Big Rock Finish… reviews of independent music

D.O.A. - Punk Rock Singles

Name: D.O.A.
Album: Punk Rock Singles 1978-1999
Released: 1999?
Members: ??? Seriously, I can’t figure out the liner notes to save my life.

Website:
Record Label: Sudden Death Records (www.suddendeath.com)
Favourite Song: Whatcha gonna do? (Track

Okay… this wasn’t exactly my ideal album to be reviewing. It’s somewhat of a Greatest Hits or a Best Of album, so obviously all the songs on here are going to be the best of the best (with just one best being anything worthy of going into studio to be recorded anyways) and the idea of reviewing this is just a little strange, but here we go!

These guys are punk. Punk rock if you need more than one word. But punk. End of story.

It’s a collection of singles. A big-assed collection at that. 28 tracks I’m sitting here listening to while I try and figure out which song I might actually enjoy. Simple punk songs are the best because they work on so many levels. You have to be a great musician to pull off something that can sometimes sound like you’re a terrible musician.

D.O.A. are a punk rock band. You listen to this kind of music at a punk rock show. Especially the loud and hard and fast songs. Because you can’t have a pit with a bunch of ballads.

August 2, 2008.

Hello Beautiful is not a band I actually know a whole lot about. I’ve heard OF them, and from what the rumours say, they’re a good tight band that’s going to go places. And from seeing bits and pieces of their live show, I’d have to say the rumours are true.

Really, seeing as how I sort of just stumbled across them playing on the same stage as Awaking State a few sets later, I had no expectations and no real knowledge of what I was getting myself into. A part of me just thought “HEY! I have all-access and darn tootin’, I’m gonna use it!” and was able to get some pretty neat shots of the band (and the drummer too!) I’ll have to contact them soon about the photos, I like to show off, and I’m sure Hello Beautiful won’t mind that I use them to show off.

But really, they sounded really good, didn’t sound pretentious at all, genuinely seemed to love their time on stage and were having just a great time. The band loved it and the crowd loved it. I’m really happy I caught a part of their set, because it was really enjoyable.

I would definitely want to see Hello Beautiful again at some point, and maybe this time I won’t be so shy and actually introduce myself!

July 26, 2008.

Have any of my readers noticed yet that there was an extremely busy weekend that I had at the end of July? I had a birthday/christmas in july party, two bands that same night, then two bands the night after. Neither day did I get home before 4am, and by Sunday I swear I was among the walking dead. Alas, that’s not the point of this entry.

I went to go see BROOMFILLER at James Ratch’s birthday party extravaganza. Because it’s only exciting when it’s fueled by alcoholic sponsorships. In this case Jack Daniels. Equally exciting is the fact that I am now considered “Media” by many of the bands I frequent due to my inability to not show up with a camera.

Anyone who’s not “in the know” will be thinking the same thing I always think of. “Who the bloody hell is James Ratch, and why does Jack Daniels sponsor his birthday party?” Well to answer your first question, this man happens to be the collections person at Long & McQuaide, a popular music store chain. Secondly… I have no clue. I wish someone would sponsor my birthday parties though. But seeing as how he’s connected into music, it makes sense to throw himself a rock show every year on the year of his birth.

BROOMFILLER was scheduled to play at 12:30am, technically they were playing Sunday, but I’ll not be nit-picky. Gave me enough time to go from The Central when I was watching The Dropjoys to the Kathedral a few blocks away. Of course getting to the venue on time meant some well timed public transport. And when I get there I notice the band on stage, is not only not BROOMFILLER, but they’re also taking a lot longer than they should be. Frustrating to say the least.

But onto the show. Now, in my knowledge, the last band of the night, if playing after midnight, usually is a bad time slot, and in some ways it was. It sucked huge that BROOMFILLER was supposed to be playing a 45 minute set, but it was cut short to 30 minutes. And it sucks that this seemed due in large part to the previous band not only being on stage for longer than they should have been, but also, according to other patrons, started later than they should have. I should think that musicians should have enough respect and common courtesy to do things by the book to make sure everyone gets a fair chance.

Anyways, you expect a rocking good show, and with BROOMFILLER you’ll get a rocking good show. High energy as always, a really tight 3-piece where everyone knows what everyone else is doing, if anything else, they all have the same train of thought sexually while on stage. Not often do you have a drummer who is just as much of a showoff as the lead singer, but I think we’ve found it. A bass player who’s constantly pulling funny faces when he notices a camera is on him, and a guitarist who is daring enough to play a guitar by holding it solely by the neck, after the strap disconnects from the body.

It was more than awesome to see people enjoying the set and hanging out in front of the stage, and while not everyone was someone I would really picture at a rock show, apparently there were a lot of “industry people” out who liked what they saw. I wouldn’t consider myself industry people, seeing as how I’m not, but I liked what I saw. So they must have good taste.

I think BROOMFILLER is taking the rest of the summer off to demo and record, but make sure you stay tuned because I think this winter will be a big one.

Name: The Fed Pennies
Album: Fast Cars and Dead Bodies
Released: 2006
Members:
Jake Smith - guitar & vocals
Aaron Farr - drums
John Matthews - Bass
Tom Spence - Drums

Website: www.thefedpennies.com
Record Label: Manic in Music Records
Favourite Song: Track 3. (Again, I have no idea what the song names are)

I don’t really have any inside information on this band, except for the fact that I ended up with a DVD that has a name to it, and a CD that doesn’t. I have a feeling I named the DVD as the album name, while the CD is likely a self-titled effort. Fed Pennies, if you’re reading this, please correct me required!

Rock. Garage. Punk. I wouldn’t let my boyfriend see the “Garage” title because I think it has a different connitation in North America then in Europe. But then again maybe it’s all the same by now. All I know is, my boyfriend is a snob to electronic music, and this doesn’t sound very electronic. Is Garage supposed to be “what is played in a garage” or something else? Anyways, I can’t argue with the band, they say themselves they are not tied down to a style of music in their liner notes, and considering I haven’t seen them live, like they insist, I’ll leave it up to the listeners.

I’m listening to the first track on the CD right now and I’m thinking it’s not what I expected. I’m not sure what I expected to be honest, but the first song kind of… swings. For a few seconds I thought I was hearing a keyboard, finally deducted that I was listening to a guitar really not sound like a guitar. Impressive.

Eating lobster. Really, what did you expect me to say with a band hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia? If you plan on eating lobster while checking out The Fed Pennies, definitely do it during one of their many summer dates. There’s a Halifax Waterfront Music Festival Friday June the 13th, a Biker FEst June 14th, A Lobster Carnival on American’s Birthday (July 4th), something called Mud Creek Days July 24th and Sam Slick Festival on August 2nd. And what looks like a normal “show” (Rather than a festival or carnival) at the Seahorse on August 15th. A summer of Fed Pennies. What more could the east coast ask for?

I had gone to Lee’s Palace to see Harlot, who was headlining this particular show that night. And arrived just early enough to catch the last half of The Weather Underground (www.theweatherunderground.ca). Having missed half their show, this will likely be a short review.

I didn’t know any of the songs they played, except one sounded oddly familiar. Everyone’s convinced it was a cover, while I am not contesting it, I feel that I’ve watched them play at other shows before, which is why I recognized the song. (Not that I know what it is) Either way, the band sounded really good, really loud, and much the rock band that one would expect.

Most of my experiences with the band stemmed after the set. I went up to the lead singer to ask about buying a CD. I was two dollars short but he let me buy it anyways. I asked to have it signed, with a sharpie, and he searched high and low for a sharpie to autograph my cd with. Then searched high and low for the rest of his bandmates to also sign the CD for me. I even had the bass player autograph the cd “To eBay” for me.

I also met the artist who “designed” the artwork, he’s a painter who’s art they used for their coverart, and he got to see the CD for the first time and we talked about his art & where it’s displayed etc. I ended up leaving my CD with him while Harlot was starting.

Came back to find my CD had gone off with the artist’s girlfriend upstairs to Dance Cave so she could show all their friends his art, and I waited around to get it back.

The band is definitely filled with nice guys who are jokers, drinkers, and general musicians. While leaving and walking past the band as they were loading gear into their car we got to talk even more. I’ll definitely try to check them out again.

So my best bet for finding out new bands is to go see the bands that are playing… you know, the ones that aren’t the band that I actually planned on seeing. And Blind Fire is one of the bands that I was able to “discover” that night.

It’s hard to really judge or expect anything when you’re not only watching a new band, but also in a new town. I’d not been to a show in Oshawa in a long LONG time, and it very obviously showed. I was there to see Awaking State, since they were the main attraction and going on second, Blind Fire ended up being the local band that would go on first.

It’s taken me a while to understand the politics of who goes in what order, but I think I’ve finally figured it out. If you’re a big enough band, you go last. Make everyone wait. Save the best for last, and so forth. If there’s a group of pretty good bands, but no one will bring in the massive draw, you’re scrapping to play in the middle. In order to catch the people who stuck around after the first band, and to catch people who came in early for the third band. It’s a good mix. Sort of like at school, sit at the front and teacher will notice you slacking off, sit at the back and the teacher watches you like a hawk to make sure you’re not slacking off.

ANYWAYS! I’m here to talk about Blind Fire. They had a pretty good crowd going. Groove Lounge doesn’t exactly have a stage, although the drumkit is on a riser. So the band is ground level with the floor. The “stage” is marked by where the monitors are on stage so the bands can hear themselves. I’m not 100% sure, but Blind Fire seemed to be a local high-school band. It made sense, since their fans and everyone who came to see them were all in the high school/college looking age, and very obviously supportive of their friends.

The crowd, definitely in love with them. Myself and my colleagues, namely Awaking State, were also pretty impressed (From what I could gather, they were also a bit edgy being their big show) and I found it quite endearing that an older couple, quite obviously not the average high-school fan, was videotaping off the side of the stage. I grabbed my camera for practice, to see what I had to work with. The band ran around like only a young band can, makes my job more difficult, but made their fans go nuts.

Now, one thing you notice if you go to any show in Toronto, there’s always about 5 feet of space from the stage to the crowd, riser or not. Musicians that I talk to, all call this the “Toronto Semi-Circle”… being afraid of getting up to where the band can see you, and possibly interact with you. I normally don’t partake in this, but I will admit I feel a bit weird being the only person to break said semi-circle.

Blind Fire, didn’t have such a semi-circle. And that was awesome.

What else was awesome? One of the band members, his mom grabbed my attention during Awaking State. Asked me who I worked for. (Ego boost for me!) After I explained I was with the band, she handed me her card, complete with e-mail address, so I could e-mail her pics. I did. She loved them.

So the last show that I went to in 2007 would have been the BROOMFILLER set at Rock & Roll Heaven. One of the strangest places I had ever seen a show at ever. It was awesome in the fact that I got to be put on the Media Guest List made it all that much sweeter. Unfortunately that meant I was actually working that night.

So being personal guests of BROOMFILLER was pretty awesome. It was weird because it was a Thursday night. I really dislike the fact that all the good shows are always on Thursdays. When I still have to work on Friday. But it’s a sacrifice I’m still willing to make.

Me and Alex (my date, and I suppose partner in crime) are settling in and getting our beers in while I’m checking my camera, when the band hits the stage. I can never tell the difference between the sound check and the show when a sound check is basically running through a whole song. So I took pictures. Why not.

Went back to my beer, and giggled just a little when Alex was thrown a video camera and said “Well, TFO it up!” Because… well… you know. French Canadian television rocks.

Anyways. The set started, and BROOMFILLER hit everything pretty hard. Considering I own all of their albums, I recognize all the song and generally took pictures of the band on stage while singing along. Making sure Alex didn’t trip over me while he was working the video camera was pretty hectic as well. And overall trying to find different parts of the venue to get the shots I wanted… difficult when there are people in the way. I definitely need to get a new lens. Richard suggested a fisheye, and I might just do that.

But anyways, the banter reminded me just a little of the banter from their show in the summer time. Some things never go out of style, and toilet humour is one of them. But the show was as energetic as I could ever imagine it. The fog machine… drove me nuts.

Loved it. Definitely a great way to end the year.
Couldn’t ask for anything more.
Well, maybe the beer that Richard bought for me at the end