Free Summer Shit Show

Let’s clear this up right away: there’s almost no way to incorrectly parse that title.  The show was free, featured free shit, and turned into a shit show – the good kind. Incidentally, the free shit included a flexi disc with tracks from Parlovr and Uncle Bad Touch (“Little Fishes” and “On and Island”, respectively). Check out The Untold City’s site for videos.

The night opened with Topanga, possibly the happiest four-piece in Toronto. Take a look at the video for “Lionheart” on their Myspace and you’ll see what I mean. Their sound is sincerely fun, pop-influenced without being obnoxious, and doesn’t bother trying too hard to be clever (the band doesn’t try too hard to look cool, either). Frontman Stefan Babcock supplies a lot of their energy, but the fact is that every band member has a microphone too. Eventually, the audience joined in.

Hailing from Montreal, the low-fi quartet Uncle Bad Touch followed with something of a mixed set. Sporting no-wave influences, Uncle Bad Touch is the kind of band you’d expect to find rocking out in a garage. Unfortunately, something was off and some of their set felt flat.

Three-piece Young Rival picked up the night with stripped-down 60’s style rock, sans nostalgia. They eschew overt showmanship and focus on playing well-crafted, relaxed rock’n’roll. Song writing is their strong point. It felt like three wallflowers wandered up from the audience and surprised the room with something like surf-inflected classic rock, but made new.

The night ended in a hot, manic mess when Parlovr took the stage. If your only prior contact with this trio has been their recordings, you’d expect a frayed and frenetic pop-rock sound, but you’d also be missing half the story. On stage, Parlovr loses any semblance of volume control and inhibition, and the crowd wouldn’t have it any other way.