Wed, Oct 14

THE HORRORS and the POLARIS PRICKS at Lee’s Palace Rating: NNNN

Seeing all six members of Fucked Up wander around Lee’s Palace should have been a hint that the yet-to-play Polaris Pricks (a nod to the FU’s recently awarded Polaris Prize) weren’t an actual outfit. But that didn’t stop a frenzied air of surprise from sweeping over the audience once Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham and co. took the stage to grind through a short set of new Fucked Up tracks, some of which they were playing live for the first time.

It was clear from the Horrors’ song selection that they’ve pretty much abandoned the garage rock sound of their 2007 debut album. The band kept their performance brooding and gothic. Waifish frontman Faris Rotter has a baritone that at times channels Ian Curtis and, at others, Bauhaus’s Peter Murphy. With a heaping dose of synthesizer noodling and fuzzy, extended guitar lead-ins, the Horrors made an audible attempt at distancing themselves from their recorded sound – with great success.

ANDREW RENNIE

HAPPY MONDAYS with PSYCHEDELIC FURS at the Kool Haus Rating: NNN

If would be foolish to expect Shaun Ryder, nearly two decades past the Happy Mondays’ Madchester prime, to be anything more than underwhelming. He was tuneless and immobile to begin with, hence the existence of dance motivator/drug provider Bez to keep crowd’s E trips on track.

Sadly, Bez was absent Wednesday, and even though his sole musical contribution is maracas, his presence was still sorely missed. Ryder played the entire set with sunglasses on and hand in pocket, occasionally removing it to plug his ear because of Kool Haus’s sound. His lyrics are fed to him via a hidden monitor, and the moment his vocal part in closer Step On was finished, he was out.

The Psychedelic Furs, whose music isn’t reliant on drug-culture origins, were able to pick up the energy. Richard Butler hopped around during Love My Way, his voice unaltered since the band’s mid-80s peak. Sax blared, and lush synth sounds offered a jolt of John Hughes flashback, especially during highlight Pretty In Pink.

JASON KELLER

Thu, Oct 15

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS and DEPRECIATION GUILD at Lee’s Palace Rating: NNN

Lee’s was barely a third full for New York trio School of Seven Bells, crafters of some of the most intriguing sounds in indie rock. (I blame December temperatures and Wilco.) Raven-haired twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza sang in complex, sinister harmony while former Secret Machines member Benjamin Curtis churned out loud, dreamy soundscapes from his guitar, unseen electronics and half a dozen amps flat-lined against the back wall.

Half Asleep and Iamundernodisguise from 2008’s Alpinisms were highlights, as was Alejandra’s stage presence. Unlike her demure synth-playing twin, the guitar-slinging singer pranced around the stage – which was completely dark save for psychedelic images projected behind the band – spastically flicking her head to the side every few seconds.

Earlier, Depreciation Guild played similarly atmospheric tunes, theirs invigorated by deft guitar work. But after his axe flaked out and no one could fulfil his request for a loaner, hushed-voiced singer Kurt Feldman, also from the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, abruptly ended – and ruined – the set by marching off in a huff.

CARLA GILLIS

Fri, Oct 16

DAN MANGAN with WILL CURRIE & THE COUNTRY FRENCH at the Rivoli Rating: NNN

In all the hubbub over Fucked Up winning this year’s Polaris Prize, many missed that Vancouver singer/songwriter Dan Mangan won artist of the year at the Verge Awards the very next night.

After a sweaty, upbeat set of shiny, happy piano pop from Will Currie & the Country French (joined for a song by Sloan’s Jay Ferguson), Mangan took the energy down a notch with introspective acoustic tunes. Usually he’s a fairly restrained vocalist, but it turns out he’s got a richly textured, emotive growl just waiting to come out. 

Still, he failed to command the attention of the chatty crowd, a sign that he might need to turn up the rock and leave the sensitive folksinger thing for the studio.

BENJAMIN BOLES

Sat, Oct 17

SNOWBLINK, BRIAN BORCHERDT, GHOSTLIGHT and GREAT BLOOMERS as part of All Caps! Island Show at Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts Rating: NNN

The monthly all-ages ALL CAPS! series is usually eclectic, and the lineup for this Artscape Gibraltar Point fundraiser was no different. But those who only caught the midday entertainment experienced a very folky music fest that suited the former schoolhouse’s hippie vibe.

Snowblink’s electronically assisted space folk was easily the highlight. Led by Daniela Gesundheit, the duo pulled off brilliantly sad, eerie covers of both Dolly Parton and Michael Jackson. Later, Brian Borcherdt did a heartbreaking version of Kim Mitchell’s Easy To Tame. Minor-key reworkings of pop anthems are popular lately.

Performing in front of the old lighthouse, local noise-rock collective Ghostlight assaulted us with droning discordant improvisations. It was a nice break from singer/songwriters, but we wish more of the band’s members had made it out to the island.Great Bloomers went for a similarly stripped-down lineup. They still sounded great, but we were aching for loud drums by this point.

BB