SMUSH / ALUMINUM
BILL CAN / BIG CITY
@Red Gate in Vancouver on July 19th, 2024
Live Show Review
After learning that SMUSH was taking a break from live shows for at least the remainder of 2024 I ensured I booked a ferry and made the 3-hour trek to Vancouver so I could catch them one last time (at least for the foreseeable future). I got their early to distro and hung out with a bunch of local scene people and the bands...it was awesome. The real steal of the show was seeing ALUMINUM though, as I'd never heard of them and immediately bought all the digitals from bandcamp upon arriving home the next day.
I'm also elated to let everyone know that the SMUSH 12"s for 'if you were here i'd be home now' finally came in so at this point all pre-orders have shipped. We sold over half of the pressing during the pre-order timeframe so if you like what you hear please pick up a copy (linked here, with cheaper ZBR store links at the bottom of the bandcamp page).
SMUSH
As always, SMUSH freakin' rocked. Great atmosphere. Great instrumentals. Great vocals. Great people. Hell yeah. After seeing their release show, this five-song set left me aching for more but I'm glad I got a good fix of them with some of faves including "goodnight moon", "if we didn't cry", and "horse drawing". Reminder! 12"LPs are now in and shipping from Softseed Music!!!
(2024) SMUSH "new house" (live in Vancouver)
order 12"LP from Softseed Music:
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ALUMINUM
"Hey Dave, please compare ALUMINUM to other bands."
Hmmmm that feels kinda hard because their 80s rock + 90s alternative + shoegaze + indie rock melting pot is so damn original it'd be blasphemy to start saying "they sound like this band" or "they sound like that band". All I know is that it's both heavy and beautiful with two vocalists, making the juxtaposition of sounds that much more obvious. Definitely the highlight of the night for me, they were fucking awesome. I should also note that there were many more songs they played that I enjoyed more than the ones I took videos of, it was just luck of the draw.
Hmmmm that feels kinda hard because their 80s rock + 90s alternative + shoegaze + indie rock melting pot is so damn original it'd be blasphemy to start saying "they sound like this band" or "they sound like that band". All I know is that it's both heavy and beautiful with two vocalists, making the juxtaposition of sounds that much more obvious. Definitely the highlight of the night for me, they were fucking awesome. I should also note that there were many more songs they played that I enjoyed more than the ones I took videos of, it was just luck of the draw.
(2024) ALUMINUM "Always Here, Never There" (live in Vancouver)
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BILL CAN
This Vancouver-based band is fun and quirky, bringing some pretty sweet licks and playful vocals. Kinda jazzy with elements of dancey and classic rock. Also their name is spelled wrong on the poster.
(2024) BILL CAN (live in Vancouver)
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BIG CITY
Closing the night was the third of four bands from Vancouver, as this two-piece took my brain to a new level. Genres be damned, this was equally jarring and mesmerizing.
(2024) BIG CITY (live in Vancouver)
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next Dave show (aka I play in WOLLRUSS & this is our first show):
October 19th in Victoria
