Yearly pedestrian fest among month’s best
Now that the festival season has successfully ripped our city a new one with its onslaught of house shows dance parties and mind-bogglingly stacked bills it’s time to brush off the dust we kicked up and brace ourselves for autumn. But the local scene isn’t done with us yet. The last few weeks of summer offers up a decadent dessert platter of musical delights to the table and as your spiritual advisor Dane suggests you indulge.
For the first bite dig into one of the city’s newest (and rawest) additions to the flourishing Alberta garage rock roster Topless Mongos . Featuring a member of the Sublinguals — last year’s most badass party band — and weirdo-rock band Friendo the three-piece group grinds crunchy riffs into your head like a drill-press into balsa wood. In a style that could be referred to as “slops” and “reckless” the band tears through its minute-and-a-half long rough ’n bluesy tracks like lion tamers out of their league frantically trying to subdue an animal that threatens to bring down the circus tent at any moment.
In continuing its reputation as a wild card the Mongos is following its every whim accompanying Lethbridge rising stars Fist City on a quick skip down to the U.S. before it returns for the Bow River Flow festival happening on Memorial Drive on Sunday August 22 The group also released an unexpected tape earlier this month and promise to blow further minds with its upcoming merch concepts.
“We’ve got new T-shirts in the pipeline — it’s going to be something nobody’s ever seen before” says guitarist Devon Mongo. “For our first round of T-shirts we cut the sleeves off — no one wanted them. This batch it’s optional. We’re gonna have scissors at the merch table. We’re all about empowering the consumer.”
Joining the Mongos at the Bow River Flow will be an overwhelming wealth of local talent including art-rock idols Women Cripple Creek Fairies Sinistrio Jay Crocker Savk Ryan Bourne as well as emerging acts Man Legs and Shorts and many more. The day is focused primarily on healthy living perspectives sure to feature plenty of workshops and activities that’ll please more than your ears.
On the more skronky psychedelic side of things elder-rock experimenters The Summerlad will release a CD of new material called Gang Lion on Saturday August 14 at the Marquee Room. The disc was recorded live in three days and promises listeners a wild journey of kraut and psych influenced art-rock. Rootsy post- punk project Night Committee opens along with noise-rock two piece Seizure Salad who has an album of weird messy sounds and a psychedelic double album on the way.
Saturday August 19th will offer two different and equally exciting opportunities to catch some brand new local talent both drawing on dream-pop influences such as Galaxie 500 and Unrest. Haunting power-trio The Latter Days will join Edmonton folk-punk songwriter Ben Disaster at Broken City for the weekly Rock ’n Roll Pizza Party while folkier two-piece Cub will join Honeybear and lush ambient project Memory Screen at the Palomino. That show will also feature a rare performance by local songwriting enigma Kris Ellestad whose scattered style often evokes the Dirty Projectors.
And finally for a more inclusive kick Local Library will host an all ages show of epic proportions as the two toasts of Calgary’s indie scene converge with one of the city’s newest and youngest additions to the gnarled gallery of off-kilter pop. Women and Azeda Booth will share the stage with impressive high school two piece Faux Fur on Friday August 27 for an evening of mind-expanding adventures in experimental rock.
