steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

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info opinion

 

Say It Stranger, Chet, and Run Chico Run

Apr 2, 2006

@ Le Divan Orange

part of April 2006 update

Montreal's Say It Stranger took the stage first after a series of delays, performing to the best of their abilities, which (fortunately) are very high. This is great, memorable pop with a lot of guitars (the plural there is key) and good rock edge. They ended with "The Scary Part" and it satisfied me to my core. If you haven't already, get your fat face to their myspace page and check out their songs.

Chet, the pride of Victoria, BC, was the band I was least interested in seeing - and while they did manage to stifle my qualms to a decent extent, I wound up feeling like their songs were a bit too long. Still, the singer has an incredible voice and a good stage presence, and the music is catchy - especially if you've already heard it before. Definitely worth a glance, but I doubt I'd go see them unless they were sharing a bill with some other notables. Myspace.

Okay, Run Chico Run rule. These guys, also from Victoria, are simply awesome... it's a shame the floor seemed to clear out a bit before they performed, because their brand of Quasi-like (quasi-Quasi?) keyboard-infected pop is absolutely impeccable live. My favourites were the amazing "Fucking Up Can Be Fun" (which is practically their theme song in my mind) and their second-last song, which boasted a wonderful climax finale. If you get the chance, see these guys play ASAP. Myspace.

Matt Shimmer