Posted inArts + Music

Free n’ Easy

Cursed Arrows In these economically fraught times, it’s always nice when a band elects to share its music for free. It’s even nicer when the music is local and great. If you have a free release that you would like to share, please email me about it at scene@thecoast.cascene@thecoast.ca. Here’s some new free local music […]

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Five Probing Questions with Sonic Avenues

Sonic Avenues Montreal punkers Sonic Avenues make bright, effervescent, irresistible power pop. Like The Undertones or Jay Reatard, their songs balance sweet melodies with a plaintive streak that will send shivers down your spine. Their split 7” with the Steve Adamyk Band is current available on P-Trash Records and they have a full-length on Portland’s […]

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A Very Special Punk Cover Show

Cock Sparrer I know what you’re thinking, jaded reader. “So whaat’s the deal with this Saturday’s punk show at the Seahorse?” you might ask in your best Seinfeldian warble. Well, for one thing, this show features a Wire cover band (comprised of No Flyers Please.) When’s the last time you heard songs from Pink Flag […]

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The City Streets Hold It Down

A friend with good taste recently pointed me towards The City Streets, who are three guys from Edmonton who now live in Montreal and are playing here tonight at Gus’ with the Fat Stupids, Young River and the Scoop Outs (10pm, $5.) They’ve been described in a few places as the successors to the Hold Steady in Canada, and listening to their songs, I can’t say I disagree: “Ballad of a Blind Dog” from their most recent album, Jazz Age, is a nice scrappy little piece of storytelling, just earnest enough to give succor to your heart without being

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Cover Me Badd

As most of you well know, cover songs are tricky beasts. A bad cover can permanently derail a career (see Madonna’s version of “American Pie” or a recurring nightmare I have called “Puff Daddy, Come with Me.”) But sometimes what begins as a fanboy/fangirl trifle can sometimes evolve into a moment of career-defining genius. I […]

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