Playing the catchiest pop punk going in the Maritimes right
now, Moncton’s The Kamalas come to Halifax fresh from a Quebec and
Ontario tour, to release their self-titled debut album—following
their enormously catchy demo from 2008—on Saturday at Club 1668 with
ECT, Cuban Assassins and Dunce Club ($6, 10pm).
Made up of Elle Shapiro (guitar), T-Ray (guitar), Jessup (bass) and
Salty (drums), The Kamalas are a pop-punk and power-pop machine,
channeling The Muffs, The Riverdales and Screeching Weasel. “Listening
to awesome bands always inspires me to write stuff,” says Shapiro. “I
can always associate a song I’ve written with whatever band I was
listening to constantly at the time. I call it ‘recycling.'”
“I am usually just writing down how I am feeling and thoughts that
just dribble out of my brain,” say T-Ray. “I try to take that stream of
raw feeling and consciousness and shape it into a song.”
The Kamalas are one of the few bands that convey their charm and
sense of humour onstage without seeming forced. Their MySpace bio
claims they will “torpedo their way into your heart and steal your
immortal soul.” Only time will tell about the soul thing, but they got
the heart part right, anyway. “Personally, I’ve never been able to work
so harmoniously with another person, so I think that that it’s that
sort of natural cooperation and harmony and ease that shows through and
might be why we seem to be doing pretty good for such a new band,” says
T-Ray. “Either way, we sure are enjoying ourselves!”
The Kamalas w/ECT, Cuban Assassins, Dunce Club
Saturday, August 29, 10pm, Club 1668, 1668 Lower Water Street,
$6
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2009.
