Local CD releases dominate the week in music
Why do Calgarians have to be so damn prolific? This week there are no less than four local (or formerly local in one case) bands vying for your hard-earned dollars and really who are you to turn them down?
First up is Heat-Ray whose melodic shoegaze would be worth a listen even if it weren’t being released on gorgeous blue vinyl. The Never Forever 7-inch continues the band’s quest to blend syrupy pop hooks with warm fuzzy My Bloody Valentine nostalgia and moments of jagged distortion that kick about as much ass as you could hope for from a group of Calgary scene veterans. Eccentric dance-rockers The Shagbots will get things moving at Republik on Thursday June 17.
Next rock ’n’ rollers Lions Tigers and Bears will unleash their latest opus at The Palomino on Friday June 18. Judging from the tracks on its Myspace page the band is sticking to its winning formula of classic rock songwriting roughed up with the sharp angles of post-punk. More importantly it’s sounding really effing good and support from Beija Flor offshoot The Magnetic North makes this show all the more irresistible.
If the first half of the weekend’s a little bit rock ’n’ roll the second half is whole lot of country. Calgary’s Tim Hus recently earned a stamp of approval from no less than Stompin’ Tom Connors which is pretty much the Canadian country music equivalent of being sainted. Catch him taking up Connors’s torch at the Ironwood this Saturday June 19.
After that you have to wait till Thursday June 24 at The Marquee Room for your next stab at a CD release. That’s when the now B.C.-based Stolen Organ Family Band is celebrating Cooking with Joyboy its latest batch of psychedelic country absurdity. If that’s not enough to pique your interest the show will also mark the triumphant return of infamous Calgary MC and all-ages legend Nerd-X . The sheer craziness of these two acts in the same room basically guarantees that this’ll be one to tell the grandkids about. Don’t miss it.
If local stuff isn’t so much your scene this week (in which case you are very much missing out) there are still a couple of options. The same night that Stolen Organ and Nerd-X are getting down at the Marquee Vancouver stoner-rock heavyweights Black Mountain will be at the Republik. Plus Saskatchewan roots stalwarts The Deep Dark Woods will be at the Ironwood on Sunday June 20 — why not make it a Father’s Day you’ll actually enjoy?
