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Ethier muted

ANDRE ETHIER at Healey's (178 Bathurst), Saturday (June 12), 10 pm. $10. 416-703-5882. if you only know andre ethier in his role as the as the frontman of high- octane garage rock band the Deadly Snakes, you might be surprised to hear the folky and mellow solo album he's just released. Summoning up ghosts of the Rolling Stones' acoustic songs and Dylan's more soulful moments, it's the perfect soundtrack for drunken sing-alongs and broken hearts.

This is not, however, the end of Ethier's rock and roll life.

"I didn't make this album because I wasn't able to do what I wanted with the Snakes – it was because the Snakes were on a break and Christopher Sandes had just got back from three years in Asia. We were good friends when we lived in Montreal, and we had been talking about playing together for years."

Ethier describes the process of recording this album as much less democratic than the Snakes, but because it was recorded over a single day with minimal preparation, the individual voices of the other musicians shine through and give it the feeling of a proper band, in particular Sandes's piano playing.

Funny enough, Sandes isn't a pianist by trade – he's just one of those musicians who can pick up almost any instrument and make it sing.

"Chris is going to be playing accordion for some of the songs at the next show. He's never played it before, but I'm confident he'll figure it out in time."

Soul-ed out

ANN VRIEND at Holy Joe's (651 Queen West), Saturday, (June 12), 10 pm. $8. 416-504-0744. soul powerhouse ann vriend is used to people saying her name like it rhymes with friend, but it's pronounced "Vreend." And with that voice of hers, she's used to suggestions that she do Canadian Idol.

"I'm, like, 'Dude, it's just not me. It's not my thing,'" she laughs over the phone from her home in Edmonton, huddled over some tea.

Vriend's thing is introspective songwriting over production built from the piano up, as heard on her debut, Soul Unravelling. She's been a virtuoso since early days spent tinkling the ivories in her parents' basement.

No surprise she quit university for music. "I just finally got the guts to do what I really wanted to do, and not what I sorta wanted to do," she says.

Preparing to record album two and perform in Vancouver this summer, she puts her all into the live show. But she says she's still not used baring her soul onstage.

"I'm still not fully comfortable with it, but I try to seem comfortable so my insecurities won't get in the way of a song," she says. "There's nothing worse than seeing someone do a half-assed job."

Queen Bee Jackson

Busy 'Bee

Queenbee Jackson at B-Side (129 Peter), Saturday (June 12), 11 pm. $6. half of portland, oregon-based quartet QueenBee Jackson is husband-and-wife team Hilary Spray and Aaron Z. Santigian. This is the half that will be performing at NXNE. "Make sure you don't confuse me with the other Aaron in the band," says Santigian. "I'd never let that guy marry my wife."

Spray and Santigian have been in bands together for years, a musical duo kind of like the Sonny and Cher of Portland, I figure.

"More like the Bonnie and Clyde," says Santigian. Did they play instruments?

"No, but they carried their weapons in cases."

Being in a band with your wife, he says, is great.

"It's cool because whenever we go on the road we're always together. You don't have to make that sacrifice of leaving your loved one behind."

They were in Monkey and the Monster in earlier days.

"It was a jangly, poppy outfit. The current arrangement is a much darker, moodier, jazzy, noisy indie rock sonic experience that cites Jeff Buckley, My Bloody Valentine and Nick Drake as influences.

"As to those influences, the My Bloody Valentine thing would be a lot of pedals, layers and sonic textures. The Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake thing is more the music's moody aspect."

Santigian refers to some of the tunes as "wrist-slitters," with heartbreaking lyrics by Spray. "The songs are loosely based on her strange upbringing and the tragedies of her youth."

Santigian tells of a hiking expedition she went on as a teen during which 14 people were killed when a cave collapsed.

"Holy shit," is all I can think to say. So anguish is the source of a lot of her songwriting?

"We do have poppy stuff. It's not all dark.

"And we're very big on dressing up onstage. We'll show up all dressed up, and people are like, 'Who are these guys?' Because bands are supposed to be in jeans and T-shirts, but when we look good we feel good, like the old jazz guys who looked sharp in suits and ties.

"We're clothes hounds."

Golden rule

THE GOLDEN DOGS at the El Mocambo (464 Spadina), Saturday (June 12), 11 pm. $10. 416-777-1777.

the energy this band exudes on stage is as infectious as any disease on the planet. In only a couple of years they've gathered a solid following, partly based on theatrical showmanship, but largely because of their arsenal of great songs. "We're really happy with how the new album turned out. I worked my ass off with the songs. The band is really tight now, and live it's cool to see people singing along," says head Dog Dave Azzolini.

He's deservedly proud. Their new album, Everything In 3 Parts (out June 8), is full of killer tracks, a mix of XTC Britpop and Wilcoesque twangers, full of energy and ripe for fan singalongs.

"Each one of our songs is like a little dog, each with its own howl," is how Dave sums it up. With an album this good and an even better live show, it's only a matter of time before we see him in an episode of Cribs, looking humble as he shows off his three Hummers and two Porsches.

The Vulcan Dub

Guess who?

THE VULCAN DUB SQUAD at the El Mocambo upstairs (464 Spadina), Saturday (June 12), 11 pm. $8. 416-777-1777. it must be hotter than hell play ing in this band. Not only does this Toronto quartet take the stage in heavy suits, but they wear black hood-like masks over their heads, too. Whereas most bands rely on good looks to create an image, these guys want anonymity to be theirs. This gambit may reek of novelty, and some of their songs are quirky, but one listen and you know the Vulcan Dub Squad are one solid act, tossing everything short of classical into their unique sound. Sixties garage, psych rock, ambient, punk, soul and pop all show up, but rarely in the same song. The fact that they sound like a completely different band from one song to the next may throw some people off, but they're more likely to make you appreciate just how well ambient and punk go together.

Mexican mayhem

Seis Pistos at the Bovine Sex Club (542 Queen West), Saturday (June 12), midnight. $7. 416-504-4239. besides rap and world music, is there any more universal rebellion soundtrack than punk rock? That's why punk bands span the globe from Norway to Japan. Seis Pistos (meaning six drinks) come from Chihuahua, Mexico, and their fast 80s skatepunk sound squeals rebellion.

Guitarist Kenio explains that he and brother/lead singer Ivan began skateboarding at age 11 and were hooked on songs from bands like Bad Religion in skate videos. But punk isn't all they enjoy.

"We love reggae, funk, old rock, jazz, Latin alternative and Latin traditional music, too," he says.

In fact, the brothers learned to play guitar from two neighbours who played folk music on their porch. They decided to get punky because, says Kenio, "the bands in our town only did heavy metal covers."

Rest assured that their eclectic tastes don't make the band a bunch of wussy snobs. When asked if their shows get crazy, Kenio offers an apropos anecdote.

"I believe that would be at a gig in Delicias, an hour from Chihuahua. It was a 300-person bar and it was really full, and everybody started slam dancing and stuff, but because there was no stage, the slam dance was with band included.

"At one point, people started jumping at the 'stage' and landing on amps and drums. I saw a guy land on the drum set from a really big jump and stand up to keep dancing with blood all over him, and our drummer, Victor, was standing, trying to keep the beat with the snare while it was in the bleeding guy's hand."

Diagnosis: punk.

Organ grinds

THE ORGAN at the Horseshoe (370 Queen West), Saturday (June 12), midnight. $10. 416-598-4753. Just over a year ago, vancouver brooders the Organ were riding a ridiculous tidal wave of hype. An all-girl five-piece with a moody Hammond-charged sound and an androgynous po-faced lead singer who channelled an even bleaker Morrissey, the ladies played a Toronto debut showcase that was met with a shitload of press and an audience packed with media types.

They were so not ready for it, says angular frontwoman Katie Sketch.

"Oh, my god, it was a fucking miracle we pulled it off," she laughs over the phone from BC. "We'd played the night before and made so many mistakes that we were shitting our pants. Before that, we hadn't done any big shows, and when we got to Toronto our photos were all over the place. It was a nightmare."

Luckily, the Organ have improved considerably since that fateful March evening. The band benefits tremendously from their growing instrumental prowess, and their new Grab That Gun (Mint/604) disc could give the Mozzer a run for his money, featuring delectably melancholic melodies and Sketch's quavering vocals.

Sketch hopes people will start paying as much attention to her band's musicianship as they do to the fact that the Organ are signed to the Nickelback-linked 604 label.

"People aren't thinking clearly if they write us off because we have a loose affiliation with Chad Kroeger. Honestly, there aren't a lot of girls who look and sound like us in the mainstream. There's no satisfaction to playing for 10 people at a show, no matter how invested you are in artistic integrity, and sometimes you need certain connections."