You know when you're standing at Needs in front of the chips, not sure what to buy? Well, my hot dogs, I've got some tips for you. Tonight, Halifax has options with two great shows: crunchy rock jams or smooth pop-rock serenades. Honestly, I'm torn like a bag of Doritos. Should we split the difference? Should we try to do both? All I know is that it's snack time and I'm hungry.
To get your crunch on, check out Sackville, NB's Klarka Weinwurm with Halifax crispers The Grubbies and the always-fresh Craig Currie and The Hot Products (10pm, $5).
As the garage-rock Weinwurm gears up to move back to Halifax, it'll likely be the last show with Weinwurm's current band: "We'll be performing as a three-piece. Three large pieces of pie to fill up Gus' stage. But a new life means a new band," she says. Since her May cassette EP, Huddle, she's been recording a Headless Owl split with Jon McKiel, so keep your potatoes peeled for that.
Speaking of peeled potatoes, The Grubbies haven't played a show since December, guitarist Adam Mowery tells me. He also adds: "My chip of choice are Cheetos Corn Twists, those salty yellow scrunches in a bag." With guitarist Andrew Mazzerole, The Grubbies offer classic pop jams about pretty cool things, like chips. I like chips. Mazzerole's favourite chips these days are the special edition Covered Bridge Sloppy Joe flavour. I ate a whole bag of those just yesterday. Treat yourself, you know? Weinwurm adds that Currie's new-ish band will surprise you, and also her fave chip flavour is Old Dutch Sour Cream & Onion, a classic.
But if you want to get your smooth on, there's an ultra sweet folk-rock and ambient-pop combo show at The Company House with Toronto's Bernice, Virginia's Devon Sproule and Halifax's Old & Weird (8pm, $10). Label-mates Sproule and Bernice have been touring companions the last few years, and both got wrangled up with Old & Weird through a friend of a friend: "It was a correct hunch that we'd love them," says Bernice's vocalist/songwriter Robin Dann. This show is all wound up like a Twizzler; Sproule is closely connected to Halifax's Mike O'Neill (the duo released Colours in 2013), who often plays with Old & Weird.
Bernice is also selling a tour "cassingle," says Dann, "One track off of our upcoming record, and a series of really beautiful remixes by some of our favourite musicians." And much like the soft-folk of Sproule, Bernice is a sonic feast for your ears and heart. "I think what I like most, when I listen to a song that I love, is that it makes me see into my own life and experience with fresh eyes," she says, "I hope our songs have the imagery and feeling that allows for some self-help."
For the record (my personal interest in chips), Dann likes Covered Bridge's Lobster specials.