Suoni Per Il Popolo – Sonic Avenues / Needles // Pins / UBT / Pale Lips

Sonic Avenues, Needles//Pins, UBT, Pale Lips
June 12th @ Casa del Popolo
All photos courtesy of Jason Hughes (jasonhughesphoto.com/)

Admittedly, Sonic Avenues‘ own hometown was a little late to the party. While the low-fi power-pop quartet was welcomed early on by Ottawa’s tight-knit punk scene, and embraced on both US coasts, they would still regularly play to the same few dozen (enthusiastic) fans here in Montreal. However, the last year or so has finally seen the band’s stature begin to grow locally, culminating in a packed headlining show at Casa del Popolo on June 12th for the release of their third full-length, Mistakes (Dirtnap).

Montreal’s Pale Lips opened the proceedings with their scrappy brand of poppy garage rock, which is often filtered through a Kathleen Hannah–like delivery. The band shares a member with Montreal/Ottawa punks Dagger Eyes, and while they only have a demo out so far, they were recently in the studio, so we can likely expect a new release in the not too distant future. Fans of low-fi garage pop like Peach Kelli Pop, or the entirety of the Burger Records catalogue ,should keep an ear out for Pale Lips.

Vancouver’s Needles//Pins made their annual trek out east for the Ottawa Explosion weekend, which luckily included a Montreal stop along the way. The band routinely pump out incredibly tight, hook-laden power-pop gems that fester in the mind for weeks. Their 12:34 LP was one of the best examples of the genre in recent memory, and Shamebirds, (Dirt Cult) their latest, easily surpasses it. Fortunately, the band had a few advance test-press copies of the LP on hand, (record nerd alert!) which were snapped up pretty quickly.

The band have a tight connection with Sonic Avenues, with both bands having just returned from a joint European tour a few days prior to this show. That connection was evident during their set, with members of Sonic Avenues pressed right up at the front of the stage, dancing, singling-along and shouting out inside jokes (the favour was returned by Needles//Pins during the Sonic Avenues set). The band even pulled off a pretty faithful Exploding Hearts cover in honour of the Avenues’ launch, a fitting tribute to a band that has influenced this current power-pop crop more than any other band since the Ramones.

At first glance, Montreal’s UBT (Uncle Bad Touch) may have appeared out of place on a predominately poppy bill, but the crowd responded well to the band’s harder-edged, psychedelic take on garage rock. With dual male-female vocalists, including Priestess frontman Mikey Heppner, the band offered some welcome variety to the lineup, which was definitely appreciated.

Sonic Avenues finally took the stage around midnight, opening with “Waiting For A Change,” the first track off of Mistakes. The band are always incredibly tight live, constantly in motion, yet never missing a beat. The new varied material off of Mistakes allows the band to inject some left-turns into their set, slowing the tempo down temporarily before dropping into a guaranteed crowd-pleaser like “Out of My Head,” from their incredible 2009 self-titled record.

It was great to finally see a packed room of new faces mingled with the diehards, singing along to tracks both new and old. The band finished their set with an incendiary cover of Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings,” about as perfect a set closer as they come, and a fitting finale to a great, beer-soaked night.

Scroll down for additional photos of each set.

Pale Lips

Needles//Pins

UBT

 Sonic Avenues