Music Waste Still Repping Vancouver Scene

Various venues

Vancouver, BC

on Jun 9 2009

Quinn Omori (CHARTattack)

06/15/2009 3:50pm

Music Waste, Vancouver's annual homegrown showcase of under-the-radar local talent, roared to life last week with an expanded focus on art, comedy, and, of course, music, and showed off some of the city's finest over a jam-packed five days.

I opted to start at The Cobalt and made it to the city's longest standing punk bar in time to catch Tight Solid. The band were formerly a two-piece, and their guitar/drums based blues-punk received a much needed kick in the low end with the addition of Shmoo Ritchie (ex-The Organ) on bass.

Healthy Students, who were up next, were the highlight of the night. They turned out a set of no-nonsense hardcore punk that certainly wasn't new-sounding, but was loud, fast and incredibly well executed.

Students' drummer Al Boyle stepped up from behind his kit, strapping on a guitar to headline the evening with Hard Feelings. Like Healthy Students, they kept things pretty basic, but they did the basics well.

I spent the second night of Music Waste at The Cobalt again, for a bill filled with nine acts from Vancouver's much-lauded noise scene. A genre that leans so hard on experimentation is always hit or miss, but the highlights of Wednesday night's performances were some of the best of the week.

Sex Negatives are fixtures of the local scene, but their performances differ so greatly from show to show that it's always a surprise. No matter how it's presented, the trio's mix of looped howls, skronking saxophone, crashing drums and buzzsaw guitar always delivers for fans of harsh sounds.

Boogie Monster inevitably draw comparisons to Lightning Bolt since they're a two-piece and because the drumming is so thunderously loud. But while Ben Fussell's guitar playing features plenty of heavy riffing, he also delivers the kind of delay-soaked licks that bring post-rockers like Mono and Godspeed You! Black Emperor to mind.

I started Thursday night at the Biltmore Cabaret and Victoria's wonderfully named Techromancer, one of a handful of out of town acts. The electro-pop duo started off a bit slow, but seemed to pick up steam as their set went on, climaxing with the disco beats and alternating girl-boy shouts of the superbly catchy "Spoiler Alert."

Part of Music Waste's appeal is that a $15 pass grants you entrance into every show over five days, and I took advantage of that by heading down to Honey Lounge after Techromancer's set to catch the lo-fi garage of Makeout Videotape.

The band's studio output is recorded to sound fuzzy, distorted and muddy, and it meshes nicely with their catchy melodies. Unfortunately, the sound at Honey — which is usually a dance club — was just out and out bad. The guys put in a valiant effort, but the PA just wasn't suited to live music. If you're in Vancouver, keep your eyes out for these two, though.

From there it was back up to the Biltmore to see MT-40. I managed to catch them about a month back and was suitably impressed, but that show didn't prepare me for how good they were on this night. Judging by the number of people dancing to their dueling synths and industrial vocals, I wasn't alone.

London Drugs closed night three for me with their 8-bit dance tunes. Referencing video games in music reviews is pretty common with bands like Crystal Castles getting so much attention lately, but this pair are literally making video game music and generate all their source sounds from two Nintendo DS consoles.

On Friday, I kicked things off with Timecopz at the Astoria. They played a short set, but it was loud, frenetic and they didn't take their foot off the gas once. They dished out a full helping of old school punk that would make fans of bands like The Deadboys take notice.

After the Astoria, it was off to Tall Hall, which was less a hall and more a tent in a park in Vancouver's Strathcona neighbourhood. Haunted Beard laid down some loud experimental jams to the delight of the crowd (though much to the chagrin of some of the occupants of the surrounding houses) while Dngrous Address provided stuttering, equally weird visual accompaniment.

From there it was up to the Biltmore to catch Modern Creatures. They forego any six-stringed instruments, and their two basses and drums attack boast the kind of post-punk fury you'd expect from a band so heavy in the bottom end, but the songs float aloft on some extremely catchy pop hooks.

I kicked off the final night of Music Waste by catching Japandroids. By now, you've probably picked up on the buzz around this Vancouver duo, and they once again proved to locals they're worthy of all the hype, filling the Biltmore for an early show before they head out on a summer tour that sees them hit places like Sled Island, the Capitol Hill Block Party and the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Japandroids' recent acclaim sort of speaks to the importance of Music Waste for the local scene. That wasn't lost on singer/guitarist Brian King, who stopped to thank organizers several times before noting that this was their third time playing the festival and that they looked forward to playing "every year for as long as we can."

After Japandroids, I tried to catch No Gold, but unfortunately, the trio had to pull out of their show last minute due to illness. I did, however, manage to get down to the Astoria in time to catch Vapid. The female fronted four-piece come off like Bikini Kill, if you took Kathleen Hanna to a sock hop.

Twin Crystals closed 2009's Music Waste in proper fashion with a headlining set at the Astoria. They feature no wave synths and hardcore guitar licks, and they're one of Vancouver's most consistent live acts. It was a fitting way to finish of five nights of great music.

To view more of Quinn Omori's photos from Music Waste 2009, click here.