Chang-a-Lang (Terror Lake / Elk / Cigarettes)
The Horseshoe Tavern. Monday, February 21, 2011.
After five nights in a row out for the Wavelength Festival, the only logical thing to do was to follow it up with a Family Day Special. This free night at the 'Shoe hit the spot just right — no sprawling collectives to be found here, just from-the-gut rock'n'roll.
The exception to that would be the more thoughtful sounds of opener Cigarettes. A vehicle for the songwriting of Brad Casey (who, for awhile, told his Personal History in Song, displaying his gifts as a storyteller) whose vox and guitar work are supported on stage by drummer Mike Duffield. Leading off with "Burst Black Dreams" the music was on the spare side, but more than just a backdrop for Casey's lyrics, which were delivered in a higher register than you might have first expected. Other songs included "Ramblin Rose" (not an MC5 cover) and mostly came from the same set that would emerge on his Will to War and Wreck It album — Casey was excited to be able to announce the CD release on stage. He also paid tribute to Keith Hamilton — Casey sings in the choir of his Hamilton Trading Company; Hamilton played bass on Casey's album — by covering one of his songs.
The lyrics have have a pleasing solidity to them, as if they were invested in things in the world and not just vague ideas. The music, meanwhile, found a middle ground between poppy-catchy and "challenging" — usually not overtly hook-y stuff, but not going out on any limbs or anything. It's not going to shake you by the shoulders, but if you listen to its intimations there's some interesting stuff going on — a thoughtful, well-read approach suggested by song-titles like "Duende and the City". The set ended with the expansive "I Saw You Once"1 which led off sounding like a cousin of Big Star's "Kangaroo" and built into its own mini-epic. Not rabble-rousing like the rest of the night's bands, but well-suited to the early hour in the quiet-ish 'Shoe.
Listen to a track from this set here.
It had been almost a year since I'd first encountered local-via-Niagara-region rockers Elk, but their surf-beat-happy party rock had stuck with me. Leading off here, "Spin Me Around" had a slightly different vibe than what I recalled with a bit more choogle in the boogle. But after that, "Shaking Hands" — which got a few people up moving on the dancefloor — gave me me what I was expecting, a rambunctious surf beat and a catchy singalong tune with plenty backing vox.
In fact, overall, the vocals were shared around quite equitably. Drummer Josh Korody might be the best of the bunch here, but the division of labour generally works. On songs like by the nifty "Sometime Together" the only criticism one might raise is that the song had pretty much the identical beat as the previous one.2
Elk brings a good groove and a very coherent sound — the flipside might be they veer a bit towards the too-samey, but there were some recent additions to the material (the band's setlist referred to one song as the "new fast one") that are mixing it up a little more. Anyway, they're bringing good energy and a sense of fun to the stage, which makes them worth seeing. A recent dispatch from the band states they have a new album in the can, so there'll probably be plenty upcoming opportunities to catch 'em.
Listen to a track from this set here.
Chang-a-Lang are a band that plays around town a lot, but through one thing or another I hadn't gone to see them for too long. They seem eager to get on stage and rock at any opportunity — in fact here, after a very quick changeover, the band were so rarin' to go they were momentarily stuck standing on stage, instruments at the ready, waiting on the soundman to return to the board and cut the house music.
As if a throat-clearing gesture, they led off with The Ramones' "Judy is a Punk", announcing that this is where they're coming from — and proceeding from there with a series of rapid-fire blasts from their own songbook. With the band then on the cusp of the release of their No Clean Rock and Roll album (now available on their Bandcamp) they powered through songs like "Japanese Eyes".
Their ultimate destination is more powerpop than pop-punk (they even made an excursion towards jazzy terrain with the introduction to "Ol' Roncy") and the vocal give-and-take between Brian Okamoto (guit) and Jeanette Dowling (bass) added to the appeal. With a solid backbeat from Jake Torrie, Okamoto looked pleased to be on the relatively expansive Horseshoe stage, frequently wandering back a few steps from the mic to give himself space for his Rock Moves. They could also switch things up and take the foot off the accelerator with Dowling taking some more sedate lead vox.
One of the best in the set was "Shake the Sleep", even newer than their album with Okamoto handling verses and Dowling the chorus. In fact, the setlist had almost as many new ones as album tracks, speaking further to the band's work ethic. But on watching them, you don't really dwell on that too much, as this is a band that's fun to watch because they're having so much fun on stage. Keeping things short and sweet, the band managed to pack in a dozen songs in thirty-five minutes and move things along for one last band on the night.
Listen to a track from this set here.
Terror Lake share with Chang-a-Lang a penchant for on-stage physicality, with guitarists Tim and Matt anything but rooted to the ground while they play. (There's no last names, thanks, for the trio — just like there's no bass here.3) The opening combo of "Jix" and the sass of "Sucks 4 U" reminded me of everything I like a whole bunch about this band: not just the taut grooves, but their willingness to let a song roll along before the vocals start — the band has several three-minute songs that are instrumental for their first half — so much so that I actually forget that some of them have lyrics at all. "Junebug" has such a "surf instrumental" vibe I'm always taken aback when drummer Wendy starts to sing.
Like Elk, they use a surf-y beat a lot, but it never calls attention to itself too much — give credit to the musical range they're working in, to say nothing of the eminently pleasing guitar tone on stage. They quickly had a big crowd up and dancing, including on "No Fuss", hitting here with a force that I hadn't heard from the song before. There was also a new one dedicated to Brad Casey — "cigar, cigarette" was about the entirety of the lyrics. The slowburning "Redskin Panic", which stretches the band's boundaries in new directions, is a fantastic bit of work, but it does cost the band some of the dancers. Closer "Shitstorm" still had enough enthusiasm to carry the crowd along for the last lap.
Listen to a track from this set here.
1 If this isn't a Jandek song title, it should be.
2 That surf beat is like MSG — you use it once, suddenly you feel like you need to have it in everything.
3 But don't let that scare you, my friend — let that liberate you! 'Cause when you're free flying with Terror Lake, man — what do you need a safety net for?
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