MUSIC 22 is distorted drum machines and assaulting guitars that whip listeners into submission. Their 2015 opening set for Lightning Bolt wowed attendees and <strong>2016</strong> should be no different. DUCHESS SAYS MONTREAL, QC Thu 1:00am - Palomino (Downstairs) Fri 9:00pm - Broken City (Patio) An enduring electro-rock force, Duchess Says is set to treat audiences to another explosive appearance at <strong>Sled</strong> <strong>Island</strong>. The band strikes the sweet spot between fiery aggression and straight-up danceability. No wonder they’re regarded one of the best Canadian live acts in recent memory. DUMB VANCOUVER, BC Thu 11:00pm - Bamboo Fri 4:00pm - Sloth Records Behold punk rock from outer space. Dumb’s robotic, curt vocals and surprising bursts of soft romance are fabulously anti-gravity. Their first LP, Beach Church, offers sideways guitars and upside down rhythms to give listeners and audiences a taste of life in orbit. EMPTY HEADS CALGARY, AB Wed 10:00pm - Broken City Think of a great pop song. Now run it through a grimy fuzz pedal and a Marshall stack in the basement of your favourite bar and you’re halfway there. Empty Heads sound the same way a beer spilled on your jean jacket smells after a summer weekend. EVEN GODS CAN DIE SAN JOSE, CA Fri 9:30pm - Palomino (Downstairs) Sat 9:30pm - #1 Legion (Upstairs) Equally adept at creating airy textures that bring to mind the forests of their Northern California home as they are at dropping thunderous metal grooves that portend the collapse of ancient ruins, San Jose’s Even Gods Can Die is an aural study in tension and release, deftly moving between moods in the space of a single composition. EVERYDAY THINGS EDMONTON, AB Fri 4:30pm - Broken City Feverish dance parties and Everyday Things will easily become synonymous when you hear the first few bouncy chords of the single “All Day All Night.” The Edmonton supergroup including Ben Disaster (Thick Lines, Tee-Tahs), Troy Snaterse (Stepmothers, Altameda), Drew Lefebvre and Kevin Breton deliver retro melodies and the brightest poppy vocals that are impossible not to bop along to. Transportation to a simpler musical time is guaranteed. THE EX-BOYFRIENDS CALGARY, AB Sat 10:30pm - Dickens Garage rock with riffs that just won’t quit, The Ex-Boyfriends are here to satisfy your party cravings. With a live show that features crazed frontman Djewel with some combination of feather boas, leather pants and a lot of spilled beer, you can expect to be left shaken, rattled and rolled. FAITH HEALER EDMONTON, AB Thu 11:30pm - Broken City Fri 5:15pm - Commonwealth (Upstairs) Jessica Jalbert has been riding high following the release of Cosmic Troubles, her debut album as Faith Healer. Since then, Jalbert’s breezy rendition of ‘60s psych-rock, full of bouncing bass lines and kaleidoscopic guitar work, has earned fans for the singer-songwriter far and wide. FEED DOGS EDMONTON, AB Fri 5:00pm - Palomino (Upstairs) Fri 10:00pm - Tub<strong>by</strong> Dog Though they've been together barely a year—forming just in advance of last year's Not Enough Fest (organized in part <strong>by</strong> the band’s members)—Feed Dogs are growing their presence in Edmonton's music scene. Emotional and grungy, their hookfilled "sleazy pup-punk" is unafraid of using pickslides to punctuate its eardrum-rattling catharsis. FEEL ALRIGHT CALGARY, AB Fri 7:00pm - Local 510 (Parking Lot) Sat 2:00pm - Palomino (Upstairs) A mixture of equal parts Wings and Big Star, there are enough three-part harmonies and restless guitar pop here to set a smile to anyone’s face. <strong>Sled</strong> <strong>Island</strong> <strong>2016</strong>
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