At The Drive-In
with Sinclaire and The Petit Project
Thursday August 17th 2000 @ The Kathedral, Toronto

At The Drive-In are well known for having one of the best live shows in punk rock today, and unfortunately I never had a chance to catch more than a glimpse of their brilliance, due to bad luck. I managed to catch only the end of their sets when they opened for the Get Up Kids, and also when they opened for Rage Against The Machine at Maple Leaf Gardens. This time they were headlining their own show and I was really excited to finally be up close and personal with them.

The crowd at the show was an interesting mix of people. I think that ATDI are a little too sophisticated for most of the typical hardcore kids and the Fat Wreck skate punks. I was glad to see a lot of open minded people in attendance.

The first band to start off the night was yet another cool band from the Oakville scene called The Petit Project. They are the first band from around here that I’m aware of who have picked up on the Reggie and the Full Effect sound, complete with a Moog player. I’m sure they won’t be the last. They were pretty impressive and tight, considering that the band was just getting off the ground.

Next up were Sinclaire, who had just gotten back from what was apparently a nightmarish tour with fellow emo rockers Moneen. The one guitarist had a cast on his arm, so this limited them in what they were able to play that night. Sinclaire were not as impressive as they had been in the past. Perhaps it was the broken arm. They didn’t play some of the better songs from their EP, and instead they played a lot of new material, much of which sounded rather bland and mediocre.

Then, as anticipated, At The Drive-In blew the roof off the place. However, their live performance was so much more than I expected. They opened with Chanbara, perhaps one of their most aggressive songs, and they played with so much raw power that they immediately had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand. Lead singer Cedric looked like he was going to strangle himself with the mic, as he writhed and shook in violent spasms across the stage.

In between every song they would improvise with samples, tape loops, feedback and effects, along with Cedric’s off-the-cuff poetry and wacked out speeches. It was the perfect balance, not too much improvisation, but enough to keep everything sounding fresh, and, I would assume, to make every performance different and unique.

I was amazed at how they pulled off some of the songs live, especially the ones off the Vaya EP, with all the samples and effects that the songs incorporate. Songs like Rascuache, Metronome Arthritis and 198d sounded even better when performed live, because were played with so much more urgency than they are on the album.

ATDI also played a mixture of new material, including their new single One Armed Scissor, and an intense rendition of the song Catacombs.

It wasn’t long before they reached the end of their set, and of course they inevitably ended with the unforgettable Napoleon Solo. There’s no disputing the fact that it is an amazing closer. My only complaint was that their set was somewhat short, and they didn’t play an encore. However, it would have been next to impossible for them to follow up Napoleon Solo, and the general rule of thumb is that you should always leave your audience wanting more. I’m pretty sure that everyone there that night was left wanting more, and they will probably go out and buy their new album as soon as it hits stores. I know I will.

And if and when they come out with a live cd, I will be the first to say that it could be even better than any of their studio albums. — Sean

Saves The Day - Through Being Cool
(Equal Vision)

Saves The Day are a band who are considered to be part of the emo scene and the hardcore scene without really belonging in either one. I suppose the emo label is obvious; a lot of their lyrics are about relationships and breaking up with girls and stuff, and they have that pretty boy image. I would say, however, that their music is a little too straightforward and not artsy enough to be called emo. On the other hand, they are clearly too melodic and poppy to be a hardcore band. If you ask me, they are a power pop band, plain and simple. That’s not a bad thing though, because they do it well.

Despite the title of the album (which they ripped off from a Devo song), Saves The Day are steadily gaining popularity.These guys definitely have some commercial potential, and there has been talk that they will be the next Blink 182, but I really doubt they will reach that level of mainstream success. Their music is too smart and the songs are too fast paced for the most of the mainstream music world to latch on to.

Saves The Day are huge fans of the band Lifetime and it really shines through in their music to the point where Through Being Cool sounds like it could have been the latest Lifetime album if they were still together nowadays.Every song on the album has its moments, butI think the most solid track is You Vandal, which features thundering drums, thick guitars, and a fun, melodic sing-along chorus.

The lead singer of Saves The Day has a very distinctive voice and style of singing. I would think that one’s opinion of this band is heavily dependent on one’s opinion of his singing. If you find his singing is too whiny or too poppy for your tastes, then it will probably be difficult to look past this as you listen to the cd. On the other hand, if you think the singing is catchy and you find the melodies sticking in your head for days, then this cd will never leave your stereo. — Sean

Rancid - s/t
(Hellcat)

22 tracks, 38 minutes. I know punk rockers sometimes have trouble with mathematics, so I’ll do the calculations for you: that works out to about a minute and a half per song. I think there is actually only one song on this album over two minutes long.

It’s obvious that Rancid felt they had something to prove with this album. I mean, who the hell releases two self-titled albums anyways?? It’s too bad that the music had to suffer because of it.

I thought their last album was brilliant. A total mixture of different styles, a bit of experimentation, and just basically a lot of good songwriting. I was hoping for more of the same. What I got was a collection of short hardcore blasts that fire off in succession without ever really grabbing me in any way whatsoever. Ninety percent of the songs have identical drum beats and 3 chord structures. It gets boring really fast.

It’s certainly Rancid, there’s no doubt about that. Their style is unmistakable, mostly because of their sloppy guitar sound and Tim’s unintelligible “singing”. It’s a stripped down version of Rancid though, lacking in diversity. Out of all the ska-punk bands out there, I thought Rancid would be one of the last ones to dump the ska from their music.

The members of Rancid are some of the more talented musicians in punk rock, and I find an album of three chord punk rock songs to be a disappointment coming from them. Matt Freeman is one of the best punk rock bassists out there, but his playing on this album is either very simplistic or so chaotic it sounds like he was just moving his fingers aimlessly across the fretboard (check out the wack bass solo in the song Axiom).

There are some worthwhile moments on the album, such as the sing-alongs Rwanda and Radio Havana, the pseudo-ska rhythms of Let Me Go, and the radio single It’s Quite Alright. More often than not however, any interesting parts in the songs last all of 5 seconds, and are quickly forgotten.

This album has been getting rave reviews within the punk rock community (I’m sure the commercial music world wants nothing to do with it), and I don’t really understand why people are so impressed with it. Sure it has intensity and emotion, but damn, it just gives me a headache. — Sean

Chixdiggit - From Scene To Shining Scene
(Honest Don’s)

Not a bad third release from Calgary’s Chixdiggit. There’s not really anything new here; they still rock, but maybe not quite as hard as they have in the past.

There aren’t any 30 second songs this time around, but there are still plenty of funny lyrics and Ramones influenced three chord punk rock songs. The songs on this album seem to be slightly longer and a bit slower in tempo than we have come to expect from Chixdiggit.

The CD has some amusing multimedia stuff on it, which is a bonus for anyone who owns a PC. (It doesn’t work for Mac users unfortunately…) The CD ROM portion features some live footage, hilarious bio information, and an inspiring bass guitar lesson.

Listening to the album, there aren’t many songs that seem to stand out.The songs that grabbed me the most are Naked and Hairless, My Dad Vs. Paul McCartney, and the song Spanish Fever, which they have just produced a video for.Also worth mentioning is the track Moto Foxe, which is clearly a tribute to 80’s metal.For the most part, the songs on the album are very listenable, but they’re not quite as infectious as their past material.

What it all comes down to is that From Scene To Shining Scene isn’t a must-have album, but it’s still an enjoyable little rock and roll excursion. — Sean

Millencolin - Pennybridge Pioneers
(Epitaph/Burning Heart)

Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting much from this album. Maybe that’s why it kicked my ass so hard. As soon as I started listening to it, the soaring vocal melodies and the layered guitar riffs really got me hooked.

The self-reflective and observational lyrics are pretty cool for what they are. I find myself relating to a lot of them. Plus they are all sung with that cool swedish accent.The drumming is solid and a bit more varied than with their earlier material.

There’s no ska on this album, but that’s no big surprise. Ska punk bands are dropping the ska from their music like there’s no tomorrow. By dropping the ska, and by slowing down the tempo here and there, I think they’ve found the key to perfecting the catchy power pop songs that they are so good at writing.

What can I say? This album really surprised me, and I think it could quite possibly be their finest work yet. — Sean