Vancouver Buzz: Lions In The Street Blast Out Debut EP, Elizabeth Shop Around And Billy The Kid Heads East

Good things are certainly shaping up on the horizon for Vancouver's Elizabeth.

Their latest album is in the can and "should be out in about two months or so" claims vocalist Reggie Gill. You can preview a good chunk of the new material on the band's MySpace page. Continuing where their EP left off, the material amps up their bass-heavy '80s vibe to great effect. I predict good things will start to happen for them in the U.K., as they're natural NME fodder.

The band are about to ink an Australian distribution deal and are in the process of considering offers for Canadian, American and European distro. The album will also soon to be reviewed in Vice Magazine. That's not bad for a disc that hasn't even come out yet. The good folk over at CBC Radio3 have proven that they've got their ear to the ground once again by recently inviting Elizabeth into their studio to record a live session and interview destined to air in early September.

"It was pretty nice," says Gill of the CBC experience. "We played about six songs in total and had a great time."

On the new release front, this week's standout is the Cat Got Your Tongue EP by locals Lions In The Street. Their reinterpretation of Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones translates to five tracks of high-test excitement. The guitar solo on "Lady Blue" is particularly excellent. The cream rises to the top, so if this act can bring the same energy to the stage that they do on the disc, then world domination is just a duck walk away. I'm going to track these guys down in the coming weeks and get the inside scoop on just what their story is.

Another sometimes Vancouver act with a new release out are Billy And The Lost Boys. Billy Pettinger's latest album is titled Yet Why Not Say What Happened and covers vastly more personal subject matter than she's previously committed to disc. She also has an all-new lineup backing her.

"Every song on the album is about something that's happened to me", explains Pettinger by phone from Calgary. "I basically hit this period where I quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, lost my backing band and started a record label [Lost Records], all within a short time span.

"All this stuff was going down and people kept asking me, 'What happened?' At some point I decided, 'Hey, why not say what happened?' And that's where the CD got its name."

Thankfully, things have settled down a little for Pettinger.

"The new band is working out great," she exclaimed happily into the phone. "In fact, we're about to ditch our current digs in Alberta and move out to Toronto to see what happens."

Lock up your sons, Toronto. I spent some quality time in Victoria last weekend perusing the shelves at Ditch Records. I don't want to sound like a commercial or anything, but this place is something of an indie rock Mecca. Their shelves are stocked with rare, live, imported and just plain hard to fine albums that would quickly be snatched up if the store were in Vancouver. Check it out the next time that you're in the neighbourhood.

While buying fistfuls of CDs and vinyl, I queried the guy working behind the counter on how the new Ladyhawk album has been doing.

"It's probably our biggest seller of the month," he informed me.

It seems like every media source in town has suddenly taken notice of this act since their self-titled album hit the shelves a few weeks back. As I type this, the 'Hawk crew are on the road to Calgary at the start of a lengthy tour. Your next chance to catch them locally is when the tour swings back into town with Magnolia Electric Co. on July 30 at Richard's On Richards.

If you haven't set foot in the newly reopened Cobalt, Friday would be a good night to do so, as the venue is hosting seminal Victoria punks The Dayglo Abortions with Hong Kong Blonde and Sip Yek Nom. I'm sure that you'll find the venue as splendiferous as it was in the previous incarnation.

Cancer Bats are rolling into town for a show on Saturday at the Piccadilly Pub that also features Sick City, The Mercutios, Viv Savage and The Hits.

Sunday at the Commodore Ballroom offers a rare chance to check out legendary Kinks frontman Ray Davies playing a set that features material from his latest offering, Other People's Lives.

Rich Hope will once again be kickin' out his jams at the Lamplighter on July 14.Also at the Pic, the Manvils will be blasting out their '70s-inspired rock on July 15 with a bill that also features Fun 100, The Feminists and The Gloom Room. I'm off to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. That shiz is more exciting than House Party 2. See ya in two weeks.

Send your Vancouver music news, show info, CDs or Funky Cold Media to vancouverbuzz@hotmail.com, or by snail mail to: Attn: Trevor Hargreaves, #408, 65 1st St., New Westminster, B.C., V3L 5K9.