AWmusic

Everything All The Time was the first band up and what a fun little band they are. They opened with an older tune, Lazy Days, a feel-good, happy little song that had the sparse crowd tapping their toes and a few swaying their hips. It wafted over the crowd bringing to mind hot summer mornings when you just don’t want to get out of bed and lifted the mood of everyone there. This is a really good electronic band, in fact the only instruments they have are the drums and bass, where the synth’s take centre stage. And having a live drummer really makes a difference for it adds warmth and feeling that drum machines lack. Everything All The Time is aptly named for they manage to make music that combines so many different rhythms and beats, from world music to electro/dance/pop to jazzy choruses. Alanna Stuarts voice is one of the most beautiful female voices I have heard in a long time. She has a naturalness of tone and delivery and is so comfortable on stage that you forget that there are other people around you. Her interaction with the crowd is also natural and unforced. This is definitely her calling. In fact, that is one of this band’s biggest strengths for you don’t doubt for a minute that they are enjoying themselves up there and that they would be playing even if there was only one person listening. And it’s this joy that makes them stand out. They are worth checking out and will be playing The Legendary Horseshoe June 25th. Go see them but be prepared to dance your butt off. Check them out on MySpace but, unfortunately, the songs listed have a different singer, Stuart being a recent addition to the band. The only one to feature her is the first song, Once We Start, which is a demo so don’t judge it too harshly.

Everything All The Time – Lazy Days

Final Flash had been sitting just outside my peripheral vision for a little while. I would see them mentioned or a friend would drop their name but I hadn’t heard them so when I saw they were playing with Young Galaxy I thought it would be a perfect time to check them out. It is unfortunate that they took the stage after Everything All The Time because their music is quite different and I think it took the crowd a few minutes to switch gears. This is a good young band. They make loud, classic rock-ish music that is interesting to listen to. It brought to mind such bands as The Kinks, and the Animals. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t like Joey C. Chaperon’s voice. Not his fault because he can sing well just that I found it had a lot of treble in it and not much else. I found that he had a limited range with little texture or variation of tone but this might also have just been a case of the wrong microphone for his voice.

Someday someone is going to write a manual for musicians explaining how important it is to look at the crowd once in a while and, unless you are Bono, Chris Martin, Eddie Vedder or Michael Stipe, never turn your back to your audience, it kills the connection. Some people can get away with it but unless you’ve already got them eating out of your hand, you will lose a lot of energy that way. The in-between song patter wasn’t really great either because it was more appropriate for the Horseshoe. We get it, you like beer now move on please. Anyway, this is a good band with well-written songs and lots of talent and worth your while to check out. Look for them on MySpace and Facebook.

Final Flash – Leave The Forest

Their songs are well written and played with confidence and without any affectation. Lyrically, well, sometimes it’s best not to listen too closely but their newer stuff sounds better. One of my favourite songs, Swing Your Heartache, is definitely one of those songs where the lyrics are, for lack of a better word, trite. But, you know, it doesn’t matter because there are so many catchy hooks, lilting melodies and dancey beats that they could sing the dictionary and I’m betting you would still dance to it. Another favourite, Wailing Wall, sounds a bit like The Cure and has some of the better written lyrics – “empty the bottle/mourn the loss/devotion no matter what the cost/dialled your number/you blocked my call/your back is my wailing wall”. It is a darkly atmospheric song that should sound more miserable than it does which is a testament to Stephen Ramsay’s vocals which never cross into “emo” territory. At times they do have a Broken Social Scene vibe but they are on the Arts & Crafts label and that seems to be a signature style for that company so don’t hold it against them. Sharing vocal duties with Ramsay is Catherine McCandless, whose strong voice was the perfect counterpoint to Ramsay and with both sharing the lead, it kept the set interesting.

The thing I like best about this band is that they make music that sounds familiar but is at the same time different to anything currently out there. They sound kind of like the Stars but not really, they do have the same kind of soaring atmospherics and gorgeous harmonies but that’s where the similarities end. Come And See has such a catchy melody that I found myself humming it all the way home and embarrassing myself by dancing to it while waiting for the streetcar. It must have been hard standing on stage and seeing the crowd unmoving to even their most infectious songs. Outside The City had a few of us in the back jumping around but, as with Everything All The Time, Young Galaxy kept reminding the people to dance. That being said, the crowd screamed themselves hoarse at the end of the set and then vanished into the night leaving the poor sods who followed with a half empty venue. They are obviously a very popular band in this area.

The band will be dropping a new album in August and the first single will be “Destroyer”. Go see Young Galaxy if you get the chance, they won’t disappoint you. Visit them on MySpace and at Arts & Crafts. You can listen to their first album and watch videos at the Arts & Crafts site. You can also go to their website for a free download of Long Live The Fallen World which will be on their new album, “Invisible Republic”. Young Galaxy has a blog called “Peripheral Visionaries” where they post about their thoughts on a variety of subjects and Ramsay also posts song mixes.

Young Galaxy – Long Live the Fallen World
Young Galaxy – Come And See

This was by far the best night out I’ve had in a while. All the bands put on a good show, pleased those listening and made converts out of the casual observers. I even saw a couple of the bouncers moving to Everything All The Times addictive grooves.

As always, if you like what you hear support these artists by buying their music. You can pick up Young Galaxy and Everything All The Time on iTunes. You can also find Young Galaxy on Amazon and Everything All The Time on Zunior. Final Flash should be releasing their debut CD soon, it was scheduled for earlier in the year but I haven’t seen it yet.

Photo by Michael Ligon of For The Records.

Tags: concert, NXNE