With the exception of Brand New and Radiohead (possibly Muse if the venue was right), I have no desire to ever attend a big-ticket concert again. During my teens and very early 20s (whoah, how old am I?) I must have spent nearly $1000 on concerts. At the time I enjoyed them, but in the last two years or so I have become quite disillusioned with and ultimately tired of large-scale concerts. There are too many sweaty assholes in polo shirts (no matter who the band is.... I can only guess that these concert bros all work for various cell phone companies and get the tickets for free), too many girls in tank tops who pre-drank a couple of bottles of Vex and thus belligerently shout out the band's most popular song (even after they've played it), too many sponsors trying to shove promotional products in your face (wow, a Rockstar Energy Drink rape whistle!), too many people in line for the washroom, too many dollars required for a beer ($7 for a poorly poured plastic cup-full of Molson Candian?!), and ultimately, too much hubbub.
As a result of this disillusionment and overall irritation, I have turned my focus primarily to smaller-scale shows that feature either under-the-radar touring acts or local bands. In fact, the last large concert I attended, sadly, was that Edge 102 Christmas-type one with Metric, Tokyo Police Club, Sebastien Grainger, and some other band I have completely forgotten. Needless to say (though I will say it anyway.....making "needless to say" rather needless to say), I did not particularly enjoy it and actually left after about three of Metric's songs (I fully missed Grainger's set....what kind of concert starts at 8pm?!), having only seen a yawn-inducing set by Tokyo Police Club.
In the spirit of my recent musical xenophobia, this "Hogtown Harmonics" feature will be a multi-volume cataloging of some of the finest (and some mediocre) Toronto-area bands I have seen and been associated with over the past year or so.
Brides
Originally hailing from Guelph, this six-piece avant-garde no-wave group appears to be the current feature flavour in Toronto. Their songs are heavy on musicianship, as the vocals generally are quite minimalist and turned down rather low in the mix. Dare I say, Brides even has a jam-band quality to them, as it feels like many of their songs foray into stretched out, somewhat repetitive instrumental breaks. In this case, "jam-band" is not to be associated with any of the following: hemp, ponchos, bare feet, dandelions, manic sexualized swaying, or Phil Lesh. The "jamming" in Brides is always tasteful and pretentious—the latter being what the Toronto indie community seems to eat up.
I first saw Brides last fall (after a failed attempt to see them at Extermination Music Night last summer.... the police shut it down literally as Brides were about to start their first song) at The Drake Underground with Tradition and Slim Twig. Then I saw them at Wavelength, open for METZ at Trash Palace, at 69 Vintage By The Pound with Gay Beast and Dead Wife, and possibly in a Doritos commercial. What I am trying to say is that they've gotten a lot of exposure as late. Some other notable shows they played: opening for Ponytail at Deleon White Gallery and opening for Abe Vigoda at El Mo. In fact, I am starting to feel as though this exposure morphing to overexposure. Come on, a show every other week? It's getting to be a bit much for me.
I suspect that they are being groomed for a signing with a record label in the near-future, hence their plethora of shows (perhaps with We Are Busy Bodies? They've played with METZ, are about to play a show with dd/mm/yyyy in a few weeks [shhhh, no one's supposed to know that dd/mm/yyyy are on the bill, it's a surprise], and have become a favourite of promoter-cum-art thing Primary Colours).
They only have one song on their myspace at the moment and have only one very limited release to date, so I would direct you to their CBC Radio 3 page to have a listen.
photo credit: Sombre Reptiles
EDIT: To begin with, Brides now have two new unmastered tracks from their upcoming full-length streaming on their myspace. As well, despite my speculation of the band releasing their full-length on We Are Busy Bodies, I will now speculate that said full-length may be released on Blocks Recording Club, as the band is playing Blocks' showcase at Pop Montreal in October.
