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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Crash Assassin/Handsome Distraction/Sea-Sekshun & Weak Patrol @ V-Lounge [Dec.10th]

Tonight was Master Joda's final night of charity rock shows for the Mustard Seed. It's been quite a successful run. You may have seen coverage on Chek TV. It's great to see bands out there not doing it for the money. Well, I suppose they were all doing it for the money. Money for the Mustard Seed....

It was a bit bare by the time Crash Assassin took the stage. This is a young band that boasts 8 albums of original material written by Yukon Deighton. He sings and plays guitar in the band. Mackenzie Barry is on drums and New Colors bassist Catalina Deighton completes the line up. The sound resembles that garage rock revival that appeared in the early 2000s. There is never a reliance on distortion. It's just straight ahead rock n' roll. Cat Deighton bounced around the stage much like the female version of Krist Novoselic. Though, it seemed like she was the only one who was having fun during the set. Barry perched behind the drums in a state of absolute concentration, despite making a few mistakes. Yukon Deighton has the voice, and demonstrated that he can pull off some Wolfmother-like riffs amongst his frenzy of power chords. Most of the songs are quite dark and the lyrics come across very stream of consciousness. There is also a fair bit of grunge flavours that seep in the music. They closed their set with ultra-happy "Lemon", which was completely different from their prior songs [maybe too much]. I think this band has a lot of potential, but that will come with age. This is a fine wine that just needs a little more time in the cellar. The band needs to show more energy on stage. Perhaps some back up vocals?

It was time to be handsomely distracted by Handsome Distraction, whatever that means. The first time I saw Handsome Distraction was at the Cambie in Esquimalt about two years ago. They didn't even have a bassist. With switches in the line up, we now have Devin Perfect on vocals/guitar, Corey Scheiding on lead guitar, Chris Weaver on bass and Bryan Reiber on drums. From the get go, the band sweats professionalism. They are very tight. Perfect achieved some heavenly [and hellish] guitar tones from his pedals, though it was Scheiding that wowed us with his prowess for licks. For only being his first show with the band, he made it look easy. Another great thing about this band is that everyone lends their voices, all the while, Perfect is the main singer. It just adds a lot of dimension to the songs. Reiber is also an incredible singer behind the kit and he is always crisp with his drumming. Does this guy even make mistakes? Chris Weaver was more the screamer. I'm not sure if screaming suits this kind of band. It was better when Weaver stuck to singing. Perfect also let out a few shrieks during the set...but I think the band's music is more set for clean vocals. The sound reminds me of the commercial accessibility to current day Kings of Leon in the way that the chorus come across as anthems. Though, the music is more upfront like that of The Thermals or Hollerado. It never gets too heavy, but the riffs do pack a punch. Perfect talks a bit too much. I'm glad he mentioned the Mustard Seed, but he almost talked after every song. Less talk, more rock! Keep an eye on this band. Even though they had cartoons playing in the background, they refused to be upstaged by Optimus Prime.

We have a break to announce that 1500 had been raised for the Mustard Seed. That number, later in the night, became 1800. Someone from the Mustard Seed does a speech. I don't think he's much for public speaking, but he thanks Master Joda, the V-Lounge and the bands. Applause ensues. They take a group photo with all the bands involved that were present that night.

Sea-Sekshun is up next. They call themselves Ska-punge. That is ska/punk/grunge. I think that label is misleading, and I really believe no band should try to create their own genres. Leave it to the people to brand it. Grunge was coined by a journalist, and the rest is history. Really this band's songs are divided into grunge, ska-punk or ballad. The three aren't really combined. The band is fronted by Jake Sunstrum on guitar. I will give him props on his guitar work. For such a young talent, he can solo quite well. There were some volume issues during the set, which was unfortunate. Tyler Swagar could be early contender for bass god. You could almost pin him for a look-a-like of local Zone DJ Jon Williams. His vocal contributions to set highlight "A La Ska" was an injection of fun that serves the band well. Ross Hobbs held it down at the other side of the stage as rhythm guitarist. He definitely has the look. Tom Gracie was on drums borrowing the kit from Weak Patrol. He was a bit too infatuated with the cow bell. It should have been used sparingly. The band was at their best doing ska punk. You could get the idea that they could play ska in their sleep. This can't be said for the grunge part. Not that it was bad. It just doesn't come across as strongly when Sunstrum goes for the Cobain slur. Same can be said for the quieter songs. His voice just doesn't carry. It's more fitted to submitting a verbal onslaught. The good thing is this is another young band that was playing tonight and they have all the right connections to make sure they are successful in the future while honing exactly what ska-punge is supposed to sound like. Their set was cut short due to things running behind. They don't seem too happy about it.

Suddenly the place is packed with people wearing Weak Patrol shirts. It's for a good reason. I always kicked myself for coming near the end of their opening set a month ago. Well, here they were again in their army inspired uniforms. Didn't take long for the place to erupt with the band's high energy indie rock. I still follow my "New Pornographers fronted by Jello Biafra" statement. It's hard to imagine how this band doesn't get tired. Frontman Caleb Kennedy strums his acoustic guitar harder than anyone I've ever seen and sweat seemed to shake from his flailing body. Carling Battistuzzi is always jumping around, swinging her hair. She has such a rock voice to her, but not in a way that would be non-accessible to the listener. Willis Schneider just gets the job done everytime I see him. He isn't much for putting on a show. He allows the others in the band to do so. Jaime Nolan had a bit of trouble getting the engine started as he stumbled through the first initial lead bits. He laughs it off. Dekan Delaney puts on a clinic each time. Really, this has to be one of the top acts in Victoria. Not only are they consistent with well crafted indie rock with classic influences, they have the shirts, they have the CDs, the uniforms [as stated] and they even have an animated background that spans the whole concert. Each song is handled with gusto. Highlights included a huge band dance off during a drum solo by Delaney, which was neat. Another was Nolan's use of the wah-wah pedal during one tune that reminded me of black exploitation films. I resisted the need to pimp walk across the dance floor. Unfortunately, they were also cut short even though they brought most of the crowd in so that the hoochies and guidos could spend the last half hour shaking it to Lady Gaga. Still, they ended it on a high note with an Ennio Morricone inspired number that started with Delaney whistling backed by Kennedy's chugging guitar. This is a song you need to hear, especially with the climax sing-along that gets me everytime.


All in all, the night had it's ups and downs. I would definitely recommend both Handsome Distraction and Weak Patrol to anyone looking to catch some local music. These bands are going to blow you away. It's always great to keep in mind all the bands that put in their efforts to make these charity concerts successful. So, pat yourself on the back, Victoria. 1800 is nothing to scoff at.

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