The best of 2017’s Canadian Music Week Festival

This was my 27th Canadian Music Week Festival, and I thought the 2016 edition was the best in several years. While this year’s event didn’t quite measure up to that level, I still managed to see 31 acts over five nights. Here were my 10 favourites:

Ferraro
Saturday, 2 a.m. at The Cameron House
Ferraro’s Losing Sleep was my ninth favourite album of 2016 and I’ve seen this Toronto-based, brother-fronted band more than any other over the past year. Their ’50s and ’60s-influenced pop songs are full of ear worms and their whip-smart cover choices reflect their love and knowledge of vintage music that’s rare in young musicians. I have a great time at every Ferraro show I attend.

Ferraro

The Velveteins
Thursday, 1 a.m. at Cherry Cola’s Rock ’n’ Rolla Cabaret & Lounge
A Hot Second With The Velveteins was one of my favourite EPs of 2016, and the Edmonton trio lived up to my high expectations on stage. There are some throwbacks to ‘50s doo-wop and ‘60s pop, but the hook-filled songs carry a harder and more rock-oriented edge. A closing cover of Bad Company’s “I Feel Like Making Love” didn’t really fit with what came before it, but it still worked.

The Velveteins

KOLARS
Tuesday, 11 p.m. at The Rivoli
This husband and wife duo features Rob Kolar on guitar and lead vocals and Lauren Brown wearing tap shoes while standing on top of a bass drum and pounding on three other drums. It was danceable but still raw and minimalist as it mixed glam, indie and art rock ingredients that made for a very tasty meal. I had a good conversation with the Los Angeles musicians and artist manager/former Canadian Idol judge Jake Gold in The Rivoli’s front bar at the end of the night. Kolar and Brown were very nice and even bought me a beer, which I swear had no bearing on this high ranking.

KOLARS

KOLARS

Bueller
Friday, 11 p.m. at The Silver Dollar
This Toronto quartet has male and female lead singers and a sound that mixes bratty, nasally vocals with large dashes of power pop and garage, punk and indie rock. It’s eclectic, but the common denominator through most songs is the presence of immediate hooks. I would like to hear a longer set.

Bueller

Casper Skulls
Saturday, 11 p.m. at Lee’s Palace
If I hear elements of Wire, The Fall, Joy Division and The Streets in your set, I’m almost assured of liking you. That was the case with this Toronto band that has a lot of British post-punk influences in its music. It was loud, dynamic and in your face.

Casper Skulls

Punchline 13
Thursday, midnight at Bovine Sex Club
I first became aware of Punchline 13 when the pop-punk group entertained me at the Bovine for last year’s CMW. If Simple Plan was able to make it big (which I predicted very early in its career), I’m not sure why this Montreal quintet is languishing in relative obscurity.
Sly Rawk is a great frontman.

Punchline 13

Punchline 13

 
Early Hours
Wednesday, 1 a.m. at Nightowl and Friday, 1 a.m. at The Cameron House
This very young South African band has a knack for writing smart and catchy indie pop songs that are delivered in an upbeat and energetic manner. There’s an element of highlife in a few songs that helps set the group apart, since it’s something you don’t often hear in Canada. I liked the band enough that I saw it twice and spent time in engaging conversations with the four members and manager Sarah Jane Nicholson, a tireless promoter who was dancing, taking photos from the stage and making new friends at each show. Early Hours gets bonus points for covering David Bowie’s “Heroes” and Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side,” selections which belie the group’s youth.

Early Hours

Early Hours

Twist
Saturday, 9 p.m. at Lee’s Palace
I enjoyed an earlier incarnation of Twist during the North By Northeast Music Festival in 2015, and the Laura Hermiston-fronted Toronto quartet has improved since then. You can hear the pop heart beating within the dense body of guitars and a rumbling bass that I could feel in my stool near the stage. With Hermiston’s dreamy vocals floating over the top, it makes for an experience drenched in moody but not depressing atmospherics.

Twist

Twist

Devin Cuddy Band
Friday, 2 a.m. at The Cameron House
The son of Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy has made a name for himself in recent years as a piano-playing country rock artist. There were large doses of both those styles on display at this late night set that included a mix of Cuddy originals and classic covers, including Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart.”

Devin Cuddy Band

Dentist
Wednesday, 10:45 p.m. at Monarch Tavern
This Asbury Park, N.J. quartet played several CMW sets and I’m quite happy I caught this one. Singer/guitarist Emily Bornemann’s ethereal vocals present an effective counterpoint to the band's melodic but fuzzed-out sounds of punk, surf and indie rock. I was reminded of The Pixies a couple of times during the set.

Dentist

Dentist

Mabel, Darts and Archie Powell highlight CMW Wednesday

Going into the Canadian Music Week festival on Wednesday evening I knew I'd get one knockout show and was hopeful of the same result for five more. The anticipated KO was delivered, while the final outcome was mixed on a night which took a turn after the clock struck 12.

The night began at The Painted Lady with Toronto quartet Spindrifter. The two guitarists were talented players who made a fair amount of use of their effects pedals to create a shoegaze/indie rock sound reminiscent of the early '90s. The group was very loud in the small room and perhaps wasn't mixed optimally, but the melodies I heard in the group's recorded work were largely missing on the stage. Spindrifter didn't live up to my expectations so I moved on before the end of its set.

Mabel

Sydney, Australia's Mabel was probably the band that was formerly unknown to me that I was most looking forward to see at CMW and, after a bit of a slow start with the first two songs, the quartet soon started sounding the way I had envisioned. "Rachel" had a nifty '60s-sounding pop hook and a soulful vocal delivery and the momentum continued from there with the slightly psychy "Spaceman," most recent single "My Way," vintage power pop-sounding gem "I Wanna Love You" and other songs that were infectiously jangly and enjoyable. When washed down with a pint of Beau's Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale, it was a very tasty 40 minutes at Handlebar. Mabel is playing several shows during CMW, so I might see it again. You should as well.

Elk Walking

Up Augusta Avenue at Supermarket, Chicago's Elk Walking opened its set with "Dreams." Considering some of the group's songs remind me a bit of Fleetwood Mac, sharing a song title with that group was appropriate. Savanna Dickhut and Julian Daniell shared vocal duties, both solo and together, and also played guitar in front of another guitarist, bassist and drummer. A mild white funk rhythm spiced one number up and Daniell also played a djembe for a song. First single "Just Don't Know It Yet" was the highlight and the set ended with "Magic Potion." The set suffered from some technical issues that affected the sound and may have coloured my judgment, but I had hoped for more from Elk Walking.

Darts

The rest of my night was spent at the Bovine Sex Club, beginning at 11 p.m. with another Australian act, Darts. This was the three-women, two-men outfit's first show outside of its homeland, and its indie rock travelled well. The sound was somewhat dark, but with some uplifting moments, and the several time changes incorporated into their songs were handled very well. The somewhat spacey "Aeroplane" was a favourite along with the final song. The group members handed out free tote bags because they're not allowed to legally sell them in Canada. Darts might be playing more shows during CMW than any other band, and I advise you to catch one of them.

Archie Powell & The Exports

The Sick Things were supposed to follow at midnight, but something happened to change that so Chicago's Archie Powell & The Exports moved up an hour to take the time slot. This was the band I knew for sure would deliver since I've seen it twice before (although unfortunately just during abbreviated festival sets during North by Northeast and South by Southwest). I'd put the group's three albums from this decade (2010's Skip Work, 2012's Great Ideas in Action and 2014's Back in Black) against any other trio of records from the same period and say that they're cumulatively better. I was therefore disappointed to find out that the group isn't playing anything from the debut anymore.

But I was still satisfied with what was played, and how it was delivered to a disappointingly small crowd, with Powell bouncing around the stage and off his bandmates and losing his Blue Jays cap and his glasses in a great display of frenetic energy. The songs had the harder edge that came out more on Back in Black, but the hooks were still there, as was Powell's sense of humour between songs.

Punchline 13

I had nothing on my schedule after that, but my friend Jennifer showed up towards the end of Powell's set and convinced me to stick around even though we didn't know who was playing next. It turned out to be Montreal pop-punk band Punchline 13. Singer Sly Rawk took full advantage of his cordless microphone as he moved from the stage to the floor several times during a set that was a very pleasant surprise since the group wasn't originally on my "to see" list. Aside from a fun and shortened version of "Footloose," my favourite song was "What Will Yo Do." If you liked Simple Plan early on but not as much now, Punchline 13 might be a band for you.

Lost Cause

Jennifer thought the next band looked promising as it was setting up, so I ordered another can of Strongbow and stuck around for what turned out to be a young and loud power trio featuring two brothers from Oshawa called Lost Cause. My expectations weren't high, but the original aggressive alternative rock songs were surprisingly good and the cover of Nirvana's "Breed" was exemplary.