Recording: The Seams

Artist: The Seams

Song: two unknown songs^*

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

The Seams - unknown

The Seams - unknown

This band might have only been on their third gig, but it featured a new combination of familiar faces, notably Jonathan Rogers and Kyle Connolly up front, trading off songs and lead vocals back and forth. Connolly's psych-tinged offerings worked the same terrain he explores in Wish and had a propensity to simmer along in the groove while Rogers' shorter tunes had less dreamhaze and more straighahead "rock" than he projects while fronting Elsa. Drummer Omri Gondor plays with Connolly in Milk Lines and Jesse Mirsky (whose melodic basslines were a particularly key element of the sound here) is also in Elsa, so there are was plenty of pre-existing chemistry to build on. There was a full set of new songs here, nicely crafted, though the unit's newness does show off a bit with a few tunes not yet having fully-fleshed out endings — but endings tend to take care of themselves in time.

^* Does anyone know the title to these ones? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Milk Lines

Artist: Milk Lines

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, November 29, 2014.

Milk Lines - unknown

This group's official releases have been pretty thin on the ground so far (although there are also a couple songs available in video form), so it's easy to lose sight of how much things have shifted as the band has refined their sound. The ratio of Emily Frances' lead vocals to Jeff Clarke's (who only sang one during this set) has basically totally flipped since I first started seeing 'em, and with that there's been a subtle torque in the sound, from, say, Moby Grape on speed to Syd-era Pink Floyd out wandering in the desert.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Milk Lines

Artist: Milk Lines

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room, November 25, 2013.

Milk Lines - unknown

Full review to follow. I was intrigued by Milk Lines when I first saw 'em, but in the months since, they've rapidly been growing as a unit. They've quickly become the sort of opening band that can pack a room on their own merits, and with guitarist Emily Frances taking more lead vocals to act as foil to Jeff Clarke's peyote-paranoid visions, there's a satisfying balance to their sound.

^* The band's setlist identified this as "X MAS", but I'm not sure if that's a partial title or a placeholder for this not-obviously-seasonal tune. Please leave a comment if you can confirm the full title!

Sunday Playlist #41

Sunday Playlist #41: Milk The Milkers

At the start of this week, all my feeds practically blew up with the release of Milkin' It, a tribute to Nirvana's In Utero put together by Hand Drawn Dracula. The tracklisting elicited a cheer from me 'cause these are bands that I love to go see all the time. In fact, it occurred to me once I did some poking around that I have live recordings from everyone involved in the project. So in case you wanted to hear what these bands sound like on stage doing their own material, here's a track-for-track answer playlist.

Breeze - unknown

Recorded at The Drake Underground ("What's in the Box" – Night 5), December 30, 2012.

Greys - Rennie + Carjack

Recorded at 159 Manning ("Don't Trust Anyone Under 30 – Manning BBQ 2013"), June 14, 2013.

Beliefs - Catch My Breath

Recorded at Sonic Boom ("Record Store Day 2013"), April 20, 2013.

Ostrich Tuning - Keep You Through the Night

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room ("MINOR Fundraiser"), October 4, 2013.

Fresh Snow - Nautical Smoke

Recorded at The Shop under Parts & Labour ("Wavelength THIRTEEN – Night 1"), February 14, 2013.

Julie Fader - 723

Recorded at The Dakota Tavern ("Jason Collett's Basement Revue"), December 7, 2010.

Great Bloomers - Dark Horse

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (ALL CAPS! Island Show), October 17, 2009.

Teenanger - Psychic Sonya

Recorded at Parts + Labour ("Mattyfest Summerslam BBQ 2013"), August 18, 2013.

Absolutely Free - Clothed Woman Sitting

Recorded at Artscape Gibraltar Point (ALL CAPS! Festival), August 12, 2012.

The Weather Station - unknown

Recorded at Holy Oak Café, August 20, 2013.

Odonis Odonis - Wipeout Beat

Recorded at Polyhaus ("Feast in the East 20"), December 14, 2012.

Hooded Fang - Ode To Subterrania

Recorded at Lula Lounge, April 4, 2013.

The Wooden Sky - Baby It's No Secret

Recorded BLK BOX ("The Wooden Sky Travelling Adventure Show"), August 16, 2013.

Doom Squad - Born from the Marriage of the Moon and a Crocodile + Eternal Return

Recorded at The Music Gallery ("Exclaim! Magazine Destination Out Showcase"), November 17, 2012.

Milk Lines - unknown

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, May 4, 2013.

Hussy [now known as HSY] - Ladies Nite

Recorded at Steam Whistle Brewery ("Steam Whistle UNSIGNED"), May 24, 2013.

Tess Parks - Life Is But A Dream

Recorded at Izakaya Sushi House, August 2, 2013.

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Sunday Playlist is a semi-regular feature that brings back some of this blog's previously-posted original live recordings for an encore. You can always click the tags below to see what I originally wrote about the shows these songs came from.

Recording: Milk Lines

Artist: Milk Lines

Song: Suicide Note

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern, May 4, 2013.

Milk Lines - Suicide Note

Full review to follow. I'm not familiar with frontman Jeff Clarke's other projects (Demons Claws, Hell Shovel), but this sounded a bit like early Uncle Tupelo putting the Long Ryders in a headlock at a poolhall in the bad part of town.