In-store: Sunparlour Players / Lullabye Arkestra

Sunparlour Players / Lullabye Arkestra

Sonic Boom. Saturday, April 18, 2009.

Out celebrating Record Store Day in the traditional manner — a trip to Soundscapes, "celebrating" with a discount on everything in the store. Picked up a couple catalog items that I'd had my eye on. Nice to see the store doing good business, and to see celebrities walking among us — I nodded at Casey from Ohbijou coming 'round one of the racks, and managed to say, "I wish I were at your show tonight"¹, to which she replied "me too," and suggested that the make-up date should be in June.

Headed up to Sonic Boom afterwards, who were going all out for the day, holding an afternoon-long series of performances in their basement space.² I'd originally been planning to get there earlier on, to check out Green Go, who I've heard good things about, and Gentleman Reg, who's always worth heading out for, but with the timing of the day, that didn't work out. Given the time I got there at, I was expecting to be in line to see Slim Twig, which left me felling somewhat ambiguous, his stuff having left me unconvinced after a couple exposures. In what was a good turn for me, they were running a bit behind their estimated schedule, and instead caught the two acts preceding him.

Came downstairs just as the Sunparlour Players were getting ready to play. I'd only seen them once before, in an outdoor performance at a Bloor Street festival a couple summers ago, and had found them pleasantly enjoyable. The summary that had stuck in my head was "a bit like Elliott Brood without the distortion pedals". Which is probably as right and as wrong as any other offhand reductionist analysis. They come from a similarly rootsy place as EB, but vocalist Andrew Penner brings a different, more soulful vibe to the proceedings, and it's no accident that their first album was entitled Hymns For The Happy, as there's a bit of that old-time gospel feel to it. At a couple times during their set, a half-dozen songs or so, I felt that their tunes were a little "safe" — suitable for CBC listeners deciding what wine to have with dinner. But when they amped it up a notch, it was fairly satisfactory. The set ended with Penner switching from guitar to bass and sleazing things up a bit for a tune with a greasy, punkish feel. So they have some edge to them. With a new album coming up, hopefully they will get their due attention.

That set done, I wandered upstairs a bit to flip through some CD's, and came back down once Lullabye Arkestra were ready to go. Also not a totally unknown quality to me, I'd seen them in December as performing at Jason Collett's basement review at the Dakota Tavern. On that night, their sound ran a little bit counter to the vibe I was expecting, so I don't think I was totally able to appreciate them.

The Lullabies are a duo that make a roar pretty much out of proportion to their numbers, their main weapon being the threatening bass and big voice of Katia Taylor. Making an unholy racket, LA have pretty much stripped hardcore down to its most essential elements. Bracing stuff, but bracing like sticking your head out the car window during a blizzard. Getting fully into the spirit of Record Store day, the pair proceeded to attack some tunes from their favourite records, starting with a tribute to Slayer, careening into Gershwin's "Summertime", and on into Motörhead's "Killed By Death", before switching over to a couple originals.

I can't say that I unabashedly love what they do but I was energized by their performance. They're an exciting live combo, and it's obvious that they've put in a lot of hard work to execute their aesthetic just so. I couldn't say I'd want to sit back in my easy chair and listen to their long-player, but I do wish them well, and I wouldn't flee if I were exposed to them again.

Their set complete, I probably could have stuck around for Slim Twig and still not have missed anything at my gig, but I was ready for a drink and just headed across the street to settle in at Lee's.

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¹ Although after the fact, I was mildly worried that I actually said, "I wish I was at your show tonight," and feared that my subjunctive tense had abandoned me in all the excitement, as I listened for all my English teachers rolling in their graves.

² Full respect is due to the people at Sonic Boom for the work they've done making their store into a destination. Refurbishing the basement as additional retail space and a spot for in-stores was a wonderful idea, and I always think of it as a fine place to go sample a band, like hanging out in a giant basement rec room.