Recording: Programm

Artist: Programm

Song: We Barely Escaped

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, November 23, 2013.

Programm - We Barely Escaped

Full review to follow. The name "Programm" hints at this band's essence in a way that former moniker "Volcano Playground" did not. There's a sense of careful deliberateness in the way they go about crafting and presenting their music. That doesn't mean they're rote or mechanistic though — just not the sort of folks who are gonna get randomly unstructured or jammy on stage. And at any rate, it serves their dream-pop-gaze well.

Recording: Volcano Playground

Artist: Volcano Playground

Song: Everything at Once

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room (Psych-Pop Toronto Release Party – Night 2), November 9, 2012.

Volcano Playground - Everything at Once

Full review to follow. In one sense, VP were a bit of an outlier at Optical Sounds' fest — you didn't see any other bands with a laptop on stage over the two nights. But while the band works in more of a simmer/implode vein than the boil/explode one that was more typical at this show, their shoegaze-y postpunk still fits in in sonic terms — there are many mansions in the OS psych-pop church.