Recording: Dany Laj And The Looks

Artist: Dany Laj And The Looks

Songs: Annie + Small Town Miner

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, September 6, 2019.

Dany Laj And The Looks - Annie

Dany Laj And The Looks - Small Town Miner

Celebrating their ace new platter Everything New is New Again, Dany Laj and Jeanette Dowling enlisted some local friends to present a special expanded lineup of their group. With Mike Duffield filling the rotating drummer's seat for a couple legs of this tour, it made sense to pull in his Beams partner Anna Mernieks to add some extra guitar, as well as her Ace of Wands bandmate Lee Rose on violin and keybs. That served to beef up the Rockpile/Rumour vibes in this set, giving Laj a fuller, more soulful palette for his articulate working class anthems (Laj's Kirkland Lake upbringing is directly referenced in the set-closing "Small Town Miner"). Filled with amiable swagger, the band blasted through a series of older tunes before presenting the new tracks with power-pop precision. Joyful and self-affirming, the whole thing was delivered with the sly grin of a road-warrior crew revelling in their craft.

Recording: Dany Laj and the Looks

Artist: Dany Laj and the Looks

Songs: I Know You Want Out + Best Thing in Town

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, June 5, 2015.

Dany Laj and the Looks - I Know You Want Out

Dany Laj and the Looks - Best Thing in Town

Small-town dreams of escape and big-city laments. A poet wearing a leather jacket as a shield. Ontario expats Dany Laj and Jeanette Dowling (and the rest of the Looks) swept across the province to celebrate their brand-new Word on The Street album. Bursting with power-pop energy, there's no pretence and no bullshit, just rock'n'roll life as art as life.

Recording: Dany Laj & The Looks

Artist: Dany Laj & The Looks

Songs: 799 Queen St West + We Were a Gang

Recorded at Handlebar ("Dollarstore Spaceship" – Out Of The Box Music & Arts Festival), August 23, 2013.

Dany Laj & The Looks - 799 Queen St West^*

Dany Laj & The Looks - We Were a Gang

Full review to follow. I hadn't seen Montréal's Dany Laj play before, but his sideburns/leather jacket/thick-rimmed glasses gave an immediate sense of what he's all about — the frills-free spirit of rock'n'roll that was reawakened by punk rock. With Jeanette Dowling (previously of party/rockers Chang-a-Lang) on bass, I'd been meaning to catch this much-travelled band pretty much every time they've made their way down the 401. Completely convincing as a live force, my only regret now is that I waited so long.

[Danny Laj & The Looks will be returning to town on September 30 for a show at the Junction's 3030 bar.]

^* Once this was released on 2015's Word on The Street, the title was shortened to the slightly less-specific "Queen St. West".