Thursday, June 27, 2013

Tonight: USA Out Of Vietnam


Picture courtesy of Meet You At The Show
Still in the midst of unpacking after a Monday move, I'm missing a show I wish I could attend, at my favourite venue in town - Casa Del Popolo. The act? None other than the mighty USA Out Of Vietnam.

For some idea on what you're missing, I'll refer you to my friend Triangles' blog right here. And he's right - $7 nets you this 60-minute opus and is a steal. Jonathan 'Johnson' Cummins always finds a way to make his projects special and different from anything he's touched previously; this one is closest to what The Besnard Lakes are doing, in that it is more atmospheric, rehearsed, structured and, well, longer in song duration than anything Doughboys or Bionic could throw at you, but its energy is no less primal. If anything, it's a lot more from the gut than the music he released in the 1980s and 1990s.

The plethora of collaborators in the studio give way to a mere 4-pice onstage, but don't let the sheer numbers fool you, this rock machine packs a heck of a punch. On a heaviness scale of Warrant to Darkthrone (or Poison to Entombed), it's a hard Kyuss. Yet, it can make a grown man cry more than watching his favourite sports team lose a championship in the final minute of a deciding game.

If you can make it, I advise you do.

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