Transmission Day Two: All Woodhands

The first day of Transmission's 2008 edition showcased Vancouver talent, but night two ushered in acts from across Canada and the globe.

I arrived at Storyeum — formerly a kitschy tourist attraction that gave a crash course in B.C. history — in time to catch Woodhands. The Toronto duo created disco-friendly party anthems the traditional way: with real live instruments.

But while the absence of any MacBooks was refreshing, the analogue take in a digital age wouldn't be much to cheer about if the songs weren't any good. Happily, Dan Werb and Paul Banwatt paired some great tunes with even better showmanship and turned out one of the best sets of the festival.

The two-stage set-up at Storyeum meant there was no downtime between acts. While this was great for obvious reasons, it made for a jarring transition between Woodhands and Wendy McNeil. Her set was a bit of a comedown after the rave-up that finished just before on the other stage, but McNeil's brand of hushed pop held its own, and was helped along by songwriting that was interesting enough to set it apart from the legions of other female singer/songwriters out there.

USS (short for Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker) were up next and matched pre-programmed beats with vocals and acoustic guitar. Their MySpace page characterizes them as a blend of "drum & bass/folk/pop," which is about as good as it sounds. I'll let you be your own judge on that one.

Apologies to our bilingual readers: as someone whose crowning achievement in our other official language is, sadly, a meager "B" in second-year French class, it was hard to fully appreciate what Moncton's Radio Radio were throwing down. The group, who rap in both French and the Acadian dialect Chiac, had charisma to spare, and the production on their electro-tinged hip-hop was above average. But rap, especially when it clearly incorporates humour and wit, is hard to judge when you can't grasp the words.

Final Flash were the last act I caught on Transmission's second night. It's difficult to stand out from the pack when you play folk-rock, but it was hard to find any faults in their set. And at times, they showed flashes of something special.