BeatRoute Magazine BC Print E edition May 2017

FREE MAY 2017
DIRTY WINDSHIELDS
CBC’S GRANT LAWRENCE CLEANS UP HIS ACT
Feist • Timber Timbre • CJ Ramone • Municipal Waste • Kranium • Russell Howard
+ more

JOHNFLUEVOGSHOESGRANVILLEST··WATERST··FLUEVOGCOM

May ‘17
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04
05
06
09
10
11
16
WORKING FOR THE
WEEKEND
∙ with Kristie Johnson
TIMBER TIMBRE
FOXYGEN
THE SHINS
RON SEXSMITH
COVER-GRANT LAWRENCE
DIRTY WINDSHIELDS
CHIXDIGGIT
FAKE SHARK
GOODWOOD ATOMS
RODNEY DECROO
GIRL POOL
12 DEADTIME
13
THE SKINNY
-CJ Ramone
-Daggermouth
-Conan
-Unleash the Archers
-Municipal Waste
BPM
-Kranium
-Pacific Rhythm
-Clubland
-Com Truise
-JMSN
CITY
19
-Railway Stage & Beer Cafe
-Spot Prawn Fest
-Say Hey
BOOZE
20
-Andina Brewery
-Pair of Pears
-Bottoms Up
22 THEATRE
-Children of God
-Ties of Blood
23
24 QUEER
26 FILM
27
COMEDY
-Russell Howard
-Nathan Harland
-Carlotta Girl
-Queerview Mirror
-Queen of the Month
-Daniel Blake
-This Month in Film
REVIEWS
-Feist
-The Damned
- The XX
-King Gizzard &
the Lizard Wizard
34 HOROSCOPES
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Rodney DeCroo – Page 11
xxxxxx
May 2017 3

with Kristie Johnson of East Vanity Parlour
GLENN ALDERSON
Kristi Johanson is the owner and operator of East Vanity Parlour. In business
for ten years now, the quirky hair salon recently relocated from Main Street
to Hastings Sunrise and the neighbourhood is already starting to boast that
“fresh-out-the-salon” feel to it.
“It's been an absolute whirlwind of expanding, moving, reinventing and realigning,”
Johanson tells BeatRoute. “I'm really loving 2017 at EVP. This last
move was a real ‘balls out’ decision that has blessed us in many ways.”
You can find Johanson behind the chair one or two days a week but the balls
really come out when she’s got a microphone in hand and she’s fronting her
power punk/pop rock band The New Black, a musical project she’s been a part
of for almost as long as she’s been running with scissors.
We caught up with Johanson to talk about what makes her band and the East
Vanity Parlour a cut about the rest.
BeatRoute: How long have you been cutting hair?
Kristi Johanson: I went to Beauty School in 1999. I had a few victims before
then and believe it or not, they are still my clients.
BR: How did you get your start playing music?
KJ: I've been playing with The New Black for over a decade. Before I met the
guys I had a pretty hard time expressing myself musically. It was something I
always really wanted to do, but I was the biggest chicken about it. A friend of
mine challenged me to go grab a local paper and go try out for a few of the
bands advertising for a singer, just to get my jitters out. On that adventure I
hit the jackpot and met four guys that had wicked taste in music and were
incredibly talented. Now they are stuck with me.
bands playing. It makes it hard to a venue to have it's own cult following and
even harder for bands to reach new people.
BR: When it comes to music at work, what sort of tunes do you find yourself
spinning at the East Vanity Parlour on a regular basis?
KJ: I'm the old gal in the parlour who's always changing the music and grumbling
about "kids these days." The policy is that it has to be nostalgic and badass
but it's rare that I bring the hammer down. My current favourites are the
Stranglers, Sam Cooke and CCR, but I feel like that has something to do with
trying to encourage the sunshine.
BR: Now that you’re all set up at your new location, what are your long-term
plans for EVP?
KJ: Now that we have this new functional space I'd really like to get involved
in more events and classes. Share the love, share the knowledge and be a fun
positive presence in our new community. We just wanna be part of all the life
and color that Hastings Sunrise has to offer.
BR: What are your plans for the summer?
KJ: The New Black and the Parlour are finally going to fully collide. We are
shooting a music video for a song that we call “Vanity” in the new space featuring
all of our EVP girls. Stay Tuned.
The New Black are performing at the Fairview Pub with Cass King
and the Next Right Thing on May 12.
BR: Does cutting hair and singing in a band have any crossovers or commonalities?
Does this make your job easier or harder?
KJ: In this industry it's perfect! You can tell people about gigs when you're
behind the chair and you can meet cool new people all the time at shows. It's
nice to have music in common with your clients, saves you from too much
small talk.
BR: What is the most rewarding part about running your own business?
KJ: Providing a fun, creative space for my friends to make a living.
BR: What is the most challenging part about your job?
KJ: Balance. It's a constant circus but the show must go on.
BR: What is your favourite thing about playing music in the Vancouver music
community?
KJ: I'd say the hidden gems. It doesn't matter how big or small the gig is, I feel
like I always get introduced to someone or find my self standing next to " a really
big deal" there are so many talented musicians in this city who have contributed
in a huge way that have just been casually woven into this canadian quilt .
BR: In your opinion, what are some of the struggles that bands face in Vancouver?
Do you have any advice for how to overcome these hurdles?
KJ: I don't understand the struggles that venues or promoters have so it's
not my place to say, but, I do wish we had more loud and proud options, you
know? The kind of places where you walk in and you can tell by the regulars
and the posters on the wall that you are gonna see something in your spectrum.
There seems to be a lot of vague "music clubs" in this city and it's often I
find myself at a show where there doesn't seem to be a common thread to the
photo by Glenn Alderson
Kristie Johnson and East Vanity Parlour are staying sharp in their new home.
4
May 2017

TIMBER TIMBRE
creepin’ in real freaky with a political new record
MUSIC
NADDINE MADELL-MORGAN
Timber Timbre’s sixth album wears the foreboding doubt known to anyone weathering the world today
Timber Timbre’s music is sexy,
swampy, and makes one want to take
off their clothes and sweat a little. The
lyrics drip and ache with longing and
cinematic restraint, in no small part
due to frontman Taylor Kirk starting
on the path of filmmaking over a decade
ago. “I had the idea that I might
like to make music for films and I was
serious about making recording,” Kirk
tells BeatRoute. “By the time I finished
(school) I had made a few art films, and
realized I was making the films so that
I could make the music for the films.”
So, Kirk started Timber Timbre.
“I never even had any idea that I
would even share it with anybody, that
I would even play it for my friends or
anyone I knew. I didn’t have any particular
ambition.”
Six albums, two JUNO nominations,
and two Polaris Music Prize shortlists
later, things are a lot different.
Timber Timbre’s last three albums
has recorded in a myriad of magical
places like the renamed Grand Lodge
No. 24, the studio formerly owned by
Arcade Fire. Other locations have included
the National Music Center in
Calgary and the Banff Centre for Performing
Arts, which was a “real dream.”
Perhaps trying to top their previous locations,
the recording sessions for their
upcoming sixth full-length Sincerely,
Future Pollution, took them to La
Frette chateau, a studio outside Paris.
“The guy who owns (and runs) the
place is living in Montreal part time
and has a relationship with the music
scene here,” explains Kirk of who the
album came to be.
“Leslie Feist had been there, [José]
González, Patrick Watson… so I’d
heard about it forever. Then we had a
show in Paris and we came to visit the
studio, to have a look around and they
were so hospitable and the studio itself
just had a weird vibe.”
Doubt, at one time or another can
seep into artistic endeavors, no matter
the success one achieves.
“The kind of doubt that I had with
this recording I have never had before”.
The writing and recording came
during a time where Timber Timbre
was restructuring as an act and an entity.
All their infrastructure “had to also
be reassembled.” The spooky vibe of La
Frette, the political landscape, and the
lingering doubt Kirk felt seeped into
the recordings themselves.
“For the most part people found
it weird,” Kirk states. “Suspicious or
something.”
“In the past, we’ve always put out
the songs that we’ve liked or felt were
the most interesting. This time, because
we started working with this European
label called City Slang, and the
project has more traction and interest
in Europe, they had a stronger opinion
and they felt that [the album’s lead single,
the morose and lo-fi] “Sewer Blues”
was a better bridge sonically between
the back catalog and what the new record
sounds like.”
Accordingly, Sincerely, Future Pollution
is pure heartache, and despite
photo by Caroline Desilets
the restructuring, just as freaky and
provocative as anything you’ve heard
from Timber Timbre. Anchored by
Kirk’s provocative baritone, it’s bluesy
and bleak with swirling arrangements
and melancholic guitars.
Timber Timbre perform at the
Vogue Theatre (Vancouver) on
May 5.
FOXYGEN
still hanging in there with croons and show tunes
photo by Cara Robbins
EMILY BLATTA
Foxygen employs the who’s who of glam rock to bring us 30 minutes of hangtime
Sam France and Jonathan Rado of indie-rock
duo Foxygen have returned
to perform their fourth album Hang,
with enough energy and nostalgia to
knock you out. The California pair is
well known for their retro sound and
psychedelic undertones, which their
first three records have been built on.
Although rooted in youthful beginnings
as high school theatre kids, and
influenced by the West
Coast music scene, France calls their
career “an evolving, ever-growing discography”,
which Hang is proof of.
Although each Foxygen record is established
in its own right, Hang sounds
less like a growing pain and manages
to explode out of 1960s’ dreaminess
to collide with sounds that are hectic,
smooth and reminiscent of the showtunes
of earlier American days. This
album comes three years after …And
Star Power, and without skipping a
beat, knows it’s ready to be what it is.
“We had this vision of a 1920s crooner
in front of a full orchestra, like Moon
River”, says France about the concept
for Hang. “We weren’t trying to recreate
anything, but were just going with
our own idea of what that period was
like”.
Hang’s feature music video, “Follow
the Leader”, is exactly to the kind of
interpretation France is talking about,
which features him dressed in full
floods leading a pack of wide-eyed,
uncoordinated adults in kid’s clothing.
In true Foxygen style, France looks and
moves like a young Mick Jagger, and
sounds like him on Broadway.
The backbone of their orchestra is
Brian and Michael D’Addario of the
Lemon Twigs, who play drums for the
majority of the record. According to
France, the East Coast band “was the
machine driving the whole thing”,
and they played an important role in
helping to lay the foundation for what
France and Rado were hoping to build.
As a result, Hang is capable of being
versatile, and hits new heights without
being all over the place.
Although only a half hour of music,
Hang is full on, and as much as it pays
tribute to the great American Songbook,
it also doesn’t hesitate to become
something of a glam-rock album.
To help it navigate the genre is Steven
Drozd of the Flaming Lips, who has
collaborated with Foxygen before, and
Scott Walker, whose style France says is
an influence for the Broadway-sounding
track, “Upon a Hill”. In this same
vein are songs “Avalon” and “America”,
which France sings with intensity and
commitment to his character, creeping
close towards Bowie and Mercury
while being careful not to flatter them.
That’s the beauty of Hang—its ability
to both resurrect and let things be.
Foxygen’s theatrical personality—
particularly in concert—might sometimes
feel like comedy, but France
insists that although spectacular, it’s
not meant to be ironic. “I sing from
my heart… Foxygen is about creating
a world”.
Like any great spectacle, France
and Rado’s world should be experienced
in real-time. You can see
Foxygen live at the Rickshaw Theatre
(Vancouver) on May 25th.
May 2017 MUSIC
5

MUSIC
THE SHINS
still dancing around matters of the heart
RON SEXSMITH
celebrating a series of firsts and potential lasts
COURTNEY HEFFERNAN
Indie rock icon James Mercer is getting more jovial with his dance moves in his old age.
LIAM PROST
There is no quintessential indie rock dance move.
There are a few adjacent flails like the skank from ska,
but what indie rock audiences are most known for is
bobbing their heads. This shouldn’t have to be the case.
Relevant to this point: Shin’s frontman James Mercer
tells BeatRoute that he is often “one of the first
people to start dancing” at a party, and is now taken to
getting down on stage, a far cry from the misty indie
Americana that once changed Zach Braff’s life.
“It’s not part of indie rock,” Mercer says, arguing that
to get at a quintessential indie rock dance move, we
might have to “go back to the pogo.”
While he’s not quite embracing the pogo yet, Mercer
has “been feeling a lot more comfortable on stage
and having more fun.” In a recent performance on Jimmy
Kimmel, he is even seen guitar-less, in front of his
six-piece band and amidst a swath of nautical looking
flora. This shimmery brightness is equally evident on
the band’s newest offering.
Released on March 10, Heartworms is the Shins
sixth offering since their formation in ’96, and is so
called because of the thoroughfare it draws between
the heart on its sleeve, and its plethora of earworms.
The record opens on one such danceable moment, a
sk- guitar driven pop song called “Name for You,” an
ode to the “limits that are placed on women’s lives.”
Mercer penned the song specifically thinking about his
children and his wife, whom he praises for her knowledge
of women’s issues and feminist discourse. It’s a
song that is only political in broad strokes, focused on
the experiences Mercer works hard to empathize with.
Musically, Heartworms is a massive and instrumentally
varied collection of songs, but there have been
enough Shins records to identify a relationship and
a consistent structure between them. A Shins record
usually closes with a down tempo affair. This time it’s
“The Fear,” a song Mercer describes as an attempt at
a touching, earnest song.” Mercer penned the song,
but the string arrangement was done by band member
Mark Watrous and it “transforms” the song with a
“mariachi” like melody. It’s a pretty simple song (pun
intended), only “three chords” and it has a softness not
unlike his best albums closers like “Gone for Good” and
“The Past and Pending.”
“I knew that was going to be the last song… I like
leaving on that sort of a note,” reveals Mercer.
While The Shins is characterized as a singer-songwriter
project, Mercer’s song-writing, production,
6 MUSIC
and performance philosophy all stems from this kind
of conscious effort at empathy: he is not a dictator.
Accordingly, Heartworms was written, recorded, and
assembled in a non-linear fashion in collaboration
with several new and returning band members. For
instance, there was a year gap between the writing
and recording of the first and the second verse of “The
Fear.”
Mercer writes the songs, but takes feedback from
everyone he can, from band members, to his management,
and even his mom, although he makes sure to
take everything “with a grain of salt.” The band specifically
is a “really big part of this record.” For example,
upon the soundtrack cut of the track “So Now What”
from director Zach Braff’s upcoming film Wish I Was
Here during a rehearsal for a pre-album release show,
the band pushed for it to be on the record. Mercer listened,
even displacing a song or two that he liked.
The band has also informed the set-list for the live
set, bringing out “new interpretations” of early songs.
“A song like “Girl Inform Me…” has this swing to it
that was never apparent before,” Mercer describes. The
“new arrangement for “Gone For Good”” has “breathed
new life into it” after having “dropped out of the set list
for years.”
When rehearsing for the tour, Mercer describes
wanting “to hear what the guys in the band, what everybody
liked,” and try to incorporate those songs into
the set, while still staying reverent to the material and
the audience and, of course, “play the hits.”
James Mercer is a profoundly empathetic frontman,
both musically and personally, and this has solidified
perfectly into a contest to give away the band’s early
tour van to a young artist that he hopes will use it as
an “asset.”
“I could have sold it or traded it in,” Mercer says of
the unusual competition. “[But] I just wanted another
band to have those crazy experiences.” Thus, he fixed
up the van, a Ford Econoline, and will be giving it away
to a “talented and hardworking” act of choice: all you
have to do is record a cover of a song on Heartworms
and post it on YouTube. Already, dozens of precocious
videos are available for viewing online.
Presumably, the winner will be the visionaries with
the best indie rock dance moves.
The Shins perform on May 27 at the Queen Elizabeth
Theatre (Vancouver).
Despite the finality of its name, The Last
Rider represents a number of firsts for Ron
Sexsmith. His fifteenth album is his first
self-produced work, as well as his first album
recorded with his entire band. From its
conception Sexsmith says, “I knew… it was a
band album.” Whereas on previous records
Sexsmith largely worked with session players
or his producers’ preferred musicians, “This
is the first time we’ve actually gone in the
studio, made the record and the people who
played on it will be with me live. It’s exciting
for me [and] for them.”
That this album is self-produced is partly
circumstantial: “We decided we couldn’t really
afford to have any outside people, which
is just as well. I had already intended on doing
it with my band so it all worked out, I
think.” Sexsmith and his drummer, Don Kerr,
an experienced producer, worked together
to produce the album. “Don and I, it was very
much a team effort. The band too, everybody
pitched in,” says Sexsmith. The album was recorded
at Bathouse Studio in Bath, Ontario,
which was a welcomed change from the big
cities where Sexsmith has previously recorded.
Despite his previous reluctance to get involved
with the production of his albums,
Sexsmith had much to contribute to the production
of The Last Rider. Its production is a
culmination of Sexsmith’s experienanksce in
the studio: “I sort of knew how these songs
were supposed to go… I’ve done so many records
now, I had a lot of knowledge anyway
that I picked up from these other producers.”
Even from the outset Sexsmith felt a
strong connection to the songs he was writing
for The Last Rider. He says, “I just really
felt close to these songs. Before I even made
the record I was sort of living with these
songs.” The result is an album that is personal
and nostalgic. On “Breakfast Ethereal,” he
recounts memories from his childhood in
St. Catharines, Ontario, and wishes he could
once again look at the world with youthful
wonder. On “Radio” he muses, “What has become
of the world we used to know?” as he
recalls the music he listened to on the radio
growing up.
Though Sexsmith has recently moved from
Toronto to Stratford, he says The Last Rider
is not about his departure from the city. It
is only in retrospective that he realized “The
Man at the Gate (1913)” is his farewell to Toronto.
He says of the album’s concluding track,
“The song was inspired by a postcard from
1913 where I see this little man standing by the
[Trinity-Bellwoods] gate in the distance… Afterwards
I though the song was kind of about
me, really. About hundred years later, I’m the
man at the gate. I once lived there, now I live
somewhere else.” Sexsmith sings that the
man’s presence in the postcard remains “to
prove his existence”; “The Man at the Gate
(1913)” is as much as testament to his life in
Toronto as it is to Sexsmith’s.
With the release of The Last Rider, Sexsmith
and his band are going on a nation-wide tour,
with dates in the UK and Ireland to follow.
When asked if the album title suggests this
will be Sexsmith’s last record and tour for the
foreseeable future he replies, “It’s unrealistic
to think I won’t make anymore records – I’m
writing all the time – but I’d just like to not
do it for a while and play shows and see how
that goes.”
Ron Sexsmith performs at the Rio Theatre
(Vancouver) on May 15 and the
Alix Goolden Hall (Victoria) on May 17.
The Last Rider marks many firsts for Sexsmith while ending many eras at the same time.
May 2017

May 2017 7

8
May 2017

MUSIC
GRANT LAWRENCE
FORMER SMUGGLER RELIVES HIS GLORY DAYS
DIRTY
WINDSHIELDS
the ride to fame is bumpy, but it’s fun as hell
NOOR KHWAJA
ALEX HUDSON
Grant Lawrence is not your typical
rocker. Never mind the fact that he
spent 16-odd years touring as the
frontman of Vancouver garage-punk
band the Smugglers. Never mind
that the group was signed to Lookout
Records (the label behind Green
Day and Operation Ivy). When the
singer-turned-author shows up for an
interview at the downtown branch
of the Vancouver Public Library, he’s
wearing a pink-flecked flannel shirt
and has a Canada flag watch strapped
to his wrist, looking and acting every
bit the part of the affable CBC radio
host that he is today.
This isn’t a criticism, mind you,
since Grant Lawrence makes no claims
to punk rock cred, and is self-deprecating
whenever the subject of the
Smugglers comes up. “I was a bit more
of a gameshow host than I was a lead
singer,” the 45-year-old remembers,
referring in a roundabout way to the
band’s mid-concert dance contests. “I
was a little bit more Monty Hall than
Mick Jagger.”
Nor does he attempt to suggest
that the Smugglers were particularly
good band. In fact, he has spent the
most of the past couple of decades
thinking that their albums were, in
his words, “throwaway.” It wasn’t until
recently that he re-listened to their
discography and discovered that the
albums weren’t completely terrible.
“They’re actually better than we remembered.
We thought they were
shittier,” he admits.
During his years in the band, Lawrence
recorded these highlights from
the road in his personal journals. “I
kept tour diaries with the Smugglers
since day one,” he explains. “Since the
very first gig in 1988 over at the corner
of Homer and Nelson. Every gig, just
wrote it down, wrote it down, wrote
it down.”
These tour diaries were initially
private, but as the band’s popularity
grew (albeit modestly), some were
reproduced as zines. As the Internet
took over as a promotional tool, the
band’s Canadian label, Mint Records,
encouraged Lawrence to publish his
diaries online. After the group disbanded,
Lawrence shifted into a fulltime
job at CBC Radio, and friends encouraged
him to compile his journals
into a book. He first sat down to write
a Smugglers memoir in 2005, but was
unable to find the inspiration.
“I was still burnt out on music, especially
because I was working with
music all day, every day at the CBC,” he
says. “It was kind of like if you work at
Burger King Monday to Friday, chances
are on Saturday you don’t want to
eat a Whopper. In my after-hours, did
I want to write about music?”
While on a lengthy paternity leave
spent raising two children with his
wife, singer-songwriter Jill Barber, Lawrence
finally devoted himself to his
long-gestating tour memoir. When he
dug into his old journals, however, he
was dismayed. “It was just disastrous.
Just horrible,” he says with a cringe.
“I’m going through all these diaries,
and they’re just so embarrassing.
They’re inappropriate. They’re rude.
They’re not the way my forty-something
brain thinks.”
He continues, “In the early diaries,
I’d be like, ‘That promoter was such an
idiot. What a stupid loser and what
stupid dreadlocks he had.’ I would
never say that now. I would never
make a string of derogatory remarks
about what someone looked like.”
Eventually, Lawrence wrote the
book as a novel, peppering his narrative
with photos, concert flyers and
the occasional (epithet-free) page
from his diary. The hilarious, inspiring
and occasionally gross result is Dirty
Windshields: The Best and Worst of
the Smugglers Tour Diaries, due out
in May through Douglas & McIntyre.
(Sidebar)
The riveting story begins when
Lawrence was a teenager growing
up in the ‘80s in the least punk rock
neighbourhood imaginable, West
Vancouver. It was there he met an
older schoolmate named John Ruskin,
who later became celebrity journalist
Nardwuar the Human Serviette f. “He
kind of rescued me from total nerdom
and bullying,” Lawrence remembers.
Nardwuar was a burgeoning concert
promoter who hired cool Vancouver
bands to play school dances,
and this got Lawrence involved in the
world of underground rock.
Local shows led to tours, which
led to record deals, which led to
more tours. And so it went until the
Smugglers finally ended up going on a
permanent hiatus in 2004. Lawrence
became a full-time CBC host, spearheading
the indie-focused Radio 3 and
helping to champion a golden age of
Canadian independent rock.
photo by Shimon Karmel
“It was a great time to do it, because
this Canadian indie rock revolution
occurred right as we started
the Radio 3 podcast and right when
we started broadcasting every day on
Radio 3 online,“ Lawrence remembers
fondly. “It was Arcade Fire and Wolf
Parade and the New Pornographers
and Broken Social Scene and Metric
and Said the Whale. It was all happening,
all at once.” Lawrence also hosted
the Polaris Music Prize Gala six times.
Sadly, those glory days are over.
Now, Lawrence is only minimally involved
in Radio 3, he has dropped off
the Polaris jury, and much of the excitement
surrounding Canadian indie
rock has diminished. “It was amazing
to be part of that vortex,” Lawrence
says with a hint of wistfulness. “It feels
like that decade of glory has faded. It’s
done.”
Then again, it’s never too late to try
to recapture the glory days. After 13
years of silence, the Smugglers reunited
for a one-off show this past January
in California, and they’re playing the
Commodore Ballroom for Lawrence’s
book launch on May 13. They will then
play Toronto and possibly one additional
city before disappearing once
again.
The singer and his bandmates may
never have been particularly popular,
but they’re counting on the fact
that they accrued enough friends
and fans to fill the Commodore for
one night only. And don’t worry, all
you aging parents: the show will be
over by midnight at the latest. “The
babysitter factor is very important,
because so many of our fans are now
parents that if they’re both coming to
the show, they’ve got to get home to
relieve the babysitter,” Lawrence says.
“The babysitter is a 14-year-old and
she’s not working till 2. She’s got to go
home.”
How rock and roll is that?
The Smugglers will play May 13
at the Commodore Ballroom.
Dirty Windshields, the much-awaited third
book by author, musician, and award-winning
CBC Radio 3 Podcast host Grant Lawrence,
will be hitting shelves this month. The
memoir promises a candid account of the
rambunctious tour adventures of the Smugglers
as the Vancouver-based band trekked
across Canada and, later, the world.
“The Smugglers’ motto was ‘ambition,
good times, and denial,’” Lawrence declares.
“Ambition is what makes you believe…Good
times are what you have when that ambition
pans out, and denial is when you add
in when the good times maybe aren’t that
good.”
“We were teenagers on the road, so there
was a lot of booze, a lot of drugs, and…
there was sex,” Lawrence divulges, on what
readers can expect. “Sex happens, people
do have sex…when rock and roll is involved,
there tends to be even more sex.”
Lawrence has a natural ability to reel his
audience in with a casual sense of familiarity.
However, veering away from his witty
recounts of past moments with the Smugglers,
he reveals the more sincere message
within the book’s pages: “I know it sounds
a bit cliché, but I would say that the deeper
meaning would be to follow your dreams.”
Dirty Windshields is being launched
at the Commodore Ballroom on May
13.
May 2017 MUSIC
9

MUSIC
CHIXDIGGIT
reflecting on old tales of pop punk history
FAKE SHARK
slaying the zombie tends to make one feel more human
JAMIE GOYMAN
Chixdiggit frontman KJ Jansen recalls stories from the frontlines of the last 25 years of Western Canadian pop punk.
TIM BOGDACHEV
Chixdiggit are GREAT! They have all qualities
that I like about music — they play
pop punk, they are very funny and they
are on Fat Wreck Chords. What’s not to
like?
They’ve been around for more than 25
years and it’s a known fact that they sold
over 100 shirts with their logo before
even playing their first show. And when
they played that very first show about
a 100 people showed up in Chixdiggit
shirts and promoter thought that they
were really good. They weren’t. But this
is a good story.
I wasn’t at that first show because I
discovered Chixdiggit good 10 years later.
I grew up in Russia and had very limited
access to punk rock. But there was
a CD-R making its ways around Russian
punk rockers. It had albums on by Lagwagon,
No Use For a Name, Bigwig and
one of the albums which were squeezed
in on those 700 megabytes was Born
on the First of July by Chixdiggit. I liked
it. It had the super hit “Quit Your job,”
which was whole 25 seconds in length.
I showed that song to my friends who
were heavily into Limp Bizkit and korn,
they didn’t like it.
In 2012 I did my first interview with
frontman KJ Jansen at Cafe Crepe, across
from the Venue where they played their
show. We had a great conversation and
KJ was so nice that he even mentioned
our chat in Chixdiggit’s latest song,
10 MUSIC
“2012.” This is how I made it on a Fat
Wreck Chords release. Dream accomplished,
nothing to live for anymore,
great success!
Last time Chixdiggit played a show in
Vancouver we hung out for a few hours
before their set at the Cobalt and then
we went to see another two Fat bands,
ToyGuitar and CJ Ramone, who were
playing at the Rickshaw the same night.
The thing which struck me about KJ that
night that he is a phenomenal storyteller,
he’s the kind of person who can make
an average story sound great. So in this
interview I asked him to tell a couple
of stories related to The Smugglers and
the early days of Chixdiggit because it
would make great sense in anticipation
of the Smugglers reunion show on May
13, which Chixdiggit are playing as well.
EARNEST BAND
Our first seven-inch, Best Hung Carrot
in the Fridge” came out in 1995 and
the guy who released it, Jack Tieleman
from Lance Rock Records, would send
us photocopies of reviews or any kind of
response. One of the reviews was from
Vancouver’s student magazine Discorder.
The reviewer was referring to us as
being “a little too earnest” and we were
like what the fuck does “earnest” mean? I
don’t think we’ve been described as “earnest”
since. And the review was written
by this guy named Grant Lawrence.
photo by Scott Cole
Couple of years later we were invited
to play “Music West.” It was a type
of festival where bands fight over the
attention of people who’re gonna try
and make them famous. We’ve all been
drinking quite a bit and everybody at
the bar had nametags on. I remember
walking through the bar and one of the
nametags said “Grant Lawrence - Mint
Records.” It was the guy who said that
we were “earnest.” I still don’t know what
“earnest” really means. I confronted him,
but in no time we were friends: talking,
drinking and hanging out all night. As
an aside, Grant told me recently that
sometime during that night we ran into
NOFX, which would have been the first
time I crossed paths with Fat Mike. I had
no idea who they were at the time. Anyway,
Grant and I ended up staying up all
night and eating at a downtown Denny’s
at six a.m. As a welcoming host, Grant
offered to buy me a dinner, but the problem
was that he tried to pay with a BC
Health Card, which isn’t a form of payment
in most places. I ended up paying
for both of us. So I not only got a bad review,
but also had to pay for the reviewer’s
dinner. Despite all this we’ve been
“earnest" friends since that night.
Chixdiggit perform on May 13 at
the Commodore with the Smugglers.
After a small hiatus Vancouver’s own Fake Shark are coming back fully
stocked and ready to keep the momentum rolling. Their new album Faux Real
(May 26 - Light Organ Records) not only comes across as their most cohesive
work to date, it also features the vocal stylings of Hannah Georges on mid
album track “NOFOMO”, and “The Real Zombie” is matched with the lyrical
flow of the one and only Kool Keith. “That song is really about putting away
the old version of the band,” explains lead vocalist Kevvy Mental, “it’s a new
lineup and a new sound so that one lyrically is about putting a bullet into the
head of a real zombie (*ahem* Fake Shark – Real Zombie).”
Coming off their ’15 release Liar the band has tried to simultaneously satisfy
their own tastes while trying not to alienate their audience; really showing
the new direction they’ve set in motion for themselves. Cutting the track
list down from the original 70 written songs to the album listed 11 was no
easy feat for the guys, figuring out exactly how to make their tastes a reality
and put it out for the masses to enjoy is never a cake walk. After working on
albums for Carly Rae Jepsen & The Katherines, Mental took hold of his vision
and placed his thumb on the middle grounds of two vastly different styles,
punk and pop. “I just kept writing new songs and changing direction,” tells
Kevvy, “I wasn’t sure how pop I wanted to go, which was a real struggle for
me because I had been producing and writing so much radio pop and I like
that stuff, but I also like Black Flag …I think ‘Cheap Thrills’ is a marriage of
those things.” That gritty bass, pulsating beat, and Tony Dallas’s very James
Brown-esque moments throughout, really puts fans on notice of what Fake
Shark is all about in thits new form.
Meeting their goal of creating a record that wouldn’t come off completely
alien to fans, yet still bring something new to the mix, the guys of Fake Shark
really put their best foot forward with this one. “Some of the content on
the album is so personal that it feels kind of awkward being the room with
people when they hear it. It’s really vulnerable and I’d say ‘Heart 2 Heart’ is
the best example of that,” tells Mental, “if someone were to read the lyrics
to me I would probably crawl into my own belly button. It’s like holding the
awkward part of a journal and just handing it over to a bunch of people." A
trifecta of talent and ambition these West Coast boys aren’t strangers to hard
work, always learning, growing, and pushing themselves to expand on musical
boundaries the guys of Fake Shark are nowhere close to being finished yet.
To put it bluntly they aren’t lazy about anything.
Fake Shark will perform at the Lucky Bar (Victoria) on May 27.
photo by Mandy Lyn
After a rest, Fake Shark gets real with a new album and an evolved sound.
May 2017

GOODWOOD ATOMS
the soft space between human and machine
KRISTIE SPARKSMAN
A feeling you can’t quite explain, a bright space filled with art &
plants, the magic of conversation between old friends; these are
things that make us feel alive. They can also spawn creativity and
connection, and for one awe-inspiring Vancouver group, spinning
those human feelings into song comes oh so naturally. GOOD-
WOOD ATOMS are a band set on delivering a truly encompassing
experience.
From humble beginnings (meeting and jamming once, then
playing their first set at Khatsalano a few weeks later) to their
latest EP Place, released May 12 on Yunizon (Paris), they focus on
maintaining humanity first, and producing music second. “The
conversations we have and the hanging out can kind of reflect
in the creative writing we do,” Francis Hooper says, “I always find
the best stuff [we write] is when we just hang out and free flow
chat and then whatever that topic was, like if it was more grim,
GOODWOOD ATOMS find a very down to earth Place with the release of their aptly titled new EP.
RODNEY DECROO
finding a connection to grief and then something better
HEATHER ADAMSON
then the music can reflect that. Like a reflection of the emotion
we felt right then.”
GWA have been called many things. Cosmic indie, tech-folk,
a way-easier-to-understand-what-he’s-saying Alt-J, but by staying
true to their philosophy (“try not to make contrived, front brain
music, set an ambience, and get lost”) they defy any such label.
“We’ve always embraced the eclectic variety of our sound - we all
kind of have different musical personalities,” Joe Pooley explains.
A live show consists of a sync’d up visual presentation by Allison
Deleo, and a personal invitation to get lost in the unpalpable
energy. They also run a small recording venue, The Juniper Room,
and it acts as the perfect space for experimentation, jamming,
collaboration and ultimately, creation. “The visuals make each
song feel like it’s own little journey within,” Hooper shares, “Just
dimming and having movement with the lights can keep our
brains zoned in on the journey. When we’re physically feeling a
lot of energy, the ambience around that - the pace of the visuals
theres a synesthesia between the colours and the music and
making you feel each song.”
Goodwood Atoms perform at the Cobalt (Vancouver)
May 13.
GIRLPOOL
a fresh new sound for DIY folk punk duo
MATTHEW WILKINS
May is going to be a critical month
for LA-based duo Girlpool, who
plan on releasing their first ever
album since the act’s inception
in 2013 that features a full band.
Standing in stark contrast to a once
characteristically sparse triad of
bass, guitar, and voice, Powerplant
can be expected to contain... well,
more. But will this new album be a
step in the wrong direction as musicians
Harmony Tividad and Cleo
Tucker progress away from a sound
that they inhabited so perfectly in
the past?
To date, Girlpool (a name swiped
from a chapter in Kurt Vonnegut’s
Cat’s Cradle) has established itself
as a one-of-a-kind singer-songwriter
duo with a DIY punk edge— a
sound gleaned from their time
playing in various local punk bands
throughout their respective youths.
The two met in 2012 at LA venue
The Smell and have been best
friends ever since, both sharing a
special closeness that extends beyond
their relationship as mere
bandmates. “Our relationship has
shapeshifted many different ways”
Tividad says of their friendship after
being together as a band for four
years, “but I think in essence and at
root our love and respect for each
other has only grown.”
Almost all songs to date contain
the same bass and guitar combo
that scratches out minimal, understated
rhythms and melodies while
Tividad and Tucker’s arresting yet
MUSIC
matter-of-fact vocals soar overhead.
The lyrics, —delivered often
in beautiful harmony by the pair’s
almost frighteningly complementary
voices— speak incidentally of the
average life, the day-to-day, and the
profound events and relationships
that spring up in the midst of it all.
“There’s no goal or expectation that
we have going into writing”, says
Tucker, “I find it really important
to be all allowing when I’m writing
music.”
And with no preconceptions to
guide the creation of their lyrics
or music, Girlpool’s honesty and
transparency take the helm during
the creative process. “I can’t really
tell where the next record will go
because it’s entirely just based on
what we feel compelled to do in the
moment of recording it,” says Tividad.
This creative spontaneity lends
the music an unmistakable edge,
seemingly embodying the average
and unpredictable nature of life.
Coupled with Tividad and Tucker’s
earnest and powerful reverence
and admiration for one another, the
music within their eponymous EP,
Before the World Was Big, and now
Powerplant contains a strength and
breadth of emotion that’s hard to
come by anywhere else.
Girlpool perform on May 27
and the Biltmore Cabaret
(Vancouver).
From the deepest place of sorrow and despair comes the new
release from Vancouver’s timeless troubadour, Rodney Decroo.
After losing a long-time friend and neighbour to cancer who had
been a major fixture in his life, DeCroo was left feeling at an emotional
crossroads. “I have an incredible capacity for self-destruction,”
explained DeCroo. “I knew I could go and get drunk or do
heroin and tear down everything in my life that would destroy
the memory of my friend, or I could pick up the guitar and get to
work, so that’s what I did.”
DeCroo is now focused on ensuring his new music connects
with audiences live as he plans his upcoming Canadian tour.
“Touring is hard and exhausting,” said DeCroo. “Every tour is an
odyssey. I come back different every time. Everything you think
you know about yourself changes, it forces you to discover different
things.” As he is busy with promotion and scheduling and
interviews and social media posting, DeCroo acknowledges that
there is a side to being a musician that is always straddling “borderline
narcissistic.” “You have this part of yourself that is introspective
and sensitive and vulnerable as you write and get lost
in the process of creating. But then when it is finished there is
this other part of me that craves the attention and spotlight and
recognition and I become deeply resentful when I don’t get.” It is
this raw honesty that is reflected in the songs shared on Old Tenement
Man, an album that peels back the emotional layers of a
man whose deep experiences of trauma keep leading him back to
photo by Rebecca Blissett
local songwriter rises from the trenches with Old Tenement Man
the one thing that keeps him sane, music. “I can get overwhelmed
by things very easily, but when I get a guitar in my hand I just
feel better. Music saved me because it provided a place I could
put things I didn’t understand, and now all these years later, it
remains essential to my being as a person. Period.”
The Old Tenement Man album release show is all ages
on May 31 at The Cultch, with special guests Geoff Berner
and Fraser Mackenzie. Nightwood Editions is also
launching DeCroo’s book, Next Door to the Butcher
Shop, this same night.
Harmony Tividad and Cleo Tucker advance their sound on Powerplant.
May 2017 MUSIC
11

Dystopia in Little Vancouver
In Situationist vernacular there was a concept
known as “psychogeography” that
originated in Letterist circles and was influenced
by early precursors such as Dadaism
and Surrealism. Psychogeography is
an approach to geography that studies the
conscious and unconscious effects of a geographical
environment on the behaviour
of individuals, which involves reimagining
one’s terrain around them in innovative
ways. Creating one’s own map of the city
is a broad example. What occurs in an underground
artistic community is a specific
example. Whether deliberate or forced, we
operate in this niche, creating space where
the terrain allows us, not where the conventional
framework permits us. The problem
is that this is not New York or Los Angeles.
There isn’t that much space left.
Vancouver is often regarded as one of if not
the “most livable” cities in the world with the
“best quality of life.” Vancouver is unique in that
the extremes of abject poverty and desperation
paired with world-renowned wealth and
“progress” can be witnessed in the span of a few
city blocks. As we enter the age of the future
this city is a utopia in the eyes of many, but in
reality it’s a city that encapsulates a dystopia;
the demise and decay of a system, extremes on
both ends of the spectrum, the pretense of civic
institutions long known to be a hoax to some,
and a population without the means or the will
to enact tangible widespread change through
primarily self-preserving processes. Issues of displacement
and gentrification are intertwined
as they both are executed by the same power
structure and driven by the same motives.
FROM THE DESK OF MITCH RAY
We do have to acknowledge that not everyone
sees things the same way. The explosion
of the rigid right into the optics of the artistic
left in recent months has exposed to a certain
degree the sheltered bubble (self-imposed or
by proxy) and lack of sense of a vast reality
comprised of a range opinions and perceptions
and that far differ from your own. Just because
they aren’t right doesn’t mean they aren’t real.
A refusal to acknowledge is a resignation to
the very same rationale you oppose. It’s called
“hypocrisy.” An acceptance of these differences
as reality can be met with either compliance,
conversation or confrontation. I suggest
that compliance is a forfeiture and that would
be the worst possible approach. One should
pursue the options of conversation or confrontation
depending on the specifics of the
issue at hand.
The battle we are facing is the struggle to
continue to create something out of increasingly
little available space. The city sees the
exact same problem but from a different perspective.
Their response is displacement and
gentrification. They proceed recklessly, acting
as if it’s a big metropolis where there is room
to sweep it’s problems under the rug. This is
a small city. These are real and dire issues. The
physical confines of the landscape will force a
social and artistic reaction. A human reaction
to a structural problem. In a time of increasingly
frequent unprecedented happenings
this will surely be one of them, and it is near
imminent. In the wake of unprecedented happenings
the opportunity to do unprecedented
things presents itself. The horizon is now the
foreground.
photo by Asia Fairbanks
Colby Morgan
12 THE SKINNY
May 2017

CJ RAMONE
how to be part of the American bloodline with dignity and grace
JOHNNY PAPAN
“Punk rock is a very fickle piece of the music business.
I think there’s almost become a punk rock
uniform as far as how you see the world and how
you think about things. It’s really got turned on his
head to a certain extent. The whole idea behind
punk doesn’t have to do with politics or anything
like that. It’s about doing things your way, how you
think it’s right. That’s punk rock.”
CJ Ramone is one of only seven people on this
planet who is honored with the infamous Ramones
surname. Joining the legendary punk-pioneers the
Ramones in 1989, he held bass duties until the
group’s disbandment in 1996. Since then, Ramone
has taken on different projects, including his own
solo-act, which dropped its third album American
Beauty earlier this year.
“I wanted to make a positive statement. With
all the crazy stuff going on, everyone is hating on
the United States. To me it’s kind of beautiful that
the whole population of the country is involved
in the political process and there are more people
out there standing up for what they believe in.” Ramone
continues: “There’s a lot of good stuff going
on in America too, and I think people just don’t get
that, they don’t see it.”
Drawing influence from his roots, Ramone’s
catchy melodies and creativity were inspired by
genres such as motown, country, and 60s pop. Still
an in-your-face punk record, it’s clear CJ’s time with
the Ramones continues to impact him today. “On
my first record [Reconquista] there’s a song called
‘Three Angels.’ It’s about my time in the band, my
relationship with each one of the guys and what
they taught me,” Ramone explains. “Joey told me
not to be apologetic for being myself. Johnny’s advice
was not to worry about taking care of other
people until you know how to take care of yourself.
I learned from Dee Dee by just watching him,
he was a study in survival on his own.” American
Beauty’s sixth track, “Tommy’s Gone,” is a tribute
to the last passing member of the original Ramones
lineup, Tommy Ramone. “Tommy was the architect
of the band. The biggest lesson I learned from Tommy
was to trust your own instincts and trust your
own judgement. If you really believe in something,
you have to stick with it and go all the way if you
wanna make something happen.”
A veteran to the genre, Ramone offers insight on
his opinion on the current state of punk music. “I
think it’s dying down and I’m really happy about
CJ Ramone explains the meaning of punk rock and finds American Beauty
it. Punk music was never meant to be played in
big stadiums. It was never meant to be an overly
commercialized billion dollar industry. It was created
for a small group of people who understood
what it really meant,” Ramone explains. “It’s contracting,
which is good because when the genre
contracts, the talent level goes up. The amount of
people coming to shows goes down, but you end
up listening to a lot better stuff than when there’s
eight-million bands playing a watered down version
of something somebody told them was good.”
Ramone concludes: “I come from the small
shows, the small venues. That’s where I’m happy. I
like where I play, I like who I play to. People come out
to dance, have a couple of drinks, and have a good
time. There’s no gimmicks no crazy light shows or
stage antics. It’s just a really good rock n’ roll show.”
CJ Ramone performs on May 4 at the Rickshaw
Theatre (Vancouver), and June 5 at
Doc Wiloughbys (Kelowna).
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
CLUB
fundraiser
7
14
21
28
EAST VAN GARAGE SALE +
1
MADCHESTER
MONDAYS
8
80s/90s MANCHESTER
BAGGY SCENE
BRITPOP
SHOEGAZE
DANCE
INDIE
$4 HIBALLS
$4 BEERS
$3 SHOT
SPECIALS
NO COVER!
15
22
HACIENDA CLASSICS
80s/90s UK + BRIT POP
MONDAYS WITH DJ SUZANNE
29
DJ SUZANNE HAMPTON
NO COVER/$4 HIBALLS
FREE POOL
//CLUB//
NEW WAVE
2
9
16
FESTIVAL
23
60S DANCE PARTY
30
CHEAPSKATES
3
10
RAMONA (SEATTLE)
DEAD BARS (SEATTLE)
NEEDLES + PINS
JESSE LEBOURDAIS
17
24
31
THE EAST VAN 90s
ALTERNATIVE PARTY
QUIETER (SEATTLE)
LEISURE CLUB
GUILT TRAP
BB
NINE INCH NAILS
TRIBUTE
SHIT v GIVER
(LA)
VERSING
(SEATTLE)
WALTER TV
4
11
18
25
NO BOY
COYOTEE
WITCHY SISTER
MILKERS WANTED
THE DARK EIGHTIES
EAST VAN 90S
PARTY
5
12
19
26
COVER ME! W/
6
13
20
27
May 2017 13
THE SKINNY

CONAN
revel in the heaviness of doom
BRAYDEN TURENNE
Hailing from Liverpool, England, Conan are a three
piece doom metal band founded in 2006 by guitarist
and lead vocalist Jon Davis. Raising to considerable
heights of success within the doom metal
genre, Conan’s music is possessed of crushing
weight and glacial pace.
“I think we’re better when we play slow,” Davis
states. “Originally, I just wanted to play to my
strengths. I’ve never been a particularly gifted musician
and it was easier to write slower songs with
less chord changes and complicated riffs. It evolved
from there.” Turning weakness into strength, there
is no sense of deficiency in the band’s songs, as
Conan seem to revel in the sluggish and more simplistic.
Along with the riffs and the pummeling drum
hits, the vocals, shared between both Davis and
bassist Chris Fielding, shriek-forth like the growls
of mountain gods, depicting scenes of swords, sorcery,
and barbaric violence. Fantasy and mythology
are key to Conan’s aesthetic.
“When I start writing a riff, it will conjure up
images in my mind and put me in a certain mood,
Conan seeks to stare down the fine art of crushing weight and glacial pace.
or may make me think of a certain part of a book
or scene in a movie I’ve watched,” Davis confirms.
“I’ve always loved reading books and I’ve always
loved playing role playing computer games. I kind
of feel that writing songs is like all of those things
rolled into one. It really just feels like I’m escaping
from the normal world when I’m putting a song
together.”
It was last year that Vancouver first felt the
wrath of Conan, and now the band are set to return
to the Astoria on May 13th during their latest
North American tour
“If you want to be taken seriously as a band, you
have to tour. But, on the flip side of that, I feel as if
going and playing music live is probably one of the
last truly free things you can do,” Davis concludes:
“So much of modern life is regulated and monitored.
Restricted. Any opportunity to make you
feel like a human being for once should be grabbed
with both hands.”
See Conan decimate the Astoria in Vancouver
on May 13th.
UNLEASH THE ARCHERS
power-metal posse wrestles with immortality
ANA KRUNIC
Unleash the Archers jump into the concept album gauntlet with Apex of the Immortal.
Originally hailing from Victoria, BC, Unleash the
Archers has been laying down their heavy power
metal sound since 2007. With three acclaimed
full-length albums already under their belt, the
upcoming Apex stands to build on that tradition
with a focused concept. "We wanted this album
to feel the same from beginning to end, across the
usual spectrum of genres we like to incorporate,
but ultimately with the same feel that colours the
whole album," says Brittney Slayes, vocalist and
founding member.
A concept album, Apex tells a story from the
perspective of the Immortal, a character who
is cursed with an eternal life in which he cycles
through thousand-year periods of stasis until
someone beckons him to do their bidding. In this
case, he is awakened by the Matriarch, a woman
who implores him to hunt down her four sons and
return them to her so she may perform a ritual
sacrifice and achieve immortality.
The first single off the new album, "Cleanse the
Bloodlines," is the only song told from the perspective
of the Matriarch and tells of the first meeting
between herself and the Immortal. The accompanying
music-video shows the Immortal capturing
the first of her sons for sacrifice. While Unleash the
Archers are no strangers to this kind of conceptual
songwriting, this is the clearest vision they’ve had
about an album.
"On our previous album Time Stands Still, we
didn't want a random collection of songs, but it
kind of became that," Slayes explains. "[For Apex]
I wrote out the story in chapters. There were just
certain riffs that [guitarists Andrew Kingsley and
Grant Truesdell] would come to the jam space
with and I would go, ‘that's definitely THIS part of
the story.’ They also came up with material based
on what I had written. We all write together, so
why not have this path to follow in that process?"
Apex will be released internationally on June
2, much anticipated by both their fans and the
band itself. "Of course you always think that your
newest material is the best, so there's a bias there,
but I'm super excited with how the record turned
out.".
Unleash the Archers is playing an album
release show in Vancouver at the Rickshaw
Theatre on June 2. Also catch them
at Lucky Bar in Victoria on June 9 and The
Cambie in Nanaimo on June 10.
14 THE SKINNY
May 2017

MUNICIPAL WASTE
making punk kids listen to metal
GRAEME WIGGINS
If there’s one thing about the metal scene that can
be a little much to take sometimes, it’s how seriously
some bands take themselves. For thrash band
Municipal Waste this has never been a problem,
their discography is laced with songs about drinking,
thrashing and a lot of downright silliness. It’s
part of what makes the Richmond, Virginia band so
appealing, that sense that you’re not being sold a bill
of goods. There’s an authenticity that lies beneath
the high speed riffs and humour.
Part of what made them this way clearly stems
from their punk roots. As vocalist Tony Foresta puts
it: “Yeah, for the first five years we were more of a
punk band then we realized. We were tricking punk
and hardcore kids into liking metal.” In fact, part of
what made him bring the effort he does into the
band and scene was influence from seminal Richmond
punk band Avail. While not remotely thrash,
Avail, and vocalist Tim Berry in particular, brought
the ideas of work ethic and DIY community to the
fore. “That was the band that got me into touring
and getting into that work hard ethic. They really
brought a sense of community and scene in Richmond,
and I’ve always embraced that.” So much so
that Tim Berry even makes a guest appearance on
their last album The Fatal Feast.
Municipal Waste are touring in support of their
new album, due out in June. It’s been a long time
coming, five years in fact. The reason is humble and
prosaic. As Foresta describes it, “I don’t think anyone
in the world was dying to have a sixth Municipal
Waste Album come out, so we’ve been on the road
for a long time. Let’s chill and let these songs settle
in.”
With such a long time between albums, a concern
might be that they’ve decided switch things up
or experiment. Foresta denies that, with a caveat:
“It’s a regular ass Waste album. One of my friends
just heard it for the first time and he said it’s our
‘mature’ album. I would take offense to that, but
he explained that some of our best songs are on it,”
Foresta states. “There’s some definite hits that people
will definitely remember for a long time. We’re
more mature as a band I guess. We still sing about
dumb shit though.”
Municipal Waste’s penchant for button pushing
and humour are bigger than just the music. They’ve
generated a lot of controversy with the release of
t-shirts featuring a cartoonish Donald Trump shooting
himself in the head. Despite the controversy,
they’ll still be bringing them on tour. “We’ll have
some in Vancouver. If we don’t bring them everyone
will be asking why we don’t have them. I want
as many people out there as possible wearing that
shirt because fuck Donald Trump.” It’s not so much
that they’re political, “I think we’re just obvious. I
don’t like racists! I don’t hate a lot of things but I
hate hate.”
Catch Municipal Waste live at the Modified
Ghost Festival II, Saturday May 27 at the
Rickshaw Theatre
photo by Kip Dawkins
With Slime and Punishment, Municipal Waste bring you that sixth album you didn’t know you wanted.
May 2017 15
THE SKINNY

BPM
KRANIUM
bringing modern reggae dancehall to the mainstream
VANESSA TAM
While reggae and dancehall music first got started
in Jamaica, over time it’s rich and colourful history
has transported itself all over the world to become
a movement that’s loved the world over.
Growing up in New York by way of Montego Bay,
Jamaica, Kemar Donaldson is one of the brightest
up and coming stars in modern reggae dancehall. In
just a few short years, Donaldson signed a deal with
Atlantic under the stage name Kranium and has already
collaborated on tracks with major artists like
Ty Dolla Sign, Tory Lanez and interestingly enough,
Ed Sheeran.
“The crazy thing is we first wanted to do the remix,”
Donaldson said over the phone thinking back
to how his verse on Ed Sheeran’s hit single “Shape Of
You” first came about. “Yeah it was so amazing that
when they reached out to us just like okay, I have
to come good on this record and that's what I did.
When you're doing a collab with an international
act in such calibre; when ya contributing ya have to
make sure that ya contribute right.”
As the nephew of the innovative Jamaican reggae
artist Screwdriver, Donaldson holds his art and his culture
first and foremost in all of the music he makes. “I
mean culture is something we're, it doesn't leave at all,
you know? Especially in New York,” Donaldson says. “I
just stay in tune with everything that's going on; I feel
like it never really leaves us.”
When asked about his thoughts on the current
trend of North American artists like Drake making
reggae and dancehall inspired music, he has no
problems with it at all. “I feel like people need to
understand that we are artists,” he explains. “Ya understand,
an artist's job is to be artistic and to be
artistic you have to try stuff. So if you are a country
artist and you say, ‘I wanna jump on a dancehall
record,’ by any chance go ahead and do it because
that's your job. I don't see nothing wrong with it.
I have hip hop songs in my record ya know and I
have afrobeat in some of our records. Ain't nothing
wrong wit it! Just like, do it right. If you're gonna do
it just do it right.”
He goes on to say, “I feel like we reaching a point
in life where the artist will always get backlashes after
a ting that's not supposed to be done because
as I said artists are supposed to go out and be creative
and extend and reach and try to push different
boundaries with music. Show me that you can do
some country song and pull it off. Show me [that
you] can do some reggaeton with a reggaeton artist
and pull it off. Show me [that you] can do some
afrobeat, some dancehall ya know so. If you wanna
go an explore, then you go an explore.”
Kranium performs at Venue May 20th.
Kranium believes artists are supposed be creative and try to push different boundaries in music.
16 BPM
May 2017

BPM
CLUBLAND
your month measured in BPMs
vanessa tam
Pacific Rhythm has spent 4 years creating physical artifacts of the local dance music scene for all to discover
PACIFIC RHYTHM 4 YEAR
music curated by particular palates for all to enjoy
VANESSA TAM
Unknown to most, there is a major
commonality between the Ironman
Triathlon, Shark Week and local record
store turned label, Pacific Rhythm; the
premises for all three were actually
conceived over a few drinks between
friends.
“I guess it was like four years ago,”
recalled Derek Duncan on how Pacific
Rhythm was first founded. “I was working
at Dane's restaurant Bestie and we
just talked about how cool it would be
to open a record store.”
Armed with a cool $200 investment
each by Duncan and his two co-founders
Dane Brown and Russell Cunningham,
Pacific Rhythm started as an online
shop stocking hard to find records
hand picked by the trio. “I initially
[would just] deliver records for free so
everyday I was meeting up with people
after work like riding my bike,” Duncan
recalls. “I did that for like six months
and while it was wildly unsustainable
it was also really interesting because it
kind of showed me that there was a lot
of people that maybe weren't the party
type, but they were appreciators, you
know? It was just nice to go out and
kind of see those faces.”
While currently based in Vancouver,
Duncan, Brown and Cunningham
originally came from Calgary, Alberta,
Castlegar, British Columbia and Windsor,
Ontario respectively before starting
Pacific Rhythm. Combining their
collective experience, the three tastemakers
have come to develop a signature
vibe within Vancouver’s electronic
music scene; including Duncan’s latest
position at the helm of the Celebrities
Underground.
“I had begun working with Blueprint
on a few projects last year, namely
with Seasons Festival, and we had talked
about working together for a long
time,” says Duncan. “The opportunity
to take over the bookings for the
basement came forth and I took it. It's
been really exciting to basically turn the
blank slate [of the Celebrities Underground]
into something that I feel like
has the potential to grow into something
[incredible]. It's been really fulfilling
and cool to have the opportunity
to book a lot of people that I wouldn't
have [been able to] on my own. It's nice
when people take a leap of faith on you
and are willing to cosign in that way.”
With new local releases by Khotin
and D.Tiffany on the horizon, Pacific
Rhythm goes the distance by choosing
to press all of their records physically in
addition to their online releases. “I pretty
much started [Pacific Rhythm] it because
I'm a strong believer in creating
physical artifacts. And even if it was to
stop tomorrow, I would be proud of the
fact that we at least documented some
of the music that I thought was really
important and kind of left it behind to
the next generation to find out about.
I think it's really cool when things don't
just live on the internet and have created
physical objects.”
Evolving from an online store, to a
physical shop and label, and now back
to an online store and label, the team is
still working to tweak Pacific Rhythm’s
position in a competitive global market.
“The last couple years I've just been
trying to change what my expectations
for the label are,” explains Duncan. “Because
[while] I was releasing one record
per year, I was also mounting so much
music at the same time.”
“My initial thought for the record label
was like, ‘Okay I'm gonna do three
compilations and then I was gonna
release three individual EPs from each
of those artists that was on the compilation,’
he goes on to say. “That just
happened last summer. Now I guess
we're just in the process of catching up
with what I initially said I was going to
do. We’re getting pretty close to it, in
terms of like a release schedule, but for
the next incarnation of the online shop
it's just gonna be us selling our friend's
labels more or less focusing primarily
on stuff from Vancouver. Because I
don't think there is a Vancouver centric
online store that is sort of like your ‘one
stop shop’ and all that.”
Pacific Rhythm will be celebrating
their four year anniversary at
various venues May 11-13th.
Nevermind all those hyped up music festival lineup announcements, what’s
happening here and now in Vancouver is more important anyways. Live in the
moment and meditate on which hip hop and electronic music shows you’d like
to check out this month, woosah.
Oddisee
May 12 @ The Biltmore Cabaret
Hailing from Washington, DC, intellectual rapper Oddisee, real name Amir Mohamed
el Khalifa, got his first real break in the music industry by producing and
performing the track “Musik Lounge” on DJ Jazzy Jeff’s Magnificent LP. Releasing
a new studio album this year titled The Iceberg, el Khalifa sparks fresh dialogue
around the current political climate in America.
Groundwerk 2 Year
May 13 @ Vancouver Art and Leisure
Local electronic music incubator Groundwerk is celebrating their second anniversary
this month with a full day of workshops, panel discussions and performances
hosted at Vancouver Art and Leisure. Furthering their goal to serve as
a hub for musicians by sharing knowledge, creating mentorships and fostering
new connections, Groundwerk continues to be a pillar of Vancouver’s local music
community.
Young M.A
May 21 @ The Vogue Theatre
One of the greatest new female rappers on the scene right now, Young M.A, also
known as Katorah Marrero, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is
best known for her 2016 hit single “Ooouuu.” An impressive lyricist and performer,
Marrero is unapologetically herself in her music and is poised to do whatever
the hell she wants with her career.
Ben UFO
May 21 @ Celebrities Nightclub
Celebrating Hessle Audio’s 10th anniversary this year, Ben UFO is one of only a
few DJs from the UK able to make a name for himself without starting to produce
his own music. Gaining popularity through the emerging dubstep scene in
London, Ben UFO has developed his sets to showcase the more unfamiliar and
experimental aspects of electronic music.
Bonobo
May 24-25 @ The Commodore Ballroom
Simon Green, commonly known as Bonobo, is a downtempo musician, producer
and DJ who’s currently on tour promoting his latest studio album, Migration.
Known for his use of organic instruments layered over obscure samples and minimal
drum beats, Green’s music takes on a meditative quality that allows the
listener to seamlessly immerse themselves deeply into his world.
Young M.A.
May 2017 BPM
17

FEATURED CONCERTS
VICTORIA, BC
TANYA TAGAQ
PLUS WILLIE THRASHER AND LINDA SADDLEBACK
SUGAR NIGHTCLUB // MONDAY, MAY 15TH
RON SEXSMITH
PLUS JESSICA MITCHELL
ALIX GOOLDEN HALL // WEDNESDAY, MAY 17TH
BPM
COM TRUISE
a break from the sounds of planets whizzing by
HOLLIE MCGOWAN
It’s been a decade since Seth Haley started producing
music as Com Truise, and now he wants nothing
more than to slow things right down.
“It’s not a race,” he mentions over Skype from his
current home in L.A. “It’s good to take your time.
When the press release was completed for this record,
it hadn’t dawned on me that it’s been six years
since the release of my last album. I used to rush, but
I like the results better now when I take my time.”
Perhaps it’s growing older, perhaps it’s the current
situation that the music industry is in; swirling
deep in an online maze where everything sits at
people’s fingertips ready to be consumed and then
spat out again as soon as possible. Either way, Seth
Haley is finding that his biggest lesson since his inauguration
into the world of chill wave has been to
literally, well, chill.
“I’m just trying to get out more,” says Haley. “Little
things like spending more time at the grocery
store is more freeing [these days]. Sometimes I feel
like I should just get a real job like at a record store
or something while I’m at home, just to distract me.”
One would think that after ten years, the desire
to switch up a routine would be a logical step in an
artist’s career. Most things come in cycles and the
last decade of Haley’s life as Com Truise, the intergalactic
space human, has been a whirlwind into another
dimension. His moniker has already travelled
through space, lived through the hazards of life on
planet Wave 1, met the alien love of his life and is
JMSN
a life of lofty goals and musical integrity
Com Truise ends one chapter and begins another with his latest album Iteration
finally now with the release of Iteration, out on June
16th on Ghostly International, finding peace in a
galaxy far far away. “I’m in a weird transition phase,”
he goes on to explain. “As I’m getting older, I’m realizing
that’d I’d much rather have some [peace and]
quiet.”
Moving from New York to Los Angeles away from
his family and friends has certainly given him some
breathing space, in addition to short bouts of loneliness.
“I’m from New York originally and I get very
homesick. That has clouded my creative process
[for a while].” Despite those setbacks however, Iteration
eventually surfaced and Haley is finally able to
breath a sigh of relief while closing a chapter to a
narrative that has become closely intertwined with
his creative process.
photo by effixx
“I just find it easier for me to write with a narrative,”
shares Haley. “Writing with a narrative has
helped me keep everything cohesive. This album,
Iteration, is definitely the final chapter [within that
story]. I could go on forever with it, but it’s good to
have a beginning and an end.”
It may be the end of this particular tale, but certainly
not the end for Com Truise and the evolution
of Haley’s musical career. “I’m excited to start fresh
and possibly begin writing a different story or idea;
maybe I’ll dabble in some other styles of music that
I used to make. Maybe a little more ambient, a little
more dancey. Who knows?”
Catch Com Truise performing at Imperial May
5th.
RISING APPALACHIA
PLUS DUSTIN THOMAS
ALIX GOOLDEN HALL // SUNDAY, MAY 21ST
FAKE SHARK
PLUS LITTLE DESTROYER
LUCKY BAR // SATURDAY, MAY 27TH
FOR FULL CONCERT LISTINGS & TO PURCHASE
TICKETS, PLEASE VISIT:
WWW.ATOMIQUEPRODUCTIONS.COM
FACEBOOK /ATOMIQUEPRODUCTIONS TWITTER @ATOMIQUEEVENTS
Whatever Makes You Happy teaches us all to go with the flow a little more
JAMIE GOYMAN
The first time JMSN’s simply elegant
and beautiful voice, real name Christian
Berishaj, hit the soundwaves with
“Alone” off of his self-produced 2012
record Priscilla, eardrums around the
world were in shock. Like discovering
photo by Eduardo Figueroa
a cereal box prize, JMSN is a musical
treasure of the industry who started
making his mark just five short years
ago.
Having known all his life that music
was something that he was going to
pursue as a career, Berishaj took on
the lofty goals he set out for himself
with relative ease. “I was going to do
it and figure it out no matter what,
and I’m still trying to do that,” says
Berishaj. “That’s my first passion, creating
music, so I’m always going to be
doing that.”
With each new release, Berishaj
continues to show incredible artistic
growth and integrity in his work. The
sheer honesty and emotion his work
embodies sends wave after wave of
shivers down the spine whether the
lyrics are backed up with slow pulsating
beats like “Ends (Money)” and
“Fuck U,” or the more up-tempo levels
of “Hypnotized” and “’Bout It.”
Originally from the Detroit area, and
now based in LA, Berishaj is truly one
of those multi-faceted artists that we
hope never stops making tunes – and
so far that’s the plan. “[The music I
make] always changes, which is what
makes us human. Constantly growing
and changing, I don’t want to ever
be put into a box,” Berishaj goes on
to say. “My favourite artists can’t be
put into a box; they make what they
make and I aspire to be one of those
artists. I think it’s good when you can’t
describe it.”
His latest record, Whatever Makes
U Happy, came out on April 28th and
let’s just say, the album is soulful as
fuck. “Where Do U Go” and “Drinkin’”
really showcase where JMSN stands
creatively in 2017, and it is in no way
a disappointment. How could it when
the album closes with “Patiently,” a
track that the artist states as the best
song he’s ever written. “I just followed
where [the music] took me really,
that’s why the album’s called Whatever
Makes You Happy,” explains Berishaj.
“It’s a little more of doing what
I was feeling and not really worrying
about what’s going on in the outside
world. Not that I hadn’t done that
with other albums before, I feel like I
had an epiphany of, ‘This is what I do,
so I might as well be happy doing it.’”
With all of the success surrounding
him as an artist, he has kept himself
in check and has been able to keep
himself away from the flash and shine
of the industry. “I’ve just never been
that type of person so I don’t think
that should change because of what
I’m doing. That’s just my personality,
it changes a little bit as you go, but
there are staples of your morals that
stay the same. I don’t think it serves
me in any way to be like that. I just do
things that are me.”
JMSN performs at Alexander
Gastown May 17th.
18 BPM
May 2017

RAILWAY STAGE AND BEER CAFE
the heart of the legendary venue keeps beating in its new iteration
NOOR KHWAJA
SAY HEY CAFE
keep it simple, stupid
WILLEM THOMAS
CITY
The spot prawn festival opens a window of
opportunity to celebrate a west coast treat
The Railway Stage and Beer Café is a great place to enjoy a great beer and experience quality live music.
SPOT PRAWN FESTIVAL
a crustacean cornucopia at False Creek
photo by Frederique Neil
AUGUST BRAMHOFF
Picture it. Vancouver Island, circa 1992. A
young mother and her two children stir restlessly
in their rented cabin near a cove, while
spring rain pours like nails falling on a tin
roof. Around two in the afternoon, the first
of the harvesters arrive, weighing and sorting
their catch. In gumboots and carrying umbrellas,
the small family walks down to the
dock, curious to see what is on board. For
a few dollars, the freshest, most succulent
prawns become centerplate on a humble
lunch table.
Perhaps you can’t relive the above moment,
however don’t let the next closest
thing pass you by. The Spot Prawn Festival
at the False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf boasts
a cornucopia of delicious spot prawns — a
seasonal favourite in both British Columbia
and Asia.
For those not in the know, a spot prawn is
quite different from your average run-of-themill
prawn. Wild BC spot prawns, identifiable
for their rusty colouring and white spotted
tails, turn pink when they are cooked and
have a sweet flavor. The harvest season begins
in May and can last for eight weeks.
With a limited number of weeks to enjoy
this ocean treat, eight BC chefs including the
One of the city’s most historic and iconic
gems, the Railway Club, has been reborn after
its unfortunate closure in March of last year.
After its 84-year tenure, the space has been
revamped by new owners and is now called
the Railway Stage and Beer Café, combining
live entertainment with local beer. Speaking
with the Donnelly Group’s Chad Cole, the
managing director of the new venue, it is
clear that important elements of its former
inhabitant have been lovingly preserved.
“We tried to keep the bones of the place as
is just to maintain the history of the Railway
Club,” he says. “The biggest change is adding
a 24 Kraft Beer lineup that’s rotating local
craft beers and then adding a state of the art
sound system which makes the sound absolutely
beautiful.”
With changes to the sound systems and
other minor alterations to help give “the
place a little bit of a face lift,” the Railway
Stage and Beer Café aims to be “a comfortable
venue where you can come in and enjoy
a great beer and experience awesome
music.” There will be live entertainment five
days a week, showcasing local indie bands
Wednesday through Saturday, and comedy
on Tuesdays. While local “up and comers
that are breaking the scene” are the target
entertainment of the venue, there will be
occasional headliners and ticketed performances.
Cole explains that “depending on
who’s rolling through town,” the stage will
aim to have a headlining act about once every
two months.
In terms of live entertainment spaces, Cole
mentions “it’s a tough market.” However, he
is positive that if the marketing and booking
of bands is done with care, “you can make a
venue really thrive.” As stages similar to the
Railway continue to shut down around the
city, it is important to acknowledge the vitality
of their existence. Local talent needs
to have venues much like the Railway to, in a
sense, act as gateway stages to bigger venues
in their futures. “I do feel that the city is lacking
in spaces like this,” Cole adds.
The Railway Stage and Beer Café opened
with a bang last month, with a successful
headlining performance from favourite local
band, the Zolas. So, faithful patrons, don’t
fear: the new and “brightened up” venue
maintains the heart of the old Club, including
the long bar stretching the length of the
room and the train. With changes in modernity
and the inclusion of local beer and lunch
specials, the Railway Stage and Beer Café has
a promising future indeed.
The Railway Stage and Beer Café is located
at 579 Dunsmuir Street.
Fairmont Whistler’s Chef Isabel Chung and
West Restaurant’s Chef Quang Dang will be
at this year’s festival showcasing and demoing
new dishes that feature spot prawns.
If cooking at home is not your style, then
make sure to leave room for the main festival
event, the Spot Prawn Boil, which sells out
every year. With prawns literally from the sea
to the pot, and libations courtesy of Evolve
Cellars and R&B Brewery, it’s not hard to see
why.
And, importantly, rest assured that this
event is earth-conscious. The BC Spot Prawn
Festival has partnered up with OceanWise to
ensure sustainable practices. “We are incorporating
seafood sustainability at the Spot
Prawn Festival,” says Chef Céline Turenne,
the Executive Director of the Chef’s Table
Society, a not-for-profit organization that
has now hosted the Spot Prawn Festival for
11 years. “Wild, trap-caught, BC spot prawns
are a ‘best choice’ option based on the five
sustainability criteria used for BC fisheries
assessments.”
Spot Prawn Festival is May 13 at the
False Creek Fisherman’s Wharf.
Just a few doors down from Chinatown staple New Town Bakery,
a contender has emerged — a hero, even — to offer quality-hoagie-lacking
Vancouverites the very thing they've been missing: honest,
unpretentious, tasty sandwiches done right, New York delicatessen
style. Say Hey Cafe isn't a formal cafe per se, but a proper sandwich
shop that has a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere, a straightforward
and simple menu, and some seriously solid hoagies.
The owners, restaurant industry newcomer Zachary Zimmerman
and experienced chef and restauranteur (Corduroy Pie Company)
Graham Marceau, are deservedly excited about their new project,
which Zimmerman describes the inspiration for coming from a
trip to New York during which he fell in love with Brooklyn's classic
sandwich spots, with a particularly mean roast beef leaving a sandwich-sized
hole in his heart after getting home. “I would eat it everyday,”
he recalls. “In theory, roast beef is a staple sandwich, but I came
home and realized I couldn't get a good sandwich here. It's a matter of
simplicity. Vancouver has a strange way of overcomplicating things.”
That desire for simplicity is reflected in the design and operation
of Say Hey Cafe, a deep rectangular room. The warmly lit space is
immaculate and full of charming touches, by way of some creative
collaboration between Zimmerman and designers Knauf and Brown.
Zimmerman, who put in almost 12 years as a garbage man flipping
dumpsters prior to flipping Vancouver's sandwich game on it's head,
says, “the platform for Say Hey was making a place that I would want
to go.” The counter service style suits him perfectly. “I like people
coming in and not really knowing where to order. I was doing the
garbage thing for 12 years, mostly alone, and I love that this is now
my business, with a real face to face interaction with everyone that
comes in.”
The menu is intentionally slim, whereas the six subs (four fixtures
and two revolving features) are hefty bundles of high quality ingredients.
A relaxed list of sides such as soups and “magic beans” compliment
the sandwiches. A point of pride for Zimmerman is the drinks
cooler — no liquor license here! — which runs the gamut of sugary
beverages, from Five Alive (“We're very much about those childhood
food memories”) to rare imported sodas that Say Hey Cafe might just
be the only stockist of in Vancouver.
While Say Hey is a smaller operation (16 seats) than kitchens
Marceau has worked in previously, the forethought and effort put
into its opening by the two is considerable. They take sandwiches seriously,
and it shows.
Say Hey Cafe is located at 156 E Pender Street.
photo by Willem Thomas
Say Hey gives lunch lovers an honest sandwich and a Five Alive.
May 2017 CITY
19

BOOZE
ANDINA BREWING
equatorial flavour to brighten up a rainy city
JENNIE ORTON
If you travel down Powell Street to
make your way to Yeast Van, you will
likely be undeniably drawn to the #bigyellowbuilding
by the intersection at
McLean. Adorned with steel paneled
signage in the shape of a long-haired
woman looking like an illustration
fresh off the pages of The New Yorker,
the building is as vibrant as the culture
it celebrates.
“All of the ingredients are feminine
nouns so for us beer is very feminine,”
states communications and marketing
director Claudia Amaya.
Andina, which is a term used to describe
women from the Andes, brings
something entirely new to the craft
brewing community of Yeast Van.
From the tasting lounge, which features
the original load bearing beams
and repurposed wood from the renovated
decades old building, to the
ceviche and red sauce served alongside
their beer, there is an authenticity
to culture and respect for history
Some of the most storied pieces of art ride a long
and complicated road before they come to be, often
changing hands and crossing borders and coming
in and out of contact with danger along their
journey to their appreciation by the masses. The
mark of a wise man is to know such a piece of art
when he sees one—or tastes one, as the case may
be. Deep Cove Craft’s Shae de Jaray is one such
wise man and, together with Long Table Distillery’s
co-founder/master distiller Charles Tremewen,
he rescued a very well-travelled and sublimely
well-crafted pinot-barreled pear brandy from what
would’ve been a tragic early grave down a drain in
North Vancouver.
Before opening Deep Cove Craft in 2012, de Jaray
was involved in a cider project in Oregon using
pears as the base. When he decided to move operations
to North Vancouver, he brought with him a
pear eau de vie they had previously made that was
quietly aging in pinot barrels. But as the brandy sat
unaware, browning gently in its cozy barrels, Deep
Cove acquired their craft distilling license and that
is where the trouble started. By law, distilleries with
the craft designation must only carry spirits that
were distilled onsite and feature only local BC agricultural
products. Suddenly the precious barrels
weren’t legally allowed to be onsite because of their
contents being chock fulla Oregon agriculture.
“So, my next call was to my man Charles,” says
de Jaray.
“I can just see you dragging these barrels around
the countryside,” jokes Tremewen.
Tremewen and Long Table Distillery boast a
being brought by Nicolás and Andrés
Amaya and their family at Andina.
Take the aforementioned red
sauce: Claudia makes it herself and
when she attempted to use a food
processor to increase the speed and
size of her batches, her family called
her out on it “not being the same red
sauce she has always made.” So it was
back to the literal chopping block to
do it by hand again. And the results
are palpable.
The beer is no different. Andina is
able to bring a taste of South America
to west coast craft bwrewing practices
and the result is an “innovative
but balanced” approach to craft brew
creativity.
“We want to fusion the South
American heritage while still respecting
the craft brewing industry of the
west coast,” Amaya says. “That’s why
we don’t have styles that are traditionally
South American, we have the
black IPAs, the traditional IPAs, pale
PAIRS OF PEARS BRANDY
a bottle that has seen more miles than most men
JENNIE ORTON
ales, because I think that is very comforting
to have those classic styles.”
For example: the Melcocha Andean
Mild Ale with its honey sweet
sugar cane juice influence, or the upcoming
Lulo Gose; a German style of
wheat beer which will be brewed with
the Columbian fruit Lulo, also known
as “little orange.” Or the recent seasonal
offering: the Passionfruit Black
IPA.
“ Yes! It’s a very unexpected beer,”
Amaya explains excitedly. Made with
passionfruit from Columbia, the beer
commercial license, which allows them to hold and
offer the brandy.
“We are just perceived as the rescuers and bottlers
in this cooperation between two distillers,”
Tremewen muses.
The commercial license is necessary because
Long Table chooses to make their gin by the standard
legislated UK method of using a highly rectified
third-party neutral grain spirit. Suffering
the large mark-up tax that goes along with it, this
license nonetheless allows for foreign materials to
be used in the distilling process. Suddenly, the pears
and their forbidden contraband had a home and a
name: Pairs of Pears Brandy. It was launched at Long
Table on April 15.
“What’s really cool is it a) gives an opportunity
for it to be drank by Long Table’s and our own following
and anyone else who wants to experience
such a cool and unique product, but it also gives
us a chance to explain the difficulties with both of
these licenses, both on our end with the restrictions
in ingredients and for Charles having to pay
this ridiculous markup,” de Jaray says. “This brandy
has kind of, in a sense, become a conversation piece
over the difficulties and red tape that us small folks
in the distilling world find ourselves dealing with.”
Like an outlaw rescued from the executioner,
Pairs of Pears is the little bottle with the big past,
and it comes out in the taste. Thick with the barrel
characteristics that come with five years of aging
and the full syrupy mouth-feel of the fruit, the brandy
finishes clean with a subtle burn; and though it
tastes amazing in a side car, its journey dictates that
The Amaya brothers have created a beer lover’s home away from home.
boasts a tart flavor one wouldn’t expect
from a black IPA, but that seems
very much at home as one anyway.
And that is the appeal of Andina:
when you are there you feel very
at home within a different cultural
approach. A great deal of that is the
result of the labour of family love the
brewery truly is.
“Everybody left a part of themselves,”
Amaya attests.
Andina Brewing is located at
1507 Powell Street.
out of respect it should be enjoyed neat.
To grab one of these rare and well-earned bottles,
head to Long Table Distillery soon. It’s your
chance to raise a glass to the little guy and drink
to the long-practiced tradition of finding a way
through a thick rulebook to sweet, sweet victory.
Long Table Distillery is located at 1451
Hornby Street.
photo by David Arias
Pairs of Pears is a treat wrestled from the grip of
bureaucracy by two relentless local distillers.
BOTTOMS UP
getting to know your local bartenders
Ever wanted to know more about that person
behind the bar pouring your liquid courage?
Here’s your chance. This month, meet Courtney
Richards from Jackalope’s Neighbourhood
Dive.
HOW DID YOU START BARTENDING? I
started bartending at a hotel pub in Kamloops.
It ruled, we would open up the pool table for
our friends, turn all 20 TVs on to Intervention
and eat chocolate bars on Sunday nights.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT JACK-
ALOPE’S? I’ve been at Jacks for around a year
and a half, and been the bar manager for the
last year.
BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB? Everything
from the ownership down rules at Jackalope’s.
We are treated respectfully and fairly, we are
given a place to hang out with great friends
and customers, listen to rad music and be ourselves.
FAVOURITE DRINK TO MAKE? The beef
back! We are pretty sure we invented it. It's
a shot of rye followed with a shot of beef au
jus and it's amazing! I love watching people try
them for the first time they are always totally
stoked.
GO-TO DRINK ON A NIGHT OFF? $5 pints of
PBR at the Princeton.
TELL US ABOUT THE GREATEST NIGHT
YOU’VE EVER HAD AT WORK. It sounds
cheesy but we always have a great time at
work. The staff at Jacks is like a family so on
any given night you are hanging out with pals,
cracking jokes and listening to killer tunes.
THE WORST? When I break off all my dang
fingernails.
Jackalope’s Neighbourhood Dive is located
at 2257 East Hastings Street.
Courtney Richards wants to
serve you a beef back.
20 BOOZE •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
May 2017

May 2017 21

THEATRE
CHILDREN OF GOD
hope and perseverance in the face of cultural genocide
KATHRYN HELMORE
On July 11 2008, a ring of 11 chairs
marked the floor of the House of
Commons. The chairs were designated
for five Indigenous leaders and six
residential school survivors. In front
of these guests, Stephen Harper apologized
on behalf of the Government
of Canada for residential schools.
To many, the apology marked the
end of a long silence regarding a dark
chapter in Canadian history. To Corey
Payette, playwright and creator
of the play Children of God, the time
for silence has passed and the time for
reconciliation, atonement, and conversation
has come. He plans to move
forward by putting the topic at centre
stage.
In Children of God, the children
of an Oji-Cree family are sent to a
residential school. It is the story of
children who were robbed of their
community and the mother who desperately
tried to see them, yet was
never let past the school’s gate.
“Children of God demonstrates the
intergeneration impact of a cultural
TIES OF BLOOD
mining the depth of human flaws to find virtue
genocide,” says Payette. “It shows
how this chapter in Canadian history
changed the course of lives. We hope
that it will help people understand
what happened. We hope that people
will enter the theatre one way and
leave it changed.”
While the production might seem
like a tragedy, it is fundamentally about
hope and perseverance, says Payette.
“It is a testament to the strength and
reliance of our ancestors. It dares us to
look at how far we’ve come. Despite
what happened, we have held onto
our culture. That takes strength and
courage.”
Children of God pays homage to
the resilience of Indigenous culture
and its growing prevalence in sectors
that have, until this point, been dominated
by Western culture. This work
involved over 30 people, has a cast of
nine, and required four independent
theatre companies; the compelling
narrative and First Nations-inspired
musical score proved irresistible to
the national theatre. After opening
in Vancouver on May 17, the play will
be staged in theatres across Canada,
including the National Arts Centre in
Ottawa.
“There’s something about this
show that is beyond me,” said Payette.
“It has its own momentum and
photo by Matt Barnes
Children of God takes a life of its own to tell a dark truth hidden for far too long.
a strong purpose. I can’t wait to see
how it is received.”
Children of God runs at the York
Theatre from May 17 – June 3.
KATHRYN HELMORE
22
THEATRE
A play by American writer Caity Quinn, Ties of
Blood reaffirms that the works of the Brontë sisters
transcend time. Yet, instead of reinventing their
classic novels Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, this
production dives deep into fact, not fiction.
Ties of Blood is a retake on the story of the
Brontë family: a 19th-century family of literature
geniuses who dealt with financial insecurity, isolation,
and alcoholism. While their literary mastery
has continued to endure, all three sisters and their
brother lived a difficult life and passed from tuberculosis
at a young age.
Quinn’s play tells the story of ambitious Charlotte,
passionate Emily, benevolent Anne, and their
troubled, opium-addicted brother, Branwell. As
Charlotte struggles with an abusive and incestuous
relationship between Anne and Branwell, themes of
domestic violence, forbidden love, drug addiction,
and conflicting loyalties arise.
“As someone who has always been fascinated by
the Brontës, I wanted to explore the suggested incestuous
relationship between Anne and Branwell,”
Quinn says. “Through doing so, I explore abuse. The
play uses the lives and novels of these individuals
as a metaphor to understand men who are abusive
and the women who stay with them.”
Ties of Blood reveals domestic abuse and incest within one of English literature’s most important families.
Quinn, herself, struggles with helplessly watching
a close friend trapped in the circle of an abusive
relationship. This inspired her to write about the
complexities of abuse and love, and the effect these
relationships can have on witnesses.
“Charlotte, a loyal sister to Branwell and Anne,
allows her concern to change into anger and victim
blaming,” Quinn continues. “Abuse is a disease
that affects everyone it encounters. Frustration
can amount in witnesses as they become disgusted
with loved ones for staying in a harmful relationship.
This play not only explores abuse, it explores
what it means to be a witness to abuse.”
Coming at abuse from the angle of the witness is
a fresh take on an often-told story. Quinn candidly
recognizes the struggle undergone by those on the
outside looking inwards.
“The strength of the play lies in its honesty,” says
Quinn. “We’re not always angels and sometimes,
when dealing with someone else's choice, we resort
to frustration, judgement, and even disgust. Yet, inevitably,
the play reminds us that we cannot judge
a friend for their choices and we must love them
regardless of what they do.”
Ties of Blood runs at the Havana Theatre
from May 10 – May 13.
May 2017

RUSSELL HOWARD
popular comedian snatches humour back from the cold clammy hands of important issues
HARLAND WILLIAMS
following penguins to the Taco Bell drive-thrus of our minds
TANIS LISCHEWSKI
COMEDY
Russell Howard is the court jester if the court jester was a self-conscious shaved vag.
KATHRYN HELMORE
Known for impersonating a vulnerable, insecure
and hairless vagina, Russell Howard is comedic
force to be reckoned with.
This young British comedian has held a coveted
role on massively popular panel show
Mock the Week and has the largest social media
following of any British comedian. His TV
show, Russell Howard’s Good News, was one
of BBC Three’s most watched shows. Nevertheless,
in typical British fashion, Russell is
understated about his success: “my success?
I’ve never really thought about it,” Russell said.
“The very fact that there’s people in Vancouver
waiting to hear my jokes is such as mind-fuck.”
While Russell’s personification of a vagina is
not grandma-friendly material, do not dismiss
him as a silly jokester looking for cheap laughs.
Anyone who has gleefully giggled at his jokes
knows there is more lurking underneath the
surface.
Russell’s vagina skit is a prime example of
this multi-faceted comedy. This joke was inspired
by a statistic stating that a quarter of 16
to 25-year-old girls self-harm. It inspired Russell
to do some digging into why girls have insecurities
and mental health problems.
“One reason for these insecurities was
photo by Avalon UK
porn,” said Russell. “Porn would tell girls they
had to shave their pubes. I thought it would be
great to do a skit whereby a proud, natural and
unshaven fanny of an older woman would lecture
an impressionable fanny. I hoped this skit
would raise awareness while taking the piss.”
Russell’s often ridiculous material comes
from an intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate
place. As is the case with all good
comedy, it has purpose. “Right now there’s
a lot of very angry people in the world,” said
Russell. “And that’s understandable. There is
an increasing divide between the haves and
the have-nots. Yet the right wing are speaking
the loudest. There is no opposition to those
who are angry and hateful. Where’s our Martin
Luther King? I think that comedians have become
the opposition. Comics are the dissenting
voice.”
In this period of anger and disenfranchisement,
Russell Howard has chosen to do more
than keep calm and carry on. This comedian
has decided to take up the mantle of court
jester and laugh at the state of our society.
Russell Howard is playing at the Rio
Theatre on May 16th.
Canadian comedian Harland Williams
is also artist, director and actor
who has appeared in more than
fifteen films. He has even written
and illustrated several books including
the Lickety Split series.
From his first role as a State Trooper
on Dumb & Dumber in 1994, to
his latest role in Puppy Dog Pals as
Bob, he has been around the block.
This year though, he hopes to finish
writing the sci-fi novel that he’s
been working on as a side project.
“Writing a book is tough business,
it takes a lot of will and mental
power"
Sometimes being in the spotlight
isn’t always that easy, it can even
be slightly problematic at times.
When asked about some of the
more bizarre fan interactions he’s
had, he told me that fans have tried
to hurt themselves, they’ve threatened
him, they’ve even gotten arrested
for abusing their partners at
the shows. But despite some of the
downfalls of being in the spotlight,
there comes a time in one’s career
where you are able to just go a little
bit crazy and have a lot of fun.
“One of the funniest things to
happen to me recently was probably
when I was digging into my
computer and found a scene from
a movie I directed called Fudgy
Wudgy Fudge Face, and the scene
is called The Valley Of The Dolls.
The other actors and I are driving
a pickup truck through the desert. I
had bought about 80 of these three
foot tall dolls and then I planted
them in the sand. We basically drive
through the valley of the dolls, and
they try and attack the truck. So
we put on boxing gloves and just
punched the shit out of them”
When Williams isn’t busy hard
at work making people laugh, you
can find him skipping down streets
on the search for daisies. You may
even find him going through farmer’s
markets in search for that perfect
new piece to add to his wonderful
taxidermy collection. One
place where you will definitely find
him twice a week, is on his podcast
The Harland Highway where he discusses
issues ranging from serious
to the bizarre, artistic, unusual, and
silly. He also features callers, as well
as interviews and comedy sketches.
His main gift is his spontaneity.
As an experiment to test the limits
of this he was asked:"A penguin
walks through that door right now
wearing a sombrero. What does he
say and why is he here?” He quickly
responds “Yo, Brosif. Let’s go get
that Taco Bell !! I run over and grab
my electric sausage, the penguin
hops on the back as they fly on over
to the Taco Bell Drive-Thru.”
Sounds like a hot ticket.
Harland Williams will be at
Yuk Yuk’s on May 12th.
Harland Williams doesn’t need 7-minute abs to work out.
May 2017 COMEDY
23

FROM THE
DESK OF
CARLOTTA
GURL
CARLOTTA GURL
Hello my lovely little Lottas and welcome
back for another monthly installment
from the hallowed Haus of Gurl. As many
of you have probably seen from my social
media musings, Carlotta Gurl has
just gotten back from a whirlwind tour
around Europe and it was the trip of a
lifetime. The art, the architecture, the
wine, the food (yes she actually ate), the
men, the everything was simply divine. If
I can encourage anyone to do anything in
their life then it's this; take a trip. Travelling
abroad, especially to a place you've
always longed to visit, is one of the most
amazing experiences you can ever give
yourself. Introducing yourself to another
place and fully immersing yourself into
it's culture is a glorious way to enjoy life
to the fullest. I feel behooved to share
some of my experiences on this exodus
with you all.
I was lucky enough to travel with a
dear friend I hadn't seen in quite some
time and being able to reconnect with
her whilst travelling was quite lovely. We
studied art together many years ago and
always said that one day we would travel
to some of the lands that were the birthplaces
of modern art and it wasn't until
this year we got too make that dream a
reality. Let me tell you nothing is more
magical than enjoying a flute of champagne
high atop the Eiffel tower while
gazing over this beautiful city in all it's
resplendent glory. Bringing Carlotta Gurl
down the River Seine for a guided boat
ride Amidst lots of curious onlookers
was a divine experience I will never forget.
Wandering through the avenue des
Champs-Élysées in high heels and posing
for pictures at the historic Arc de Triomphe
was a truly angelic vision. Touring
the Lourve museum and getting lost in
the myriad works of Art and sculpture,
and being gobsmacked by two surprise
tickets to see the fantastical spectacle
that is the Moulin Rouge. My insatiable
passions for all things showy were indeed
met at this tremendous extravaganza.
Words fail me in trying to describe this
tour de force show. I was very simply in
Heaven.
Then came Italy. For all my dreams of
places of pure beauty, Rome and Venice
made them come true in every way. it
wasn’t truly transported back in time until
photo by Chase Hansen
I stepped foot in Venice. Every canal, every
corner, every bridge, every turn, was filled
with more and more things to discover.
It is here where I got to enact another
longtime dream of mine; to replicate
Madonna's "like a virgin' video. Picture
it; the Gurl dressed in pure Italian attire,
sailing through the canals in her very own
gondola, crooning " like a Venitian, I'm in
love for the very first time". A joy I got to
share with everybody in Facebook land as
well. To top off that virtuoso experience,
the Gurl won herself some attention of a
very handsome virile Italian man, and got
to enjoy firsthand true European passion
unleashed. It was tres incrediblay! I could
go on and on my darlings but alas all good
things must come to an end. I hope you
enjoyed my adventures in Europe and I
look forward to seeing you all out and
about in the Realm and at my shows. Loving
you all. arive derchi bellas.
QUEER VIEW MIRROR
why #VisibilityMatters
ANASTEJA LAYNE
As a young child, I was enamoured by the glitz and glam of fashion.
Like a lot of femmes, my first experience with 'fashion' was
watching Victoria Secret Angels prance and twirl on the runway.
I quickly learned what feeling sexy, confident and present did for
people. I was also blindly unaware of the complexities of ego, self
conscious and misogyny.
Eventually I went on to being an awkward over-weight teenager.
Trapped in dysphoria- no answers for me in my small village.
Here, I began to see and understand the grey in life and I decided
to make a change. "*Become a Model*"
I didn't want to be known as the 'fat-black-Gay kid' (a harsh,
but true reality), and I knew I was the only one that could evoke
such change within myself.
I lost 100 lbs, graduated with honours and went on to grab a
modelling contract and set off to globe trot! I also met my first
transgendered woman. I barely got to know her but she radiated a
warmth and love so powerful, in that moment, Marianne Williamson's
'our deepest fear,' suddenly made sense. I also came to know
by living my truth and being the best I can be, I normalized what
being transgender was. That my unique story would give others
permission to do the same. So five years ago I began my own transition.
In that truth I found more success then fathomable: in my
life, career, even in love. The boy who never was kissed, became
the bombshell.
Your uniqueness, no matter your chosen or identifiable demographic,
are animated representations. Your presence and your
personal success', joys and compassions, are a catapult of normalization.
Because unique is normal, and that is ok. You are allowed
to embrace your beauty, your talent, your sexy, your fabulousness.
It's ok to only be validated by yourself because beauty is an experience
you can only define for yourself. That's why #visibilitymatters
XO
@thatsirengoddess
photo by Chase Hansen
24
QUEER
May 2017

QUEER
AMY GRINDHOUSE
Squamish’s most commercially successful Drag Queen
Amy Grindhouse steps onto the stage,
microphone in hand, she looks shy,
“I’m going to sing live for you if that
all right” she says into the mic and
the audience loses their shit. As she
effortlessly weaves her way through
“Love me Harder” by Arianna Grande
she exposes different parts of her hairy
unkept body. The audience is madly in
love, they shower her with money, they
scream. This is the Effect Amy has on
people, she is sweet, she is funny, she
is a breath of fresh air in a scene that
fights so hard to be perfect.
Drag to Amy is a very special experience,
she started Drag in High
School in Squamish, she shares, “Drag
has become many things for me, it's
an incredible artistic outlet, a way to
air out some of the demons hiding in
my closet, and most importantly it's
cheaper than therapy! What makes
drag so unique is there are NO rules!
Of course I love glamorous, "pageant"
and polished drag, but I don't think it's
any more valid then "alternative" styles.
That goes beyond fashion, it's important
to stress that drag is for anyone and
every body! When performers are their
most authentic selves, that's when the
magic happens.”
Amy is known for her looks. They are
unique, weird and literally nobody else
would every were them at times. “I love
that drag allows us to have a break from
reality, and we get to play dress up for
a while! When I was a kid I was always
wearing some crazy costume, and now I
get paid to do it!” shares Amy. This level
of escapism is a gift Amy gives to her
audience too. She has the gift of making
people laugh. Her kindness really
does shine through.
Amy is a cohost/co-creator of The
Sleepy Girls Show in Kitsilano. It happens
the last Sunday of every month
and often centres around a broad them
where guests tell stories from that time
in life. It’s a must see show, so go see it.
Formative years in life are interesting,
we all have things that have happened
that have shaped who we are,
to Amy Drag is very Cathartic, she
shares, “I started doing drag to heal my
self worth. When I was 14, I decided to
hook up with a stranger. Things went
south pretty fast, the first thing he said
to me was "you look fat in person, you
should loose weight", then guilted me
into doing things I wasn't comfortable
with. After that I internalized the trauma,
and kept meeting up with guys
who made me feel terrible. I have always
struggled with body image, and
this certainly didn't help. As I grew up
I needed to find an outlet to vent out
all my frustrations, and reclaim my sexuality.
For me, Amy has always been my
way of taking it back. She is all my insecurities
amplified! My comedy comes
from that, I heal through laughter. Joking
about sex and my body has actually
made me feel beautiful! I took the fear
out of the equation, and by performing
we can all laugh about it together.”
Amy Grindhouse is a star on the rise
and her carefree attitude, though it
may seem lazy is actually well thought
out and carefully crafted. She has a
spirit for improv and it shines when
she is on the Microphone. She is one to
watch.
Catch Amy the last sunday of
every month for The Sleepy Girls
Show at Displace Hashery! Dinner
is at 8:30 and show is at 9:30.
photo by Chase Hansen
May 2017 QUEER
25

FILM
I, DANIEL BLAKE
you can’t teach an old man new tricks
ALEX SOUTHEY
THIS MONTH IN FILM
support your local cinema
HOGAN SHORT
I, Daniel Blake
If you read into the hype, I, Daniel Blake is
the cream of the crop of the completely
played out misanthropic old man subgenre.
Put simply, not a lot of it will surprise
you, but it will easily please thanks to its
bag of audience charmers. These include
lilting accents, old folks fed up with minute
inconveniences, and an array of minor,
loveable characters who play things
straight, no matter what.
The film's title gives the greatest indication
of the way director Ken Loach
and writer Paul Laverty handle their main
character. “I, Daniel Blake"—It's all about
him. That's how he sees it, that's how others
understand it. At one point he says,
"I'm just going in circles." That's because
his need for attention and general narcissism
keeps him disconnected from reality.
Even when he tries to help a wronged
single mother, the scene becomes about
him.
Unfortunately Loach and Laverty provide
such a big helping of Daniel at the
beginning (he badgers a well meaning
doctor, for example, while inescapable
introductory credits roll over a black
screen) it ends up souring the film that
follows, which contains a moving, platonic
relationship with the aforementioned
single mother Katie (Hayley Squires) and
her kids, and with his young neighbours.
Poetic moments hint at why I, Daniel
Blake won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. The
acting is strong, and the dialogue rings
true. It hits all the marks. But this is the
issue; the film so clearly aims for those
designated marks that we can’t clap for
the bullseye. In an unoriginal world, in a
tired genre, this one issue undermines a
lot of what might have been a lot more
emotionally stirring had the character
type not been such an easily identifiable
type at all.
The reliance on familiarity of subgenre
to try and do something new is almost always
worth seeing. In this case, it doesn’t
work, and frankly it might not be worth
seeing. The attempt dulls the film's positives
and emphasizes its negatives.
Perhaps a bit like an elderly narcissist,
I, Daniel Blake greatly succeeds in the familiar,
fails at some of the new, and avoids
a lot else.
I, Daniel Blake opens in Vancouver
May 5
Chuck
May 5
A true-story boxing tale of heavyweight Chuck Wepner.
Wepner, a former Marine, was unexpectedly chosen to
fight Muhammad Ali in a title match. Sound a little like
Rocky? Wepner’s story was actually Stallone’s original inspiration
for that film. This movie has a great cast (real-life
couple Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts) and great early
reviews.
Burden
May 5
Burden is an unfiltered look at performance artist Chris
Burden as he takes his gallery of work to riskier and more
dangerous places. This documentary follows a man who is
willing to get shot, run over, crucified or whatever else he
deems is art. Watch and decide if you agree with him.
The Lovers
May 5
Legends Tracy Letts and Debra Winger star in this new
take on an old idea. The Lovers focuses on a married couple
both having their own affairs, each unaware of the other’s
infidelity. What they do become aware of is that they
are beginning to fall in love again.
War Machine
The Wall
May 12
In Iraq, two soldiers are pinned down by an enemy sniper.
They can’t escape, with only a flimsy wall shielding them
from death. An interesting concept that hopefully makes
for a good movie about our will to survive and brotherhood.
The incredible Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars with the
world’s second-biggest wrestler-turned-actor John Cena—
this could go either way.
War Machine
May 26
Netflix has been churning out incredible material in 2017
and this film, written and directed by David Michôd (Animal
Kingdom), will almost certainly be another great
one. This parody-esque modern war story follows a charming
and victorious four-star General (Brad Pitt) during the
rise and fall of his command of NATO forces, all through
a journalist’s hard-hitting exposé. This has an all-star cast
and may be a serious contender for Netflix at the Oscars
The Blockbusters
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – Two words: cautiously
optimistic. The talent is there. (May 12)
Alien: Covenant – Alien is perfect. Aliens is great. Prometheus...
well, maybe not good, but at least this one looks
awesome. (May 19)
FRIDAY LATE NIGHT MOVIES!
19+
VALID ID FOR
BAR SERVICE
VISIT WWW.RIOTHEATRETICKETS.CA FOR SHOW TIMES & TICKET PRICES
MAY 12
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
MAY 19 TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME MAY 26 BUBBA HO-TEP JUNE 2 ALMOST FAMOUS
26 FILM
May 2017

Feist
Pleasure
Universal Music Canada
For any avid listener, Feist has always provided a
gateway into one’s own turmoil. Although she
writes for herself, the former Calgarian has a way
of translating her internal dialogue into relatable
fodder by way of her venerable falsetto. Where her
breakout album The Reminder skyrocketed her career,
and turned her into an international pop star,
follow-up Metals pushed back against that mould,
garnering her critical acclaim and 2012’s Polaris Music
prize. Six years later, she has returned—in full
Feist force—with Pleasure.
When pitching this review to our team, one of
BeatRoute’s editors was skeptical;
He didn’t want a Feist fan to gas her up further,
he wanted to know: “Is this going to be a ‘one for
her, one for her fans’ type situation?” The truth is,
it’s hard to say. There’s skeletal frameworks of radio-ready
hits on the album, but it lacks the polish
or obvious-charm of her earlier work.
This is of course intentional. Feist is too skilled a
songwriter and musician for it not to be. On Pleasure,
she wanted to create and record songs in their
rawest, purest forms. As is expected, there’s plenty
of hissing guitar and echo throughout. The album is
shaped similarly to Metals; there’s no major stand
outs, but thematically, and as one piece of work,
it holds strong. What it lacks, in comparison to
her previous work, is the expansiveness of sound;
the presence of many hands in production. She’s
achieved her goal of entrenching the album with
humanity, but that also gives the album a harshness
that could be divisive.
In an interview with Pitchfork, she said, “It was
about wanting to make sure I was making another
record because I needed to do it and not because
it’s just what I’ve done so far.” To that point, my
editor could count this as an album for her. It’s an
album for one to get lost to and with – there’s a
warmth throughout it, it’s just not obvious. If Feist’s
going to be the pop star many want her to be, it’ll be
on her terms and in her way.
On “A Man is Not His Song,” Feist slides over a
soft guitar line, as the song builds up to a choir of
voices, echoing behind her: “We all heard those old
melodies (like they’re singing right to me.” The song
then ends with a Mastodon guitar riff; an abrasive
antithesis to the rest of the song’s framework, and a
disruption of the peace inherent. The album is meditative
throughout, inviting guests just when you’ve
hit solitude.
Four test pressings of the album’s vinyl are, at the
time of writing, due to be released to fans, who were
asked to describe their ideal listening party scenario.
The truth is, this album’s probably best enjoyed
alone, or in a small group and an intimate setting,
there’s no celebration quite like “1234” or other uplifting
Feist moments.
Pleasure is no less loud than she’s been, and
there’s even hand clapping and choral chants
throughout. “Any Party” perfectly stages the nervousness
and excitement one feels returning home
to a town and old friends you used to know. It’s a
mix of pleasure and loss, syncopated by blues guitar
and mild distortion. It even ends with you leaving,
the door creaking, crickets in the air as you enjoy
the solitude that comes after. There are so many
unexpected elements, moments within moments
throughout Pleasure.
“Pleasure” and “I am Not Running Away,” see Feist
embodying the rock goddess she could easily be.
Like PJ Harvey, she sounds at home drawling with
harsh guitar. The album’s title track and lead single
is so carnal, you can almost feel your body pushing
up against someone else’s in the moment. “I am Not
Running Away,” has her singing like a late-night dive
bar crooner, a lamentation for her independence.
Each song could be Feist’s pop-friendly moment,
but each song has some element that pushes it or
distorts it so that it’s not quite complete. In “Pleasure,”
she brings you where you think the song will
climax, only to pull it away from you. On “I Wish I
Didn’t Miss You,” there’s a structure of a tragic song
about heartbreak. The reverb on her voice distorts
her words to a loneliness and timelessness. This is
anyone’s heartbreak, but also anyone’s retribution –
coming to terms with your own weakness.
Tweeting about the album initially she said, “The
experience of pleasure is mild or deep, sometimes
temporal, sometimes a sort of low grade lasting,
usually a motivator.” This is true for all of it. It’s less
about pleasure than the anticipation leading up to
it, the work in service of the reward…And there’s
definitely Pleasure in that.
• Trent Warner
•illustation by My-An Nguyen
May 2017 27
REVIEWS

Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog
Fast Romantics - American Love
(Sandy) Alex G - Rocket
Gorillaz - Humanz
Hollerado - Born Yesterday
Mac DeMarco
This Old Dog
Captured Tracks
Mac DeMarco has grown up, for better
or for worse. This Old Dog is peppered
with fatherly wisdom and a subdued
acoustic backbone, frequently broken
up by classic DeMarco synth elements.
It’s his quietest project yet, a realization
that the stars might not be calling
as often as they used to. At first, the
lackluster melodies and preachy lyrics
are overshadowed by DeMarco’s zestful
earlier albums, but just like fatherly
advice, there comes the realization that
maybe he’s right after all.
At the tender age of 26, salad days are
gone for DeMarco, fleeting through
years of rigorous touring and the little
time he’s had to enjoy his accomplishments.
In the process of moving from
New York to L.A., he finally had the opportunity
to breath, letting the songs
on This Old Dog take the backseat while
he adjusted to a new life. By letting the
album mature in a chamber of reflection,
he’s made a collection of songs
that prove an old dog can learn new
tricks; it’s not just another one rehashed
and recycled.
Over layered melodies, DeMarco sings
about melancholic themes, ranging
from appreciating life while you still
can and the loss of love that any longterm
relationship carries with it. The
record has some of his best songs in an
already stellar discography. “Moonlight
on the River” is something else, though,
staying true to its title by transporting
the listener to where moonlight hits the
water, causing a tidal wave of somber
and magnificent emotion across seven
minutes.
This Old Dog may not be Mac DeMarco’s
most instantly gratifying album,
but it is certainly his most sophisticated,
proving that getting old isn’t all that
bad.
•Paul McAleer
Fast Romantics
American Love
Light Organ Records
Hot on the heels of winning a 2016 nomination
for the SOCAN Songwriting
Prize for their song ‘Julia,’ Ontario’s Fast
Romantics are set to release their sophomore
album, titled American Love.
Proof that the traditions of Canadian
rock and roll are alive and well in 2017,
the album is packed with rich-sounding
music that is layered with instruments
and narrative song writing that manages
to simultaneously capture a piece of
Canadiana while remaining accessible to
rock fans of all stripes.
The sound throughout the album remains
full-bodied, with rare dips into
slower, more introspective sounding
bridge sections during some tracks. The
core of most songs come straight from
the roots of rock music with tastefully
distorted guitar and driving percussion
delivered in almost every track on the
album. Sporadic synth rhythms and
the distinct ringing of bells and chimes
round out the musical arsenal, adding
an extra layer of sonic depth to the
music. One caveat to American Light
is that, if you are looking for variety,
this album is lacking it in some ways.
The sound, tone and tempo is more or
less consistent throughout the entire
album, so don’t go into it expecting a
rollercoaster of musical changes.
Chances are, if you have listened to any
Canadian radio in the last six months or
so, you have heard the single “Why We
Fight,” which was released in January
of this year. If you enjoyed that track,
chances are this album will pique your
interest as a whole. Cover to cover, it delivers
a solid, upbeat-yet-introspective
rock and roll sound.
•Jodi Brak
(Sandy) Alex G
Rocket
Domino
Whether it’s indie-rock, pop, or hiphop,
there’s always a disappointing
groan when an artist releases a new
album that sounds exactly like the
last few. With (Sandy) Alex G, there’s
no reason to worry. The Philadelphia-based
artist is a bottomless goldmine
of ideas, and he’s just getting
started.
Rocket is (Sandy) Alex G’s eighth fulllength
release since 2011, but he has a
handful of unreleased projects that are
equally as impressive. His ear for melody
and organic songwriting is reminiscent
of Elliott Smith, but his most cutting
songs speak to the do-it-yourself
nature of, dare I say it, early Modest
Mouse. Last year, his talents attracted
Frank Ocean, landing him a spot on the
critically acclaimed Blonde.
“Bobby” is the first single from Rocket,
and it is easily one of the best songs of
the year. Exchanging lo-fi charm for
alt-country purity, the track embraces
fiddles, stunning harmonies and
crisp production to create something
universally beautiful. Complete with
dogs barking and intoxicating vocals,
“Poison Root,” starts the album off by
continuing the alt-country theme, but
it isn’t as initially accessible as “Bobby.”
The same could be said for the rest of
the album: alt-country in spirit, yet full
of surprises that only Alex G could pull
off. It is musically and lyrically dense,
but it is a rewarding experience when
everything finally clicks.
With tracks like “County” and “Alina,”
Rocket floats into the cloudy realm of
dream-pop, but they felt perfectly in
the context of the album. “Brick,” on
the other hand, is a bit of an anomaly
on Rocket, abandoning serenity in
favour of relentless punk rage. It’s a
shocking moment on the album, but
it’s also masterfully executed.
There’s something for everyone on
Rocket, yet Alex G doesn’t double
down on one consistent tone. Even so,
anything that’s left to be desired has
probably been explored on one of his
past releases. And, amazingly enough,
there’s still a lot left to be discovered.
•Paul McAleer
Gorillaz
Humanz
Parlaphone / Warner Bros.
Gorillaz fans have been waiting a long
time for a new album. The group’s last
full-scale effort, Plastic Beach (2010),
was a cohesive collection of well-crafted
singles met with critical and commercial
success.
Though, Gorillaz is not just music.
The ‘band’ themselves is a virtual one
comprised of cartoon characters. 2-D,
Murdoc, Noodle and Russ make up the
animated band, while former Blur frontman,
Damon Albarn (who voices 2-D), is
the only permanent musical fixture and
comic book artist Jamie Hewlett creates
the majority of the group’s visual art.
There’s been a lot of hype built-up
around this release, through social media,
endless singles, VR apps, listening
parties and $350 deluxe editions. Humanz
has not lived up to it.
Albarn describes this album as a
soundtrack for a party at the end of the
world. For the most part, it succeeds in
conveying this theme.
Humanz sees Gorillaz’ once excellent
fusion and disregard for genre fall apart,
however their knack for crafting a compelling
track does shine through at
some points. 2-D introducing himself to
the album amidst the Popcaan-fueled
trap/dancehall chaos of “Saturnz Barz”
is one of the group’s very best musical
moments across their entire discography.
“She’s My Collar” and “Andromeda”
are both fun, spacey dance tracks.
“Busted and Blue,” a conventional,
but well-written and produced ballad,
serves as a reprieve from the hedonistic
party of the rest of the record.
While the theme of the album is an interesting
and well-executed one, the
empty production, mishandled mishmash
of tone and arrangement missteps
leads to Humanz likely being a disappointment
for many fans.
•Cole Parker
Hollerado
Born Yesterday
Royal Mountain Records
As Hollerado’s fourth LP, Born Yesterday,
kicks into gear with the title track, it
seems the Ottawa four piece have finally
teetered off their riff-based indie rock
origins and into full pop punk territory.
Following the gargantuan release of
2015’s 111 Songs, the accessible route
seems like the natural path for the
band - drop a couple fun, radio friendly
tracks with chant-along choruses and
call it a day. And although there are a
fair amount of “yeah-yeah-yeah”s and
“woah-oh”s scattered across the album’s
refrains, Born Yesterday also succeeds in
covering a lot of diverse ground over its
38 minute run time.
From the political march of “Grief Money,”
to the staccato strikes and Andrew
WK-esque party piano line in “Sorry
You’re Alright,” Hollerado’s ability to
comfortably explore their authentic indie
pop sound is on display throughout
their latest LP.
Though Born Yesterday continues to
weave around the usual alt rock standard
Hollerado has occupied, it does
lack the memorable anthem tracks that
established their name as a Canadian
indie mainstay. Though the track “Age
of Communication” flirts with the emotional
strike, it never quite explodes into
the celebratory chorus it seems to build
towards throughout.
The comfortable nature and light-hearted
subject matter of Born Yesterday,
however, allows for the short LP to remain
enjoyable throughout, even without
the expected payoff of an anthemic
standout.
•Nathan Kunz
Kendrick Lamar
DAMN.
Top Dawg Entertainment
With DAMN. the 29-year-old Kendrick
Lamar proves that his name belongs in
the history books, but it’s what it means
to be the greatest that seems to be tugging
on his conscience. Like on much of
To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN. finds Lamar
trying to come to grips with his hip-hop
deification while he lives in the sin of a
mere mortal.
At first glance, DAMN. is a less sonically-ambitious
album than its two
jazz-indebted acid-freakout forebearers
— To Pimp a Butterfly and Untitled
Unmastered — but by offering his most
accessible music since his world-conquering
breakthrough album, good kid,
m.A.A.d. city, Lamar finds room to let
his lyricism shine.
There are plenty of moments on DAMN.
that elicit jaw-dropping awe. Lamar’s
winning streak is boisterous, but free of
the smugness that surrounds so many
other greats. In fact, Lamar’s draw lies
in his insistence that even at the top of
the game, he’s still a human like everyone
else.
Yet, on tracks like “FEEL.” and “FEAR.”
when Lamar is at the peak of his lyrical
and rapping abilities, his talent feels
anything but human. The former track
features Kendrick locking into the bossa
nova beat with an expert precision.
His flawless flows, cadences and dense
rhyme schemes make it increasingly evident
that Lamar is a singular talent. Like
his Reagan-era Californian forbearers
Tupac, and Dr. Dre, Lamar uses his platform
to diagnose society’s ills. On the
25th anniversary of the Rodney King tri-
28 REVIEWS
May 2017

1
2
3
4
5
6
Jokes feat.
Ivan Decker
The Living
Society
presents
Uno Mas Trio
Mr. Boom Bap
presents
Boogie Nights
with
Coco Jafro
The Railway
Stage presents
Illacuda
Lust for Life
special guests
Highland
Eyeway
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Jokes feat.
Efthimios
Nasiopoulos
The Living
Society
presents
Erica Dee
Mr. Boom Bap
presents
Boogie Nights
The Railway
Stage presents
The Ballantynes
Lust for Life
Greatest Hits
of All-Time
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Jokes feat.
Simon King
The Living
Society
presents
Ashleigh
Eymann
Mr. Boom Bap
presents
Boogie Nights
with
Mud Funk
The Railway
Stage presents
Public Eye
Lust for Life
special guests
JP Maurice
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
Jokes feat.
Kathleen McGee
The Living
Society
presents
Mississippi Live &
The Dirty Dirty
Mr. Boom Bap
presents
Boogie Nights
The Railway
Stage presents
The Prettys
Lust for Life
special guests
Ponytails
28
29
30
31
Jokes
Hosted by
Gavin Matts
& Dino Archie
The Living
Society
presents
Sam Chimes &
Friends
May 2017 29

Kendrick Lamar - Damn.
John Moreland - Big Bad Luv
Mutoid Man – War Moans
al, it’s clear that Lamar’s mind still focuses on police
brutality, but it’s his introspective look at American
rage that inevitably makes DAMN. the first classic
album of the Trump political era.
•Jamie McNamara
John Moreland
Big Bad Luv
4AD
John Moreland plays tunes for the Greyhound, full
of hard-timer narratives and steady as a prairie
highway on Big Bad Luv, kicking off with the passing
farms diner shuffle on “Sallisaw Blue,” and with the
Americana elegance of “Old Wounds,” “Every Kind
Of Wrong,” and “Love Is Not An Answer.” Moreland’s
lyrical depth shines and his vocal tone quakes
with the workingman’s blues - “Running from the
Armageddon jury, born to put your love on trial,”
- without resorting to the simplest way to say it.
That’s where the poetry lay, “I used to say, ‘I love
you, and wonder who I was talking to,” rounding to
boulder conclusions: “If we don’t bleed it don’t feel
like a song.”
The distance and subtlety in the production of
Big Bad Luv feels like the plains, assured that there
won’t be any sharp turns, just wide veers that take
you around the next corner, as easy as passing
farms. Moreland’s comforting vocal tone, plaintive
and masculine, delivers his lines with honesty and
avoids cliches. Even as close to The Boss as he arrives
a couple of times, Moreland sounds like a man
on the tools, framing up in the field to counter the
wind.
•Mike Dunn
Mutoid Man
War Moans
Sargent House
Mutoid Man are Stephen Brodsky from Cave In,
Ben Koller from Converge and All Pigs Must Die and
Nick Cageo from a really cool metal bar in Brooklyn
called St. Vitus, the latter’s inclusion almost blowing
out of the water any suggestion that MM are a Probot-style
pastiche supergroup. Almost.
The band play something that is both thrash and
hair metal but often faster than both, a reminder
of Koller’s Converge pedigree (and Brodsky’s, when
his band weren’t trying to be the the Foo Fighters).
A Chelsea Wolfe cameo on two tracks is one of the
few reminders that musical progress didn’t stop
on January 31st, 1989, and this album was clearly
written for anybody who finds that an appealing
prospect. If it isn’t, then War Moans may not justify
repeat listening, but will serve as a 45-minute
long advertisement for what sounds like a killer live
show.
•Gareth Watkins
Perfume Genius
No Shape
Matador Records
For those who struggle with mental health issues,
who are survivors of trauma or who are marginalized,
contentment can be a very weird place.
When your existence is called into question and
when this world shames a silent part of you, there
are different choices to make: Do you become defiant?
Or do you become invisible? Achieving contentment
is a battle hard-won.
The truth is, you become adaptable. 2014’s Too
Bright saw Mike Hadreas (Perfume Genius) existing
in and relishing in defiance, but his new work
No Shape, shifts the dialogue internally. It’s far
from, but influenced by his early piano balladry.
It expands the sonic environment created on
Too Bright, pushing Hadrea’s limits further than
they’ve ever been. By virtue of existence, his work
pushes back against a hetero and cis-normative
gaze, but this album’s focus is on being OK in spite
of it all; not letting the anger and alienation swallow
you up. On lead single “Slip Away,” he sings,
“They’ll never break the shape we take… baby let
all them voices fade away.”
No Shape is an aptly appropriate title. It was pulled
from “Wreath,” where Hadreas sings, “I wanna
have with no shape,” expressing his desire to be
free from the confines of physicality, and what’s
associated with his, in this world. But it’s more
than that, as Hadreas’ music refuses to be confined
to one style or influence. The album is a slow mix
of ‘80s soft rock gallantry, smooth jazz, gospel, and
R&B. On “Slip Away,” he sounds like Kate Bush, ornate
and sophisticated, while on “Die 4 You,” he
has a Sade-like sentimentality, darkness bubbling
beneath the surface.
Despite the wide range of influence and sound,
Perfume Genius is an auteur commanding each
into his whims. No Shape is cohesive, fearless, and
jubilant.
• Trent Warner
SLATES
Summery
New Damage Records
Three years ago Edmonton’s Slates released Taiga to
nominal success with the help of prolific producer
Steve Albini. The band’s newest effort Summery,
uses the same set of ears to take their sound to a
place it hasn’t yet been. The record is full of angular,
energetic guitar lines and buoyant emotional
soundscapes, creating an optimistic arc for the listener.
There are moments of light nihilism in the
titular track, “Summery,” but they in no way overpower
the louder moments of clarity which suggest
instead pausing for a moment; taking a breath and
moving forward into the next season. The band has
gone through several things in their personal lives
in recent years and this record carries forward their
signature style of grunge-y Canadiana, but with the
obvious wisdom and confidence they’ve accumulated
over the years.
Where Taiga can feel gloomy at times in its’ heavier
tones, Summery decidedly goes in the opposite
direction, in search of a different outlook. Small
details within much of the distorted, flickering guitar
work make that obvious and vocalist/guitarist
James Stewart gives just enough away through his
lyrics to reassure us Slates can handle any storm
that comes their way.
•Brittany Rudyck
Woods
Love is Love
Woodsist
Brooklyn’s Woods fuel our hearts fire on their latest,
Love is Love. This six-track short, yet illustrious,
work reflects on the current political climate in the
US with a peaceful mirror rather than vain rumination.
It serves as a reminder of “energy flows where
attention goes” – their attention flowed fluidly and
rapidly with this one, taking a mere two months to
be written and recorded subsequent to the latest
US election. The short and sweet care package provided
by Woods is a refreshingly psychedelic lemonade;
it electrifies and entices with twists of jazz
and packs sweet punches of worldly beats and entrancing
rhythms.
“Love Is Love” starts off with a layered, reverbing
beat blended with Latin flair, then soothes the listener
with the lead guitar that cuts through with
concise conviction. “Bleeding Blue” holds horns
which shine out, reminiscent of Floyd’s Atom Heart
Mother, while heeding warning with lyrics, “If we
want love - hate can’t stay”. “Lost In A Crowd” portrays
the feeling of when one’s guts are tangled in
knots, sublimely depicting how many are feeling after
the election: “Just when we thought it couldn’t
get worse/I’m lost in a crowd; a descending darkness/And
it feels like a dream, but the trip gets
worse/And I’m lost in a crowd”.
The star-crossed beatnik/nu folk flower “children”
created a warm, hopeful album that gracefully transitioned
from their last, City Sun Eater In The River
Light. The 60’s West looks to today’s East; Brooklyn
must be the center of the new Haight Ashbury -
watch the magic unfold.
•Shayla Friesen
THE GENTLEMEN HECKLERS PRESENT
HAYAO MIYAZAKIʼS
WITH ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK BY THE INVINCIBLE CZARS
May 2017 31
REVIEWS

LA Vida Local
Ultrviolence
Forty Knives EP
Northern Light Records
"My life is such a fucking mess," croons Ultrviolence mastermind Nate Jespersen midway
through Ultrviolence's latest EP, Forty Knives. His music, on the other hand, is a perfectly
crafted mix of classic post-punk elements. Acoustic guitars blend with retro synth pads,
distorted drum machines and Jespersen's melancholic baritone vocals, at times making
one picture Glenn Danzig fronting The Cure. From the industrial angst of “Dead Bedrooms,”
to the gloomy ballad “Let You Down Slow,” fans of gothy rock will find lots to love
in these tracks that would fit seamlessly alongside classics in a Dark Eighties playlist.
• Elliot Langford
Larissa Tandy
The Grip
Thalassophile Records
2417 EAST HASTINGS STREET
Beatroute Oct.indd 1
2016-10-21 2:17 PM
The Grip is Vancouver-via-Melbourne Larrisa Tandy’s debut LP and it gets a hold of you.
The Grip’s firm hold is anchored in Tandy’s rugged yet captivating voice set to a stellar
soundtrack of sensitive Americana. Lonesome lap steel glides along next to Wurlitzers
and heart-rending lyrics. On “Harder Heavier,” Tandy laments her heart is “harder than
the hardest stone, heavier than you know,” while “The River” evokes her home in rural
Australia. Recorded by Sarah Harmer and Kathleen Edwards collaborator Jim Bryson, The
Grip is a vivid document of Tandy’s struggles with health, the law, love and relationships.
• Sean Orr
Indian Wars
I Wish I Was As Happy As John Denver
Bachelor Records
Indian Wars tread familiar ground on their third record. The cheekily titled I Wish I Was As
Happy As John Denver sees the five-piece deliver another collection of countrified Southern
rock tunes. Brad Felotik’s worn-out drawl and narrative lyrics serve as a snapshot of a
hardworking band roughing it out on the road. “Dollar Bill” is a brief but effective driving
song, elevated by gospel backing vocals and Felotik’s observational lyrics. Indian Wars succeed
at capturing a mood and feel that is both nostalgic and timeless. The comparisons to
acts like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Lynyrd Skynrd are abundant and almost too
easy to make. The record’s washed-out, dusty production makes the album sound like an
artifact of the late ’60s rather than a 2017 release.
Nonetheless, if you’re a fan of golden-age Southern rock, Indian Wars have plenty to
offer on their latest record.
• James Olson
Soft Serve
Trap Door EP
Independent
Soft Serve’s new EP speaks favorably to the benefits of brevity. The three-piece deftly display
their musicianship and the variety of their sound within a less-than-20-minute runtime.
They start off strong with the instrumental track “Whisper in the Wind,” a wistful
mood piece, complete with deliberate yet uncomplicated guitar work, tinkling keys, and
spacey sound effects. The second track, “Pat’s Pub Open Blues Jam,” is the definite highlight
of the release as it’s swirly lo-fi psych pop, sounding reminiscent of a songwriting
session between Wilco, The Velvet Underground and Mac DeMarco.
Capping off with the driving ‘70s guitar rave-up “Soft Soap,” Soft Serve have delivered a
thoroughly enjoyable EP.
• James Olson
32 REVIEWS
May 2017

The Damned
April 15, 2017
The Commodore Ballroom
It’s important to note The Damned have been
a band since before punk rock was even punk
rock. And they’re still a band today, even after
photo By Tanis Lischewskib
King Gizzard and the Lizard
Wizard w. Orb
Vogue Theatre
April 10, 2017
punk rock was reportedly murdered back in
1994 — witnesses claim they saw Billy Joe Armstrong
and Dexter Holland fleeing the scene.
Celebrating 40 years, the UK innovators were
in full form when they stepped out of the shadows
of a nearby graveyard and touched down at
the legendary Commodore Ballroom for a night
of pure nostalgia. It appears as though they were
able to drag half of the graveyard with them
too, based on how much of the audience was
comprised of Vancouver’s oldest punks. We’re
talking real punks though, the good kind you
can only read about in books like Please Kill Me
or anything by Chris Walter. In fact, the notorious
local author was even spotted front and
centre, singing along to almost the entire set.
That many salty punks in one place is always
good for some unexpected alcohol-fuelled
drama, but there were actually fans of all ages
packed into the venue that night to catch a rare
glimpse of one of the first punk bands to ever
release a single, an album and subsequently tour
the United States.
Singer Dave Vanian could basically win an
award for top sexiest vampires over 40 if such a
thing ever existed. It probably does somewhere.
The debonair frontman arose from his coffin
backstage and right into the spotlight, following
a spooky keyboard intro courtesy of Monty
After a cutthroat game of knifey spoony,
it would appear that Australia has wrestled
nearly all forms of rock music away
from this side of the pond fair and square.
On April 10 the Vogue theatre hosted two
imports from Oz that were decidedly tighter
and more fully formed than most local
bands attempting the same sound: threepiece
doom/psych rock group Orb and the
7-piece monstrosity that is King Gizzard and
the Lizard Wizard.
Definitely more psych than other doom
bands, Orb is a ride of confident musicianship
and throbbing riffs. Zak Olsen’s guitar
boasts a multiple personality as it switches
from a quaking drone to a talkative wah
wah in a single breath. Particularly impressive
after the Inigo Montoya trick of switching
over from the bass halfway through the
set.
King Gizzard was the real brain melt of
the evening, however. Boasting a candy
store of stringed instruments and a pair of
drummers facing each other on stage like it
was high noon, they vaulted the audience
through a relentless setlist of tracks off the
new album Flying Microtonal Banana, a sonic
and compositional high point for a band
already proven in the category of craftsmanship,
as well as some older favorites. A true
high point of the new material was “Nuclear
Fusion”, a strumming rumbler that sounds
like it is actively kicking up white sand in
the desert of Alamogordo New Mexico
where the Manhattan Project actually took
place. By the time they shook us with the
unstoppable fave “Robot Stop,” we were all
war boys ready to follow this 7-headed steel
beast out into the dusty ether in search of
Valhalla.
• Jennie Orton
Oxymoron, the band’s longtime charismatic bighaired
keyboardist.
Dressed in black from head to toe and singing
with his left arm supported in a black sling, “I’m
only wearing half a straitjacket tonight,” Vanian
joked before the band broke into “Generals”
from their 1982 album Strawberries.
The last time The Damned performed in Vancouver
was 2001, three days after 9/11, a fact that
guitarist Captain Sensible reminded everyone of.
“How many times have you seen the Damned
play our last show?” Sensible asked the audience,
reminiscing on the band’s first farewell tour in
1978.
Forty years into their career, the band is significantly
older but not amiss in any capacity.
Playing for nearly two hours on one of the crustiest
Saturday nights the Commodore has seen
since NOFX played two sold out shows back in
November, The Damned treated their fans of all
ages to a charged up set of songs that spanned
their entire career. From “Disco Man” to their
cover of Paul Ryan’s “Eloise,” and of course,
“Smash It Up” and “New Rose,” The Damned
proved that no matter how steeped their image
may be in the themes of death we know and love
in goth culture, they’ve actually never sounded
more alive.
•Glenn Alderson
photo by Galen Robinson-Exo
The xx, Sampha
Thunderbird Arena
April 25, 2017
REVIEWS
Thunderbird Arena greeted concertgoers with signs
warning epileptics of strobe lights and the smell of movie
theatre popcorn, a perfect depiction of the night ahead.
Known for his recent collaboration with Drake, Sampha
filled the arena with the spicy offspring resulting from a
drum-synth affair. With strong vocals and a plethora of
intriguing melodies, Sampha set the mood for the soonto-be
heart wrenching ride.
After a lengthy intermission, Romy Croft, Oliver Sim,
and Jamie Smith entered a stage surrounded by a series
of crescent placed, 20-foot-tall, spinning mirror rectangles,
directing light from their core. Celebrating their first
show in Canada in four years, The xx opened strong with
“Say Something Loving,” followed by the famous “Crystalized”.
Croft and Sim teasingly danced, finishing the track
with a Frère Jacques style round. And so it began, the
smell of BC bud floating through the area – the great side
to the delicious platter of atmospheric indie pop being
served up on a shiny platter.
From upbeat to sensual we transcended through
“Sunset” and “Basic Space,” filling the stadium with a raw
essence of indescribable emotion. And just when you
thought you could swallow back the tears, Croft took the
stage preparing for “Performance” by asking for “support
on this next song because I’m playing it on my own and
that’s quite scary.” A girl, a guitar, a single spotlight, and
the most beautifully raw emotion. An energy so strong
that it filled the entire stadium, connecting the furthest
strangers.
• Paige Paquette
photo by Galen Robinson-Exo
May 2017 33
REVIEWS

NEW MOON RISING: your monthly horoscope
Month of the Yin Wood Snake: Full Moon May 10, 2017
QUAN YIN DIVINATION
•illustration by Syd Danger
The element of this lunar cycle is yin wood and the final bits of kindling
are burning down into a pile of ash. The hidden earth, metal,
and fire make the second half of the month a striking contrast to the
first few weeks, empowering this full moon’s transition to be both
transformational and emotionally charged. Yin wood represents the
qualities of tolerance and patience — a remedy to practice in light of
any angry or impatient tantrums. This breeds in us the encouragement
to abide in non-action, watching powerful emotions come and
go and taking action from a place of kindness and compassion, rather
than from a fierce outburst.
The snake favours sensuality, intellectual savvy, attention to detail,
administrative tasks, and keen planning. After the action-packed
Dragon month passes, this is a time to follow up, envision plans for
the future, seek guidance, or dream a forgotten dream. The earthly
combination of the Rooster/Snake combines with the dependable Ox
to create a metal trine, so if you are born in the year, month, day, or
hour of the Ox, you’ll soon know how metal affects your flow.
Rabbit (Pisces): Don’t sweat the small stuff. There’s plenty to do
without having to trip over trivial things — rise above the drama and
do what needs to be done without complaint.
Dragon (Aries): Working on details can be tedious but excellence
is only achievable through attention to the particulars. Make magic
happen by reading the fine print and doing the paperwork.
Snake (Taurus): Set an example for others to follow. When life
gets busy and complicated, discipline and extra effort are needed, so
put in the time now.
Horse (Gemini): This month’s full moon will bring you back into
the game — play hard and work harder to set yourself up for a busy
time of growth this summer.
Sheep (Cancer): Grab a friend and go to the spa or take in the
Vancouver Opera. The world can wait and luxury has its benefits.
Monkey (Leo): This year’s activity peaks for you with work and
family matters coming into focus. Take time to check in with your
feelings — especially the deeply rooted ones you may have under lock
and key.
Rooster (Virgo): Hang time with your peeps and discuss your superior
understanding of life, the universe, and everything, even arguments,
can inspire deeper awareness.
Dog (Libra): Let go of any workaholic tendencies for a period and
give some attention to family matters. All of us have in us the need
for community and family, and people will come to you looking for a
companion this month.
Pig (Scorpio): New work opportunities and perhaps time to weed
your garden of any dead wood that might taking up fertile space. Letting
go can make room for the real growth that is taking place for you.
Rat (Sagittarius): A short reprieve from the pressures of the year.
Take it easy this month and get ready for the inevitable changes that
are coming to you this year. Rest and prepare for a busy growth period
ahead.
Ox (Capricorn): Here’s a chance to correct any past mistakes, ask
for forgiveness or make a fresh start — a change in your overall attitude
is what’s needed now. Work on eliminating negative states of
mind to make room for blissful optimism.
Tiger (Aquarius): Appreciation starts with you. What are you
grateful for? Someone could owe you an apology but maybe there’s
one you should be offering as well.
Susan Horning is a Feng Shui Consultant and Bazi Astrologist
living and working in East Vancouver. Find out more
about her at QuanYin.ca.
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34
May 2017

May 2017 35

FRIDAY MAY 5 | THE VOGUE THEATRE
UPCOMING
SHOWS
MAY + JUNE 2017
FRIDAY MAY 19
TOO MANY ZOOZ
with Funk Schwey
The Biltmore Cabaret
SATURDAY MAY 13
I AM
RAPAPORT
The Biltmore Cabaret
FRIDAY MAY 12
ODDISEE &
GOOD COMPNY
with Olivier St Louis
The Biltmore Cabaret
TUESDAY MAY 16
THE WILD
REEDS
with Blank Range
& Jenny Banai
The Biltmore Cabaret
SATURDAY MAY 13
GOODWOOD
ATOMS
The Cobalt
5/13 JOJO
The Vogue Theatre
6/3 DAY WAVE
The Biltmore Cabaret
6/14 HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS
The Biltmore Cabaret
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FOR MORE INFO & TICKETS
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GO TO MRGCONCERTS.COM
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