The Aquabats - vs. The Floating Eye Of Death
(Goldenvoice/Time Bomb)

The Aquabats are back with new costumes, new crime-fighting technology, and a brand new album!

If you like The Aquabats because they are a ska band, prepare to be disappointed with their latest release because there is no ska anywhere on it. (No they didn’t kick out their horn section.) However, if you like The Aquabats because of their zany sci-fi/superhero theme and their fun sense of humour, then you will love this.

Personally, I’m kind of on the fence with this one. Most of the songs are new wave synth-pop songs kind of like Devo meets They Might Be Giants. Some of the stuff even has a surf rock feel to it. Songs like Sequence Erase and Giant Robot Birdhead are great, and I can’t get enough of them. On the other hand, there are a lot of songs on this record that are sappy love songs or just joke songs. They are the kinds of songs that are amusing the first time you hear them, and amusing when performed live, but aren’t all that conducive to repeated listenings.

There’s also a song on here that was co-written by Dexter Holland of The Offspring. When you hear the song’s chorus you will definitely notice the familiar Offspring vocal stylings.

So basically the album is hit and miss in my opinion. The cover and booklet artwork are awesome though! — Sean

Sinclaire - s/t
(Sonic Unyon)

If you have seen any emo or indie rock shows in Toronto this past year, then odds are you saw Sinclaire open the show. This is a re-release of a cd they put out in 1998 (with two bonus tracks), and let me tell you, this album is so emo it hurts.

A healthy diet of Get Up Kids, Promise Ring and Hum have obviously shaped Sinclaire’s sound, and while they don’t really put forth anything original, but they still manage to sound fresh, honest and exciting.

The music jumps from mellow and heartfelt to aggressive and angst-ridden. The guitars are light and dreamy sounding at times, other times they are loud and searing. The singing is melodic and emotional, the lyrics are poetic and abstract. Sinclaire are not afraid to throw some piano into the mix (check out the song “Tin”) and they aren’t afraid to stretch out some of their songs (check out the eight and a half minute epic “The Wind Is The Sound Of The Crying”).

A lot of the songs sound the same and follow the same basic structure, but with only five songs (plus two bonus tracks), it doesn’t get tiresome. If anything, this EP leaves you wanting more. Let’s hope the full length isn’t too far off. — Sean

Grade
with Refrain, Moneen, The End
March 9th @ The Mindbomb in St.Catharines

Holy Shit! This show made me feel almost embarassed to be in a band and to have ever played in front of a crowd before. The energy and intensity put forth by these 4 bands is what every band should strive to achieve every time they strap on a guitar. This show was one of the best shows I think I’ve ever seen at The Mindbomb.

The night started off with The End. (Yes, it was a little anti-climactic!) Anyways, these guys just blew the roof off the place. They were bizarre, frightening, and one of the most exciting bands I’ve ever seen.

They had everyone scared for their lives, yet still somehow intrigued. They were wringing noises out of their instruments I had never heard before, and the singer was jumping around and twitching on the ground like he was possessed. Their music was loud, discordant, and generally aggressive but also had deceptively delicate interludes. It wasn’t just noise though, they had some really cool off-time riffs and they were tight and definitely knew how to play.

As for the singer, well I’m not sure if he actually had lyrics. I don’t even know if you could call him a singer, since he didn’t sing, only screamed. In some ways I viewed them as an instrumental band, and a very good one at that. It was totally the kind of stuff I would normally hate, but they left an amazing impression on me.

The coolest thing is that they barely said a word between songs, and the singer would just sit on an amp and recover for a minute. After every song I could hear people around me just saying “Holy shit” and “Oh my god”. I think one kid even cried out for his mommy. At the end of their set, I think we found out why they call themselves The End, because they totally lost it, slamming into the crowd and wrestling with their instruments until they collapsed.

Next Moneen played, and although they weren’t as frightening or as deranged as The End, they attacked their instruments with just as much intensity. Their sound was more of a Hum indie rock/emo-core style. They only got to play 4 or 5 songs, but I don’t think there was anyone in the place that wasn’t thoroughly impressed.

After this, local boys Refrain took their turn at belting out some powerful and emotional music. They reminded me of Hot Water Music, or maybe Boysetsfire. Lil Rich was a ball of energy, jumping around and going off to their music.

Grade went on last and played a pretty good set. Unfortunately, their music sounded all the same to me, and they didn’t stand out in my mind as much as the opening bands did. I guess that’s because I already knew what to expect from them though. It didn’t matter, there was no doubt that the crowd had come to see Grade, and everyone was singing along to all the songs, and moving around in the pit. Their set seemed kind of short too, because they had a new guitar player who didn’t know a lot of stuff.

All in all, it was just an amazing show. It’s been a long time since I’ve been as utterly dumbfounded as I was tonight. It was a perfect line-up, all the bands were on the same wavelength with each other. I think the short sets actually added to the night, because it made every song seem even more vital to both the bands and the audience. It left me thinking how much great music being played all across Ontario, and all across Canada for that matter. Support your local scene people, these bands are ready to entertain, and deserve to be rewarded for their efforts. — Sean