melody, and urgent vocal delivery that sometimes forgets its softness and opens up with a few quick yelps.

Self described as ‘blanket rock’, it really is hard to think of a genre title more deserving. Spawned of a hardcore band, BODYGUARD, members Giles and Alex also play in the awesome band Falling Down. I would highly recommend checking out Woolworm’s progress. Here and Here!
I tricked member Giles into filling out this silly survey! Check it out!

Who Are You:
Giles D.F. Roy.

What Role Do You Fill In Woolworm:
Guitaring and singing.

What Is Your Favourite Local Diner:
De Dutch.

Feelings On The Vancouver Music Scene:
We are spoiled.

Least Favourite Venue To Play:
Richmond Night Market.

Most Handsome Politician:
Kim Jong-Il.

Describe Your Guitar Tone:
Cozy, hopefully.

How Many Times Have You Been To Science World:
At least nine.

Band Tshirt You Where Wearing In Grade 10:
Metallica.

Favourite Vancouver Bands:
I can’t choose.

[gplayer href="http://bluegrassish.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/fauxfrancais.mp3"]Woolworm- Faux Francais[/gplayer]

Fuji Hakayito is a band from Victoria. Its hard to say anything about them besides, Fuck.

Fuji Hakayito may just be one of my dream bands.  They have created a sound that is needed in the scene today. Its an assault, not only when they play and your mind is punched like an old pillow.  Your assaulted prior to the show by 5 rambunctious dudes with a tendency for destruction and an appetite for Bull Max and bummed smokes. Heres the weird thing though, you cant help but enjoy it. The music is so infectious, be it the 6 minute guitar-psyh-freakouts or the uptempo sing-alongs of songs like Surf Suit or Fresh Heir.

I caught up with Tonto of Fuji Hakayito, this is what he had to say:

Who Are You:

tonto

What Role Do You Fill In Fuji Hakayito:

twang riffs

What Is Your Favourite Local Diner:

the maharaja

Feelings On The Victoria Music Scene:

trashy

Least Favourite Venue To Play:

save on foods memorial arena

Most Handsome Politician:

trudeau

Describe Your Guitar Tone:

dying Am radio

How Many Times Have You Been To Science World:

upwards of five

Band Tshirt You Where Wearing In Grade 10:

wooden cannon vs. tin man army

Favourite Local Bands:

BYKX, mt royal, slam dunk, 4/4 time signatures

[gplayer href="http://bluegrassish.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Sylvia-Plath-Pool-Party1.mp3"]Fuji Hakayito – Sylvia Plath Pool Party[/gplayer]

-lionsteeth

Soul roll manic priest island gods Madonna Bangers bang it out: Made up of a pro-wrestling southern preacher, a cigar-box banjo raccoon, one Early Man, a real park ranger, and an indie rock sultan from 1997. A pack of cosmic hoboes from the backwoods. All of the MC5 getting bottled in the back of your favourite shitdive in 1978. GG Allin getting jumped on the beach by rabid lovers. Richard Hells ringing ears turning over in a future grave. The only grizzly bear of a lead singer who has kept his tongue down my throat for more than a songs length while fully naked. And where are they! You need to hunt them down. Landlocked on the island? Cross-body in the centre of the ring? Four tracks out on a 45 that is veritably slipping into the ether…find it. Fresh out of JC/DC with who knows what in the cue. The freshest philosophers from the west since who knows when, wasting time stinking up Kimya Dawsons couch. Dont blink. The Book of Genesis in serious flames. Hotter than Japandroids. The real Gospel music. Punk rock in 2009.

-Fresh Heir

Who Are You:
Abu

What Role Do You Fill In The Madonna Bangers:
guitar, abused, beer.

What Is Your Favorite Local Diner:
Husky House.

Feelings On The Vancouver Island Music Scene:
Downhill, Excessive Reggae!

Least Favorite Venue To Play:
The Queens Hotel.

Most Handsome Politician:
Mom says Jack Layton. I’m going with her opinion!

Describe Your Guitar Tone:
Twang plus DS1.

How Many Times Have You Been To Science World:
yearly in elementary.

Band Tshirt You Where Wearing In Grade 10:
Didn’t own any. It would have been Grunge esque though.

Favorite Local Bands:
Suzy Wedge + +he Wave.
What ever the guy from the Neon Knights is doing now on Sundays in the defunct chrome horse. I walk by every week and it’s tight!

[gplayer href="http://bluegrassish.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/early.mp3"]The Madonna Bangers – Early Retirement[/gplayer]

Underwater Peoples is a record label based out of New Jersey. They’ve really seemed to spearhead this lo-fi movement thats been dominating turntables and ipod playlists as of late. They house one of my favourite lo-fi bands Real Estate on their label. After failing to acquire anything by Real Estate besides a few blog listed tracks, I tried my luck with this summer time sampler record.

It’s a tough listen.

Half the songs I love, showcasing me some great bands I could have never heard with out it. The other half I find quite monotonous and boring. Lo-fi needs to have its limitations. Sounding like an old beat up record can be cool. The tone is grainy and distant, it feels like your living something older than your years, but which is still new. Other songs however sound like they where recorded on a laptop mic in a basement somewhere last year. They seem to skip out on that essential nostalgia that lo-fi beings to the listener. In skipping out on studio quality sound one expects a higher caliber of song writing and a few tracks really do miss out on that.

I would however highly recommended picking up this record based solely on the 5 or 6 songs that really blew my mind.

Real Estate – Beach Comber
Pill Wonder – Wishing Whale
Family Portrait – Mega Secrets

and for all of you:

[gplayer href="http://bluegrassish.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/danajewellbabycomeon.mp3"]Dana Jewell – Baby Come On[/gplayer]

-lionsteeth

I don’t know a lot about Black Metal, Crust Punk even less so, but apparently Blackened-Crust is the genre for me. Sweden’s Martyrdöd blend the unrelenting assault of Crust with the haunting melodies of Black Metal and the result is some of the most intense music I have heard in a while.  If you are a fan of heavy music check these guys out.

Some other people around the internet have said that their sound is similar to Skitsystem, Victims and Wolfbrigade.  I gave all three a listen and they are all pretty decent.

-iceonthetrail

[gplayer href="http://bluegrassish.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Hor-varningen.mp3"]Martyrdöd - Hör Varningen![/gplayer]

ps.
Död means “Death”, so the band name means “Martyr’s Death”

I’ve known Colin for many years, we share the same first name. We played in jazz band together in high school, one time his dad yelled at me for smoking cigarettes at our hotel on a band trip to Idaho. We where also sort of rivals for awhile, fighting the good fight for small town indie-super-stardom. this has all been reconciled.

On a side note, Colin plays in about 24-27 bands.

The band I actually like is known as Count Oak. Dreamy sound scapes, thought provoking chordal changes and surprisingly some great vocal arrangements! What more could you expect from a young man, trapped at Music College, records scattered on the floor, land locked and too much creativity.

His other bands include Village, Greek Beds, Rusty Fuck, and Deer Skeleton.

You can stream Count Oaks full album Depression Has Brought Me a Great Pelt here. I recommend Pulitzer, its great.

He also graciously filled out my Q&A Form:

In 3 Words Or Less:

Who Are You:

Colin “Fag” Gillespie

What Role Do You Fill In Count Oak:

All Holes

How Do You Cope With Being A Ginger:

With Protection

Feelings On The Toronto Music Scene:

Lust, Heartbreak

Most Handsome Politician:

George Washington Carver

Describe Your Guitar Tone:

Teenage Mustache

How Many Times Have You Been To Science World:

None, you bitch

Band Tshirt You Where Wearing In Grade 10:

Coheed and Cambria

Favourite Local Bands:

Cursed (RIP)

Last Meal You Ate:

Stoned Wheat Thins

-lionsteeth