Chilling

As another cold snap gripped Toronto, I headed down to The Horseshoe on Tuesday for NuMusic night. Amazingly, there was a good crowd on a night made for staying home. But sadly not for opening act Alan Snoddy. Stuck with the early 9 pm slot, this country crooner and his trio got a polite but unengaged audience. If Mellencamp sang new country songs, he might sound like Snoddy. It mostly didn't work for me because he wasn't as good as the former and also, I like country but not new country. With his large pompadour, maybe he should be exploring either Chris Isaak or rockabilly territories.

In Toronto for the 1st time in 2 years, Quebec psychedelic rock outfit The High Dials filled up the front with some old fans. But they mostly played new tunes with only 2 numbers from the old catalogue. Backed by swirling synth and guitar, their sound evoked that Brit mod feel. I enjoyed their set but thought they could have been tighter.

Hands & Teeth has everything to hit it big: catchy power pop (and occasionally harder rock), lovely multi-part harmonies, and good-looking band members of both sexes. Fronted by a 60s-a-go-go-esque Natasha Pasternak, who wore a mid-riff baring top tonight, they put on a high-energy set. The great sound at Horseshoe really brought out the quality of their songcraft. Yet after several years on the local scene, they still haven't achieved that critical mass.

During their set, a guy wearing a giant pixelated human head (Eric Testroeste?) stood in the crowd as part of some guerilla video shooting. It was a bit surreal. I left before Erika Werry and the Alphabets took the stage.