***ITTO / BLACK LOVE / BIRD DEATH / WORST GIFT show review***

On May 24th, 2014 I found myself in Toronto after a botched show on Friday left me available with a rented car and nothing to do. I was going to host ITTO the next next and I'm a big fan of BLACK LOVE (ZBR will be helping with the release of their new LP, with some of the sickest art I've seen in a while) and WORST GIFT who was playing their first show and I have spoken with all 3 members on separate occasions, so I wanted to check them out. The show looked to be amazing, so obviously it was hosted by Em of Foxmoulder at Soybomb. A total of 14 videos are linked from the show here. I have posted my favourite videos for each band below.

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WORST GIFT

A very cool and exciting new "super group" (says I) from some Toronto area bands such as Tonn, Malto Kano and Bandera. They play a mixture of newer, shoegaze influenced Animal Faces rock music, Daniel Striped Tiger post-punk and European screamo. All 3 band members contribute vocally but you can really only hear Darryl (who also kills it on drums) during this set. I got all 3 songs on video, and as mentioned above this was their first show. They will have cassettes for sale very soon, if not already.

Bandcamp link

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BIRD DEATH

What the fuck? This band shocked the hell out of pretty much everyone in attendance with their Psyopus meets grind/noise/destruction approach. All members go pretty apeshit while playing and the video I've included focuses primarily on the drummer because he's crazy. I couldn't really see the bassist but apparently he was blowing people's minds. I heard that these guys are from Toronto but I've never heard of them before. People were very impressed.

Bandcamp link

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BLACK LOVE

I first saw BLACK LOVE when they played Hamilton at a show I reviewed here. They were great, but the set they played this night at Soybomb was something special. Seriously I knew they were great but I didn't know they would be one of my favourite bands by the end of the night. Absolutely breathtaking post-rock, punk, screamo and atmospheric shoegaze. If you haven't checked these guys out, you are a masochist, plain and simple.

Bandcamp link

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ITTO

ITTO never disappoint. They played longer than I expected considering James, the vocalist, was in pain with a messed up back. He had some pain meds, so you can see him smiling whenever he pauses during the set. Or maybe he just loves playing music. Or both. The band was crazy tight, played a lot of songs and even played the first encore I've ever seen at Soybomb, during which they played some new tracks. Toronto Loves ITTO, this is very apparent. You can also check out the interview I did with the band here, a review of their previous Toronto show here and the following night's show in Hamilton here.

Bandcamp link

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