Space Cadets

Another drizzly Tuesday night at The Mod Club. I was here for some psychedelic music. First up was SWIMM. This L.A.-based band played groovy music with a lot of swirling wah-wah guitars. The lead singer's mass of tousled blond hair seemed appropriate to the genre.

The head-liners Bright Light Social Hour were from Austin, but they've come through Toronto numerous times on a series of never-ending tours. They have a good fan base here (the bassist even said, winkingly, that he wants to replace Drake and rep for Toronto). But although the crowd would pack their usual haunt at The Horseshoe Tavern, it couldn't quite fill up this larger venue. But to make up for the size, most were jammed right up to the stage.

BLSH ran through a good chunk of material from their new album "Space Is Still The Place" starting with the echoey The Moon which segued into the groovier Sweet Madelene. The new songs sounded more pop (though still psychedelic) than rock. Infinite Cities was practically a dance number. But the older tunes provided the knock-out punches. The audience went bananas for bluesy hurting song Detroit and the super funky Back and Forth.

Someone in the crowd remarked wryly that there's "something not right" about this band.  I guess if you start talking not so obliquely about mushrooms, then mused about living cozily as a fetus in a womb, and finally ended the night playing shirt-less (and pants-less), some might think you're a bit odd. But their sweet hippie demeanour was warmly embraced, and the 10-min encore Garden of the Gods had everyone grooving out; even the roadies came on stage for clap-alongs and crowd-surfing.