BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - May 2016

MAY 2016
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CITY
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COMEDY
Graeme Wiggins
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FILM
Paris Spence-Lang
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THE SKINNY
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LOCAL
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FRONT COVER PHOTO
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Working for the Weekend with John Fluevog of Fluevog Shoes...........................................................4
Cate Le Bon.......................................................................................................................................................................5
Savages....................................................................................................................................................................................5
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard......................................................................................................6
Titus Andronicus.......................................................................................................................................................6
Blessed.....................................................................................................................................................................................9
Head Wound City....................................................................................................................................................9
Black Mountain........................................................................................................................................................10
No Sinner..........................................................................................................................................................................10
Violent Femmes.......................................................................................................................................................11
Carly Rae Jepsen.......................................................................................................................................................12
Glad Rags..........................................................................................................................................................................12
Mac Demarco.............................................................................................................................................................13
Andrew Bird..................................................................................................................................................................13
ELECTRONICS DEPT.................................................................................................................14 - 15
• Moderat
• Antwon
THE SKINNY..............................................................................................................................................16 - 18
• The Rebel Spell
• Kris Shultz
• SBDC
• La Chinga
• Subculture
CITY..........................................................................................................................................................................19 - 23
• Vancouver Comic Arts Festival
• Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
• Once Our Land
• Ari Lazer
• The Heatly
• Bistro Wason Rougue
• Bunz Trading Zone
• Hosehead Records
• Queen of the Month
COVER: Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun.....................................................................................21
COMEDY...........................................................................................................................................................24 - 25
• Been There Done That
• Mark Forward
• John Dore
FILM..................................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Album Reviews.............................................................................................................................................27 - 32
Live Reviews...................................................................................................................................................................33
Vanpooper......................................................................................................................................................................34
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No Sinner, pg. 10
May 2016 3

WORKING FOR
THE WEEKEND
Fluevog Shoes has been championing the weird
and wonderful for more than 40 years now. Bright
colours, encouraging messages etched in the soles,
that gorgeous new shoe smell, Victorian inspired
with enough clunky angles to make them delightfully
disgraceful, these shoes are unconventional
Vancouver originals. The brand’s namesake, John
Fluevog himself, has been in the shoe business
since the early 1970s. Collaborating with others in
the beginning of his career, Fluevog in its current
incarnation is John’s solo company. Having started it
independently when Fluevog shops started popping
up in the 1980s, it was John’s two hands building
every aspect from the ground up. Now with 20
stores all across North America, Fluevog has many
helpers to lighten the load. For John, success doesn’t
mean taking a back seat, still at the helm of this ship
of leather oddities he is steering Fluevog against
the current of trends and tendencies and towards
much weirder waters. Following the beat of his own
drum, John Fluevog is injecting soul into your soles,
one square heel or elaborate buckle at a time.
BeatRoute: When you first branched off from Fox and
Fluevog to start your own company, what did your dayto-day
look like as you built the brand?
John Fluevog: It was like super hectic, full of
fear and trepidation. I did everything, all the
advertising, I designed the shoes, was doing
HR, opening the stores, visiting the stores,
handling the cash flow, inventory, everything.
with John Fluevog of Fluevog Shoes
BR: Fast-forwarding to present day, what does a day in
the office look like for you?
JF: Well it’s a lot better because I’ve got other people
doing stuff. I should have done that way sooner in
my life, but there you go. I’ve got other people doing
things, so like with the design team I generally set the
mood and the themes of the season and I will do the
sort of baseline drawings, then they’ll come in and
tune them up and show them to me, and it’s great.
BR: Why do you think nice shoes are important?
JF: Well they make you look cute, right? They make
you look cute and they’re what’s between you and
the earth. You can spend a lot of money on clothes,
on sweet jeans, but if you’ve got a crappy pair of
shoes on, it just kills everything. When you put on
a nice pair of shoes you can wear the most simple
jeans and t-shirts and look great. Maybe it’s the
last thing a lot of people consider, but to me being a
person that thinks about their footwear, that’s key.
BR: Many artists and musicians have been seen
sporting Fluevogs over the years, is this a symbiotic
relationship? Do art and music heavily influence your
designs?
JF: Well I think the thing is that music makes people
dream, it makes them step out of themselves. In the
same way, I feel that fashion can do that. Also, like
musicians, I put a lot of myself into the designs; I put
slogans and I put stories and messages on the shoes. I
think when you express your humanity in whatever you
by Maya-Roisin Slater
photo by Sarah Whitlam
do it takes on a different depth; a depth of life. I think
those are also really important things in music, you
need to put your own vibe into it, your own energy.
BR: What’s your favourite music to design to?
JF: Probably the blues, because it’s so simple.
It’s simple and it’s predictable, it’s familiar to me.
It’s funny that the blues can make you feel good,
but the blues makes me feel good if that makes
any sense. Maybe it’s the simplicity of the music,
maybe it’s the raw lyrics, I love the blues.
BR: What was the last live concert you attended?
JF: Oddly enough on this particular day, it was Prince.
It was at the Winery Club in New York, it was maybe a
year and a half ago. The Winery is a bar and a club in
New York in the Lower West Side, and he came on at two
in the morning and played until five. I don’t know if I
lasted until 5, but it was a small venue and he was right
there, like 50 feet away from me and he sang his heart
out. It was awesome; I couldn’t believe I was there. The
band was major hot; it was this smoking band. I loved it.
BR: What do you hope to achieve in the next year?
JF: I hope I can let it go more. I think there’s a sense
that, as a business grows and becomes bigger it weighs
on one more. You’ve got to create and keep the thing
going, be responsible for all these jobs. I’m hoping
that I can learn to be at peace more, and let it go.
Celebrate International Fluevog Day on May 15
4
May 2016

CATE LE BON
feeling the pure joy of making music
older is great for not car-
about stuff, and I mean that in a
“Growing
positive way,” says thirty-three-yearold
Le Bon from her home in Los Angeles.
“[It’s about] realizing that things can be
hugely important to yourself and you can
never expect them to be important to other
people. You’re not waiting for any kind
of validation from somewhere else.”
It was a recent collaboration with White
Fence mastermind Tim Presley as a psych
Cate Le Bon has been reawakened creatively and her boundaries are limitless as she moves forward.
SAVAGES
learning to adore life on sophomore album
photo: Ivana Kli Kovi
rock duo named DRINKS which exposed Le
Bon to free-wheeling, flirty as hell “music
for the love of music,” a kind of fantastic
reawakening which influenced the cacophonous,
rabbit-hole sensibility on Crab Day.
This came two years after recording her
sparse and cunning third studio album Mug
Museum. Le Bon hit upon a revelation: “I
realized that I loved making music. I wanted
that feeling for the next solo record.”
That feeling of pure love and abandonment
is, according to Le Bon, joyous.
Not to say Le Bon’s past albums including
Mug Museum are completely morose,
but she does know how to play at the
edges of darkness and human absurdities.
Joyousness on Crab Day comes
across more like an inverted smiley face.
“Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful,” sings
Le Bon on the song duly titled “Wonderful.”
Clanging guitars and goofy xylophone
kick in and out like Molly Ringwald’s legs
in The Breakfast Club’s dance scene. “My
heart’s in my supper,” she croons in her
cloudy and mountainous Welsh accent.
Nothing is predictable on Crab Day.
“It was one of the best times of my
life, making that record,” says Le Bon.
Le Bon and gang (producers Noah
Georgson and Josiah Steinbrick, plus
Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa, Stephen
Black, and Huw Evans), recorded the
ten tracks at a studio in Stinson Beach,
Northern California, where everyone
was feeling “really grateful and excited
and joyous,” about the whole thing.
The group recently reunited (with the
addition of Red Hot Chilli Peppers guitarist
Josh Klinghoffer) for a pair of shows
in L.A. and New York City to promote the
release of Crab Day on Drag City as BA-
NANA!, described as a semi-experimental,
semi-improvisational ensemble.
“I was thrilled that we were able to
MUSIC
by Sarah Bauer
get that band together,” Le Bon says.
“It was a really nice re-entry into getting
my head around the record again.”
Crab Day is certainly the kind of album
you want to listen to a couple of times to get
your head around. Her lyrics start and stop
with oddball pairings of objects and human
parts, clammy imagery and queasy suggestion
(“I’m gonna cry in your mouth,” she
asserts on “I Was Born on the Wrong Day”).
Within the storm of saxophone, electric
piano, and clashy, gritting guitars, the full result
is not so much discordance as it is highly observed
chaos. Sounds jangle around in kooky
mixtures, but the production is ultimately crisp
and supremely delightful.
“Noah is incredible at putting everything
in its right place,” notes Le Bon. The many,
varied parts of Crab Day assemble in an
interpretive form, much like the short film accompaniment
to Crab Day, directed by Berlin
director Phil Collins.
Seems as though an Eric Wareheim collaboration
should be in order.
Having lived in Los Angeles for the past three
years, Le Bon has found her community for
making weird and sensational things come true.
“It’s a very generous and inclusive scene,”
says Le Bon. “I’ve fallen in with wonderful,
wonderful people.”
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Cate Le Bon performs at the Cobalt on May 12
by Jamie McNamara
If Savages were a lesser band, they might
have been susceptible to the so-called
“sophomore slump.” But the London
quartet has never been known for half
measures. Instead, the band only seems
to have dismissed conventional wisdom
and returned with an album that is transformative
both on record and onstage.
Savages first album, the astounding Silence
Yourself, was prickly post-punk in the same
vein as Joy Division. It was a resounding success
that had a distinct feminist punk ethos
that managed to come off as aggressive punk
taken to overblown, atmospheric levels. The
band, consisting of lead singer Jehnny Beth,
guitarist Gemma Thompson, bassist Ayse
Hassan, and drummer Fay Milton arrived on
the scene fully formed, with unwavering political
messages and an unrelenting live show.
While their follow-up, Adore Life, is still
often sonically prickly, the themes and content
of the album seem softer and more personal
— that’s not to say the band is any less “punk.”
“I don’t really think it’s about being less
angry, I think it’s more the fact that we’ve
been playing on tour as a band together for
the last three years and I think we’ve got a
lot better at dealing with being on the road
and being a band,” says bassist Ayse Hassan
on the phone from outside the venue
of a stop on their recent European tour.
“Because of the response we’ve had over
the years from the different audiences that
we’ve come into contact with, we’ve found
that in some way we’ve let our guard down
a little bit and become a bit more open,
and I think that’s reflected in the record.”
That newfound openness is never more
apparent than on the title track of the album.
It’s a slow-burning torch song that yearns
for life other than any singular person.
That’s not to say the album doesn’t
feature the anthemic thrashers that the
band became known for. Lead single
“T.I.W.Y.G” (short for This Is What You Get)
is a stomping send off to anyone who dares
mess with love. Its message is piercingly
direct from a band that also sounds much
closer with one another, despite recording
the album separately. The immediacy
heard on Silence Yourself is still there,
but it arrives more nuanced. The reverb
is controlled, and it sounds like the band
has harnessed the energy they used
on their debut in new, emotional ways.
Hassan credits this to the band wanting
to take more time writing the album.
“I think that in our minds we saw
Silence Yourself as a sonic snapshot of
that moment in time. For the first record
it was important to capture what we do
live on record. That record is more raw,
it’s us in one room playing together trying
to encapsulate what we are live,” says
Hassan. “For the second record we felt that
we needed more time to find the sounds we
wanted to use, and for us to do something
different is exciting. So, recording separately
presented its own set of challenges.”
While it’s a gamble to try and shift sonically
in between albums, Hassan insists the
band was never worried about changing.
“What I find exciting about this band is
that there’s a constant state of…..I was going
to say evolution, but I guess it’s change
in general. I like the idea that everything is
flexible. If Gemma wants to incorporate a
new sound into a certain song, she’s free
to do that. I think the songs will continue
to change as we play them more over
the year. We’re constantly trying to push
the boundaries within ourselves and to
always keep learning how to create, but
in different ways, even if it’s just with a
few different notes, or different sounds.”
Savages perform at The Imperial or on May 27
Savages’ recent work has more feelings, but no less fury.
May 2016 MUSIC
5

KING GIZZARD
& THE LIZARD WIZARD
to infinity and back again
When King Gizzard & the Lizard
Wizard set out to create their 2016
album Nonagon Infinity, they did
so after years of cultivating the relentless
behemoth on the stage and on the road.
“It’s a record we put together live, really.
We were playing all these songs in their
rough versions and they were coming
together slowly with improvisation,”
recalls frontman Stu Mackenzie. “So it
became this kind of condensed hyper
real version of what felt right.”
What began to emerge as they put the
tracks together was that each track seemed
to lead into the next, as if they were chapters
of a larger book. This passing of the torch
from song to song slithered down the line to
the last note and it was decided that it made
the most sense for that note to lead right
back to the first one. The result is a big mean
ouroboros of an album, one that is best served
whole and repeatedly; after all, it is meant to
be “the world’s first infinitely looping LP.”
From the first big-balls-on-the-table notes of
“Robot Stop,” when the album hits you with the
titular first lyrics, chanting “Nonagon infinity
opens the door,” the record does just that and
keeps kicking it open over and over again.
“We definitely set out to make the heaviest
album we have ever made,” admits Mackenzie.
Mission. Accomplished.
Nonagan Infinity has that large throbbing
Black Sabbath heartbeat to it, like what it
would sound like if you put a stethoscope
up to a bull’s erection. It is like one of those
freight trains that you wait at a crossing
for, one that seems to keep surging past
you, car after car, until your brain can’t
fathom what kind of engine could pull such
a thing and your guts suddenly become
very aware of how easy it would be for it
6 MUSIC
to run you right over if you got too close.
But you should get close to Nonagan; and
if you have the time, according to Mackenzie,
you should try to listen to it more than once.
“It’s very possible that you could
find it means something totally
different the second time around.”
Like all concept albums—a dying breed
of long form musical creation—the themes
and sonic offerings evolve as you revisit.
In fact, if you put it on and allow yourself
to settle right into it, you might even miss
how the last growling and lurching notes
of “Road Train” barrel directly back into
the intro notes of “Robot Stop,” and you
won’t even realize you have been led right
back into the gauntlet without getting
the chance to dust the desert off of you.
A pretty impressive feat for an album
released in the time of the $.99 single on
iTunes. Though Mackenzie admits that this
harkening back to a time when an album
was enjoyed as a whole doesn’t necessarily
mean it should be ingested on vinyl.
“This is an album that actually makes
the most sense to be consumed digitally
because you can’t loop a record. So it
actually makes the most sense to listen
to it on an iPod in your headphones, more
than any other album we have done.”
So snag a digital copy of your own
when the album drops on April 29 and
ride the snake as it devours its own
tail over and over and over again.
Or even better, take in the immersive
and all-encompassing live show that King
Gizzard has become known for when they
ride this runaway train through Vancouver.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
perform at The Rickshaw on May 28
The Australian psych septet are quickly becoming one of the most prolific bands operating today.
by Jennie Orton
photo: Lee VIncent Grubb
TITUS ANDRONICUS
punk rock existentialist keeps it authentic
Frontman Patrick Stickles’ battle with manic depression has become a driving force of Titus Andronicus.
It’s been awhile since Titus Andronicus’s
latest album, The Most Lamentable Tragedy,
has come out, and the last time BeatRoute
talked to front man Patrick Stickles, it was
a sprawling, many-layered conversation
that went on for an hour or more, covering
all kinds of topics. One might think he’s
over talking about it, as he laughs, “I’ve
discussed it a bit for sure.” Luckily talking
is something that seems to come naturally
for the 30 year old punk rocker.
The Most Lamentable Tragedy is a
sprawling, 90 minute rock opera, a narrative
about mental illness that is a compelling,
emotional journey. While Titus Andronicus
is not a stranger to concept records (2010’s
The Monitor focused on the U.S. Civil War),
punk isn’t known for its sprawling narratives,
but playing it safe was never in the cards,
explains Stickles. “You wouldn’t want us
to just lob it over the plate. You have to be
willing to fall on your face and look like a fool
if you want to strive for greatness. You have
to take a risk and put yourself out there.”
This isn’t just important for reasons of
self-expression, but also for maintaining your
artistic credibility with your fan base. “You
can make some sort of pandering, puffy piece
of art, and hope that it caters to the masses’
idea of what’s a good record in 2016 and maybe
that will be a hot thing for a few months or
a year and maybe that’s lovely, but I have to
think more about the longer arc of the career,
the whole body of work and make every
component of it as true as possible because
that’s what will be your currency as an artist,
even after the time of it being a hot thing
is past. If you are able to foster a genuine
connection with the audience, hopefully that
will keep them coming back year after year.”
The narrative feel of the album also
allowed him to really earn a lot of the emotional
expression in the songs. To Stickles,
context is what really makes the emotional
moments that much more impactful “The
goal was to present a wide enough emotional
spectrum across the narrative that when the
character is feeling low or sorrowful it will
mean more because you’ve seen that character
at the height of joy or ecstasy or vice
versa. I think when you do that it allows you
to explore any of those extremes more fully.”
The narrative also provided the means to
look at ideas that Stickles had previously not
delved into with his previous work. Rather
than fall into cheap love tropes, dealing
with ideas of romantic love were “earned
because earlier in the narrative in the rock
opera we had been with the character
when he was his most defeated and sad
and then the joy of romantic love hopefully
means more when you know what’s at the
other end of that spectrum, and later in the
narrative hopefully it means more because
you know how much it meant at the time.”
Another concept that seems more
prominent on this record is that it seems
to be more hopeful, especially after the
bleaker Local Business. This seems to cut
to the heart of Stickles’ thoughts. “You have
to go through some time facing that bleak,
hopeless attitude to come through the
other side and see the hopefulness that’s
embedded in it, in our black universe and
how lonely it all is. Once you’ve dealt with
that you can see the freedoms that come
from that. The freedom that you create,
as opposed to the one that was handed
to you as a young person falls away.”
I told him that sounds a lot like existentialism.
“Yeah,” he answered,
“that’s my whole bag. That’s what I’m
selling, That’s what I preach.”
Titus Andronicus performs at the
Biltmore Cabaret on May 28
by Graeme Wiggins
photo: Matthew Greeley
May 2016

JUNE 16-19
NIGHT SHOWS
AT THE COBALT
TICKETS: LEVITATION-VANCOUVER.COM

BLESSED
Fraser Valley quartet cursed by ambition
by Joshua Erickson
Unbeknownst to many, the Fraser
Valley has become a creative hub,
producing a large number of fantastic
bands over the past two decades. This
passion and creativity in the scene has laid
the groundwork for a band like Blessed to
exist. Based out of Abbotsford, Blessed are
a four piece post-punk band that have big
things in mind for their future and the talent
With major momentum behind the band, it is #blessed to be Blessed right now.
HEAD WOUND CITY
all grown up but still screaming
“I recounting the recording process for
hadn’t screamed like that in years,” says
Head Wound City singer Jordan Blilie,
A New Wave of Violence, out May 13 on Vice
Records. That may be true, but vocally the
35-year-old hardcore vet has never been in
better shape. Whereas his younger Blood
Brothers-era self only managed to record
line-by-line, due to the strain and intensity of
the process, this time around he was eventually
doing entire takes straight through.
Guitarists Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
and Cody Votolato, drummer Gabe Serbian,
and bassist Justin Pearson spent roughly
eight days in early 2015 recording the album
in San Diego with producer Ross Robinson.
Blilie and Robinson spent another six weeks
writing lyrics and recording vocals to get the
frontman up to the producer’s demands. “He
wanted my voice to be in the shape it would
get if I’d been three weeks or a month into
tour. So I just went over to his house every
day and did vocals until my voice blew out.”
There have been monumental changes in
the decade since Head Wound City released
their self-titled debut album. The follow-up
is also a milestone for Blilie’s adult life.
During recording he discovered that his
wife was expecting their first child. Furthermore,
the musician was between semesters
at UCLA, where he is completing
his English degree. “I just really wanted to
and songwriting to back it up. Consisting of
Drew Riekman, Reuben Houweling, Mitchell
Trainor, and Jake Holmes, the band’s
collective resume of projects include, but
is not limited to, GSTS!, Open Letters, Oh
No! Yoko, Relentless Ben, and Little Wild.
For principle songwriter and guitarist/vocalist
Drew Riekman though, Blessed is a
fresh start and a departure from his days
photo: Jaimi Wainright
as the frontman of a wild hardcore band.
“This band has been a culmination of a
long time of wanting to walk away from
music based around ‘how fast can I play, how
energetic can we be, how crazy can we be
live.’ Blessed [comes from] an angle where
we stopped writing towards ‘how good is this
going to be live,’ and more towards ‘how great
of a record can we make?’ and worry about
how it will translate live later,” says Riekman.
Blessed are getting ready to release their
debut self titled EP on May 20 and it has been
a long time in the making. With the band’s
first single, “Waving Hand,” premiering on
Noisey on April 8 and second single “Feel”
premiering on Stereogum on April 25, the
momentum behind the band is growing.
Recorded at The Barn with Curtis Buckoll
from Rain City Studios, the EP is as tense
and loud as it is sparse and beautiful. All
this is the result of a song they recorded
a week after forming the band. A decision
that has haunted the band to this day.
“‘Swim’ is kind of one of those songs
that has really cursed us. In a way that it
doesn’t represent who we are as a band at
all anymore. The first day we ever jammed
together, we wrote [‘Swim’] and a week later
we recorded it,” elaborates Riekman. “And,
because it has taken us a year and a half to
write and record this EP, the only song we
were showing people was ‘Swim’ and then
study something I was passionate about.
I’ve always loved writing [and] studying
books in a classroom setting.” In 2004 the
singer dropped out of college when things
started picking up for his former band, The
Blood Brothers, who quickly shrieked their
way to the top of the emo/screamo ranks.
Blilie’s penchant for working under stress
and time constraints may prove to be a helpful
skill set for his studies. It’s a definite departure
from his pace a decade ago, when the
band felt it had all the time in the world to get
distracted by the “minutiae of the process.”
Their new approach comes through on A
New Wave of Violence, which is teeming with
the urgency and imminence of coordinating
four musicians leading grown-up lives, pursuing
their separate ventures on the heels of a
“staggeringly violent year here in the States.”
Blilie continues, “Seemingly every week you’d
see on the national news a new case of police
violence against unarmed black men, women,
children. You only really need to have a small
amount of awareness of the world around
you to be presented with violence daily.”
The sentiment also resonated with New
York shredder Zinner, who suggested
the album title “completely independent
of reading anything that I had written. It
cemented the record to right now.”
Whereas their first album has an element of
silliness to it in the song titles and lyrical content,
this time Blilie made a concerted effort to
create something more substantial, an honest
portrayal of his mindset that he’s proud of.
But the album isn’t all seriousness. There is
still evidence of anti-authority snottiness and
a glint of irony on “Head Wound City, USA.”
The song possesses a “brutal repetition...that
lent itself to having somewhat anthemic lyrics”
and is about a fruitless search for refuge.
Its title, however, is explained as such: “I liked
the kind of brashness and audacity of having
a song titled with the name of the band.”
we have people coming out to our shows being
like ‘I listened to your song and it doesn’t
sound anything like you live,’ and we have to
say ‘Oh, sorry,’” say Riekman with a laugh.
Blessed’s plans don’t end with their EP
though. That is just the beginning. The band
has ambitious touring plans, a goal to play 100
shows by the end of year, 60 of them being in
The United States. While the band’s US tour
itinerary is still in the works, in May they will
be heading off on a 27 date tour that will see
them cross Canada covering everywhere
from Victoria, BC to St. Johns, Newfoundland.
While the name may seem to allude to
being religious in a sort of sense, that is
not the case. In fact, the band simply chose
the name because they all liked the sound
of it and it wasn’t already taken. I guess
you could say the band are #blessed.
“Coming up with a band name is such a
hard thing for a band to do, and when we
found that [Blessed] wasn’t taken by anyone,
we set out with it” says Riekman. On
the plus side, the band hopes this may make
crossing the boarder into The States easier
for them, a spot where many Vancouver
bands before have been held up or denied.
“We can just tell them we are a Christian
band. It might help. It’s worth a shot.”
Blessed release their self titled
EP everywhere on May 20
With members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Locust, and Blood Brothers, Head Wound City are not for the faint of heart.
Blilie may have graduated from Blood
Brother to actual father, but he hasn’t outgrown
a good sense of humour or hopefulness.
“When I was younger it was very easy
to give in to a very fatalistic world view and
that’s just not something I want to carry with
me when I’m trying to demonstrate love and
compassion to a being that is taking every
one of their cues from his mom and myself.”
Head Wound City perform at
the Imperial on May 27.
by Thalia Stopa
photo: Eva Michon
May 2016 MUSIC
9

BLACK MOUNTAIN
psych rockers find levitation in a new challenge
Vancouver’s Black Mountain tread new ground on their fourth album, IV.
The occasional heckler doesn’t phase
Black Mountain singer/guitarist
Stephen McBean. Rather, he appreciates
the challenge. And if you aren’t a
fan of Black Mountain already then Mc-
Bean might be able convert you in the live
setting. A seasoned musician and touring
artist, McBean is also a self-described
introvert who’s still prone to “deer in the
NO SINNER
a regeneration of degenerates
photo: Magdalena Wosinska
headlights” moments on stage. The focused
task of winning over an audience member
is a thrilling opportunity to snap out of it.
“Sometimes there’s a weird energy when
someone yells something that can kind of
twist your psyche into like a healthy creative
wrestling match. I always play to people at
the very back of the room,” says McBean.
“Like maybe some dude with a shaved head
and long-sleeved mixed martial arts wrestling
shirt. He’s only there because like some
woman that he works with and wants to
have sex with is going. He’s by the bar doing
Jaeger shots, forcing some sort of energy
for him to turn around and notice the music,
that can be another fun way to play shows.”
Between heavy touring, the band’s two
days in Vancouver coincides with the marijuana
holiday 4/20. McBean is spending
it rambling – on foot and in conversation
– through the West End, past “Some bongs,
some bongos, and reggae on the street,”
towards a vaguely remembered Greek
restaurant on Denman street. Talk veers to
politics and nachos. By his account, funds
from government-controlled substance dispensation
should funnel into free munchies
so that stoners on the street could “dip into
some community nachos at your leisure.”
McBean asserts that freedom is a common
theme through Black Mountain’s music,
from 2005’s self-titled debut to this year’s
sprawling, synth-heavy fourth album IV,
released April 1 on Jagjaguwar. Maybe it’s
the five-year-long break between this year’s
release and the enthusiasm of reuniting to
make the album that makes it their most spacious-sounding
to date. The band (rounded
out by vocalist Amber Webbs, keyboardist
Jeremy Schmidt, and drummer Joshua Wells)
also has a new bass player, Colin Cowan.
Although Cowan didn’t record on IV, he
did complete his first European tour with
the band. Of the five musicians who auditioned
for the band, Cowan was the only one
McBean didn’t know. It was clear though that
their musical chemistry and personalities
gelled. “He’s a great musician [and] he’s really
good at being a freak, which is good. It takes
the pressure off of me,” McBean laughs.
Black Mountain has an extensive tour
ahead of them, through North America and
back to Europe. McBean has love for the
highs and lows of the road, and there’s no
mistaking his passion for it all. “Getting five
people in tune with each other and then
the audience, the electricity - that’s why
it’s so exciting. There’s so many variables,”
exclaims McBean. “You’re given the luxury
of reinterpreting the album every night.
Usually, if you’re a famous painter you paint
your masterpiece and then it’s placed in a
museum under a controlled viewing environment
at the right temperature and with
like a weird purple velvet rope around it.”
Surrendered to their whims and elements
beyond their control, Black Mountain’s varied
soundscape – including Webber’s melodic
almost operatic vocals and heavy guitar riffs
– are known to attract to a diverse crowd
from metal-head kids who wanna rock out
to music nerds interested in vintage gear.
It’s a wonder then that there’s anyone
out there left to be converted.
Black Mountain perform at the
Commodore Ballroom on May 21.
by Thalia Stopa
by Erin Jardine
In an industry of turbulence, Colleen Rennison
of No Sinner has found a balance
in picking her battles. After a significant
lineup change and negotiating a relationship
with Mascot Label Group, Rennison has
garnered tremendous support and momentum
with the impending release of No
Sinner’s second album, Old Habits Die Hard.
The original line up of No Sinner included
Parker Bossley (Bass), Eric Campbell
(guitar), and Ian Browne (Drums). “We were
really excited about writing and all three
of us were at this transitional stage in our
lives where we were looking for something
to put our passion into,” recalled Rennison.
The story of the album is a bittersweet one;
compromise is essential in any relationship,
business or otherwise. But the decision
to push back the release of Old Habits Die
Hard in favour of re-releasing No Sinner’s
debut album, Boo Hoo Hoo, in Europe was
one that caused changes for No Sinner.
“We recorded the album at a lot of different
studios over four or five years. We were
ready to release it when Mascot Label Group
approached us. When we joined Mascot they
wanted to re-release Boo Hoo Hoo in order
to capitalize off that. So everything received
a bit of a push back. We were excited about
the new material and wanted to release it
10 MUSIC
right away. The reason Ian, Eric, and I don’t
play together anymore is because of that:
that feeling of not being able to evolve.”
No Sinner’s lineup may not be the same,
but the legacy of the songs that were written
has Rennison looking to the future with
optimism. “The songs [Browne, Campell,
and Rennison] wrote together are fucking
killer. I appreciate the time and creative
power that the three of us brought to the
table. I’m proud to bring it to new players.
The guys I’m playing with now, the reason
why they said yes and the reason why
they’re with me now is because they’re
good songs. They’re excited about playing,
which makes me proud,” says Rennison.
With the trials of No Sinner weighing on
Rennison, she went on the road with her
motorcycle for over a year. Many details
of what went wrong were rehashed in her
mind endlessly, but there was something
good about taking a break and seeking a
change in scenery. “I was so anxious and
impatient for things to happen. It felt like
the harder I pushed the longer it took. I’m
just relaxed in my head now. It’s not so fire
and brimstone. What tainted our vibe was
that it became too serious. It became about
pleasing other people. The fun was taken
out of it. We were confused and misleading
With a brand new line up, Colleen Rennison and No Sinner are back with Old Habits Die Hard.
ourselves for the wrong reasons. Now I’m
just ready to play these great fucking songs.”
Now, the new No Sinner line up is comprised
of Daniel Sveinson (guitar), Nathan
Shubert (keys), Cole George (drums),
and Joe Lubinsky (bass), all veteran rock
musicians in their own right. At this stage,
a few short tours are set up – with every
ounce of their energy focused on promoting
Old Habits Die Hard. “We’ve only
been playing since October, hopefully
when we’re on the road and we have more
leisure time together, we’ll get into writing,”
comments Rennison. This is not a
comeback for No Sinner, but a regeneration
with due respect to the band’s past.
No Sinner performs at the Cobalt on May 20
May 2016

VIOLENT FEMMES
healed blisters make way for a valiant return
Slaying a dragon, marrying a princess,
and becoming king. It’s stuff storybooks
are made of and also, metaphorically,
Violent Femmes. The longstanding band recite
this fantastical tale in “I Could Be Anything”
on their new album, We Can Do Anything,
but beneath the song’s childlike facade,
folk-drunk instrumentals, and Gordon Gano’s
playful sneer lays something more — an
optimistic declaration of sorts. For bassist
Brian Ritchie, it affirms the fearless attitude
of the Femmes when they make music.
The Milwaukee post-punks found immediate
success in 1982 with their self-titled debut
that produced iconic stomps like “Blister In
The Sun” and “Add It Up.” We Can Do Anything
is their first full-length in 16 years, following
a number of makeups and breakups
that came to a head when Ritchie famously
sued Gano for selling advertising rights to
Wendy’s. After reuniting in 2013 at Coachella
for an intended one-off performance, they
soon found themselves back on the road
and in the studio. For the record, Ritchie
and Gano are getting along “just fine.”
“There’s something about the band that
you start out with that you can never really
shake,” Ritchie says. “That’s like the defining
moment. People always associate you with that
band. They look at the other things as subsequent
musical projects, but on an emotional
level, you’re always associated with that band.
This is probably one of the reasons bands
continue and one of the reasons bands reform.”
It’s not the warmth of nostalgia, however,
that makes Violent Femmes’ return a triumphant
one, but the magic that happens
when the talents of Ritchie and Gano combine.
Ritchie acknowledges that it can only
be truly captured with the two side-by-side
and much of the essence has to do with the
spontaneous spirit that arises from their
collaboration — something rooted in never
succumbing to contemporary music trends.
“When we recorded the first album, we
made a conscious decision to avoid any kind
of production methodology that was current at
that time — which was 1982 — so that the album
would be able to be interpreted as having
come from the past or the future,” he explains.
That ethos has been carried throughout their
catalogue and again with We Can Do Anything,
on which the rambunctious blend of folk, punk,
jazz, and blues is highlighted through contributions
from freestyle section Horns of Dilemma,
drummer Brian Viglione, and Barenaked
Ladies’ multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearne.
They recorded live off the floor — a method
utilized often in the band’s earlier days (“It’s
an earthier way of recording,” Ritchie maintains)
— and dipped into Gano’s songwriting
archives, some material spanning over 20
years. “I [wouldn’t] be surprised if every album
had songs that were written before the band
even started,” Ritchie says. “And considering
the band has been around for 35 years, that’s
saying something.” Since the new effort wasn’t
exclusively written as a body of work, the
Femmes cultivated a sonic flow to create a
cohesive experience. “Then,” Ritchie continues,
“the question becomes ‘what angle are
we working, what do we want to do, what kind
of statement are we making as a whole?’”
Beyond the title’s blatancy, the statement
We Can Do Anything makes is about perseverance.
It’s something that resonates with
the Femmes, both in personal relations and
from a musical standpoint. “People have this
idea that we came out with two really strong
albums and after that it was a little bit shaky
and I wouldn’t entirely disagree with that,”
Ritchie says. Following works that are considered
masterpieces can be nerve-wracking, he
admits, but “you just have to put on your ‘I don’t
give a shit’ hat and go ahead and do it anyway.”
After all, Violent Femmes have always done
whatever they’ve wanted — an approach that
reflects what they themselves respect in music:
integrity, endurance, and unabashed boldness.
“The more we put that into our own music,”
Ritchie says, “the more legitimate our music is.”
Violent Femmes perform at The
Commodore Ballroom on May 15
by Yasmine Shemesh
photo: Ebru Yildiz
After a lengthy hiatus, the Violent Femmes are back and touring behind new album We Can Do Anything.
May 2016 MUSIC
11

CARLY RAE JEPSEN
an emotional homecoming
Canadian gem Carly Rae Jepsen is quietly but forcefully pushing the boundaries of pop music.
Carly Rae Jepsen is coming home and
she’s bringing a big show full of all
kinds of emotion with her. BeatRoute
caught up with the illustrious homegrown
pop star to find out more about her latest
album, E•MO•TION, the creative process
involved in bringing it together, and why
it’s taken her so long to bring it all back
home. Her absence in Vancouver is purposeful
however, as she explains, sometimes
certain places mean more and in
this case it’s her home city. “This album
has been my passion project and my baby
and we spent so long promoting it and
GLAD RAGS
socially progressive punks with their humour on-point
With song titles like “Anorexia” and
“5HTP” (an over the counter mood
balancing drug), Glad Rags attempt to
assault their audience with progressive commentary
on the world around them. Glad Rags
are a punk band, and contrary to some of their
subject matter, they certainly do not take themselves
seriously. Glad Rags is Andrea Demers
(drums), Sarah Jane Taylor (guitar/vocals),
Tracy Thorne (bass), and Selina Koop (guitar/
vocals). As for how they found each other,
Koop explains, “The guys in our friend scene
were having these brojams where they would
go to the jamspace and play covers. I think that
sparked the conversation like ‘that sounds fun,
we want to do that!’” They joked about playing
exclusively Courtney Love covers, before they
found their grounding in writing original songs.
“I think the abrasiveness came out quite
naturally,” says Thorne. “We would literally drive
around in [Selina’s] truck and scream at each
other,” Taylor mentioned, in absolute seriousness.
Anyone in this time can find something
to scream about if they dig deep enough, and
the single, “Anorexia” provides an emotional
outlet for Glad Rags about the disease that
plagues many. “The anger is directed at the
disease itself. So the lyrics go, there’s something
that is encouraging you to be a certain
12 MUSIC
releasing it,” Jepsen says on the phone
from her tour stop in Halifax. “Now we
get to celebrate the songs and it’s going
to feel really wonderful to come home.”
E•MO•TION is a fast paced journey
through some very personal stories. Aptly
named, it moves from track to track, eliciting
all kinds of feelings. The tracks themselves
serve as an emotional barometer
of sorts, they aim to inspire the listener to
feel comfortable knowing certain experiences
in life are shared rights of passage.
Jepsen gets personal, she goes deep and
she wears her heart on her sleeve.
way. You feel helpless, you feel hungry and
you don’t love yourself because you don’t feel
like you’re meeting a standard that someone
else has set for you,” recalled Taylor. Glad
Rags is very pro-food, “The amount of potato
chips we have eaten could circumvent the
world, twice,” insisted Demers. “We consume,
and we don’t feel bad about it,” added Koop.
On being a band comprised of females, they
laugh and poke fun at the possibility of calling
any and all “all-male” bands as “boy bands” or
a “male fronted” band. “Growing up I listened
to all-male bands,” remarked Demers. “Well,
yeah, they wrote the scene,” added Taylor.
“Being in an all girl band seemed to be a niche,”
continued Demers, “I had to pay attention to
that, and be conscious of that difference.”
The band simply loves playing together,
and enjoys seeking out the weird shows.
They’re gaining more momentum with Sled
Island and Music Waste in the queue for the
summer. Aside from their message seen in
the lyrics of their songs, they are focused
on the energy of the party, and what their
take on punk music can bring to any situation.
Their full-length album is sure to make
hair and consciousness stand on end.
Glad Rags perform at SBC on May 28
“I wanted to make an album that was
very personal and that felt like it was from
the heart. An album that’s honest and that,
even if no one heard it, I could die happy
knowing it existed,” she says. “And at the
same time I really wanted to connect it to
people and for it to feel like an album that
people could hear and feel like it had been
written for them, for their personal life or
for whatever they were going through.”
E•MO•TION had a slow burn upon its
initial release, but by the end of the year it
had made its way on to many year-end best
of lists. Her newest video is for her single
“Boy Problems,” directed by Canadian
photographer and Instagram starlet, Petra
Collins. The end result was a female-driven
1980s dream paradise crossed with
slumber party shenanigans featuring the
likes of Tavi Gevinson (ROOKIE magazine
editor-in-chief). The collaborative process
is something Jepsen promises more of.
“I basically arrived to a girl party where
we talked about our male problems and
danced it off together,” she says. “It couldn’t
have turned out better in my mind.”
Evolving in pop music as an artist can
be tricky, with mounting pressures to
recreate your last hit, but Jepsen’s aim
is to improve as a songwriter, growing
from one project to the next.
“With Tug Of War (2008) I began very
much as a singer-songwriter, sort of pull
out your journal entry and put it to music. I
wasn’t considering song structure so much.
Then with Kiss (2012) we had this amazing
opportunity to work with a handful of
world-renowned producers and different
collaborators and I think I allowed myself
to just run into that project to try and get it
out as quickly as possible because we were
kinda on fire with the single ‘Call Me Maybe’
so we wanted to share something quickly.
With E•MO•TION, one of the first things I felt
while I was talking to my team about what
was next was that I didn’t want to do it that
way again. I really felt like I needed time and
I needed time to explore and to write many
songs until I landed on the sound. That
was really my sound and with E•MO•TION,
that is the discovery that is most exciting
I found the form of pop that attracts me
most. And I am excited to share this more
than anything else I have done before.”
Gently rejecting the title of pop star,
she is quick to assert that she is an artist
above all else. “There are many different
sides to music and I think sometimes
you can get pigeonholed into one type,
which is where people stamp an identity
on you,” she says. “Every artist is allowed
to explore and change and grow and go
for things you want to do, as opposed
to the things that are expected of you.
I really experienced that (with E•MO•-
TION). I think this discovery will help me
go even deeper with the next album.”
Carly Rae Jepsen performs at
Rogers Arena on May 20.
Local punks Glad Rags are not afraid to call society out on its bullshit.
by David Cutting
by Erin Jardine
photo: Andrea Demers
May 2016

MAC DEMARCO
a journey of rediscovery and interpretation by Andrew Pitchko
ANDREW
Mac DeMarco has been the dream
boy of indie pop for a number of
years now. Though originally from
Edmonton, he can safely claim hometown
advantage in Vancouver, Montreal, and
most recently New York. With an incredibly
dedicated and internet savvy fan base he
has become, by his own admission, a kind
of internet meme, but you should not let that
take away from his music. Now as much as
ever he draws inspiration from singer songwriters
of the past to weave a simple and
yet distinct sound. When we woke DeMarco
up just past noon he was in his New York
apartment, still half asleep he was more
than eager to jump right in to the interview.
DeMarco claims to have developed a
small obsession with acoustic guitars as
of late. Having rediscovered James Taylor,
he goes on to say that sometimes artists
just re-emerge in to prominence on his
playlist. Though he has listened to him
for years, it is only now that he has dived
past the classic hits and began discovering
some of the b-sides. A similar thing
that must have happened with Paul Simon,
another one of his all time favourites, who’s
songs he has been keen on playing live.
That’s one of the things about DeMarco,
he does not hesitate to pay homage. Wearing
the voice of his influencers on his sleeve,
he often pays tribute to one or two during
a show, exposing a whole new generation
to songs like “Still Crazy After All These
Years” which have gotten noticeable attention
from DeMarco’s fans on Youtube. In a
lot of ways this is the dichotomy of DeMarco.
On one hand he spews the kind of goofy
banter and frolic one would expect from his
reputation, but he has also developed and
reflected a sincere musical appreciation
for the singer-songwriters of yester-year.
Though he uses no samples on any of his
recordings, he does at times borrow and, in
his own words, “plays tribute” to the greats.
When asked about this he reminds me of
an old anecdote regarding James Taylor.
When Taylor was recording a new album
in London, The Beatles invited him to their
studio to hang out and play. When he came
he ended up playing “Something in the Way
She Moves” which was one of his songs he
was just recording at the time. Just after
hearing it, George Harrison went home
and wrote “Something,” one of the most
iconic Beatles songs. When confronted,
George Harrison said he loved the song so
much he went home and wrote it himself.
So perhaps this musical journey of
DeMarco’s is one of rediscovery and
interpretation that runs along those lines.
A boy sharing all his favourite stories,
tunes, and jokes to the world around him
only too happy to have a willing audience.
His relationship with his fans, just
like his musical heroes, is very close, as
he routinely goes on Reddit where he
has an active sub-reddit dedicated to all
things Mac. He claims that the fans always
have his back. He recently dropped
a few never before released treats directly
on to the site much to his fans delight.
When asked about his up and coming
show in Vancouver, he says he is
very excited about it. “That’s where
the Sonic Youth played” he adds. “I
can’t wait to play there myself”
Mac DeMarco performs at the
Malkin Bowl on May 27
While he may seem like a goof, Mac DeMarco’s reverential songwriting tells a different story.
photo: Coley Brown
BIRD
fulfilled is the life of a whistling logophile
With Are You Serious, Andrew Bird has released his most personal and honest album yet.
When describing his music to some
unbeknownst pals, you may find it
challenging to paint a true likeness
of Andrew Bird. “He plucks the violin while
holding it like a guitar,” you will tell your
friends excitedly. “Oh, and he whistles along
in perfect pitch. Then he loops it, and adds in
more violin, but plays it the proper way!” You
might even impress them by quoting lyrics
from the hyper-articulate track “Tenuousness.”
Although these attributes are distinctively
Bird, he truly triumphs by offering
listeners stories for their own decoding. Your
friends will thank you for the introduction.
“It’s a fine line between ambiguity and
specificity that allows people to apply it to
their own lives,” Bird says slowly, giving
delicate thought before speaking. “I like
when people get the humour of [my music].
A lot of time there’s lines that have a bit of
a twist to them, that people can hopefully
think deeper about: like some sort of everyday
thing, but thinking about it in a different
way.” The Illinois-raised, classically-trained
violinist has been skirting the edges of indie
and folk for over 20 years. He started off
in the band Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire, but
when the rest of the group couldn’t make a
show, he performed it as a solo act. As you
might have guessed, the front man flourished.
He even added more sound-makers
to his roster: the guitar, the glockenspiel, and
that quintessential Andrew Bird whistling.
Over the years, Bird has amassed an impressive
collection of records, notably Weather
Systems, The Mysterious Production of
Eggs, and Noble Beast. Although his methods
have changed slightly over the years (from
looping himself to four people sharing a mic),
he remains true to his style. Esoteric wordplay,
comforting structure, and heartbreaking
violin is the formula for almost any Andrew
Bird song. “I think the most fertile thing, the
thing that always brings [music] to my head, is
simply just the pace of walking in an unfamiliar
city,” Bird says purposefully. “You know,
something about going to look for a coffee
and all these melodies start rushing into
your head. ‘Cause you’re kind of in between,
you’re in some sort of strange purgatory…
Something about it allows ideas to come.”
His latest album Are You Serious, deviates
the closest to explicitly relatable, arguably
more than any of his past releases. It’s not
without good reason, as Bird recently felt
each end of the happiness spectrum. He
got married and had a son, but also moved
across the country and unexpectedly dealt
with some life altering news. By all accounts,
Are You Serious is the exclamation
one would make in a situation so awful
that it bordered on humour. “This album is
someone who means what they say,” Bird
shares, personifying his latest. “I described
it early on as being brutal at times, in the
sense that it doesn’t shy away from some
tough moments. And I think it’s more in touch
with physicality. It’s a visceral record.”
Though he might become a little more
known with this latest release (hearing him
on the radio — albeit CBC2 — is still a shock
to the system), Bird is someone that will
consistently give us the clues and leave the
solving part up to us. Here’s to 20 more years
of trying to describe his brilliant whistling.
Andrew Bird performs at the
Orpheum on May 21
by Kristie Sparksman
photo: Reuben Cox
May 2016 MUSIC
13

ELECTRONICS DEPARTMENT
MODERAT
a synthesis of three minds
by Jamie Goyman
photo: Prioreau Green
Moderat embody the power of III, a complete audio and visual declaration.
Berlin, 2003, felt the first touches of Moderat
and what the three producers had set out
to accomplish. Stemming from the already
working acts of Modeselektor (Gernot Bronsert,
and Sebastian Szary) and Apparat (Sascha Ring)
these three released their first collaborative
EP Auf Kosten der Gesundheit (BPitch Control)
which had fans applauding its originality and
surprisingly catchy nature. The 10+ year journey
for Moderat took hold and has consistently been
pushing out the goods ever since. “We have very
different personalities,” says Bronsert, “but what
we have in common is the love for music and
perfectionism.”
When three seasoned minds come together, in
studio, and put their creativity and production to
work the end result never comes up short. The
new album III (Monkeytown Records) delivers
some of the finest musical decisions that keeps
the album on a course of clarity, moving past the
divide that could momentarily be detected in their
previous work. “My personal favorite is ‘Ghostmother,’
for me this song represents the sound
of this record. The artwork of III is also inspired
by the song: the phenomenon ‘Ghostmother’
is from the early beginnings of photography.
100–120 years ago you had very long exposure
time for a picture in good quality. Children had
to sit still for quite some time for a portrait photo
which was difficult, especially for very young
kids. So what do you need to make this work?
The mother, right? So they tried to hide/integrate
the mother into the background of the photo with
some really weird and sometimes scary results,”
Bronsert explains.
III is an album composed of fused talent that
clearly demonstrate just how well these three
know one another musically. Collecting ideas
individually and in the end coming together to
make it one piece, the creative standards they
have established together define the sound of
Moderat. “We had no real plan, but had a pretty
clear idea about the sound and we knew that
Sascha had to sing more. At the end we usually
just start and see how it goes. Like I said though,
we were on the same page regarding the sound
of III right from the beginning. We argue more
about details.”
The live performance itself is where Moderat
fully let out their creative expression and each
song takes on an energy that can’t be completely
recognized through recordings, the true allure of
Ring’s vocals on “Rusty Nail” (Moderat – Bpitch
Control) comes through and your body feels
the vibrations in the air from the music filling
the room. Not only is the live performance from
Moderat almost musically seamless, there is an
entire aspect to the live show that is the perfect
level of overwhelming, to say the least. The very
stimulating visuals that accompany their live
music are nothing to scoff at or brush off as the
usual, the planning and set up behind the live
show is illustrious, if you will. “We work together
with the Pfadfinderei for many years now. They
are responsible for the stage design, the live
show, and all visual aspects of Moderat,” states
Bronsert.
The live shows that come from Moderat are
continuously well-balanced and fluent, both
visually and audibly, these three guys from
Germany aren’t fucking around when it comes to
their music; they’re the real deal. “The need/urge
to express ourselves creatively started in our
childhood I believe – for each of us. It’s in us.” Let
your body get loose with the instinctual chaos
that they have been perfecting since ‘03.
Moderat performs at the Vogue Theatre on May 23
14 MUSIC
May 2016

ANTWON
flexin’ twice the luv in the booty club
Historically, San Jose rapper Antwon
presents a very interesting composition
of emotional nuance, ostensibly
clashed against wild assertions of explicit
desires. In the same five minutes of an
album that sifts through the phenomenon of
self-image and depression, he also launches
into “I eat the pussy after periods, strawberry
day.” While he promises he “skeeted in
her throat,” he also promises, “Finna watch
sunrise, hold each other during Mimi’s / I’m
finna hold you girl when we fall asleep.”
But what seems like a clash is actually a
breaking out of a mold into something new
for rap music as we know it. Antwon brings
the sexually explicit and the tender out of a
binary. He represents a wide range of emotional
and sexual realities and never tries to
keep them in different rooms. He sheds any
societal sexual repression and lets it breathe
amongst life’s other neuroses, allowing
connections to be made that couldn’t when
these genres were deemed separate entities.
Touring behind his latest, Double Ecstasy
EP, many media outlets have categorized
Antwon’s sexually explicit material as
“tongue in cheek” and “absurdist.” However,
speaking to Antwon, he does not seem to be
reaching for irony at all. When asked about
the lyrics “Hit the pussy raw 2016 / It’s time
to have sex” on his new single “Girl, Flex” he
says, “I’m talking about sex; I’m stating the
point, I’m not trying to be ironic. I just try to
be honest to me.” Antwon abides by playful
and raunchy lyrics as self-expression.
After being in the rap game for more than
10 years now, Antwon’s new music plays
with lo-fi beats and production in what he
calls “a rebirth in sound.” But the real change
lies within Anwton himself. “I’ve evolved
more. I’m more focused now, I know what
I want.” He has sought longevity and after
San Jose rapper Antwon uses playful and raunchy lyrics as a form of self-expression.
album upon album, has achieved it with soaring
marks and there’s no stopping him now.
He just finished a co-headlining We Stole
Hip Hop tour with Wiki and is heading out
on a tour of Europe for the summer, but
he doesn’t act like someone who is ready
to rest on his laurels. “I work on my music
everyday. I have to keep my plans tight,”
says Antwon, citing that he regularly
works every day until one in the morning.
What’s impressive about his Double
photo: Kristin Cofer
by Callie Hitchcock
Ecstasy EP is that it’s versatile in sound
while maintaining the status of killer
dance beats that would hold up in a live
setting. The production and beats that he
raps over are varied and belong to a car
with heavy bass, cruising the streets of
downtown. Over all his albums he maintains
a stronghold on lyrics, beats and
interesting instrumentals. His 10 years of
experience really shines when looking at
how he’s not afraid to choose disparate
samples while also oscillating between
vulnerable and aggressive wordplay.
Whether he’s in the mood to delve into
love, depression or oral sex, Antwon the
entertainer always rises to the occasion.
With lyrics like, “Show me love in the
booty club” from the first song on the EP
“Luv,” and “On a whirlwind trip getting two
bars deep getting lit” from “Dri-Fit,” Antwon
is clearly having a lot of fun. The combination
of out-there lyrics and raw energy in
his music makes you feel like Antwon is a
party you want to join. He represents wild
abandon, emotional honesty and sucking up
every drop of life possible.
Whether you’re dancing in your room or
banging it out, dancing at the club, Antwon
will set you free.
Antwon performs at 22 East 2nd Ave on May 7.
May 2016 ELECTRONICS DEPARTMENT
15

THE REBEL SPELL
finding affirmation within tragedy
This May 21st the extensive community
that Todd Serious, aka Todd Jenkins,
helped build will gather to mourn his loss
and celebrate the music he created with his
band The Rebel Spell. Todd tragically passed
away March 7, 2015 from a climbing accident.
He is remembered by his family, friends, band
mates, and fans. The Todd Serious Memorial
Show will bring everyone together to enjoy
one of his greatest passions: his music.
The Rebel Spell became a Vancouver DIY
icon through years of hard work and dedication
to both their music and their ideals. They
were a band with work ethic and drive, and it
was their dedication to their community and
politics that built their reputation over their
12-year career.
Sitting in a sunny East Vancouver park,
Erin, guitarist and one of the founding members
of The Rebel Spell, takes a moment to
reflect on the energetic frontman and the band
she shared with him.
The band was formed when Erin placed an
add in The Georgia Straight looking for a new
project. Todd and Stepha, the band’s original
drummer, answered the add. “Todd in his
mind already had this vision of a band with the
name The Rebel Spell. So it was kind of like
I was actually the addition to something that
was already in the making,” explains Erin. “It
turned out to be right in line. I was looking for
something more political, something more DIY
than the project I was involved with before.”
Thus The Rebel Spell was born. The band
produced four albums and toured Canada
extensively as well as The United States and
Europe. They toured with Canadian punk
heavyweight Propagandhi, and to pay tribute
to Todd’s memory, Propagandhi released a
cover of The Rebel Spell’s song “I am a Rifle.”
They have a lot to be proud of and Erin doesn’t
shy away from that pride. “I feel really good
about the whole body of work we created. I
feel like our songs are my babies and I don’t
have a favourite album or a not favourite
album. It’s all really special to me.”
For Erin, losing Todd put both her and Todd’s
life choices into focus. “Throughout my time in
the band I’ve had a lot of doubt about my life’s
choices because living in grinding poverty for
that long is really difficult and it took a toll on
me. I often felt like I was spinning my wheels
and I wasn’t going anywhere in my life,” says
Erin. “Since Todd died, just how many people
have reached out and talked about how my
band has impacted their lives, how they think,
and what we meant to them, it’s made me feel
like I really have made the right choices in
life. Made me feel like both Todd’s time on this
earth and mine have not been wasted.”
“Everything about this has been bitter sweet.
It’s just completely horrible but at the same
time really life affirming. I’ve learned the hard
way not to take stuff for granted,” she adds.
The band’s last release ended up being
oddly prophetic. Titled The Last Run, it sadly
lived up to its name. The shock of Todd’s death
came with the grim realization that they would
never play with him again.
“We played our last show on New Years
Eve of 2014 and we were booking our next
tour. We were about to go back to Europe. We
were in full swing of everything. Last Run had
just come out a few months before and, you
know my whole life revolved around this band
pretty much, and in an instant it was gone.
Completely...and so that was hard, and it was
by Alex Molten
hard to think that we would never play these
songs again. I think this will give us a bit of
closure,” says Erin on the decision to put on
the memorial show.
The Rebel Spell that you will see on May
21st will be the final line up the band had, with
Erin on guitar, Elliot on bass, and Travis on
drums. Stepha, the drummer in the first line
up, will be doing most of the vocals with some
guests coming to sing some songs as well.
“We are going to have some surprise guests.
There will be people from our past. It’s going
to be wonderful, I’m really excited,” hints Erin.
When asked about a favourite memory of
Todd, Erin remembers the love he had for
his dogs. “One time when we were on tour
somebody asked us if we were allergic to dogs
and Todd said ‘I’m allergic to not dogs.’ As in
he was allergic to having dogs not around,”
laughs Erin. “I can handle so much. I can get
through so much of thinking about him and
like not break a tear at all but whenever I think
about his dogs, and [them just] waiting for him
to come home and like they don’t even know
where he is...That totally breaks me. Besides
his band he had his climbing and his dogs.
Those were the things he based his whole life
around and everything he did in life was for
those three things.”
So come remember Todd Serious and
celebrate the band he and his band mates
dedicated so much of their lives to. His voice
will live on through his songs so take the time
to listen.
The Rebel Spell with perform at the Todd
Serious Memorial Show at Astorino’s on May 21
KRIS SHULTZ
destroying perceived notions one box at a time
Metal music has always gotten a bad rap
and has garnered a reputation as a bunch
of angst-ridden, rowdy rebel rousers.
It’s just noise played by a bunch of musicians
who have a one track mind, right? Wrong.
Case in point, Kris Schulz. His metal resume speaks
for itself; he is a well respected axe slinger in local
stalwarts Mechanism, West Of Hell, and Cocaine Mustache,
but beyond that Schulz has just released a solo
album full of acoustic wonderment. This album is a far
cry from his previous power chord existence. It is one
hundred percent of just him and the acoustic guitar:
no drums, no vocals. It is an amazing journey and real
eye opener to a soulful side that many metal musicians
have and hold dear to their heart. Many just don’t have
the guts to throw it all out there. The album is called
While The City Sleeps and it is 13 songs of beauty. It
is inspiring to hear these songs that are so obviously
coming straight from a pure and passionate place.
“I had a major realization and it hit hard. I knew I
needed to do this but I did not know how to play this kind
of music that I had in my head,” Schulz explains. “All the
16 THE SKINNY
songs were written way above my level. I struggled the
whole way. I’ve never played anything more challenging.”
In saying that, Schulz is being a bit modest. A couple
of year ago he took a few of these songs to the Canadian
Fingerstyle Competition, a world renowned acoustic
event that has players from around the globe competing,
and placed fourth. Schulz is not the type of guy
into competitions, but this impressive feet gained him
connections to heady record label FretMonkey Records
who released his album and ultimately culminated in
back to back sold out release shows at The H.R. Mac-
Millan Planetarium in Vancouver. Starting May 4 he will
be embarking on a two month cross Canada tour. So
guitar aficionados, this is a chance to see a true talent
and another side to a multi talented intense individual.
“I am not a big fan of boxes. If I could change
one thing about the way people perceive music
it is to fuck off with boxes. You play music.
You are a musician. Everyone has multiple influences
coming in,” says a wistful Schulz.
Kris Schultz performs at the Heritage Grill on May 4.
by Heath Fenton
May 2016

SBDC
nasty names yield positive results
by Alex Molten
While being interviewed, the gals of
SBDC are sitting on a couch in their
jam space wearing wedding gowns
and tiaras and they are having a blast. The
band plays a catchy brand of care-free punk
that prompts smiles and butt shakes while not
being afraid to laugh at themselves or their
own jokes. In fact they are really good at that.
The band is Karmin S. and Cheryl B. on
guitar, Alicia D. on bass and Kati C. on drums,
LA CHINGA
livin’ large in a black light poster world
with the vocals being sung primarily by Karmin
and Alicia and some occasional back-up help
from the others.
The premise of the band was actually
brewed up years before any songs were
actually written. Karmin and Alicia are both
are mental health workers who, through their
jobs, have been called many foul names. It was
during a discussion on which insults bothered
them most that their band name was born.
Seems to be that once in a while we all
need a musical kick in the ass to take us
away from our digitally perfect, bereft
of soul, manufactured, pooper scoop world
and take a minute to kick back, flip on the lava
lamp, pull out the ZigZags and spark one up
and get lost in your “Homework Rots my Mind”
poster while crankin’ some especially primo,
shit-kickin’, boogilicious rock and roll!
These three dudes serve up hip-shakin’
goddamned down n’ dirty mayhem like it is. A
musical trademark tattoo’d - no, BRANDED -
into their denim flare wrapped asses are the
same guys that are getting all sorts of industry
and street level lovin’ for their musical flexing.
They are completely in the NOW and are the
tres hombres that make up the MIGHTY musical
muscle known as La Chinga .
Ben Yardley serves up a dazzling display
of mind melting six string sonics. He recalls a
very tasteful and vast array of influences while
putting his own kind of heavy cream on top
to satiate the senses and satisfy the palette.
Carl Spackler brings home a knuckle-dragging
thunder on the four string as he slams
his beast into some ferocious grooves so he’s
wailing like a motherfucking rock and roll
banshee over top of Yardley and killer tubsman
Jason Solyom. Solyom, who doubles as the
studio guru, pulverizes every molecule of
space not already liquified by his band mates.
Heavy dudes who dig the La Chinga thunder
include Rancho de la Luna/Eagles of Death
Metal mastermind Dave Catching, original
heavyweight Black Flag bassist Chuck Dukowski,
Venice Beach groovers the Shrine, and BF/
Circle Jerks/Off! Lead vocalist Keith Morris!
Tidy peanut gallery eh!
Yardley, Spackler, and the newest addition
to the La Chinga rawk machine, drummer,
multi-instrumentalist, and all-round swell dude
JoJo Jones sat down to discuss usual bullshit
about where, when, why, how over a few
stubbies after a recent rehearsal.
According to Yardley, the electricity that
clearly projects their close-knit band “started
when we all got together in a one-off as the
Snakeskin Cowboys to play Jay’s wedding.”
These dudes aren’t newbies, they cut their
teeth in some of the best bands to hit the
scene over the last ten plus years. Each (Jones
included) have paid their dues, danced with
the devil and lost. They’ve played Buttfuck
Nowhere, USA to six people and have also
shared bills and played with some of rock and
roll’s real royalty before creating La Chinga a
few years back.
Spackler adds, “When my buzz band fell
apart after label insanity, lawyers, road weariness
and infighting, when it was no fucking fun
anymore, I wanted to get away from that sound
and found myself listening to bands like Free,
Cactus, the Four Horsemen. Bands I always
loved – along with TSOL, Waylon Jennings,
The Burrito Brothers, etc... but, bands I needed
to reconnect with... and, it got me excited about
writing again.”
Yardley had been through a similar meatgrinder
in his 20s. “I spent most of my 20s
on the road playing every shithole imaginable.
“Neither of us get really triggered by
anything, other than stupid bitch or dumb
cunt. That kind of pisses [me] off. There’s not a
whole lot you can say to that. And so, Nathan,
my bandmate at the time, [who] was in the back
seat, screamed out ‘Make it your own, start a
band!’ and we were like ‘Super Bitch and the
Dumb Cunts!’” laughs Karmin.
So while SBDC was born that day, it
remained only a joking idea for a couple years.
“It was like two years of us talking about this
project,” says Karmin. “We used to joke that
SBDC was not just a band, [it was] also a
lifestyle.”
Two years into living the “lifestyle” they
brought Cheryl and Kati in on the joke. In
August 2015 they released their debut album,
Pretty Shitty. Featuring tracks titled “Sluts of
Paradise,” “Princess of Pop,” and “SBDC Takes
On the NYPD,” it’s a hilarious and energetic
ride from start to finish.
The band is about to release their second
album, which is called Future Ex-Wives and are
embarking on a tour on May 23. They will be
adventuring past the border into the American
South, cutting back up through the east, and
returning west for Sled Island in Calgary. A
song called “Nothing Personal” from Future
Ex-Wives is up on their Bandcamp and it’s a
Working on my chops and playing in, and with
some great bands and players. Carl and I just
started jamming and Jay was the obvious
choice to drum. Solyom is a beast. And, from
that very first rehearsal Jay recorded and
uploaded a song to YouTube and that was the
genesis of La Chinga.”
JoJo is a great fit. While not trying to replicate
Solyom’s playing, Jones adds his own
slinky kind of swing as he pounds the living
shit out of his kit. Jones comes with his own
list of achievements: “I’ve played with a lot
of people… projects that each rocked in their
own unique way – Black Betty, Jake E Lee
(Ozzy’s guitarist) and stoner/sludge rockers
Sir Hedgehog.”
The extremely wide musical palette of
great listen. A little tighter and longer than the
songs on their first album, it still retains all the
charm the band infused into Pretty Shitty.
As an audience member at an SBDC show,
one feels like they are getting let in on a private
joke. They clearly love playing with each other
and their happiness is contagious. If they make
a mistake, they shrug through it. If they play
tight, well then all the better. One of their songs
even has a mess-up written right into it.
“There’s this whole thing that where to be
taken seriously as women doing anything
you have to do twice as good. That you have
to be better than anything. But we obviously
didn’t do that,” muses Alicia about her band’s
unabashed on-stage confidence.
“We straddle that line where we don’t take
ourselves seriously but still [are] able to play
the songs. They’re catchy and people seem
to like them, so basically I think we’ve found a
really good balance,” adds Cheryl.
“We can raise the bar and lower it at our
will,” says Karmin
“It’s our frikkin bar,” laughs Alicia
“We can drag it on the fucking ground if we
got to,” concludes Carmen.
SBDC will perform a tour kick-off show at
Antisocial Skateboard Shop on May 20.
by Boy Howdy
Yardley, Spackler and Jonas impacts their
retro-tinged boogie with some really intelligent
and ambitious writing and arranging.
It’s this attention to the craft of songwriting
and arranging that perfectly compliments
their monster musical chops and electric live
shows. This is what separates La Chinga from
the pack. No bullshit man! They are a band that
gives shout outs to as diverse a selection of
performers as Rich Hope, Goatsnake, Boards
of Canada, along with Sunday Morning. This
is not a band in black and white – it’s a band in
full black light! Fire one up and pull up a little
closer to the bumper...but be warned, they’ll
melt your face!
La Chinga perform at the Rickshaw on May 13
photo: Tiina Liimu
May 2016 THE SKINNY
17

SUBCULTURE
notes from the underground
Every month, like clockwork, I procrastinate
on writing column until the 11th
hour. It just doesn’t make sense to me
to have people reading something extra stale
which cancels out writing it earlier.
I’ve received praise from random people
of every ilk for my writing
which feels pretty fucking
good. I was amazed
by the cross section of
peeps that actually read
my blurb. I kind of wish,
through Beatroute, I could
answer a feedback mailbag.
That would make
coming up with themes
pretty easy. I’ve been
penning this column for
over 4 1/2 years now and
I’m sure I’ve rehashed the
same subjects multiple
times because shit
always seems to come
back around. How many
more, “do this, don’t do that” blogs pop up
every month. This month I saw a rash of
‘evil’ promoter posts. It’s a thankless job
sometimes, even if you’re doing it right.
I have severe writers block this month.
Here’s some unsolicited advice blurbs for
shits and giggles. I will reach 600 words this
month with this convoluted method.
Dear bands: Please practice a set up and
tear down, live show situation with your
gear. Aim for 15 minutes on a timer. Promoters
and other bands will be stoked to share a
bill with you if you get your shit together on
this. Accolades from your adoring fans can
wait.
Dear newer band: here is some tips on
how to get paid at a show. In my case, I have
a very poor memory from years of boozing
and endless faces so it’s a good idea to
check in with me before the show starts.
Send one guy, generally the online contact
or responsible member so I know your face.
After midnight’s door cash out, I do a few
laps around the bar looking for you. Keep in
mind I also have poor eyesight. If you’re not
by Wendy13
around you get added to the list. I have an
extensive list in my float wallet of uncollected
band dough. Look me up if you think
you may be on this list. It goes back at least
5 years. It wonder how many bands have
assumed they didn’t get paid by me and have
put me on their evil promoter
list?
Dear live music fans: expand
your musical horizons. Check
out a local or touring bands
you’ve never seen at least once
a month. Live a little.
Also... Enough cover charge
balking over 10 bucks. Every
time you spill your coffee that’s
5 bucks. I those Instagram pictures
of you drinking expensive
beers at trendy joints around
town. Se the value in 15-20
musicians performing live music
for you. Ten dollars is a pittance.
Dear bar patrons: If you’re too
drunk, there is likely a scenario
where the door guy will refuse you entry to
the pub. You are not more important than the
risk of a hefty fine and possible enforcement
closure of the business. See you tomorrow.
Call it a day.
Dear everyone: I can not help you get into
the bar without ID. It’s not my call. I just book
the bands there and collect my paycheque
like any other working stiff. Get to know door
guys like Phill. He may just vouch for you.
Better yet, haul your carcass down to the
DMV and get your shit together.
Dear other promoters: Attempt to be
conscientious of what else is going on in this
city. I’ve made plenty of sacrifices for the
sake of not killing someone elses show. Your
turn.
Dear Internet: Try matching the shit that
comes out of your typing fingers with what
you’d really do and say in reality. The personality
trait of a gutless keyboard warrior
is getting really stale. Like it or not, the law
is catching up with this trend of irrational
bullshit. Get it together.
Phew, there it is. See you around.
18 THE SKINNY
May 2016

VANCOUVER COMIC ARTS FESTIVAL
celebrating the visual triumphs of the graphic novel
Have you ever noticed nerd is the new
norm? Just look at the way Fan Expo
is lined up out the door with people
who can all agree Star Wars is a pretty good
film. The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival is
putting the comic book back in the comic book
convention — three days of people who draw
comic books exhibiting solely to people who
read them. VanCAF founder Shannon Campbell
was happy to tell BeatRoute, “This is a specially
curated event to connect creators with people
who read comic books; we keep the event
free so the attendees are able to purchase
what matters: lots and lots of comic books.”
The need for diversification in the nerd
industry has proven positive as Campbell
started VanCAF five years ago and has seen
a steady increase in attendees with each
edition. “I started it because I was inspired by
the [unaffiliated] Toronto Comic Arts Festival,”
she says, “and now it’s incredible to see both
TCAF and VanCAF being used as a credit
for indie comic creators across Canada.”
Campbell has her work cut out for her,
choosing integrity over a quick buck as
comic expos everywhere take off. She turns
down the t-shirt towers and the anime pillow
vendors in favour of dynamic plotlines and
unique voices. “At expos like San Diego or Fan
Expo, comic creators often have to make fan
art of popular characters to draw people to
their booths and try to sell their own original
stuff as a package deal,” she says. “But at
VanCAF I tell the creators they won’t need
fan art covering original content to sell.”
VanCAF is called an “arts festival” specifically
to highlight the artistic merit of comic
writers and illustrators, a medium often
dismissed as childish by the uninitiated. “Comic
books have always pushed boundaries and
evoked emotion through both story and art,”
Campbell maintains. Independent graphic
novels have continuously used fantasy and
gritty reality to push social justice ideals and
play out progressive thinking scenarios, from
Vancouver’s burlesque community is
one of the biggest success stories of
artistic unity in the city. Vancouver
International Burlesque Festival’s President
Lola Frost gives credit to not only the local
burlesque community, but also to the audience
for the art form’s endearing evolution.
“I love Vancouver’s style because it is
very diverse,” Frost says. “Like, if someone
asks you to define burlesque in Vancouver,
you can’t just put your thumb on it. And the
audiences in Vancouver are great. And I
think that comes from putting together high
quality packages for them and giving them
what they want to see as well as delivering
it at any level. You can see burlesque at a
dive bar, you can see it at an underground
speakeasy, you can see it at The Vogue
Theatre, it’s a multi-reach art form.”
It isn’t just about pasties and tassels though.
Amongst some of the festival highlights this
year is TIT Talks — a series of TED Talk-style
presentations by performers and academics
alike that combine both the art of burlesque
with women’s studies, sex work, gender identity,
and body image. There will be no shortage
of performances, and VIBF has arranged for
showcases with some stellar big names, both
local and international. Showcases include
New York-based multiple burlesque title-holding
artist Julie Altas Muz and her husband,
and Mat Fraser, who is known for his appearance
as Paul on American Horror Story: Freak
Show. In relation to Fraser’s thalidomide-induced
phocomelia — a malformation of the
limbs — his workshops are on body image.
“Julie’s theatrical background and her
ferocious strip tease has really brought about
her art form into a whole other level,” says
Frost. “You’ve never really seen it before, you
think you have a narrative about where she
is going and then she messes with you!”
It’s this marriage of international stars
and local powerhouses that makes the VIBF
Watchmen in the 1990s to Bitch Planet today.
Going over the events and guests of VanCAF
2016, one can see that celebrated cartoonist
and For Better or For Worse creator Lynn
Johnston is billed the same as Simpsons
Comics writer Ian Boothby in an equal spread
of ages, genders, and talents. As ever, graphic
novels are an exceedingly great way to find
many diverse voices within a specific art form.
Vancouver Comic Arts Festival runs May
21-22 at The Roundhouse Community
Arts & Recreation Centre
This is not an expo for those who want to show of their cosplay, but to celebrate a love of comic books.
INTERNATIONAL BURLESQUE FESTIVAL
blending striptease and theatrics with community and social awareness
The growing popularity of the burlesque art form has found a comfortable home in Vancouver.
RIO
THEATRE
1660 EAST BROADWAY
MAY
HIGHLIGHTS
WWW.RIOTHEATRETICKETS.CA
Vancouver Bird Week Presents Documentary
THE MESSENGER 6:00 PM
INTRODUCED BY DAVID SUZUKI
The Gentlemen Hecklers Present
GREEN LANTERN
Doors at 9:00 PM
Purple Rain
7:00 PM & 10:00 PM
LETʼS GO CRAZY.
Get tix now - 10:00 show already sold out!
The Fictionals Comedy Co. Present
IMPROV AGAINST HUMANITY
8:00 PM | #IAHatRio
PRINCEʼS CONCERT FILM
SIGN Oʼ THE TIMES 9:30 PM
THE CRITICAL HIT SHOW
A #DNDLive Comedy Experience
8:00 PM
OPEN MIC MOVIE NIGHT
9:30 PM
HELD OVER!!!
Geekenders Theatrical Co. Presents
THE FORCE IS SHAKINʼ:
A SCI-FI BURLESQUE ADVENTURE
8:00 PM
CHECK WWW.RIOTHEATRE.CA
FOR OUR COMPLETE CALENDAR OF EVENTS
May 2016 19
CITY
by Victoria Banner
photo: Caitlin Conrad
by Jennie Orton
photo: Marco Felix
such a well-rounded triumph. “It’s not only
for our audiences, but for our community to
come together and get to know each other
and learn something. It’s good to know each
other on and off stage,” Frost maintains.
“We’re very theatrical, we get really weird,
but we also have this level of professionalism
and polished art that really spans our
audiences so that not only people who are
into traditional burlesque will understand.
Come see us, we’re pretty awesome.”
The Vancouver International Burlesque Festival
runs from May 5 -7 at various locations
MAY
5
MAY
6
MAY
7
MAY
8
MAY
11
MAY
14
&
15
MAY
17
MAY
18
MAY
19
MAY
25
MAY
26
MAY
27
JUNE
3&
4
FINAL SHOW OF THE SEASON
PAUL ANTHONYʼS
TALENT TIME
An Old Timey-Time Show!
Isao Takahataʼs
ONLY YESTERDAY 5:30 PM
DRIVE 11:55 PM
ALL THREE. ALL DAY. NO SPOONS.
THE MATRIX
Trilogy Marathon!
Kicks off at 5:00 PM
ERNEST & CELESTINE 1:45 PM
APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY
WORLD 4:00 PM
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE 6:30 PM
DEADPOOL 9:00 PM
FINAL SCREENING
BLADE RUNNER:
THE FINAL CUT 9:30 PM
O HAI MARK!
THE ROOM
Live Script Reading and Screening
(WITH GREG SESTERO IN PERSON!)
PANʼS LABYRINTH
11:55 PM

ONCE OUR LAND
a fresh take on the end of the world
A new graphic novel by Peter Ricq.
It seems like there’s a surplus of post-apocalypse
fiction in modern media. Television has
The Walking Dead, last year’s Mad Max added
to a long list of stories that take place in nuked
dust bowls, and tons of novels and comics
shock us with tales of wastelands not so far
away. Most stories of this nature have similar
setups and aesthetics, and while no one is
knocking Mad Max (not even a little bit, that film
was great) it’s refreshing to find any profound
sense of originality in the case of a lot of these
stories. Vancouver multidisciplinary artist Peter
Ricq’s graphic novel, Once Our Land, sweats
ingenuity from its pores with an extremely fresh
take on the post-apocalyptic nightmare story.
Ricq has long been a prolific force in art
world. He co-created the animated television
series League of Super Evil, lent his talents
as junior designer on another animated series
Storm Hawks, and was honoured with
the jury prize for Filmmaker To Watch from
the Canadian Filmmaker Festival for his 2007
animated short, Glitch. He’s also a gifted painter
and musical composer/performer, the latter is
showcased through his work with Gang Signs
and recently Juno Award-nominated electro-pop
group, HUMANS. Once Our Land is the
latest in a line of accomplishments that highlight
Ricq’s unique eye and irrefutable talent.
Set in 1830s Germany, Once Our Land begins
with creatures invading Earth from inside gift
boxes that mysteriously appear on every man,
woman, and child’s doorstep. The story then
follows a young girl and an old man as they
navigate through their devastated town while
attempting to avoid the nightmarish creatures
that have killed most of the other inhabitants.
The artwork is gorgeous, blending ruined
1800s-style buildings drawn with stark realism
and cartoonish, exaggerated characters.
Speaking with Ricq over the phone, I came to
realize the grand scope of not just the comic, but
of how it came into existence. “I actually started
it when I was 19,” Ricq reveals. “I had the first
chapter done, it was black and white…I had a
friend who started working for a Montreal based
publisher…I sent them The Gift, which is part
one. They really liked it, but they wanted me to
add forty more pages because eighteen pages
[wouldn’t] sell and there’s not that much dialogue
so it would end up being too fast of a read.”
Ricq then connected with local artist Sunny
Shah and collaborated to finish the second chapter.
“So, I told the publishing company from Montreal,
‘yeah I plan on doing it. Send over the papers
so we can get an agreement,’” he continues.
“They sent me something and it was the worst
thing that I have ever seen.” Due to the lacklustre
terms of the contract, Ricq decided to self-publish
using Kickstarter and managed to raise
roughly 15 thousand dollars through pre-sales.
This month, Ricq will launch Once Our Land
alongside an art exhibition that features work inspired
by the novel by more than 35 international
artists. Kids aged 16 and younger are encouraged
to bring their own drawings of monsters,
which will be displayed on the gallery’s walls,
giving aspiring artists an opportunity to publicly
exhibit and sell their own art for the first time.
Once Our Land launches at ONLOK
Gallery & Studios on May 13
by Reid Duncan Carmichael
ARI LAZER
the metaphysical man
by Jennie Orton
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “If a
man is at once acquainted with
the geometric foundation of things
and with their festal splendor, his poetry
is exact and his arithmetic musical.”
Ari Lazer is one such man.
Lazer, a Vancouver-based artist and
educator, is a scholar of sacred geometry
— a concept that assigns meaning to
numerical proportions. Through his work,
he’s cultivated a keen sense of understanding
of the world around him. “There was
this pattern, these sets of patterns, that
underlie all the phenomena in the physical
world,” he says. “And it started to create
a radical shift in how I perceived not only
my work as an artist, but also my life as
a human being. What really is important
to me is emphasizing the interaction
between great, well-grounded science,
and profound metaphysical thought.”
It’s the unifying makeup of the universe
that Lazer finds most compelling. “It’s the
way nature uses a finite set of resources
in the most efficient way possible,” he
explains. As such, it stands to reason this
extends to human beings as well. In 2009,
Lazer founded the Traveling Alchemists’
Outreach Society, a home base for explorations
concerning the metaphysical
world, and through which he conducts
presentations to share his knowledge.
“I’m really passionate about bringing
together the right brain and the left brain,”
he says, “Because I think, intuitively, in the
right brain we already have this predilection
to these ideas; we enter a room and
it just feels better to be in there, we see a
person or a tree and it just strikes us as
inherently beautiful. But the left brain is
struggling at this moment to catch up; how
is it that looking at a six-fold pattern on a
sheet of paper can make me feel this kind
of emotion? So I am really fascinated with
how we as human beings interact with
our environment and learn from it, utilizing
the same principles to create a culture
where we are much more balanced.”
This month, Lazer hosts a multimedia
experience called Dream Journeys; an
event he calls “a visual narrative journey
that takes us from that first circle to the
emergence of the pattern in our world.”
“When we look at these simple geometric
relationships that describe the vast majority
of all life on this earth,” he maintains. “That
is a vastly empowering and enriching thing.”
Dream Journeys is held at the
Vancouver Planetarium on May 19
Ari Lazer’s Dream Journeys is a live experience to behold.
20 CITY
May 2016

LAWRENCE PAUL YUXWELUPTUN
a colourful dialogue of art as activism
Writen by Yasmine Shemesh Photo by Sarah Whitlam
It’s a warm spring day and bright light is
streaming through the windows of Lawrence
Paul Yuxweluptun’s East Vancouver
studio, dancing upon the colourfully painted
canvases propped up against the walls.
Yuxweluptun is leaning forward in a chair
and rolling up his t-shirt sleeve to reveal a
tattoo. It’s an image from his painting Night
In A Salish Longhouse — a sacred spirit
drummer — inked onto his arm by his
friend and fellow artist, Corey Bulpitt.
“I’ve kind of become one of my own humanoids
in my own painting,” he grins, slowly
scanning his eyes over the lines etched on
his skin. It’s a statement that, though uttered
casually, is truly defining of the artist. The
bond between Yuxweluptun and his work goes
beyond the surface of the skin; it’s something
that ventures further than a person
and his creative outlet. Yuxweluptun and his
art are very much entwined at the core.
With a career than spans more than 40 years,
Yuxweluptun has made a distinctive imprint
generations. Yuxweluptun was there from
kindergarten to grade three, when laws were
changed, allowing First Nations people to live
off the reservation and attend public schools.
“To me, the residential school was like throwing
a stick of dynamite into somebody’s culture
and then you get to go pick up the scraps of
what’s left of your identity,” Yuxweluptun
says. “I lost my language at residential school.
My dad lost it. My mother lost it. My grandmother
lost it. There was this loss of being.
I was in a Longhouse and they were talking
their own language and I’m sitting there and
“MODERNISM PAINTING WAS A WAY OF DEALING WITH
THIS STUFF TRADITIONALISM DIDN’T ALLOW FOR,”
it was very —” He pauses. “Sometimes I get
very depressed about not having language. It’s
very hard to think of what colonialism means
and how it can destroy somebody’s culture.”
Yuxweluptun doesn’t shy from administering
a tongue-lashing to the Canadian government,
particularly when it comes to protecting the
environment. His concern for the natural
world runs parallel to both his heritage and
his character as a self-proclaimed “tree
The manner in which Yuxweluptun achieves
this produces an inimitable aesthetic where,
stylistically, he plays with the abstract — applying
humanness to the metaphysical and adding
a melting effect to tangible terrain (the latter,
a nod to surrealist Salvador Dalí). The visual
integration of more formal Northwest Coast designs
assist to illustrate a spiritual understanding
that conveys a “real” and “lived” experience.
“Modernism painting was a way of dealing
with this stuff traditionalism didn’t allow for,”
Yuxweluptun explains. More traditional forms
of First Nations art, he maintains, “did not allow
the dealing with the modernity of colonialism.”
But his crusade is armed with a sharp wit.
Yuxweluptun leans back in his chair and
motions to the wooden easel behind him
holding a large canvas. Against a royal blue
background are four men in suits, their faces
masked and their mouths filled with pointed
teeth, twisted in sneers. The painting, titled Fish
Farmers They Have Sea Lice, is part of his
Super Predator series that depicts corporate
CEOs, bank cartel, and oil barons as dangerous
beasts, jaws and all. A visual concept that
is indeed “nasty,” he smirks, “but it’s funny.”
Another painting, Red Man Watching White
Man Trying To Fix Hole In Sky, casts a satirical
light onto the destruction and loss of land. In
Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Michelangelo, getting
acquainted with various definitions of what
art could be. In 1983, Yuxweluptun graduated
with an honours degree in painting from the
Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. “My
interest became in painting in a modern way
and seeing things that was a very interesting
way of presenting my work,” he says. “I seem
to make symbolism come to life and, more
or less, they become new symbols in new
formats and they become very surreal.”
The nonfigurative nature of Yuxweluptun’s
work exercises his right to have an existential
thought. “I can relay things in a different way
other than on a mask or a drum or a regalia or a
totem pole,” he warns. This is exhibited prominently
in a style that he calls “ovoidism,” where
he uses the hollowness of the ovoid shape
to make its own statement — a deconstructed
presentation that recalls the dismantling
objective of residential school. “I liked the idea
of what it could represent,” he says of the form.
Through his life experiences and innovation,
Yuxweluptun has played a vital role in shifting
the perspective of what modern First Nations
art can be. He is certain to not leave the value
of traditionalism behind, instead utilizing it to
cultivate a fresh and paramount discourse. And
although his brilliance has been exhibited
in the world of contemporary art through his
searing and sometimes controversial work. His
Coast Salish and Okanagan heredity is a
fundamental component of his craft, in which
he vividly melds traditional iconography and
modernist styles with polemic representations
of the ongoing struggles of First Nations people.
Subject matter like colonial suppression,
land rights, and environmental degradation provoke
a difficult yet exceedingly important
conversation that reflects Yuxweluptun’s unapologetically
caustic views — convictions that
stem from battles he has fought since birth.
Yuxweluptun was born in Kamloops in
1957. Due to segregation laws at the time, his
mother was forced to deliver in a separate
hospital for First Nations women. As a young
boy, he was sent to a residential school — a
systemic tragedy that reaches back through
hugger.” Clear-cutting, pipelines, and the
consumption of natural resources, he insists,
are debilitating an already fragile system.
“I grew up with songbirds when I was a
kid,” he recalls, his voice wistful. “And in the
last couple of years, I went up to the Okanagan
and I woke up and I realized how quiet
it had gotten. When I was a kid, five o’clock
in the morning the sun would come up
and the whole valley on the reserve would
chirp of songbirds. I knew what it meant
and when I went there recently it was quiet.
Silent. What are we doing as human beings?”
For Yuxweluptun, art offers a means
to congruently document these issues
and provide a commentary. “To me, that’s
part of my job as an artist. To be a part of
the social fabric of life and record history
in a way that is possible,” he says.
it, two men outfitted in lab coats, clutching
a withered piece of sky and balancing on an
arm that’s pierced with junk, reach upwards
to repair a gaping tear in the blue. The ground
beneath them is barren; a nearby mountain
is emblazoned with spirits, whose faces
are warped in pain. To the side, a “red man”
observes in horror. He is striking in a rainbow
of tones, built from formlines (a Northwest
Coast two-dimensional style) and ovoids (eggshaped
forms), but see-through — invisible.
Art was always a means of expression for
Yuxwelptun, a gift that was bestowed to him
naturally. He began carving when he was
just five years old and later gained an interest
in modern painting when he became part
of the public education system. He’d spend
stretches of time at the local library with his
father, engrossing himself in the works of
at prestigious spaces such as The National
Gallery of Canada, the first true retrospective
of his life’s work, as well as his first major solo
exhibition in Canada in 20 years, will open
this month at The Museum of Anthropology.
Comprised primarily of his paintings and
drawings, Unceded Territories will present
a survey of Yuxweluptun’s most significant
pieces over the last four decades, alongside the
provocative timeline that exists within them.
“I think I’ve taken a look at the world
and I’ll take my run at it,” he says. “It’s just
fun. That’s for history to decide later on
where they’ll place me. The history book
may have room for an Indigenous person.”
Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun: Unceded
Territories is on display at the Museum of
Anthropology from May 10 to October 16
May 2016 CITY
21

THE HEATLEY
a place for the people
Somewhere on the terrace of a little
Parisian café, a stunning brownhaired
couple laughs demurely over
tiny steaks of seared tuna. The sun trickles
down on them, it’s 1:30 p.m. and lunch
is just winding down. With the arrival of
an early summer in Vancouver, as well
as the opening of lunch service at Hastings
Sunrise’s Bistro Wagon Rouge, this
vignette is one you can spin into reality.
On a ridiculously warm Wednesday in
April, we visited the blue-collar French
spot to see what it was like living midday
en francais. Your first step journeying
into a Parisian café lifestyle starts with
seating choice, so if you can, try to nab
a spot by the window so the sun can
drench you and passersby can ogle at your
classic beauty as they go on their way.
The sun is hot and dehydration is
serious, so order yourself the house’s
signature cocktail — a mix of gin and
photo: Michael Brennon
The Heatley is truly a DIY effort, down to the very last chair.
BISTRO WAGON ROUGE
a European daydream
It’s not uncommon to see the transition
made from the music industry to
the restaurant/bar industry. They are
both integral parts of the entertainment
world and the pairing of music to dining
is unequivocally important. If you’ve ever
thought about opening up your own bar,
you’ve probably have had a few conversations
with your buddies over what your
menu, ambience, and theme should be.
But what would it actually take?
Michael Brennon has the answer.
Brennon is the owner and creative
mind behind Strathcona’s The Heatley,
a restaurant and bar located on Hastings
and, you guessed it, Heatley.
Originally finding his roots in rock
music, jack-of-all-trades Brennon has
done what most of us only talk about over
coffee. Moving from tour life to kitchen life
in Toronto, he lent his culinary talents to a
number of projects before making his way
lavender lemonade known affectionately
as The Wagon Rouge to keep yourself
from getting parched. In Europe, there’s no
drinking without eating, which means it’s
pâté time. House-made with chicken liver
and pork fat, Bistro Wagon Rouge’s version
is served alongside crostinis, pickled
vegetables and French mustard. This is the
point in the meal where you revel in the
blissful act of eating pâté smack dab in the
middle of the day. This is what makes life
worth living. Going to a French restaurant
without ordering salade niçoise or moule
et frites is basically a criminal act, so try
to keep your wits about you. Five gorgeous
steaks of tuna will arrive on a bed
of potatoes and greens, a perfectly boiled
egg on either side of the dish, and everything
is covered in tapenade dressing.
Bistro Wagon Rouge’s take on salad
niçoise is fresh and light. It’s rumoured that
lightly seasoned veg and lean protein are
to the West Coast. Between a few notable
positions (one of which being sous chef
at The Alibi Room), Brennon worked as a
mental health practitioner and helped with
housing and clinical day programs for the
disabled. Somewhere in this journey, he
also became a wood worker and handyman
— conceptual rivers that all flowed
into what became the idea for The Heatley.
Before Brennon got his hands on the
restaurant, the space was divided into
a hardware store and a paint shop. He
drew up plans, knocked the wall down,
and set to work building his vision
from the ground up. “Once I got started
building, I realized that I couldn’t really
go out and start buying stuff, because
it just wouldn’t fit,” Brennon says. So,
he handcrafted all the furniture in the
establishment, from stool to bar top. This
is the attitude that exemplifies someone
committed to his own creation. And
what give the French their natural glow,
so check yourself for a je ne sais quoi in
the mirror when you’re finished. Right
when you think the afternoon couldn’t get
better, you’re staring a plate of mussels
in tomato and white wine broth right in
the face. You forget ketchup even exists
as you lovingly dip your fries in mayo.
Croutons sprinkled on top of the dish
absorb the broth beautifully, with every
muscle you are reminded why you love
the sea. Campbell’s single serving soup
cups eaten in the murky depths of a dreary
staff room just won’t cut it anymore. You
only have one life to live. Let that life be
full of luxury at noon. Don’t forget to ask
your server for a digestif at the end. Sip it
thoughtfully because dreams do come true.
Bistro Wagon Rouge is open for
lunch Wednesday through Friday
from 11AM to 2:30PM
by Fraser Marshall-Glew
although it truly is by his own blood
sweat and tears that we are able to enjoy
such a place, it is all for the people.
The Heatley’s neighbourly vibe is
reflected in its menu, which offers
laid-back fare like macaroni and cheese,
hot dogs, and baked s’mores. The beer
is great too, and pairs perfectly with
weekly music nights like bluegrass
Sundays and mullet Mondays (which
features a playlist of hard rock).
“Truthfully, I have very little interest
in readers polls or awards,” Brennon
stresses. “I really just wanted the
people to define the feel of this place
and I do what I can to facilitate that.”
A refreshing attitude in what can
undoubtedly be a trend-following city.
The Heatley is located at 696 East
Hastings Street and is open Monday -
Sunday from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 a.m.
French cuisine from the people behind The Red Wagon.
by Maya-Roisin Slater
22 CITY
May 2016

BUNZ TRADING ZONE
money-free marketplace gets rich on community
by Yasmine Shemesh
What happens when money is
taken out of the equation? A lot,
when it comes to figuring out
what you truly need. The ancient system
of exchanging items is the foundation of
online marketplace Bunz Trading Zone —
a place where you can get a houseplant
for a bottle of olive oil by finding value in
things you already possess. More than
anything, a sense of community is what
makes up the sweet stuff of Bunz, in
which, through a simple swap, generosity
is donated and friendships are built.
Bunz was created three years ago in
Toronto, when founder Emily Bitze took
to social media in search of tomato sauce.
She ended up starting a Facebook group
that traded things and, soon enough, there
were thousands of members. As the
numbers continued to climb, so did the
places where Bunz opened their virtual
doors — now, there are Facebook groups
for zones in seven Canadian provinces,
26 Canadian cities (including Vancouver),
and nine international cities like New York
and Berlin. And the platform is only getting
stronger. In January, Bunz launched a
smartphone application that organized Toronto’s
ever-expanding feed, allowing categorical
searches and direct messaging. By
summer, the app will launch in Vancouver.
There are plenty of Bunz benefits
beyond saving money, including waste
reduction by the upcycling of products.
HOSEHEAD RECORDS
celebrating five years, eh?
There’s a clip from the cult Canadian
film Strange Brew where brothers
Bob and Doug Mackenzie listen to a
flexi-disc of a “British new wave band” that
consists of nothing more than the sound
of fingernails on a chalkboard. After a few
seconds, they feed it to their dog, Hosehead.
I imagine this same process happens with
every demo that partners in record crime
Patrick McEachnie and Mike Simpson have
to listen to, albeit with much better results,
for their punk label, Hosehead Records.
“Punk 45s are the best format for
listening to music,” claims McEachnie.
“Maybe not for bedtime listening, but in
general.” The love goes back to a bond
Community, however, is perhaps the
biggest. “You’re meeting people, you’re
discussing things, you’re exchanging
ideas,” says marketing director David
Morton. On Craigslist or Kijiji, for example,
you pay and leave. With Bunz, you trade
a blouse for a beer and then probably
share a drink with your new friend. “It’s
about tapping into communities that are
already there,” Morton continues. “I don’t
know how many neighbours you know,
but I can guarantee you if you start trading
you’re going to meet a lot more of them.”
Cans, subway tokens, and consumables
like kombucha are the most common
currency. There aren’t really boundaries
for what can be traded, either, so long as
it’s legal. Morton admits he’s seen weird
he and Simpson have shared since grade
school, with music being part of their
adolescent growing pains. Train rides
from the Toronto suburbs to record stores
brought home the spoils of punk records
like The Ramones and The Germs. It helped
that Toronto was a hotbed of hardcore in
the mid-2000s and, McEachnie states, “The
best time for bands in Toronto; you had
Fucked Up, Career Suicide, The Bayonettes,
and all these bands putting out great records
and it inspired us to start Hosehead.”
The pair bought tape duplicators
from a woman who used to record AA
meetings and released their first album
from Simpson’s band, First Base, in 2011.
Patrick McEachnie, one half of Hosehead, is committed to putting punk rock on wax.
photo: Victoria Black
things being swapped, including sex toys
and a 32-foot sailboat, but the best was a
summer road trip for providing a covered
parking space in the winter. “When
you remove money, it leaves room for
good will, it leaves room for connection,
it leaves room for charity, it leaves room
for all kinds of great things,” he says.
And though bartering is an age-old
practice, now is an exceedingly appropriate
time for it. “The millennial generation has a
different set of challenges than our parents
did,” Morton says. Bunz is, he maintains,
“a drop in the bucket towards the solutions
that are going to help us keep going.”
Find Bunz Trading Zone
Vancouver on Facebook
photo: Rishahb Varshney
Emily Bitze and David Morton are hoping to see a larger community connection through Bunz.
McEachnie continues, “We made 100
copies and, weirdly, 50 of them went
straight to Japan! After that, we knew we
were on to something.” Since his move to
Vancouver (while Simpson reps the east),
that “something” has been a steady string
of releases from Canadian bands (Sonic
Avenues, Needles//Pins) and beyond
(Swedish power-pop purists The Moderns).
Owning a label comes with its
headaches, however, and money
migraines are constant. “The worst part
of releasing records is how much we
have to dish out before we even have the
finished product in our hands,” laments
McEachnie. “But when it eventually
arrives you breathe and get ready to do
it all again. We have to credit labels like
Dirtnap, Douchemaster, Ugly Pop, and
Quintessence for getting us excited about
music and keeping us going for this long.”
Five years isn’t long, and more
excitement is around the corner for this
dynamic duo, such as a special re-issue
from late 1970s English punks The Scabs
and an LP from Pale Lips, a garage-pop
foursome from Montreal. So, grab your
toques, pack the cooler, and let these
hosers take your hard-earned money
in return for some sweet tunes, eh?
Hosehead Records celebrate their fifth
anniversary at the Astoria on May 7
by Bryce Dunn
CARLOTTA GURL
a whole lotta gurl
by David Cutting and Chase Hansen
It’s Saturday night at the Junction and it is standing room only. Everyone
is gathered to see “Absolutely Dragulous,” Carlotta Gurl’s
drag show that celebrated its five-year anniversary in February.
The music stops suddenly and changes to something iconically
gay. The curtain beside the stage is thrown back and Carlotta Gurl
makes her entrance, screaming at the top of her lungs, “WHAT’S
UP BITCHES!” There is a strange, muffled sound as Carlotta shoves
the microphone down her throat and everyone cheers.
Carlotta is a salacious vixen. Within minutes of opening the show,
some random man sitting in the front row has lipstick smeared
across his face. Carlotta croons, “Oh yea baby, you know you love
it, I’ll see you later,” moving into her first number while flipping and
twirling her way into the hearts of her fans. The crowd screams
— all eyes are on Carlotta.
“Absolutely Dragulous” is one of two weekly shows that Carlotta
hosts at the Junction. Every Wednesday night she co-stars in “The
Baron Gurl Show,” a collaborative gig with co-star Isolde N Baron
(The Queen of East Van) that juxtaposes class and humour. Carlotta
takes great pride in her high-energy shows — once, she even broke
her leg on stage, but still continued performing until the end. The
show, after all, must go on.
Carlotta got her start in drag shortly after to moving to Vancouver
in the early 90s. She credits the queens on the scene at that
time as the inspiration for her confidence. Her name, Carlotta, is
an extension of her boy identity, Carl. Carlotta is capable of doing
the things that Carl dreams up. The close connection between the
two is something that both personalities acknowledge. “Sometimes
when I am performing something I have always wanted to perform,
Carlotta and Carl transcend and become one,” she says.
Carlotta often invites younger local drag queens to perform at
her shows. “There is always another party” is a mantra she states
reverently as we talk about advice she’d give to up-and-coming
queens. The key to turning out phenomenal performances is rest,
she insists — something she knows about first hand when burning
the candle at both ends nearly ended her career.
Carlotta also believes herself to be an educator, gaining wisdom
from years of collaboration with organizations, like TD bank and
Tourism Vancouver, which respect her as an artist and performer.
She sheds light on the fundamentals of drag, which draws upon
impersonation and cross-dressing, but also creates something
unique unto itself. One of its functions is to poke fun at mainstream
culture. “It is important to remember that drag cannot be pigeon
holed into what we see presented in the mainstream media,” she
says. “Every queen is an artist and every artist is different. If you
subjugate yourself to something or someone else, you will end up
not liking or knowing yourself.” One thing is certain: the future of
Carlotta Gurl is as bright at the lipstick she leaves on the faces of
her audience members.
Carlotta Gurl performs at the Junction on
Wednesday nights for “The Baron Gurl Show” and
Saturday nights for “Absolutely Dragulous”
May 2016 CITY
23

COMEDY
BEEN THERE DONE THAT questionable advice from a comedian
Summer is so close I can almost taste Juice cleanses are supposedly all the no business working on my fitness.
the burnt hot dogs and cold beer. In all rage, it’s not strange to me at all that you If by now you’re offended, calm down
fairness though, we kind of just skip over
winter in Vancouver. Anyone who thinks we
don’t is a pansy and needs to be exiled to
the Prairies for a week in January, then we
can talk. The lack of snow and cold is why
when I wasn’t allowed to go back to California
I chose to live here instead. That and
the border cop who denied me lives in Vancouver
and I’m still seeking my vengeance.
It’s also almost time for us to stop
wearing layers of clothing and head to
the beach. Whether you’re keeping your
clothes on at Kits Beach or getting naked
at Wreck, you need to have what is known
as a “beach body” before you hit the sand.
Vancouverites are some of the most active
people in the world, but there are some,
like myself, who use the rainy months as a
time to stay in and catch up on every season
of Law and Order SVU that Netflix has to
offer. My inactivity is probably also what
has kept me single for the two years I’ve
lived here. I don’t have a yoga butt and my
idea of a good date involves a dive bar pub
crawl — not biking up Mount Seymour and
snowboarding down. This is the year I need
to get in shape for the beach and I have approximately
three weeks to do it! Here are
a few ways you can tone your tummy and
shape your glutes in time to sit in the sand.
forego food for up to a month and instead
fuel your body on lemonade and cayenne
pepper. I imagine the hot pepper running
through my body burning the evil fat while
I’m unable to move due to the lack of any
nutrients entering my body. This means
I will basically lose weight in my sleep,
this is the miracle I’ve been looking for. I
heard Beyoncé juiced for an entire month
leading up to filming Dreamgirls and she
only flew off the handle and was irritable
the entire time. Juice is what your body
needs in order for it to become smaller and
for you to become more of an asshole.
I’ve looked into CrossFit and Paleo;
both seem to be a great way to tone your
body and lose your current friend circle.
Which is totally fine, because then you
can head to the beach with your new
CrossFit family and eat the meat of a deer
that you hunted with a bow and arrow.
Yoga, the original exercise of the true
Vancouverite. Slap on a pair of those
$200 leggings and head down to a hot
studio to stretch and fart next to strangers.
I’m still not sure why I haven’t gone
to a yoga class yet, other than the fact
that it had been decreed by the lord of
Lululemon that a person of my size has
no business in their pants and therefore
and turn off your MacBook. You don’t need
to start your blog listing reasons why I’m
a terrible person and clearly don’t know
what I’m talking about. Do you really think
I’d forego a month of food to drink juice?
Hell no! What I’m trying to say is go to the
beach, no matter what your body looks like.
Enjoy the sand between your toes, jump
into the ocean and feel that salt water on
your bare skin. The first summer I lived
here a friend took me to Wreck Beach. I was
nervous, not just because the thought of
that many stairs terrified me, but because
I’m not a fan of keeping the lights on during
sex, let alone hanging out on a beach with
everything hanging out. The stairs weren’t
that bad and I’ve never felt more confident
than I did naked on that beach. So be
yourself, be healthy and move your body,
but also have fun and eat ice cream and
drink beer. If anyone gives you any guff,
know that deep down inside they’re starving
and haven’t eaten a burger not made of
rice flower and beans in years. Who’s the
gross one now? Love yourself and you’ll
always have the perfect beach bod.
Kathleen McGee has a podcast called Kathleen
McGee is a Hot Mess and you should listen
to it! Visit kathleenmcgee.ca for more.
by Kathleen McGee
24 COMEDY
May 2016

MARK FORWARD
Toronto comedian keeps things authentic
Artistic integrity is one of those ideas that
is often seen as far more important to
the artist than to the audience, but that
misses the fact that it’s always running “under
the hood.” It might not be obvious at first, but
an artist needs it to build both skill and trust in
their audience. For comedian Mark Forward, it’s
clearly something that he puts a lot of thought into
and underlies a lot of what he does and says.
Mark Forward is a stand-up comedian from
Toronto. Being from Canada’s tinsel town, he also
has an impressive acting resume. You may have
spotted Mark on Letterkenny, Mr. Dee, and The Jon
Dore Television Show. Mark is also a TV writer
and if you pull out your phone and IMDB him, you
can see that he is behind many other projects
in the “tolerable” section of CANCON. Some of
this work is by necessity, he explains, “I love
stand-up comedy but you have to do lots of
other things in comedy or you will physically
die. Well I guess physically dying is the only way
you can die, but you’ll emotionally die too.”
This intensity of Forward peppers much of what
he has to say about comedy and his career. The
theme of artistic integrity looms large for him. For
Forward, rather than pander to one audience or
another, the comedy has to come from within. He
explains, “It took me 15 years to release an album
(2014’s Things I Thought Of) because when you
start as a comedian you’re first trying to make the
comics in the back laugh, then you try to make the
audience laugh and then you just start doing what
you find funny which is the most fun for everyone.”
JOHN DORE
keeping it cool and casually Canadian
You may or may not recognize comedian
Jon Dore from the mid-2000’s Jon Dore
Television Show (Hint: he played Jon Dore).
The show was short-lived and was a tad before its
time. It was like Nathan For You before we decided
we loved awkward weirdos. Jon Dore is still on the
ball, currently based out of California and headlining
killer stand-up shows across North America.
Despite crushing it in L.A. for the past few
years, Dore’s ability to remain down to earth is
second only to his legendary comedic ability.
“I’m just so excited to play Vancouver, it’s been
a year and a half...Vancouver is like the best
city to wander around with a coffee in hand,”
states Dore. As to where in Vancouver he likes
to spend his time, he responds, “I’m looking
forward to Dave Shumka’s BBQ. That should
be a good time…put it in the paper that everyone’s
invited to Dave Shumka’s backyard.” Dore
radiates the typical bearded, plaid-clad, Canadian
drinking buddy persona with every response.
Also in humble Canadian fashion, when asked
about upcoming projects, shows, or sketches
he is working on, Dore always replies with
“we” rather than “I,” referring to his friends and
fellow writers/comics Adam Brody and Dave
Derewlany, who helped him with his original
show. “We’re currently putting most of our time
into coming up with new ideas for shows, but I’ve
also been writing for Jash.” Jash is a comedy
network made by Sarah Silverman and Michael
Cera similar to Funny or Die. This work ethic
comes from the excitement of making a fresh
start when moving to Hollywood as an unknown
For anyone who hasn’t seen Forward in a club,
he has a wildly unique style of stand-up that if
you had to label it, would fall in to the category of
Alternative Comedy. Having just performed in the
Edinburgh and Melbourne International Fringe Festivals,
Forward claims he gives people very little
warning about his unique style. “I just put ‘something
different’ in the programs and make sure
the show is as funny as possible,” a smart way to
initiate audiences to modern stand-up. “It’s amazing
when you realize you have the freedom to do
whatever you want, anything, on stage.” Forward
appears to have a fondness for the undersell followed
with a sensory overload of comedic ability.
While not being a household name when you
think about Canadian comedy, Forward continues
to advance in the big leagues just in the peripheral
of the public eye. This can be a challenge
but with an impressive Canadian career.
“It really is like starting over but you’re
more prepared, you’re not intimidated by the
idea of performance but you have to pound
the pavement and spread the word that
you’re capable so that people slowly over
time want you to be a part of their show.”
Known for high concept practical jokes both on
and off stage, Dore elaborated on why he seems
to be one of the few comedians who is willing to
go ten extra miles for a laugh. “The reactions are
nice and strong, life is good and comedy is fun.”
Expressing fondness for some favourite clubs
and club owners in Calgary and Winnipeg yields
some hints as to where this positive attitude got
its roots. “Being a Canadian comedian driving
insane distances all over the country you are
treated to some of the shittiest conditions on
Earth and you’re just so thankful when you meet
someone who treats you like a human being,
you want to give back when they give back.”
And while we won’t hear a Jon Dore podcast
anytime in the near future (“Everyone is doing a
podcast…”) he did make sure to tease a promising
comedic project coming up in Canada we’ll hear
about soon enough. He also wanted to reiterate,
in humble Canadian fashion to make sure
people come to his show: “Tell them to come to
my show.” And you probably should, because
despite the TV industry’s golden touch, Jon
Dore remains a genuine, Canadian headliner.
John Dore performs at Yuk Yuk’s
Comedy Club May 27 and 28
given that Canada’s most talented comics are
trapped in a who the f**k is Arcade Fire nightmare.
Forward had 32 tour dates in the USA and
three late night talk show appearances this year
alone. His relative obscurity given his obvious
talent is mostly due to a broken system, but he
prefers to focus on what he can do with a little
bit of tortured artist humility. “If I have any advice
for aspiring comedians, it’s wait until you’re good.
With YouTube and such there’s too many people
calling themselves headliners and comedians
before they have any ability. You can’t take back an
awful TV set and no one looks at the date it was
filmed and assumes you have grown as an artist
later down the road. Focus on getting good first.”
Mark Forward performs at The
Comedy Mix on May 5 and 6
Alternative comic Mark Forward is quickly climbing the ranks of the comedy ladder, one laugh at a time.
Jon Dore will go the extra mile for a laugh.
by Victoria Banner
by Victoria Banner
May 2016 COMEDY
25

FILM
DOXA: DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
for the love of truth in film by Jennie Orton
THIS MONTH IN FILM
by Paris Spence-Lang
by their nature
tend to be very personal
works,” says Dorothy “Documentaries
Woodend. “I think that is why they
have that power and impact on people.”
Director of programming and
head film wrangler for DOXA, Woodend
has cultivated a large respect for
the visceral impact the documentary
medium has on a varied audiences.
To see evidence of this, check out
the essays on the DOXA website put
together by this year’s guest curators:
writer Rebecca Carroll, film curator
and researcher Thierry Garrel, and
producer Zeina Zahreddine. Each
of the guest curated programs are
very personal and they carry with
them a lifetime of personal investment;
Zahreddine was moved to tears
while writing her essay for the site.
“They’re very different in their approach
but they ended up being kind of
united by this fundamentally personal
approach to the films they wanted to
put into their program and their essays
as well,” says Woodend. It is this direct
conduit to the human experience that
Woodend believes unites not only the
film makers and the audience, but also
those who seek to celebrate and bring
these films to the world’s attention.
“I think documentary film makers,
because they are on the ground and they
are imbedded and they are making the
work, they are imbedded in the community
and they have a personal stake in the
stories,” she muses. “You need to have
something burning in your gut and in the
story you want to tell to make it happen.”
The burning guts this year are
evident. Carroll’s program concerns
itself with issues within our perceptions
of race and identity and features
three films including Black is…Black
Ain’t, film-maker Marlon Riggs’ last
film, finished posthumously by friend
and co-director Christiane Badgley.
Garrel’s program, entitled French
French includes a retrospective of last
year’s guest curator Claire Simon. And
Zahreddine’s program is Arab Spring/
Arab Fall, an investigation of new Arab
cinema emerging out of Syria, Palestine,
and Egypt, a culture dear to her heart.
“It’s a highly experimental and
fearless film culture,” says Woodend,
“looking at these new film-makers who
are creating their first work and being
informed by these cultural changes
that had come about in their lifetime.”
So how do you approach a film
festival with over 80 films? “Pick up a
program guide, ‘cause we really agonize
over the program guide,” laughs
Woodend. “We don’t copy and paste
from press releases. We take the time
to watch the films and write about them
and try to capture their essence.”
DOXA runs May 5-15, for showtimes
visit doxafestival.com.
Alice Through The Looking Glass
THE MATRIX TRILOGY
The crown of the shaky Wachowski sisters’ career,
The Matrix is an undoubtedly awesome series—even if
the last film was a little weak. It was heavily borrowed
from Ghost in the Shell, and is, in hindsight, utterly
insane. But still, this marathon screening is worth
seeing: black trenchcoats, slow-motion bullet dodging,
red pills, hacking, blue pills, a lot more hacking, and
Keanu Reeves—these all make for excellent entertainment.
You can see it all at The Rio Theatre on May 7th.
PURPLE RAIN
Some incredible musicians are dying on us, but Prince
was—like David Bowie and Michael Jackson—much more
than a musician. A true auteur of an artist, Prince released
in 1984 what many consider his masterpiece—not an
album, but a film, Purple Rain. Starring Prince himself, the
film follows The Kid and his band as they try and make
it as musicians in Minneapolis. Based on Prince’s life
and featuring a stunning soundtrack that includes “When
Doves Cry” and, of course, “Purple Rain,” this movie was a
major success when it came out and is still lauded today.
Watch musical history on May 14th at The Rio Theatre.
AFTR
UPCOMING RELEASES
At least seven more Marvel movies are coming out in
May, including Captain America IX and X-Men MXIV.
The Angry Birds Movie is coming out on May 20th
because Hollywood thinks we’re idiots. (We’re not, are
we? This won’t pull $130 million at the box office, will
it?) Alice: Through the Looking Glass hits May 27th
because Hollywood remembered they can actually
make something good and make money, and that Sacha
Baron Cohen deserves more roles with accents.
MAY 6 DRIVE MAY 13 FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) MAY 20 JURASSIC PARK (1993) MAY 27 PANʼS LABYRINTH JUNE 3 GOOD BURGER
26 FILM
May 2016

ALBUM REVIEWS
ANOHNI
Hopelessness
Secretly Canadian / Rough Trade
Hopelessness is an outspoken protest album
by an inscrutable artist responsible for some
recent, important conversations on trans
visibility and misogyny. As a feature-length
review, it’s a somewhat terrifying subject.
If the name ANOHNI is unfamiliar to you, it
may be useful to know that she is an accomplished
avant-garde theatre artist and has won
over the rest of the art world with her smoldering
chamber pop as Antony and the Johnsons.
The recent change in name comes in part
from being a transgender woman. The media
world’s awareness of which became fodder
for headlines throughout the music press, but
this is not the most important thing to know
about either ANOHNI or Hopelessness. While
trans visibility remains an extremely important
conversation to have, (ANOHNI’s role in which
leading to scrutiny of the Academy Awards’
decision to exclude her from performing her
nominated song at this year’s ceremony), she
is an artist with too much to say to be ghettoized
into one facet of societal labels.
For existent fans, the conversation point
of Hopelessness is likely the departure from
acoustic piano and orchestral instrumentation
to the high gloss, electronic maximalism of
Hudson Mohawke (TNGHT, Kanye West, Drake)
and dank experimentalism of Daniel Lopatin
(Oneohtrix Point Never). It’s a sonic chapter
unlike any she’s penned before, and while
the thumbprint of the two can’t be ignored on
the record, ANOHNI is a mammoth presence
whose talent can only be stimulated, not overwhelmed.
After all, she’s gone toe-to-toe in the
past with megaliths like Björk and Lou Reed.
The thematic core of Hopelessness is its
outright rejection of contemporary society’s
complacency, with America seemingly the bull’s
eye of her condemnation. There’s no better
example than “Obama,” which calls the sitting
president to task over surveillance, persecution
of whistleblowers, torture and failed promises.
It’s a blunt approach that may well be questioned
for its one-sided absolutism. What makes
this work is the incorporation of unlikely sonic
nuance. Mohawke’s enormous synthetic horns
and Lopatin’s bone-liquefying sub-bass are
immediately exciting like all good pop music
should be. Pop is often concerned with distilling
the complexities of love into four word choruses
that create enough feeling to capture the listener
fully, only letting them pause to reflect more
deeply at the onset of comedown. ANOHNI has
harnessed that spirit to make the ugliness of social
injustice palatable and impossible to ignore.
The boldest example of this strategy may
be “Crisis,” the late album cut that sounds like
the moment the hunk stops his beloved from
boarding a plane in a romance movie. Before you
cringe, you might want to take into account that
this song is an apology to violent extremists created
by American war crimes in the Middle East.
There are also tracks that need little explanation,
like trap banger “Drone Bomb Me” and stuttering
anthem “Execution.” This review doesn’t have to
take a political stance (and nor does the reader)
to appreciate what ANOHNI’s end game is. It’s
impossible not to have a strong reaction to what
she’s saying, and that’s a much more interesting
accomplishment than a consensus of belief.
In order to take away the political divisiveness
of its subject matter, I like to imagine what
this album would sound like to someone who
doesn’t speak a word of English. Almost unquestionably,
ANOHNI has the most powerful
and unconventional singing voice since Björk.
The closest comparison would be an elite alto
choir falling into a chasm mid-note during an
earthquake. The immensity of the beats, bass
and timeless melody provided by her producers
would be cheapened by terms like immaculate
and epic. Hopelessness inspires its exact opposite
through an untouchable level of production
value, raw talent and explosive statements.
Best-rewarded listeners will appreciate all three
components, but even the least radical audience
member is unlikely to find nothing to adore.
Written by Colin Gallant
Illustration by Christian Fowlie
May 2016 REVIEWS
27

Julianna Barwick - Will Bleached - Welcome the Worms Tim Heidecker - In Glendale Tim Hecker - Love Streams
Autolux
Pussy’s Dead
30th Century Records
Released off Danger Mouse’s recently established
label, 30th Century Records, Autolux
has officially traded in the shoegaze
they were once known for and instead gets
busy with interstellar rock layered with
tic-toc tech beats. A major shift from their
2004 debut album, Future Perfect, Pussy’s
Dead leaves little room for familiarity.
If anything remains, lead singer Eugene
Goreshter still maintains a spiderweb-quality
of voice only Elliot Smith can master.
The first track, titled “Selectallcopy,” is
arguably the most amount of pop this
album can muster, with its steady repetitive
rhythm. True to Autolux fashion, the lyrics
are slightly spooky, and sound like they’re
coming from another room. Their second
track, “Soft Scene,” is crunchy, danceable,
and almost soundtrack-like. It’s clear at
this point that Autolux are confident in this
direction as the rest of the album swings
in and out with experimental sounds, an
aesthetic no doubt brought on by producer
BOOTS; a now well-known artist and producer
who worked with Beyoncé for her
self-titled album Beyoncé in 2013. Listeners
may feel they’re beginning to hear the same
song over and over, or that some of them
are just about to overstay their welcome,
but with a bit of commitment, there are
still a few surprises remaining. Final track
“Becker” captures a missing piece not yet
heard on this album; it’s both satisfying and
sweet, opening with the sound of an acoustic
guitar before tucking into a sleepy run
to the finish line. For those who remember
Autolux as the dreamy and soft band from
a more than a decade ago, it’s reassuring
to know that the album is still soft. For
fans, this could be a sign of things to come
for the three-piece from Los Angeles,
and for 30th Century Records as well.
• Leyland Bradley
Julianna Barwick
Will
Dead Oceans
You can feel yourself wading through
ominous oceans of sound as soon as
Will inhabits the intimate realms of your
consciousness. The nine-track adagio
swells with languid waves of looping
vocals alongside drifts of electric currents.
They lap over each other, yet they do not
overcome one another. Julianna Barwick
is minimal in her instrumentation, creating
a purposely simplistic tone. A tone that
makes you feel as if you are a slow-moving
wave in a body of water, eventually evaporating,
condensing, becoming a cloud, until
finally dripping down as rain beating on the
earth below. Pit pat, pitter pat. Creating a
consistent and unique melody, one that is
natural, the kind that you hope could last
forever. Like Barwick’s hands pitter-pattering
across piano keys or her bow slip-sliding
across cello strings. She embraces
rhythms that mirror natural acoustics.
The earth, an ocean, the atmosphere,
its rain. The sounds she creates are as
natural as her own introspection, exploring
her mind’s depths, refraining upon her
own emotions. And as she reflects, you
reflect. And as her emotions process, they
naturally lead to the soundscapes that
culminate in the ethereal world that is Will.
• Hannah Many Guns
Bleached
Welcome The Worms
Dead Oceans
Even though the record was released
on April 1st, this Californian trio’s new
record is no joke. The band’s second
record features an early 2000s alternative
rock and garage band sound that
is pretty rare in rock music these days.
This writer would call their sound, if
The Hives had a strong female vocal.
Since their 2013 release, Ride Your
Heart, the vocals have gotten stronger
and the beat more stable and consistent,
sounding like they have put thousands
of hours into improving their sound.
“Keep On Keepin’ On,” is a solid
start to the record, with its consistent
toe-tapping beat and simple sing
along lyrics that would get the listener
pumped for a night out in a heartbeat.
The fourth track, “Wednesday Night
Melody” takes a turn, beat wise, slowing
everything down slightly, but still keeping
the consistency of the rest of the record.
The fifth track, “Wasted on You”, features
a semi-fast beat including lyrics
that bluntly talk about wasting time on
a person they were once interested
in, saying in the chorus, “I can’t keep
wasting my emotions on you, getting
high on the drug that I call you.”
The entire 10-track record is a consistent
collection of head-banging fast paced
songs featuring fearlessly real lyrics
clearly influenced by the fast pace life of an
easy going Californian twenty-something.
• Andrea Hrynyk
Tim Hecker
Love Streams
Paper Bag Records
Space is definitely the place throughout
this otherworldly release by a seasoned
sonic manipulator who is no stranger
to pushing the boundaries of electronic
experimentation. Flute sounds are
meticulously sampled and placed in
robotic orchestration on “Obsidian Counterpoint”
making it come across like a
soundtrack for imploding stars. What
sounds like a xylophone is also heavily
processed with blasts of echoed reverb
leaving it almost unrecognizable.
The vast array of tones is quite overpowering
as tracks incorporate anything from
humans chanting to stuttering oboe loops.
Like much of Hecker’s work the samples
are never too smooth. Sounds glitch from
one another leaping in expressions of
surprise. Each track is like a stream of
sounds bleeding into one another over the
course of the album. Where this river of
sound is headed is up for you to decide
because the extreme abstraction suggests
this album is really all about the journey.
• Dan Potter
28 REVIEWS
May 2016

eat brunch
Available weekends
from 11am-4pm*
*Available every day at The Three Brits from open - 4pm
donnellygroup.ca
30 REVIEWS
May 2016

Hooded Fang - Venus on Edge Jessy Lanza - Oh No Parquet Courts - Human Performance
Tim Heidecker
In Glendale
Rado Records
Tim Heidecker (Heidecker and Wood,
The Yellow River Boys, Tim & Eric) is
well known in comedic circles for his
nuanced satire and goofball characters.
He’s also no stranger to the music studio.
In Glendale marks successful emergence
for Heidecker, with his first
earnest collection of songs produced
under his full name. The “post-normcore”
overtones and, at times, banality of
the subject matter, do not disappoint at
painting a picture of the humour in young
fatherhood and domestic obligation.
Heidecker opts for the sound he is
most accustomed to: a mix of ‘70s-inspired
singer-songwriter ballads, bar
rock and Americana that both charms
and burrows in after listening.
Title track, “In Glendale,” is upbeat with
blaring horns and lush, layered backing
vocals that wouldn’t be out of place on a
Van Morrison track. “Work From Home”
is a half-speed hangover anthem with
flourishes of Wurlitzer and subdued stabs
of horn. “Ghost In My Bed” posits acoustic
macabre as a viable sound by way of lively
acoustic strumming and ghoulish lyrics.
There’s a brief encounter with Nicholas
Cage, a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot kind
of outro, an ode to central air, and tales
of struggling Californians. And though
Tim Heidecker skirts the line of sincerity
and comedy with In Glendale, he ensures
banality and surrealism are never at odds.
• Mike Ryan
Hooded Fang
Venus on Edge
Daps Records
It’s been three years since Hooded
Fang’s last album, Gravez. Accordingly,
their jaw-dropping new full-length
Venus on Edge doesn’t waste a moment
rocketing off. “Tunnel Vision” has the
patented bounce of a Hooded Fang song,
but with much higher tension and fidelity
than the band has showcased in the
past. As twin razorwire guitars shriek
out against the palpitations of the bass
line, vocalist Daniel Lee yelps out: “We
sleep! To Drown! Inside! That sound!”
It’s not even the most dizzying charge
on the album. The surf- and psych-tinged
riffs propelling Hooded Fang towards a
crash are almost impossible to imagine
being played by human fingers. A personal
favourite is “A Final Hello,” a track
that sounds like a sped-up version of the
performance from Revenge of the Nerds,
except with way, way more lasers. Even
“Plastic Love,” which plays at being a
case of post-sunstroke disorientation, hits
a searing sweet spot at the intersection
of psych and savagery. It really helps
the songs that Venus is such a step up
in fidelity. Every time an effect is used
or the pace takes a sudden turn, you can
discern that this is no accidental chaos.
Venus on Edge charges at the listener
at full pace, but makes enough exciting
zigzags to keep its mystique in tact. In
this reviewer’s opinion, it’s already one
of the finest rock records of the year.
• Colin Gallant
Jessy Lanza
Oh No
Hyperdub
Jessy Lanza seemingly came out of nowhere
with her icy smooth debut Pull My
Hair Back in 2013. Based out of Hamilton
and coming out of the gate as a Hyperdub-approved
artist drew attention from
all corners of the globe, including a nod
for the 2014 Polaris Prize. Three years
later, she’s back in even finer form.
Sonically, similarly crisp drums, wet
bass and breathy vocals make up the bulk
of the album. Where Lanza most shows
growth is in mastery of mood. Opener
“new ogi” centers on a visceral synth
arpeggio, and leaves the listener wanting
more by the end of its short two minutes.
It’s a strategic holding pattern: at the
moment of the song’s sudden conclusion,
“vv violence” begins with a hop-scotch
lyrical taunt from Lanza. “Got to say it
your face but it doesn’t mean a thing.”
It’s an ultra taught track that makes for
an early highlight while foreshadowing
some of the pacing tricks to come. After
club-centric “never enough” comes the
blurry, opioid yearning of “i talk BB,” a
removed yet fed-up plea to a lover to
shut up and listen. Compared to Pull My
Hair Back’s somewhat vague slow jams,
the slow pace of Oh No’s downer numbers
feels much more confident. To no
surprise, the highest point comes with
lead single “it means i love you.” It’s a
brilliantly balanced track, walking the
line between 2 a.m. club fare and private
dances in unlit bedrooms. It’s at this
intersection that Lanza sits on a throne,
unchallenged in her rule of electro-pop’s
ability to be personal and communal.
• Colin Gallant
Little Scream
Cult Following
Dine Alone Records
Building on the wandering first album
Gold Recordings, Cult Following expands
on a theme a self-exploration by using
an eclectic orchestra with an assortment
of collaborators. Among them are the
likes of Mary Margaret O’Hara, Sufjan
Stevens, Sharon Van Etten, Aaron and
Bryce Dessner (of The National, who also
worked on her first album), Owen Pallett,
Kyp Malone and finally, Little Scream’s
long time producer Richard Reed Parry.
Rather than changing tones suddenly,
songs lead into one another so seamlessly
you may miss the title change. The
album, perhaps slightly more cohesive
than the last, breathes a slowly evolving
air. What starts off as a dandy Scissor
Sisters-like album with “Love as a
Weapon,” quickly becomes a speculative
art-pop breakdown of relationships and
sentiment with swelling instrumentation.
Comparisons to St. Vincent and
Hundred Waters are not quite right but
true of Little Screams’ use of discordant
guitar ornamentation, layers and lively
vocals. On the whole, however, this is a
different project that follows the impulse
to capture larger-than-life emotive
magic that slips from state to state.
• Arielle Lessard
Lyrics Born
Now Look What You’ve Done, Lyrics Born!
Mobile Home Recordings
With over two decades of hard work and
constant production as an artist in the
more obscure reaches of hip hop, Lyrics
Born has added another album to his ever
growing discography, “Now Look What
You’ve Done, Lyrics Born!” This time
around, the self-styled ‘Funk 4 The Future’
artist has complied a collection of 16
tracks into a greatest hits album to prove,
once again, that he’s a heavyweight in the
underground scene. Brought to life with a
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May 2016 REVIEWS
31

The Strumbellas - Hope Villas - Medicine Walrus - Goodbye Something EP Xiu Xiu - Plays the Music of Twin Peaks
Kickstarter campaign, the album features
collaborations with the likes of the Cut
Chemist, KRS-One, Dan the Automator and
of course Lateef the Truthspeaker. Full of
smooth, funky bass lines and catchy drum
beats, this is the album to get any new
listeners into the artist, and a sure winner
with fans looking for a curated collection
of his epic catalogue. “Callin’ Out,” “Bad
Dreams,” “I’m Just Raw” and “PackUp
[Remix] ft. Evidence, KRS-One” hit in
succession to hold down the early going of
the compilation and nicely tour the listener
through some serious highlight material
of LB’s career. With his baritone rasp and
creative forays that push the bounds of hip
hop into a blend of R&B and funk, Lyrics
Born is an artist worth checking out.
• Andrew R. Mott
Parquet Courts
Human Performance
Rough Trade Records
Parquet Courts’ new record Human
Performance is one of the group’s most
listenable outings to date, and unlike
previous efforts, it shines when the
band decides to slow down the tempo.
Songs like the lead single “Dust,”
feature the Brooklyn band’s ability to
distill everyday anxieties into a fairly
straightforward tune. Like most of
Courts’ oeuvre, the song is repetitive
and sonically simplistic, anchored by a
tom, heavy percussion and singer Austin
Brown sarcastically sing-talking about
everyday minutiae like sweeping dust.
It’s refreshing to hear the band bounce
back after their decidedly unlistenable
venture into noise on the Monastic Living
EP. Songs like “Berlin Got Blurry” and
“Outside” are two of the more catchy singles
the band has ever released, perfectly
combining the group’s angular sonics with
singer Andrew Savage’s personal lyricism.
Interchanging vocalists helps Human
Performance immensely. Once again,
Austin Brown steals the show with songs
like the woozy “Captive of the Sun” and
the listless, bongo-centric “No Man No
City.” Bassist Sean Yeaton also takes his
turn at the mic with “I Was Just There,”
a woozy late night quest for munchies
that eventually turns into a tightly wound
send off to neighbourhood gentrification.
• Jamie McNamara
The Strumbellas
Hope
Six Shooter Records Inc.
With two studio albums and a self-titled
EP already released, Hope fits beautifully
into Toronto-based band, The Strumbellas,
already fantastic discography.
The folky, easy listening sound makes
it the perfect soundtrack for a sunny
road trip. The album fits nicely, genrewise,
near The Lumineers, James Bay
and all those rising alternative-folk acts.
The album starts off with feel-good
tune “Spirits,” which is already off to a
successful start, sitting pretty at number
five on the iTunes Alternative charts.
The album features several upbeat,
toe-tapping songs including, “Dog,” “Young
& Wild” and “The Night Will Save Us.”
The third song on the album is a
powerful track called “We Don’t Know.”
It has lyrics that talk about hard times,
and not knowing what the future will
hold, but knowing that one will be okay
anyway. Aside from the raw and real
lyrics, the anthem-like track features
impressive violins by Isabel Ritchie.
The band’s fourth track, “Wars”, is an
optimistic song that features lyrics that
talk about taking one’s negative traits
yet accepting them as positive things.
One of the only ballads on the album,
“I Still Make Her Cry,” features a
simple piano and vocal track with honest
lyrics about missing someone you
love when you’re away from them.
The album concludes on a softer
note with the 11th track, “Wild
Sun”, overall making the album an
impressive collection of songs.
• Andrea Hrynyk
Villas
Medicine
Wise Child Records
Skirting the lines of EDM, R&B and an
austere form of pop, Villas’ Medicine
EP is a new project that’s borne from
the undercurrent of modernity and the
mainstream’s malaise, undulating with a
dark lyrical focus, layered melodies and
highly produced rhythmic diversions.
Anchored in a rural studio in Canada’s
Prince Edward County, the Medicine EP
was co-produced by D’Ari and Jake Birch
with the songs being co-written by Villas’,
Miel & D’Ari, in a collaboration with contributors
from Atlanta, Chicago and Israel.
The five tracks of the album explore the
darkness, contradiction and struggle of a
personal relationship that’s fraught with
a need to escape stolen regrets, haunting
failures, and crushing expectations. The
album’s journey begins with “Diamond
Rings,” a track full of self-denial and
defiance in the pursuit and embrace of
imperfection. “Life Jacket” follows this
opening with a confessional from Miel
about drowning in the self-destruction
of desire and her propensity to drag a
lover under if they dare to need her. The
midway point of the album is a perverse
disclosure that dances the border of
hubris and penance, “Fuckin Round on
You.” The apex of this dark foray is found
in “Can’t Sleep,” a track that waxes about
the unceasing fear of failure, the crushing
weight of inadequacy and the plea for a
fresh start and escape. The album’s conclusion
is “Higher Heights,” the only track
that seems to evoke a sense of hope, but
through the unabashed desire to use the
body as a source of release and ecstasy:
sex as medicine. The whole album reads
as an exploration into the suffering of a
woman who’s fighting for the freedom to
misbehave and find solace in her collapse.
• Andrew R. Mott
Walrus
Goodbye Something EP
The best/worst thing about Goodbye
Something is that it’s only four songs
long, barely a taste of what the Halifax
psych-rock band is capable of. “Wearing
It” sets the stage with slippery guitars
and some slap-back vocals in a pretty
satisfying rock song that cleverly
avoids resolving its progressions at the
most enduring points in the song and
introduces an excellent guitar freakout
with a fledgling muted bass-line.
The roll into “Fur Skin Coat” is smooth
enough and the slow build of the song
earns the Beatles namesake they are
rolling with, but is over in a paltry two
minutes. “Feels” is certainly the standout
with its ear-catching tremolo guitar
and dynamic structure. The drums
on this track also push forward in the
more driving moments, a sly contrast to
the funkier guitar and bass parts. The
EP closes with an acoustic flare, and
some mild twang before transitioning
into another half-earned guitar freakout
and ending way sooner than it should.
It’s not that it isn’t cohesive, it just isn’t
concise. Goodbye Something very effectively
demonstrates Walrus’ range as a
band, but doesn’t offer a clear picture of
who they are or who they might turn into.
Here’s to a freaky and forceful full-length.
• Liam Prost
Xiu Xiu
Plays the Music of Twin Peaks
Poly Vinyl / Bella Union
The word of Xiu Xiu recording an album
entirely made up of covers from David
Lynch’s canonized Twin Peaks series was
a dangerous proposition. Musicians of the
new millennium have robbed the grave of
the show so thoroughly that it puts Jim
Morrison to shame. But who better than
the Xiu? Chief songwriter Jamie Stewart
has always dealt in the uncomfortable,
unspoken horrors of sex and violence that
also exist beneath the pristine exterior of
the town of Twin Peaks. With the show set
to make a brazen return and a new generation
of hip fans, could Stewart and co.
really pull off such sacred subject matter?
The answer is an emphatic yes. Instead
of trying to outdo the original
compositions or alter them to the point
of being unrecognizable, Xiu Xiu has
found a way to create a parallel to the
original that honours it naturally. At
70 minutes in length and with seamless
transitions of mood and structure,
it isn’t valuable to offer a track-bytrack
analysis, as Twin Peaks itself
isn’t a puzzle that can be solved by
concentrating on individual pieces.
A useful genre reference point is
post-rock, given the instrumental tendencies
and attention to eerie mood
in the work. Better still are adjectives
noir-ish, minimal and patient.
Xiu Xiu’s success on Plays the Music
of Twin Peaks is such that it produces
a failure on behalf of this critic; they’ve
accomplished an immense piece that
rivals the work of one of the world’s
hardest to describe auteurs. It’s addictive
and exhausting, something I may
still be trying to find the words for
long after Twin Peaks returns to air.
• Colin Gallant
32 REVIEWS
May 2016

LIVE REVIEWS
Father John Misty
The Orpheum
April 5, 2016
Father John Misty’s Vancouver show wasn’t
scented with “Innocence,” his collaboration
with Sanae Intoxicants, but something headier
— reverence, joviality, and pheromones.
More than notes of orange and vanilla, this
suited The Orpheum’s opulence and J. Tillman’s
performance.
Banter wasn’t missed because the
anecdotal quality of songs like “Bored in
the USA,” complete with the whipping
out of a cell phone to record himself, and
“This is Sally Hatchet” satisfied the soldout
crowd. Tillman’s narratives achieved
proportionate heights (he is impressively
tall) within the enormous theatrical
setting, which he expertly steered,
sometimes one-handed when the other
was occupied with a glass of wine.
Flourishes of hands and hips, backbends,
knee-falls, and a bouquet-crotchrubbing
incidence fleshed out the stories.
Supported by up to six musicians at one
time, Tillman held the audience rapt and
swaying, even twirling in couples.
Vancouver was the third show in a monthlong
tour, one of three in Canada. From
opener “Everyman Needs a Companion” to
his encore solo performance of “I Went to the
Store One Day” and the climactic rock ‘n’ roll
frenzy of “The Ideal Husband,” Tillman gave
equal time to 2012’s Fear Fun and last year’s
I Love You, Honeybear, and played a cover
of The Beatles’ “Revolution.” The Orpheum
is always acoustically and physically
impressive, that Tillman could match it with
his talent, swagger, and showmanship for
90 minutes is a testament nonetheless.
• Thalia Stopa
photo: Sarah Whitlam
Death From Above 1979 with
Eagles of Death Metal
PNE Forum
April 26, 2016
When the black t-shirt clad, long-haired, jean
vested masses all descend upon a venue at
the same time, you can be sure a proper rock
‘n’ roll show is happening. Such was the case
at the PNE Forum for the thrilling doubleheader
of Canadian noise-punk duo Death
From Above 1979 and cock rock warriors
Eagles of Death Metal. The coming together
of these two powerhouses clearly excited
the audience, as crowds filled up the beer
gardens, downing drinks in eager anticipation.
When the Paris terror attacks in November
of 2015 happened, Eagles of Death Metal were
directly at the centre of it all. The unfortunate
tragedy boosted the band’s profile significantly,
but the band didn’t take a second to reflect
or rest on that. Instead, Jesse Hughes and
co. (the band was Josh Homme-less for this
tour) took to the stage like they had something
to prove. Wearing a tight neon pink shirt,
over-sized aviator sunglasses, and donning
his signature moustache, Hughes wasted no
time strutting around the stage with his guitar,
winning over the audience completely by the
end of opening number “I Only Want You.”
Throughout the performance the band were
tight, sweaty, sleazy and full of bravado.
After a brief intermission, and one long
beer line later, Death From Above 1979 took
to the stage. If there is one thing to be said
about DFA 1979, they are a LOUD band. The
duo of Jesse Keeler (bass/ keyboards) and
Sebastian Grainger (drums/ vocals) have the
amazing ability to sound more full and create
more noise than most bands that are double
or triple their size. Opening their set with
the anthemic “Always On,” from their postreunion
album, The Physical World, was like
a punch to the gut as the sound pummelled
the crowd. Audience members ate it up and
the crowd reached frenzied heights when
three songs into the set, the band played “Turn
It Out,” the opening track from the classic
debut, You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine. The
band seemed gracious to be playing to such
a large crowd, but didn’t waste much time
speaking. Backed with an excellent light show,
DFA 1979 ripped through almost every track
off their two albums, including the live debut
of fan favourite “Sexy Results,” leaving the
rock craved masses more than satisfied.
• Joshua Erickson
photo: Galen Robinson-Exo
May 2016 REVIEWS
33

VANPOOPER rating the best (and worst) of Vancouver’s public toilets
by Michelle Hanley
Café Deux Soleils YVR Airport Funky Winker Beans
Café Deux Soleils is a popular eatery on Commercial Drive. It’s got
a great veggie burger and a nice little patio that is the perfect spot for
watching patchouli scented and dreadlocked white people hula hooping
on the sidewalk outside. The last time I was here I watched a dude
simultaneously smoke a joint while drinking from a carton of almond
milk. It was amazing and also so terrible.
The bathrooms here once had a reputation of being some of the
grimiest and most graffitied in the city, but no longer. The recent
renovations have them sparkling! It’s consistently clean and always well
stocked. There are three different bathrooms so there’s never a wait. Café
Deux Soleils? More like Café Poo Soleils! Because it is a great place to poo.
YVR is one of the country’s busiest airports. It is also home to what is
said to be one of the nicest bathrooms in Canada. It has been shortlisted
for the Canadian bathroom awards (how do I get on the panel for that?)
and has been recommended to me numerous times.
Maybe I went to the wrong bathroom though because I was terribly
disappointed. The bathrooms smelled so bad! A terrible combination of
desperate poops held in after long plane rides and gross e-cigs, confirmed
by the empty e-cig packages on the ground of the bathroom stall. It was
poorly maintained and cluttered. It did however have a fun vending
machine complete with ”rude rhino” brand Canadian flag temporary
tattoos. Airports are weird.
Funky Winker Beans is a cool and grimy dive bar that has great karaoke
and questionable hot dogs. I like to come here to increase my punk
credibility and drink very, very cheap beers. It also has the best name of
any bar in the whole city.
The bathroom at Funky’s is not bad at all! It is surprisingly well lit,
perfect for mirror selfies. It smelled shockingly pleasant and its walls were
covered in dainty floral tiles, reminiscent of my sweet grandmother’s
bathroom. It was relatively clean and well stocked despite it being such a
dive. Is the wonderful state of the bathroom at Funky Winker Beans proof
of further gentrification in the DTES? Either way, it makes for a great place
to poop.
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RENT CHEQUE AMATEUR STRIP NIGHT
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