Various generations of punk-indebted local music come together on Thursday January 22 at Nite Owl. Local instrumental veterans Ramblin’ Ambassadors will perform alongside theatrical freaks Forbidden Dimension as well as the speedy hardcore-meets-street-punk of Vain Collapse a band featuring members of Spastic Panthers and PMMA.
Drastically shifting gears one of the most notable shows on Friday January 23 belongs to local singer-songwriter Samantha Savage Smith who’ll finally release her long-awaited sophomore LP Fine Lines which is superior to its predecessor in every way. She’ll headline an album release show at The Palomino where she’ll be joined by local act Brushsigns and Edmonton singer-songwriter Cayley Thomas.
Smith’s not the only one with a highly impressive sophomore album out on Friday night however as experimental electronic folk duo AM Static will be pushing physical copies of their sophomore full-length A Life Well Lived (the album arrived digitally back in November) at Theatre Junction Grand along with Fever Feel. The show will also feature DJ sets between acts from Corinthian the new solo moniker of wise-cracking Greek dude/Sanctums member Evangelos Lambrinoudis II.
If you’d prefer something a little more goofy and a little more firmly tied to the hall-show hardcore of yesteryear you could hit up the mosh pit at Silverstein. For the 10-year anniversary of their Victory Records release Discovering the Waterfront the Burlington Ontario post-hardcore band is in the midst of a world tour that’ll bring them to The Gateway on Friday night. Find your favourite hoodie with a bright pink angel or whatever silkscreened on the hip and celebrate nostalgia to your heart’s content.
For a decidedly different kind of hardcore punk from Eastern Canada Montreal group Thee Nodes will be celebrated posthumously on Saturday January 24. The group who terrorized the National Music Centre at last year’s Garbage Daze festival have been immortalized in a new documentary called Who Are You Mr. Node? The film was directed by James Watts and follows the band after a trip to Australia. It’ll screen at Tubby Dog with DJing provided by Sam RSA of Exotic Functions.
Over at Nite Owl Saturday night will host a local showcase featuring the folk act Sealegs and the radio-ready indie pop of Windigo.
If you’d prefer the musical equivalent of a used ashtray full of lukewarm Jack Daniels long-running hard rock act Buckcherry will return to town performing at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino on Saturday night. They’re touring in support of their recent Fuck EP which came out last year and features the word “fuck” in all of its song titles. Fuck my life.
Formerly performing as the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir (along with Enmax — the group I shared with guitarist Bob Keelaghan for one day only as part of Sled Island’s Rock Lottery) Muerte Pan Alley offer bleak blues rock with a timeless quality. They’ll perform on Sunday January 25 at Local 510 with The Neutral States a band that features members of Calgary staples like Placebo Fire Engine Red and Hot Little Rocket.
Silverstein aren’t the only band partying like it’s 2005 in Calgary this week as reunited bass-and-drum duo Death From Above 1979 will return to town on Sunday in support of their recent comeback album The Physical World. The group was borne of the early-2000s spazzcore movement evolving into something of a fuzz-bass juggernaut for alt-rock radio. After headlining X-Fest last summer they’ll play Mac Hall joined by AmRep worshippers METZ and rip-roaring guitar-shredding/sauce-making duo PS I Love You (whose culinary experience you can read about in this very issue).
