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: Chang-A-Lang

Artist: Chang-A-Lang

Songs: Sickness and Boredom / Scorn Your Youth / Drum and Bass

Recorded at The Magpie Taproom, October 19, 2013.

Chang-A-Lang - Sickness and Boredom

Chang-A-Lang - Scorn Your Youth

Chang-A-Lang - Drum and Bass

Full review to follow. Some bands end without really saying anything about it. After a while, you realize they aren't playing gigs any more; sometimes you see members in new bands, and you think to yourself, "well, I guess that's it." Given that, it was nice to see the three members of Chang-a-Lang re-assemble to give the band a proper sendoff, even with the air of finality. As much a spirited party as a frills-free rock'n'roll band, Chang-a-Lang shows always guaranteed a fist-pumpin'good time and this time was no exception as the band played nearly an hour, giving one less airing to pretty much all their material. All the best to Brian, Jake and Jeanette — they were Chang-a-Lang.

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".

Recording: Chang-a-Lang

Artist: Chang-a-Lang

Song: Thicker Than Blood

Recorded at Of a Kind (NXNE 2012 in-store), June 16, 2012.

Chang-a-Lang - Thicker Than Blood

Full review to follow. Managed to catch a couple acts at yet another fine in-store at the community-minded Of a Kind. As always, Chang-a-Lang were great fist-pumpin' fun.

Recording: Chang-A-Lang

Artist: Chang-A-Lang

Song: Shake the Sleep^*

Recorded at The Horseshoe, February 21, 2010.

Chang-A-Lang - Shake the Sleep

My notes for this set can be found here.

^* Thanks to the grapevine for passing along the title to this one.

Recording: Chang-A-Lang

Artist: Chang-A-Lang

Song: Throw Away Litres*

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, NxNE Festival, June 18, 2009.

Chang-A-Lang - Throw Away Litres

My notes from this gig can be found here.

^* Thanks to w4st3l4nd for providing the title.