Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Feb 7, 2012, 1:42 pm
Out on Daps records Feb. 14 Electronic music in Toronto is presently enjoying some serious love (see Trust, Austra, Azari & III etc.). Jumping into the party is Phèdre, a collaboration between April Aliermo and Daniel Lee of Polaris Prize-nominees Hooded Fang, and Airick Woodhead of Doldrums fame....
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jan 18, 2012, 11:30 am
The book cover features an intense Jeff the Brotherhood show at Wrongbar. Between chilling pool-side with Ty Segall and trolling the streets of Memphis for Gonerfest, you might describe local photographer Ivy Lovell as “embedded” in garage rock. She’s right in that scene like HST was with th...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jan 11, 2012, 12:12 pm
You might notice our third annual Bands to Watch list has taken a stylistic turn from previous years. While Toronto’s rock and punk scenes mature, the electronic music and hip hop coming out of our cultural patchwork is impossible to ignore (see: the 2011 success of Austra, Azari & III, The Weeknd...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Dec 9, 2011, 12:46 pm
The last time we heard from Soft Copy, it was with their 2010 full-length Vicious Modernism. The record was a good one, with plenty of anthemic lyrics about life, love and the slow decay of our economic and political systems. Heavy shit, and Soft Copy wrapped these tough-love messages in a swirling ...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Dec 8, 2011, 1:42 pm
Toronto sound healer Darren Austin Hall plays his crystal bowls “Our culture uses music as entertainment, primarily. And that’s a perversity.” Darren Austin Hall, a singer, crystal bowl player and one of a few “sound healing” practitioners in Toronto, believes American music should move ...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Nov 7, 2011, 10:05 am
Odonis Odonis’s Blood Feast. With electro, dubstep and neo new wave taking up a large portion of the current indie landscape, it’s not hard to see that the 80’s resurgence is still where it’s at. But amidst all that synth and electronic drums, it’s refreshing to hear a band reviving piece...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Oct 12, 2011, 12:27 am
Over the past ten years, Ottawa’s Fuck the Facts have assumed the role of Canada’s grindcore flag bearers without even trying. They grew beyond the crusty adolescence of 2001’s Mullet Fever into the Pitchfork-approved fusion-core of 2008’s Disgorge Mexico, and ears outside this most violent ...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Aug 31, 2011, 11:06 am
Big changes are in the works for Toronto musician Josh McIntyre’s blog-buzzed project Little Girls. In the past year, he’s released his debut LP Concepts, left Paper Bag Records for Hand Drawn Dracula, made Little Girls into a four-piece band and toured cross-Canada with new labelmates Mausoleum...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Aug 23, 2011, 12:34 pm
Auroch play Blue Moon Sept. 3 Ears will be penetrated and souls will be crushed as the Skull Fucking Metal label’s third annual festival kicks off on September 3rd at the Blue Moon – the perfect dingy dive known for its locals. Vancouver’s Auroch lead the charge after Mexican headliners Moro...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jul 26, 2011, 1:02 pm
Album cover design by Airick Woodhead aka Doldrums; Elicser, Toronto Graf legend and veteran sign painter Dougie Kerr Despite the sucess of their Polaris-nominated debut LP, Album, Toronto indie pop darlings Hooded Fang have been quick to u-turn their glockenspiel-y sweetheart sound. They’re spor...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jun 21, 2011, 9:07 am
Dentata at the Bovine: best props While we didn’t see as many obscure bands as we’d hoped for (too busy trying to get paid to write), we did stumble upon some noteworthy NXNE events, including near-nakedness, a hipster choir, and garage rock in the basement of a boat. - Marsha Casselman, Richar...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jun 16, 2011, 11:22 am
The Pharcyde play Yonge-Dundas Square for free Sunday at 9pm. From Left: Booty Brown, Fatlip, Uncle Imani, and Slim Kid 3 When I interviewed 90’s hip hop vets The Pharcyde for today’s 24 hours Toronto piece, I expected a tight-lipped convo judging from this tense 2008 reunion interview. After a...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 17, 2011, 12:16 pm
Austra at Wrongbar - photo Stephanie Cloutier Today marks the release of Austra’s Feel It Break (Paper Bag), one of the most anticipated electro-band albums to come out of Toronto since Crystal Castles’ debut. The album’s dark,  operettic, trance-inducing pop can be heard in full at NPR. I r...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 12, 2011, 12:16 pm
Bill plays the Silver Dollar on Friday May 13th Montreal’s Bloodshot Bill has been traveling as a one-man swagger-heavy rockabilly band for over ten years and just released Thunder and Lightning, an LP of songs about relationships (many of which are stormy, judging from the title). Prized by reno...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 10, 2011, 11:59 am
Graham Van Pelt, a.k.a Miracle Fortress, has no problem testing our patience. His latest LP  Was I the Wave? showed up relatively unannounced in April, four years after the Montreal experimentalist embraced his hermetic tendencies and seemingly vanish into thin air. It’s no surprise Van Pelt’s ...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 6, 2011, 1:28 pm
Burning Love - photo MC To our delight, a new festival has been curated by Telephone Explosion label specifically aimed at the very bands we dig -  Toronto’s ignored yet burgeoning garage punk. Last night, Thaw Fest premiered with a weirdo assortment of local gems: Ell V Gore (newish bluesy pun...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Apr 14, 2011, 9:23 am
One thing Canada’s got going for it is the cold winters and desolate small cites – not unlike Norway – in which its young residents get so bored or isolated they become disturbed (see Mark Twitchell) or simply make disturbing art. Fittingly, much of dark metal comes either out of less happeni...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Mar 29, 2011, 12:13 am
The cover of Montreal ambient vet Tim Hecker’s new album is a black and white photograph of a bunch of guys throwing a piano off of a tall building. But it isn’t even a photograph; it’s a photograph of a photograph. And with a simple tweak, somehow an image with the potency of a highschool Eng...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Mar 14, 2011, 11:49 am
Hot Panda get unruly at Rancho - photo MC We’ve pounded the pavement and blown out our eardrums over the last five days, and now it’s time to reveal our best and worst of Canadian Music Week. Avoiding some horrible headlining acts and Canadian music industry delusions,  we look back on it as a...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Mar 9, 2011, 11:39 am
One must dig deep to find gems at a festival pinning Papa Roach and Melissa Etheridge as top performers. So we weeded through the entire 800 band line-up and found 8 bands to make a Canadian Music Fest wristband worth while. Check in Monday for our live reviews. Ell V Gore We were admittedly disap...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Feb 17, 2011, 1:20 pm
Last night kicked off “ELEVEN: The Wavelength 11th Anniversary Festival” at The Boat to celebrate a decade-plus of the most respected Toronto event ever to prop up experimental indie bands. “If it’s all downhill from here, who cares?” said wavelength co-mastermind Doc Pickles after locals...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Feb 9, 2011, 9:40 pm
If you’ve been keeping up with Montreal dream pop trio Young Galaxy over the past few years, the first thing you’ll notice about the new album Shapeshifting is that it doesn’t sound anything like them. The rest of your listen will be devoted to deciding whether or not that’s a good thing. S...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jan 30, 2011, 11:15 pm
Besnard Lakes @ Lees - photo Josh Edgar As Besnard Lakes front man Jace Lasek looked out into the near-capacity crowd at Lee’s Palace Saturday night, he admitted, “It’s always shocking to see so many fucking people.” And while a sold-out show at a venue like Lee’s would be small potatoe...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jan 18, 2011, 12:54 pm
Braids Native Speaker Out today: Canadians buy here Montreal-based experimental indie rockers Braids are 21-year-olds who don’t just yet make for the greatest interview, but that’s not to say we shouldn’t take their debut Native Speaker seriously. These former Calgarians are in a catch 22 ...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jan 7, 2011, 9:18 am
It’s been a year since our last Bands to Watch list, and through a ton of web-trolling and dive bar boozing we’ve stumbled upon some sweet new bands. This and we’ve got news some of the more established local bands have releases in store. Here are the Southern Ontario bands on our radar in 201...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jan 2, 2011, 1:24 am
Alienated noise rockers rejoice: Buzz Records has high hopes for 2011 with planned vinyl and digital releases – all out of a house/garage on Cecil St. On board so far are Jesus Lizard-inspired locals Connoisseurs of Porn, psychedelic rockers Queen Licorice, video producer Dean Tzenos’ lo-fi pro...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Nov 25, 2010, 3:00 am
Suuns play the Silver Dollar Fri. Nov. 26 with Little Girls, Tezata A few critics in this neck of the woods are anticipating big things for Suuns – a dark, Clinic-esque four-piece out of Montreal. Since changing their name from Zeroes and releasing their debut full-length Zeroes QC, they’ve ex...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Nov 12, 2010, 10:47 am
A Year’s Supply of Rabbit’s Feet (out on Popsick Nov. 19) is Toronto outfit The Guest Bedroom’s fourth release and  most dramatic, mature to date.  Its 11 organ-punk tracks vary with dissociative dance (Tough Luck, streaming below), hints of psychedelia (Dead Ends), and paining, spooky violi...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Oct 31, 2010, 11:57 pm
The Guest Bedroom Fri. Nov. 19 @ The Garrison w/ Bruised Knees, Ancestors, Rival Boys
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Oct 31, 2010, 11:05 pm
Action Makes Fri. Dec. 10 @ The Silver Dollar w/The Two Koreas, Owl Farm
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Oct 24, 2010, 12:24 pm
Only in Toronto. Bison BC’s Sneaky Dee’s gig on Friday night saw a weirdly diverse bill of heavy genres try to make peace with each other: Hardcore, 80s thrash metal, Southern bandana-core, and of course the Vancouver headliner’s version of thick-riff wounded-animal metal. Bison BC at Sneaky ...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Sep 30, 2010, 11:12 am
Producers Steve Fernandez and Sway of new Toronto soul-synth-pop outfit Freedom or Death would rather not focus on their past as major label employees. They’d also like to keep their blogging, interviewing of sugary sweet pop stars and Top40 club DJing under the radar -  but today they’ve surre...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Aug 3, 2010, 2:59 pm
Alex of We Are Wolves performs at Osheaga Sunday August 1. Arcade Fire wasn’t the only hometown band reveling in French stage banter at Osheaga in Montreal this weekend. We Are Wolves, now 10-year veterans of electro-punk, drew a good sized crowd des amis for their early evening set on Sunday. A...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jul 29, 2010, 12:06 pm
Hovatron plays the Osheaga piknic electronik zone Saturday at 7pm. If you’re thinking of heading to Montreal for the Osheaga festival this weekend for 90s-slacker and indie-rock goodness (The National, Sonic Youth, Pavement, to name a few), open your mind a little and you’ll be treated to a sl...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jul 26, 2010, 1:16 am
JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD @ Horseshoe GARAGE
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jul 24, 2010, 4:40 pm
Sylvus - photo Philip Miller “Down with people.” A fitting suggestion from Sylvus‘ singer-guitarist at the Hard Luck bar Thursday, though the Toronto metal outfit put on a tough front for a band just gearing up again. A few years old, the band has experienced a new awakening since losing i...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jul 22, 2010, 12:29 pm
KING KHAN and the Shrines @ Lee’s Palace 60s GARAGE
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jul 14, 2010, 12:47 pm
Matt of Crux of Aux (ex-Cursed, Shallow North Dakota, Chore) - photo Ivy Lovell Monday’s Coliseum show at west-end basement Parts and Labour was a purposeful lesson from the Kentucky hardcore vets we should appreciate our own damn scene. Coliseum chose to end the night with a full run-through of...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jul 5, 2010, 9:54 am
The Torrent play Buddies in Bad Times Theatre as part of the Keith Cole Experience Friday July 9 After much controversy, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) marched in the Pride parade yesterday, but not all feathers were left unruffled in the gay community, and musicians were a big part of th...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jun 21, 2010, 8:09 pm
Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav, sporting some wet TP, seriously interacts with the crowd. - photo Marsha Casselman NXNE is over, we’ve survived, and the hangovers have subsided just enough to post some hazy recollections. After pounding the pavement and blowing out our eardrums to countless bands...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jun 17, 2010, 1:07 pm
X play a free show at Yonge-Dundas Square (Thursday 10 p.m.); Exene and John play a bluegrass gig at the Great Hall (Friday night). In Toronto this weekend for the NXNE festival is Exene Cervenka, the poetic, off-tune-harmony singer-songwriter of 70s-80s punk band X. In 1976, Exene Cervenka met Jo...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jun 16, 2010, 9:25 am
Aside from the obvious brilliant acts (Iggy Pop, X, Les Savy Fav) how does one decide which of the 650 bands to see at this year’s North by NorthEast festival? Simple. Get a wristband and take a risk. Canadian: The Speaking Tongues Toronto’s own Mississippi bluesmen, these two make ve...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jun 11, 2010, 10:53 am
RatTail celebrate the release of debut EP George Mounsey at the Garrison June 11. RatTail, a  new three-piece from Toronto, creates minor-noted, hooky rock tunes, and though lead singer/songwriter Jasmyn Burke’s deep voice lends sophistication, they’re an otherwise  fun indie outfit n...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - Jun 8, 2010, 12:39 pm
The weather is warm and people are feeling generous, so, courtesy of these worthy bands we present to you this scrappy pile of garage/indie rock MP3s. Surf, new wave, punk, folk, and distorto-90s influence – it’s all in there. From Toronto to Montreal to Halifax to Vancouver, the coasts ...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 30, 2010, 8:48 am
Buried Inside's last show in Toronto - photo Cristina Allen The thermostat in Sneaky Dees read 30 degrees after most patrons were out the door Thursday, so imagine the sauna in which Ottawa progressive hardcore veterans Buried Inside found themselves in their last Toronto gig ever. It was a h...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 21, 2010, 8:07 am
The Unruled, original line-up, early '80s Montreal, early ’80s: Hardcore band Unruled were living the squalored, 18-year-old crust punk’s dream opening for legends GBH, Dead Kennedys and DOA.  Until, like the scene itself, the band fizzled in 1985. “Basically it was (due to)...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 14, 2010, 4:23 pm
We all make mistakes. Sometimes a sampler from a promising new band falls into our lap, and sometimes we mistake it for an official release and review it for a prominent Toronto weekly. Sometimes, however, we get a second chance. Toronto’s Old World Vulture has just released its full self-titled ...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 10, 2010, 1:05 pm
Vilipend at Rancho Relaxo - photo Marsha Casselman Vilipend’s 7-inch release party at Rancho Relaxo Thursday saw a who’s who of local heavy music mainstays in the crowd (Burn to Black, Titan, Diemonds, and defunct Rammer) – proving that: 1. The metal community is still thriving and su...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 4, 2010, 12:28 pm
Holy Fuck's Latin drops May 11 on Young Turks “The purpose of the band isn’t necessarily to only use wacko kookoo and hilarious instruments,” says Graham Walsh of Toronto’s mech-electro darlings Holy Fuck. He assures us, though, their trademark 35mm film synchronizer an...
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Blister Popper posted an article on resonancity - May 3, 2010, 6:27 pm
The last time Dan Snaith played in Toronto, it was for a one-off performance with the Caribou Vibration Ensemble, a 15-piece psychedelic orchestra specifically put together to recreate the grandeur of 2007’s Andorra. Back for the first time to support 2010’s clubbier Swim (already a definite al...
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