Recording: TUNS

Artist: TUNS

Songs: Throw It All Away + Mind Over Matter

Recorded at The Great Hall (Long Winter 4.3), January 16, 2016.

TUNS - Throw It All Away

TUNS - Mind Over Matter

To those whose musical coming-of-age happened in the mid-90's in Canada, this new combo is cause for great excitement, and a case where "supergroup" is no mere boast. Combining the talents of Mike O'Neill (of The Inbreds), Matt Murphy (of Super Friendz/Flashing Lights) and Sloan's Chris Murphy, the trio rotated lead vocals, with each of their individual styles converging at a point of Beatles-esque power-pop perfection. Word is there's an album in the can, so this has the feeling of a working band more than a nostalgia trip — at Long Winter, they even managed to inspire a riled-up moshpit filled by enthusiastic youngsters who weren't even born when those bands listed above were touring Canada and making a name for themselves.

Recording: Good Enough Live Karaoke feat. Chris Murphy

Artist: Good Enough Live Karaoke feat. Chris Murphy

Songs: Suburban Home + Bikeage [Descendents covers]

Recorded at The Dance Cave (DEATH TO T.O. V), October 30, 2015.

Good Enough Live Karaoke feat. Chris Murphy - Suburban Home

Good Enough Live Karaoke feat. Chris Murphy - Bikeage

For its massive fifth year of Hallowe'en covers, DEATH TO T.O. upsized from its home at The Silver Dollar/Comfort Zone to Lee's Palace and the Dance Cave. That allowed it to keep its sprawling two-stage upstairs/downstairs dynamic even as it accommodated a bigger crowd than ever. Besides curating no fewer than seventeen (!) short sets, Dan Burke and Elliot Jones also kept things running on schedule, with one set starting quite crisply as the one on the other stage ended for nearly the whole night. And as always, the bands put in a lot of work — not just musically, but a lot of the time in trying to capture the look and mannerisms of the band they were covering.

Back in their formative days, the Good Enough karaoke crew helped Sloan's Chris Murphy explore his hardcore mojo by backing him for a full set of Minor Threat covers. That loud fast rules dynamic returned for this set that saw the band tackle no fewer than eleven songs from Milo Goes to College in their twenty-minute set.