Dead-Pan Alley

The 7-9 pm show Thursday night at the Dakota Tavern was best appreciated by those with a dry wit. Both acts specialized in pop songs sung in a sardonic manner, full of funny quips and verses. The opening act (though they played for the bulk of the time slot) was The Burning Hell, who have mostly moved to Newfoundland from Toronto. Fronted by Mathias Korn (who opened with My Name Is Mathias), a smaller version of the wildly bearded Ben Caplan, this trio played fun tunes. Korn told long stories with his music covering topics like fairy tales (Bedtime Stories) and pet euthanasia (Kings of the Animal Kingdom). His lyrics were unusual for pop with interesting phrasing and rhyme. Almost like a good showtune ... or perhaps a dense rap song (Amateur Rappers). But whether it was an eulogy for a robber baron (Industrialists) or a gig gone wrong (Realists), most had 3-part harmony refrains that were pure pop bliss. Ariel Sharrat, in addition to her singing duties, added great ornamentation with her dulcet clarinet.

With less than 30 minutes, Blimp Rock played an abbreviated set. Their songs were also atypical (Lake Ontario Lifeguards, If My Friends Ran The Government, Sensitive Boy). Peter Demakos' vocals had a similar understated irony to Korn's. You could imagine them both winking at you while singing. Since they didn't do their whole Blimp Rock Inc. schtick tonight, I thought they could have replaced some of the jokier songs with more straightforward pop. I missed hearing Monogamy Blues and Dancing On My Own from their Tranzac set.