Guelph goes organic - The Ontarion

arts & Culture170.5 ◆ february 7th, 201311Beach vacation fails to deliverBeach Life bringssloppy performance toJimmy JazzMira BethAt around 11 p.m. on Saturday,Feb. 2, the bass player for BeachLife took to the stage at JimmyJazz to prepare for their set, andpromptly dropped his pants. Hewas, of course, wearing swimtrunks underneath, but it wasstill an interesting way to startthe evening.Next up was the guitarist whoperked the crowd up with, “It’snot often you get to see a youngman’s legs in the winter... it’s notgreat either.”Unfortunately, this was themost entertaining point in theevening. The trio attempted tobring the feeling of being at thebeach (the theme of the event)to this cold Canadian winter,but instead fell somewhat short.Their lyrics were substantiallylacking; it is one thing to be lyricallysimplistic and another to beuncreative and rushed about it.The latter was heard throughoutmost of the evening. The commonthemes were drug use, scantilyclad women, drinking, and partying.While these themes have beendone well many times before, anentire song comprised of thelyric “the loneliest lifeguard onthe beach” felt very uninspired.The word of the evening waspotential. The lead singer couldhave potentially used his raw andimpressive vocal abilities to carrytheir songs, but he was visiblydrunk and became even more soas the evening went on.“The potentialthat this singerand guitaristhad to creategood music wasapparent, butnot achieved.”At one point, something malfunctionedand the singer’sresponse was, “That’s what we dowhen something stops working,we go for the bar!” immediatelyfollowed by a bar break to doshots.Comical yes, but in absolutelyno way professional. It would beone thing if alcohol was not such aclear inhibitor, but as each guitarsolo became painfully puncturedBeach Life’s Feb. 2 show at Jimmy Jazz was meant to feel like a beach vacation, but fell short when itincluded as much alcohol as a beach vacation.by wrong notes and slip ups, itwas no longer funny for thoselistening. The potential that thissinger and guitarist had to creategood music was apparent, but notachieved.The set was done with a pareddowndrum kit, which ended upleaving the songs sounding empty.Right off the bat it was apparentthat for the genre of music theband was playing, a full drumkit was needed, or at the veryleast more than one cymbal. Thedrummer did his best on what wasavailable, but it did not hold upnext to the roaring electric guitarand fast progression of the bassmira bethline. It was in fact this bass playerthat appeared to be the onlyone taking the gig seriously, andhe was the one wearing flip flopsand swim trunks.It should be said that despitethe growing that this band hasahead of them, they sure did looklike they were having a good time.Singles Club2013 is off to a uniqueand promising startShonda WhiteArtist: Born RuffiansSingle: “With Her Shadow”Released: January 1, 2013We heard a live recording of theirnew song “6-5000” not too longago, but “With Her Shadow” isthe first official release to comefrom Born Ruffians in relationto their upcoming album, Birthmarks.The four-piece indie rockband blends the light-handedpercussion filled tune with LukeLalonde’s unique vocals, and anexperimental feel. It feels familiarenough to know this song justsimply screams “Born Ruffians,”but new enough to feel comfortablewith their progression asa band who has been makingmusic for nearly 10 years now.I think my only question forthe band is whether they liketheir shadow more than theirreflection.Artist: The Dirty NilSingle: “Zombie Eyed”Released: January 8, 2013The Dirty Nil live up to their nameby always slathering their tuneswith a thick layer of grit andgrime. Their latest release, “ZombieEyed,” is no exception to this.It’s Side A of a split seven-inchrecord which features “PositiveBondar” by Northern Primitiveon the other side. The Dundas trioshows a familiar side with leadsinger Luke Bentham’s distinctvocals and the consistent tone ofcarelessness. Pushing that safeavenue aside, “Zombie Eyed” isprobably the most mature trackfrom the band to date, possiblythe most clean-cut in overallcomposition, and a very promisinglook into their future releases.Artist: Northern PrimitiveSingle: “Positive Bondar”Released: January 8, 2013“Positive Bondar” is the B-side ofNorthern Primitive’s split seveninchrecord with The Dirty Nil.The Welland trio eases into thetrack and sort of relaxes you, butthe eerie quality honestly makesit hard to breathe. The sad tonesresonate to a place that puts you onthe edge of relaxation, yet doesn’tquite let you slip out of its grasp.The song continues to escalatethrough to the end, and it’s as iflistening to a panic attack in progressionin the form of audio. Thatsounds weird, and truthfully it is,but “Positive Bondar” really doestake a back seat approach to literallytaking your breath away.Artist: Rachel ZeffiraSingle: “Here On In”Released: January 8, 2013Canadian Rachel Zeffira is bestknown as one half of the duoCat’s Eye and has already gainedpraise in the UK for her debut soloalbum, The Deserters. The albumwill be released in North Americain March, and Zeffira marked theannouncement with the releaseof the single “Here On In” earlierthis month. It is chock-full ofunearthly pop tones, influencefrom classical opera training, andan eerie sadness that’s addictivelyhaunting. Zeffira’s ability to expressemotions vocally leads me tobelieve that the singer could probablyread words from a dictionaryand turn it into an emotionallypowerful song that anyone couldrelate to.Artist: You Say PartySingle: FriendReleased: January 16, 2013This single is quite as literal as itsounds and even more touchingbecause of it. “I can see my friendno more / he’s gone for good /he’s gone for sure,” sings BeckyNinkovic in honour of friend,Devon Clifford. Clifford passedaway while playing drums on stagewith the rest of the members ofYou Say Party in April 2010. It hadtaken an evident toll on the bandwhen they decided to go on hiatusa year later. That being said, thedance-punk BC band has channelledtheir tough times into newmusic. The single, “Friend,” continuesto make use of their familiaroffbeat drumming pattern, but theemotional tension of the song iscovered by a veil of dream pop. Itends with a recording of fallingrain and the slight hint of thunder,which makes you think this singleis just the calm before the storm.Artist: Young GalaxySingle: Pretty BoyReleased: January 23, 2013“Pretty Boy” is Young Galaxy’sdebut single released from theirupcoming album, Ultramarine.The consistent drum machinebeats carry the track through violinaccents, the smooth vocalsof Catherine McCandless, and theemotional ties between the lyricsand the resonating notes. Unfortunately,the single doesn’t end onthe note that I feel it should, buildingup greatly through notes thattwinkle and sparkle in a memorableway, but falling just shortof the potentially greater climaxthan the one provided. However,“Pretty Boy” is a good look at whatto expect from the Montreal band’snew album, and it seems to be adecent expectation.