Rock On

Tuesday day was the last night for the month-long residency of Montreal alt-country band Ladies of the Canyon. I liked their new songs during the last visit and I wanted to hear them again while waiting for the new album to drop.

It was a definite bonus that one of my favourite local bands, sweet harmonizing Hands & Teeth, was the opener. From their first song, Easy, their multi-part vocals were a pleasure to listen to. Though the harmonies remain, their new songs have a louder edge full of head-bopping riffs and guitar solos. Singer Natasha played rhythm guitar, but she also fed her mini-synth through guitar pedals which made it sound more rock.

Ladies of the Canyon also went more rock as well: from AC/DC and Sadies t-shirts, to leather jackets, and cut-off jean shorts. They kept a bit of country by wearing funky cowboot boots. This also came through their music. New songs like Dark Water and Two Moons were hard-driven numbers. But they included some country twang with tunes including Take The Night and Dear John. This is a great new direction and the new album should be fun to listen to (outside of wonderful live performances like tonight).