Henry & The Nightcrawlers @ The Media Club -- 07/01/10

What better way to spend Canada Day than with some Canadian music? After a day of BBQing at the beach (in full defiance of Vancouver's less-than-ideal weather), we headed down to The Media Club for a night of music. Just narrowly missing Teen Daze, we arrived just in time for the band we were there to see.

That band being Henry & The Nightcrawlers, with the eponymous Henry being Henry Alcock-White, formerly of Bend Sinister and currently a member of The Zolas. But even though the band consists of Zach & Tom of The Zolas, as well as sharing the same drummer, they shouldn't be considered a side project, rather an entity of its own. The sound was a bit lighter indie pop rock, with hints of funk that had people dancing (some of them even doing synchronized choreography). Highlists of the set were "Amberly", "Daytime Friend" -- a relatable concept -- and the attention grabbing "The Fucking", which proclaims "it's better to be fucked than to do the fucking".
As much as I liked the set back in January, this time they seemed to be better on every level. Perhaps it's that they've been touring a bunch, as both this band and The Zolas, but Henry sounded great and the band was meshing together quite well, as evidenced both by their playing and the stage banter between Henry and Zach.
They had a five song ep for sale, as a teaser for the album which should be out sometime later this year, and I can't wait to get a hold of.

Saskatoon's We Were Lovers was up next, a more electro-dance-indie duo, consisting of Ash Lamothe on guitar and Elsa Gebremichael on vocals, with some laptop-based dance beats accompanying them. They both had a pretty good energy, and Elsa's voice was a great match for the catchy dance numbers that got the place moving. For the last song she even hopped down into the crowd to join everyone up front, even dancing with a few people individually. I think they mentioned that it was their first time in Vancouver, and I would probably be interested in catching them again next time they roll through town.

The last band of the night was Petroleum By-Product, and maybe just because it was getting late, but the crowd seemed to have thinned out a little by that time. They were not bad, per se, but most of their songs seemed to blend together and have a very similar sound to them, and were somewhat forgettable. Perhaps, though, it was just the toll of the full day setting in, as my companions and I were all feeling pretty exhausted.

A good end to a good day full of good friends and good music.

Review-kus.

My goal is to review every album I bought/otherwise listened to this year. But there are just so darn many albums, and sometimes I just don't feel like writing a full reviews. So to combat this, I have decided that I shall give a few really quick reviews all at once.... in haiku form. Here we go!

Heartland by Owen Pallett (formerly known as Final Fantasy)
Majestic and rich
An epic tale of Lewis
His finest to date

Download E is for Estranged by Owen Pallett

Heart of my Own by Basia Bulat
Much as expected
Some great versatility
A beautiful voice

Download Walk You Down by Basia Bulat

Henry & The Nightcrawlers (EP) by Henry & The Nightcrawlers ("Henry" being Henry Alcock-White of Bend Sinister)
A few catchy tunes
Nice teaser for the full length
Hopefully out soon

Download 100 Blows by Henry & The Nightcrawlers

The Zolas w/ We Are The City & Henry and the Nightcrawlers @ Biltmore -- 01/27/10

I am pretty sure half of the Vancouver music scene was at the Biltmore last night for The Zolas CD release party. Spotted in the crowd was half of Said The Whale, half of Bend Sinister, Hannah Georgas and a whole bunch more. But with three excellent bands on the bill, and for such a great price, you'd be silly not to have been there.

Henry & The Nightcrawlers were the first out, with the eponymous Henry being Henry Alcock-White of Bend Sinister. He was backed live by Tom & Zach of The Zolas, as well as Spencer from Said The Whale on drums. The sound was a bit lighter indie pop rock -- a couple times was reminiscent of Jason Collett, but not really all that similar. Some really catchy songs, and I picked up the 5 song EP they had at the show (which seemed so homemade, I'm wondering if they were pressed just for the show) and am looking forward to the full length which may be out this spring. The standout songs were Daytime Friend (which is about exactly as it sounds, a concept I'm sure most can relate to) and one which I didn't catch the name of, but featured the attention grabbing line that was something like "better to be fucked than to do the fucking". I will definitely be interested in checking them out next time they're playing.

Second up was Peak Performance Project winners, We Are The City. And what can I say about them that I haven't already said? Except for tonight they seemed exceptionally awesome. Perhaps it was the venue, or playing with their friends in The Zolas, or the pressure of PPP being off, but they were insanely energetic on stage; probably the most I've seen them. And their having a blast definitely helped the music and banter. I especially liked Cayne's joke: "This coffee is so good, it blows your mind... it takes your head off... it's a de-cappuccino." The set was similar to the last few times I've seen them, but this time they handed out homemade shakers for There Are Very Tiny Beasts In The Ground (which were hilariously made from things like empty chlorine jugs). They also covered Said The Whale's Love Is Art, before segueing to one of theirs. They ended again with Astronomers for another great set.

Right then I could have left and it would have been good enough, and definitely worth the money... but there was more! The Zolas hit the stage, with Henry back out to help them out, even though he was "distracted" by Zach's homemade muffins (not a euphemism). They started things off with You're Too Cool, a song that has a reference to the Biltmore in the second line and just cranked up the energy from there. For their whole set of insanely catchy tunes, they kept everyone moving -- We Are The City jumped on stage for an impromptu dance party during Body Ash -- and involved the crowd -- the aforementioned muffins were eventually shared with the crowd, and Zach even jumped into the middle of the audience with the mic for These Days. By the end of it, just about everyone around him could be heard singing along. They finally finished things off with Cab Driver which somehow, somehow, managed to be the most high-energy-holy-shit-wow song of the night.

Again, an incredible night of music. I hadn't heard much of Henry & The Nightcrawlers before, and I'm glad I was able to catch them. We Are The City is always a treat to see live. And as catchy as The Zolas new album is, they are insanely good live.