Feeling Me Softly

Friday night, I headed down to The Horseshoe Tavern for a show. Montreal band Sorry Girls had just started their set. It was dreamy-pop with the 80s flavour of vibrating synth chords, picked riffs, and  echoing guitar solos. Heather Foster had a pleading, "on the verge of tears" undertone to her singing. This was perfect as their songs were often about love found and lost: One That You Want, Give You Love. There were a few dance-friendly song including Under Cover.

My memory of the band Jaunt must be flawed. I remember their gig at Luanda House was full of dance bangers. But the dreamy vibe tonight continued with their set. For them, the throwback influence was soft 70s chill (Comfortable, Nostalgia For The Present Moment): slow pulse bass, ringing guitar, and falsetto choruses. There were already some background harmonies, but the recent addition of Caitlin Woelfle-O'Brien (Blunt Chunks) added soprano top notes. Almost a full co-vocalist, she usually accompanied Thomas Halliwell on some verses or act as a call-and-response. Upcoming album numbers like Obvious Answer showed that Jaunt can crank up the groove to get feet moving.