Frank YangIf there’s any lessons a band can take from Ash, first and foremost would be a) to never mind fashion and stick to what you do well, and b) to get started young. The benefits of both of these points were on display Saturday night when the Northern Irish trio rolled into Lee’s Palace for their first Toronto show in seven years. To the former, they had a massive and impressive repertoire of high-energy, ultra-melodic punk/metal-laced pop to draw from and to the former, well if you’re so fortunate to be celebrating your twentieth anniversary as a band then you would probably want to be has as young and spry as the 35-year old Tim Wheeler, even with the flecks of grey in his beard.

While I can think of some acts I’d have rather seen open for Ash – former guitarist Charlotte Hatherley, say, or Wheeler’s girlfriend Emmy The Great – Halifax’s Kestrels were more than fine as well. As I wrote in July, their debut A Ghost History has more than enough ’90s-vintage college rock/shoegaze DNA in it to be a good fit, and there was even a formal connection what with Wheeler making a guest guitar appearance on the record. As is not unusual for bands of their ilk, their live show was exceedingly loud, and many of the pop-friendly nuances on the record were smothered with distortion and volume. The rhythm section, with its thick, fuzzy bass chords and nimble, 16th-note drumming, was an effective balance of heavy and agile and Chad Peck’s guitar leads were less melodic lines than bursts of noise run through a wah pedal. They probably could have done themselves a favour by turning down just a bit, but their enthusiasm was warranted – it was their last show of the year after touring heavily in support of their album and as Peck noted, Ash was his favourite band since forever so getting to open for them – and then take over Wheeler’s guitar roadie duties later – made for a pretty unique experience. If ever there was a night to leave it all on stage, it was this. And they did. Loudly.

Though chronologically, Ash fit right into the first wave of Britpop, I never really thought of them as such – and not just because Northern Ireland isn’t technically part of Britain, so the genre was a misnomer anyways. No, it was more their youthful energy and punkier inclinations didn’t really fit with the sort of Anglo sophistication that I wanted from the likes of Blur or Pulp, and so while I appreciated the singles I heard over the years, I didn’t start making up the lost time until recently. Definitely in time to thoroughly enjoy their show, though. Obviously feeling no inclination to be difficult, the set was wall-to-wall hits – both actual and should have beens – drawn from throughout their career but focusing largely on their 1996 debut 1977 with appropriate consideration given to 2001’s Free All Angels and 2004’s Meltdown, and ranging from the relatively gentle “Shining Light” to the positively raging “Clones”. And while not sold out, the show was well-attended with no small number of Irish fans and not singing along with anthems such as “Goldfinger” or “Girl From Mars” was simply not an option. They also drew heavily from their recent ambitious A-Z singles series – the triple vinyl North American release ostensibly the reason for the tour – and tracks like “Arcadia” and “Binary” proving that even after twenty years, their simple formula of riff and melody – and recently, the occasional electronic flourish – still pays tremendous dividends.

As you would expect a band with as many years and miles under their belts as Ash, they were unbelievably polished and powerful, bassist Mark Hamilton not missing a not while striking body-contorting rock poses through the whole night and Wheeler, when not singing, was bounding around the stage and confirming that the road case oddly placed front and centre stage was indeed for jumping on and rocking out. And after nineteen songs and 90 minutes, it was also the place for the trio to stand up and take a well-earned bow.

Oh, one more lesson bands can take from Ash? Flying Vs rawk.

Exclaim also has a review of the show and A Music Blog, Yea has an interview with Tim Wheeler.

Photos: Ash, Kestrels @ Lee’s Palace – November 17, 2012
MP3: Ash – “Return Of White Rabbit”
MP3: Ash – “Burn Baby Burn”
Video: Ash – “Carnal Love”
Video: Ash – “Binary”
Video: Ash – “Kamakura”
Video: Ash – “The Creeps”
Video: Ash – “War With Me”
Video: Ash – “Neon”
Video: Ash – “Ichiban”
Video: Ash – “Space Shot”
Video: Ash – “Pripyat”
Video: Ash – “Tracers”
Video: Ash – “Arcadia”
Video: Ash – “Joy Kicks Darkness”
Video: Ash – “True Love 1980”
Video: Ash – “Return Of White “
Video: Ash – “End Of The World”
Video: Ash – “Polaris”
Video: Ash – “You Can’t Have It All”
Video: Ash – “I Started A Fire”
Video: Ash – “Renegade Cavalcade”
Video: Ash – “Starcrossed”
Video: Ash – “Orpheus”
Video: Ash – “Clones”
Video: Ash – “There’s A Star”
Video: Ash – “Candy”
Video: Ash – “Sometimes”
Video: Ash – “Burn Baby Burn”
Video: Ash – “Shining Light”
Video: Ash – “Warmer Than Fire”
Video: Ash – “Wildsurf”
Video: Ash – “A Life Less Ordinary”
Video: Ash – “Oh Yeah”
Video: Ash – “Goldfinger”
Video: Ash – “Angel Interceptor”
Video: Ash – “Girl From Mars” (US)
Video: Ash – “Girl From Mars” (UK)
Video: Ash – “Kung Fu”
Video: Ash – “Uncle Pat”
Video: Kestrels – “The Past Rests”
Video: Kestrels – “There All The Time Without You”

Here’s one to file under “happy coincidences”. Just yesterday morning, I was listening to The Joy Formidable and thinking that it had been too long since I saw them live, having skipped their show in April and also planning to give next Sunday night’s support slot for The Gaslight Anthem a pass. And then, lo and behold, they announce a last-minute headline gig at The Mod Club for next Monday, November 26. It’s a free show as part of CFNY’s holiday concert series, so head to theedge.ca for details on how to win tickets. Expect to hear material from their new album Wolf’s Law, out January 22.

MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Wolf’s Law”

Kate Nash has announced her Death Proof EP will indeed be out this Fall as promised – as of right now, in fact. DIY has details on the release, which will be out on November 19, and Consequence Of Sound has some specifics on Nash’s third studio album, entitled Girl Talk and targeted for a March 2013 release. Spin talks to her about her new video for the title track of the new EP.

Video: Kate Nash – “Death Proof”

Florence & The Machine have squeezed another video out of Ceremonials and premiered it over at Nowness.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “Lover To Lover”

Played the new Veronica Falls track to death already? Head over to They Shoot Music where the band play a live version for a video session in addition to an old song. The new album Waiting For Something To Happen is out February 12.

4AD has details on the second album from Stornoway, to be entitled Tales From Terra Firma and due out on March 11.

Pitchfork has a Takeaway Show with Jessie Ware, filmed last month in Paris.

Blurt talks to Beth Orton.

The first track from Foals’ new album Holy Fire, out February 12, is now available to download.

MP3: Foals – “Inhaler”

Esben & The Witch are also giving away the first teaser of their second album Wash The Sins Not Only The Face, out January 21.

MP3: Esben & The Witch – “Deathwaltz”

For Folks Sake and The Stool Pigeon talk to Neil Halstead.

The Guardian asks the question so many have wondered – how did Mumford & Sons get so damn big?

Wales Online reports that Manic Street Preachers have gotten to work on a new album, though it won’t be out until 2014 at least.

Blur have released a clip from their not-farewell Hyde Park concert, documented on the forthcoming CD/DVD Parklive set. It’s out December 3.

Video: Blur – “Under The Westway” (live at Hyde Park)

Wired reports that Beautiful Noise, the documentary film on the shoegazing movement featuring interviews with many principals of the scene that has seemingly been in production forever, is finally finished and turning to Kickstarter to fund its distribution. $25 gets you a copy of the DVD… and you know you want it.

Trailer: Beautiful Noise

Frank YangThat whole, “Halifax is the new Seattle” thing that went down in the early ’90s is better known these days for simply having happened than for much of the music that came out of it. Sloan precipitated it and continue to endure, and the likes of Thrush Hermit and Eric’s Trip are still remembered fondly by many and their principals continue to make music, but most Maritime acts who were tipped as the next big, fuzzy, plaid-clad thing some 15 to 20 years ago simply called it a day after a release or two, to be remembered only by faded t-shirts and CD store dollar bins and A&R types who could actually tell you what a donair was.

If The Super Friendz had emerged with their 1995 debut Mock Up Scale Down just a couple years earlier, they could well have rode that Atlantic wave to… something, but as it was, they missed that brief, international feeding frenzy and even if they hadn’t, their ultra-melodic, classically-styled, jangle power-pop probably would have been deemed not nearly grungy enough and left on the vine. As it was, they had to settle for becoming domestic college rock darlings, at least for a couple years. Following a more ambitious yet still eminently hummable second album in Slide Show, the band politely hung it up to do other things. Frontman Matt Murphy would pursue a similar if more ’70s-than-’60s vibe with The Flashing Lights and while the Super Friendz did the reunion thing before the reunion thing was hip – releasing the decidedly more rawk Love Energy in 2003 – it was to be short-lived, but not the end. The quartet accepted an invitation to get back together for this year’s Halifax Pop Explosion – their first show in nine years – and since anything worth doing once is worth doing twice, they added another date in Toronto for this past Friday night.

Opening up were local fixtures The Meligrove Band, whom I’m a bit astonished to find I hadn’t seen live since 2005 though not as astonished as I was to confirm that bassist Michael Small was, indeed, wearing the same t-shirt. Completely apropos of nothing, but it does speak to my ability to retain utterly useless information in my brain. In any case, their set of power-pop – emphasis on the power side of things – was a fine warm-up as well as a reminder that their 2010 release Shimmering Lights was quite good. And if there was any doubt that they were huge fans of their Can-indie forebears, they were put to rest with their closing trifecta of murderecords covers of The Inbreds, Thrush Hermit, and Local Rabbits. They were targeting a pretty specific demographic niche with that, to be sure, but it was a niche that was piled into Lee’s Palace right then and there.

The only explanation I have for having never seen The Super Friendz the first time around was that they never quite made it to Waterloo on the university circuit, at least not while I was on a school term; goodness knows I would have been there if they had. I had caught The Flashing Lights a few times but skipped the 2003 reunion show on account of really not liking Love Energy all that much. Song selection wasn’t going to a problem this time out, though – the front half of the show was Mock Up as far as the eye could see and ear could hear. They opened up with the Charles Austin-sung “When They Paid Me”, then tagging in guitarist Drew Yamada for “Undertow” before Matt Murphy took the mic for “One Day”. I have to admit I never appreciated how spread out the singing and songwriting credits on the records were – a real testament to how well their respective styles gelled into one.

Also remarkable was how well they’ve aged, both the band and the songs. The tunes still brim with youthful energy, evoking a simpler, more innocent time where you could write a song called “Karate Man” and it could be awesome, full stop. Songs were played fairly faithfully to their recorded versions with the exception of some extended guitar breaks by Murphy and a Meligrove stage invasion during “The World’s Most Embarrassing Moment” and while the overall song selection could have featured a little (or a lot) more Slide Show and a little (or a lot) less Love Energy – and the omission of “Forever A Day” was almost criminal – it was hard not to spend most of the night bopping up and down whilst wearing a goofy grin, particularly when they wrapped the main set with “10 lbs” – a moment only matched when the wrapped the encore with “Up & Running”. Two of the best Canadian songs of the ’90s; this is not open to debate.

I hope it’s not taken as dismissive to say that this was primarily a nostalgia show; hundreds of people who either never got to see them live or hadn’t had the opportunity to do so in a decade and a half got their chance. Memories were rekindled and some great songs that hadn’t been played live anywhere by anyone in far too long got to ring out again. I don’t think anyone left Lee’s clamoring for a new record – you can’t go back to being 21 and in university again – but if they wanted to put Mock Up and Slide Show back in print, perhaps on vinyl, well that’d be alright.

Mechanical Forest Sound recorded the show and has posted a couple tracks for listening and reminiscing. Panic Manial also has a review.

Photos: The Super Friendz, The Meligrove Band @ Lee’s Palace – November 16, 2012
MP3: The Meligrove Band – “Half Light”
MP3: The Meligrove Band – “Bones Attack!!!”
Video: The Super Friendz – “Up And Running”
Video: The Super Friendz – “Rescue Us From Boredom”
Video: The Super Friendz – “10 lbs”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Bones Attack”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Really Want It”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Racing To Shimmering Lights”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Everyone’s A Winner”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Our Love Will Make The World Go Round”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Before We Arrive”
Stream: The Super Friendz / Mock Up Scale Down
Stream: The Super Friendz / Slide Show
Stream: The Super Friendz / Love Energy

Rheostatics have added a third show to their own reunion stand at The Horseshoe next month. They’ll play an early show on December 6 at 6:30PM, tickets $29.50 on sale this morning at 10AM. The December 5 and late December 6 shows are completely sold out.

Video: Rheostatics – “A Bad Time To Be Poor”

The Western Star, The Aurora, and The Muse talks to Joel Plaskett, camping out in the Horseshoe for four nights in December from the 12th to the 16th.

Daytrotter has a session with Patrick Watson and NPR is streaming the whole of last week’s show in Washington DC. He’s at Massey Hall on December 6.

Panic Manual, Beatroute, The San Francisco Examiner, and The Georgia Straight interview Al Spx of Cold Specks, opening up for Conor Oberst at Massey Hall on December 8.

Moonface have released a new video from With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery.

Video: Moonface – “Headed For The Door”

The 405, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Boston Globe have interviews and Daytrotter a session with METZ.

Frank YangIdeally, I’d have been able to label this one as “Metric covers Neil Young“, given that both acts are in town this week making sure the Air Canada Centre is still hosting some serious Canadiana even with the NHL locked out, but that wouldn’t be quite correct. Even though Metric as a full band can officially include the Young-penned classic “Expecting To Fly” in their discography, the track I’m posting predates that by a good five years or so when frontwoman Emily Haines was operating as a solo artist and the track was a staple of her live sets, padding out the Knives Don’t Have Your Back material in a sparse, piano-led form.

That’s how Neil Young performed it in the early ’70s, whilst on tour as a solo artist after leaving Buffalo Springfield in the late ’60s, a far cry from the lushly-arranged studio version that appeared on Buffalo Springfield Again and which clearly served as the template for Metric’s version which appeared on their 2011 iTunes Session. You could probably draw a flowchart of some kind denoting the relationships between the various versions. Go ahead. I’ll be over here.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse are at The Air Canada Centre on November 19 in support of their two 2012 releases, Americana and Psychedelic Pill. For a while, it looked like Neil’s next time through town was going to be as part of a reunited Buffalo Springfield, but obviously that didn’t happen. Metric are there on November 24 as part of a cross-country tour on the back of their fifth album, Synthetica.

And oh yeah, Neil turned 67 last week. Happy birthday, Neil. Long may you run.

MP3: Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton – “Expecting To Fly” (live at 9:30 Club – January 10, 2006)
Video: Metric – “Expecting To Fly”
Stream: Buffalo Springfield – “Expecting To Fly”
Stream: Neil Young – “Expecting To Fly” (live 1971)

Justin BroadbentWho: The Wooden Sky
What: Toronto roots-rockers known once upon a time as Friday Morning’s Regret who’ve turned relentless touring and raw-yet-richly refined songcraft into an international following.
Why: Since releasing Every Child A Daughter Every Moon A Sun at the end of February, The Wooden Sky have taken it all across the country and around the world; this last show brings it all back home.
When: Saturday, December 1, 2012
Where: The Phoenix in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Opening up are Wildlife and Fiver.
How: Tickets for the show are $17.50 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want a Wooden Sky” in the subject line and your full name in the body and have that in to me by midnight, November 28.
What else: The Halifax Chronicle Herald and Nelson Star have features on the band from either side of the country, and Secret Sessions have a session with the band from ssshh it’s a secret.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Malibu Rum”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Child Of The Valley”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Angelina”

Joseph YarmushIt’s been interesting to keep up with Montreal’s Suuns over the last few years, starting from back in January 2009 when they were still a mostly-unknown outfit calling themselves Zeroes, opening up for Land Of Talk, through their rebranding and 2010 debut Zeroes QC. From the get-go, their intention of melding post-punk, new wave, krautrock, psychedelia, and really any other sound they could conceive of into an occasionally serene but more often discomfitingly danceable brew was clear but the progress they’ve made at realizing it, measured at various checkpoints over the last few years has been impressive.

So it’s not unreasonable to think that their just-announced second album, Images Du Futur, will see the band take a big leap forwards; it’s just velocity, really. The first taste of the new record, available to stream, finds the band plumbing the gentler side of things but I’m pretty confident that at least some of the other nine songs on the record will pick up the freaky slack. We’ll know for sure when it’s out on March 5, but those heading to see Plants & Animals at The Great Hall tonight will have an idea sooner than that – Suuns are one of the openers.

Stream: Suuns – “Edie’s Dream”

CBC Music has compiled an oral history of Mock Up Scale Down, the 1995 debut from beloved Halifax power-poppers The Super Friendz; NOW also has a feature piece on the reunited outfit, who will be at Lee’s Palace tomorrow night, November 16.

Spinner is streaming Great Lake Swimmers’ contribution to the forthcoming Nettwerk Christmas album, Isn’t This World Enough, out November 20. They also recently released a new video from their own latest album, New Wild Everywhere.

Stream: Great Lake Swimmers – “Hang A String Of Lights”
Video: Great Lake Swimmers – “The Great Exhale”

CBC Music and The Ottawa Citizen talk to Metric about graduating to the arena circuit which brings them to The Air Canada Centre on November 24. There’s also interviews at Metro, The Province, and The Winnipeg Free Press. They’ve just released a new, tour-sourced video from Synthetica.

Video: Metric – “Breathing Underwater”

Neil Young & Crazy Horse have released another epic-length video from Psychedelic Pill. They’ll be at The Air Canada Centre next week, on November 19, and if they focus on the new record they might get through four or five songs before curfew. Maybe.

Video: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Driftin’ Back”

JAM, The Georgia Straight, The Tyee, and Victoria Times-Colonist talk to John O’Regan of Diamond Rings. They play The Mod Club on November 29.

Beatroute, The Vancouver Sun, Oregon Live, and The Victoria Times-Colonist have features on Patrick Watson, who is at Massey Hall on December 6.

where has an interview and Secret Sessions a session (duh) with Evening Hymns. They’re at the Church Of The Redeemer on December 15.

Purity Ring have a new video from their debut Shrines. They are at The Phoenix on February 1.

Video: Purity Ring – “Loftcries”

Spinner talks to Damian Abraham of Fucked Up about where they’re at with writing their next record.

The Elwins have released a new video from their debut, And I Thank You. They bewilderingly have no upcoming local shows booked.

Video: The Elwins – “Helpful Assistance”

Billboard talks to Crystal Castles.