Date of show: February 24, 2012
Shot of choice: Jager
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo
Friday night was one for the record books. With at least four incredible shows going on in the city, it was a music lover’s dream (so many choices!) – and nightmare (why I can’t be everywhere at the same time??). Tasked with choosing just one venue, there was nowhere else I could possibly be than Sneaky Dee’s. As Topanga inspired my very first attempt at a “show review” last May, I knew I wanted to be there to celebrate the release of their 7” Oceans/Mabu.
Having released their previous EP exclusively online (for free!) this 7” represents their first physical release. Produced by Jon Drew (Arkells, Tokyo Police Club) and coming complete with handmade collectible POGs and a silk-screen poster, it is definitely worth the $5.
To say the crowd was eagerly anticipating the arrival of Topanga is a serious understatement. With Sneaky Dee’s jam-packed right up to the stage (Twitter tells us there was a line down the street by 11pm-ish), the drunken cat calls, hoots and hollers from their friends and fans began even before Stefan Babcock (vocals, guitar), Steve Sladkowski (guitar), Nestor Chumak (bass) and Zack Mykula (drums) set foot on stage. Not wasting any time at getting the party started, an instrumental Boney M intro launched right into the raucous new single “Mabu,” a love song written about Babcock’s beloved car. A controlled sort of crazy, Babcock had the biggest smile on his face as he bounced around the stage in his socked feet. A little animal, he even leaped up on to Mykula’s drum kit during the second song, “Back Against the Wall.”
The band then ran through “Sick & Cold,” “Never Try,” and “Yukon,” which showcased Sladkowski’s technical expertise on guitar. There was also some pretty sweet synchronized jumps by all three front-men. And let’s not forget Mykula. Donning his “Don’t Fuck with the Truck” T-shirt, he was a monster on the drums. More like “Don’t Fuck with Mykula” I’d say.
By the time they came to sun-soaked single “Oceans” Sladkowski’s glasses were off and it was game-on. The crowd responded with an unparalleled intensity, rushing the stage, falling over the monitors and drenching Babcock in beer – all in good fun of course. Their set came to a close with an incredible cover of the Hives’ “Because I Wanna” and Babcock launching himself into the crowd during “Lionheart.” With him out of the way, members of the audience finally jumped on stage and took over the mic.
Refusing to allow the night to end just yet, “one more song” was demanded. The band came back to the beer-soaked stage for their first ever encore. Demonstrating their range of musical interests, they went with a rocked-out version of “Our Retired Explorer” by The Weakerthans. Friends Dean Povinsky and Dwayne Christie of Wildlife hopped up and sung along to the catchy refrain of “Oh Antarctica!” before Povinsky also made the dramatic leap into the crowd’s arms – absolutely incredible! “The Shield,” a song about getting drunk with your grandparents, finally ended their set.
If you like fun, you will love Topanga, and their live show is definitely a Must See. The most apt description is perhaps this: “It’s like “BRRRR, ROCK, and then like FUN TIME, like PARTY TIME, like DANCE, DANCE TIME.” It comes with the following guarantees: 1) They will melt your face off. 2)They will insist you get drunk with them. 3) Most importantly, they will win your heart – for keepsies.
Fronted by Nyssa Rosaleen (vocals), Modern Superstitions is Matthew Aldred (guitar), Ben Reinhartz (drums) and their new bassist Patrick McCormack. Their 2010 EP All the Things We’ve Been Told was produced by Sloan’s Patrick Pentland; three tracks from their new record Sunbleached are available to stream on their website. For fans of fellow Torontonians Whale Tooth, the band is similar in structure and sound, with a bit more of a dirty garage punk edge.
With guitarist Aldred having known many of the boys of Topanga since before high school, the band was excited to be a part of the night. Personal highlight of the set was the soulful anguish-ridden “The Way I Want” which showcased Rosaleen’s sultry voice as she belted out lyrics such as “You never let me love you like I want to.” Finishing up with a cover of Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” sent the crowd into a real frenzy.
Sneaky Dee’s was getting crowded by the time Dan Busheikin (guitar, keys), Rob Canali (drums), Andrew Davis (guitar/vocals), Michael Searle (bass) and Evan Lewis (guitar, percussion) of Grounders took the stage. With a dreamy pop essence supplanted by digital sound effects, intricate bell-like keys and tinny guitar sounds, Grounders always takes me back to the now defunct Unicorns and Wolf Parade.
By mid-set, they had the crowd dancing and the precarious upstairs floor shaking. This culminated during favourite “Along the Line;” the band fed off the energy in the air, with all members going full force to end their set.
The Fabulous Yawn is Spencer MacEachern (guitar, harmonica, vocals), and some familiar friends: Graham Wright (guitar), Feurd Moore (guitar), David Monks (bass), Harrison Forsyth (drums); many of whom pulled double-duty, heading over to the Burroughs afterwards for The Elwins’ CD release party.
WIth a twangy-folk sound, they opened the night with a fun, and definitely not yawn-inducing set that included two new songs, “King of the Pun” and “Ropes.” At one point MacEachern asked “Are we raging tonight??” to which Moore responded with a wail on his guitar – a pretty accurate answer to how the rest of the night would progress. Their set ended with “Pushing Mountain Blues”, that had MacEachern put down his guitar to wail into the microphone and dance, even lying on the stage at one point. It was a great way to start the night!
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