Ok, I'll admit it. I went to a lot of shows last week and so I missed posting about the five year anniversary of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's Belong. It came out five years ago on March 29. I would probably just give up on posting at all about it because of being late but it's one of my favourite albums so I have to give it tribute.
Belong is The Pain's second album, and it features an over-abundance of beautiful songs. They're awash in fuzz and swirling chords (although not as much fuzz and on their début), addictive melodies and emotive lyrics. Listen!
And if you want you can check out the pictures I took when I saw the band at The Horseshoe.
I've written a bunch about Auckland, New Zealand pop band The Naked And Famous on this site, dating back to when I first posted about "Punching In A Dream" in December of 2011. They featured prominently in my Favourite Songs of 2013, Favourite Albums of 2013, Favourite Songs of 2010-2011 and my Favourite Albums of 2010-2011 lists. Their hit singles have peppered my playlists and have never failed to put a spring in my step and a smile on my face. However, it was last Friday night, April 1, that marked my first time seeing the band live. They played a sold out show at The Mod Club in Toronto's Little Italy.
The band sounded great and delivered their perfect pop tunes with enthusiasm and professionalism. Singer Alisa Xayalith sounded magical as her voice soared through the hall. They thanked us for being so patient waiting for new music and to reward us for our patience, they played two new tunes in the form of "Higher" and "Runners". They're both very cool sounding tunes that are unmistakably Naked and Famous, with danceable beats and soaring choruses.
They played all my favourite tunes from 2010's Passive Me, Aggressive You and their most recent release, 2013's In Rolling Waves. They hit up "Punching In A Dream" early as the second song of the set. "Rolling Waves" was a crowd favourite. "I Kill Giants", "Hearts Like Ours" and show closer "Young Blood" were all strong highlights for me.
Skinny Lister played Toronto's Legendary Horseshoe Tavern last Thursday night, March 31. This show marked my first Skinny Lister live show. The rousing music, the incredible energy of the band and the audience, the passing of the flagon, a wee dance with Lorna Thomas and a crowd surf from Michael Camino left me feeling like I got the full Skinny Lister experience. Not to mention the singing along, dancing and hand-clapping. This band puts on a fantastic live performance.
They told us that they're about to start recording their third album very shortly. We got to hear two new tunes including "Fair Winds". They did apologize for this being their first visit to Toronto since the 2012 Warped Tour. Hopefully they won't wait as long to visit us again.
Enjoy some Skinny Lister tunes from their setlist:
I first heard Restorations when I was checking out the bands on the Toronto Urban Roots Festival 2015 line-up. I liked what I heard and caught their set on the South Stage. It wasn't really a question when I saw the announcement of their show at The Horseshoe Tavern on March 29. It was going to be a busy week, but it was a week of great music that I wasn't going to be disappointed in.
Restorations produce a kind of music that I love. It's high energy, just enough aggression, with walls of distorted guitars and emotive vocals. I love it when they get the three guitar aural assault going. They even treated us to a brand new song. I'm looking forward to more Restorations music and my next chance to see these guys live.
Take a listen to a bunch of tunes from their setlist.
