Pressed For Time

On my way back to the guest house from Christmas shopping, I dropped by Torch Sushi for some to-go dinner. I selected their Mix8 set ($21.99) though if I had realized that it came with seaweed salad and edamame, I would have chosen the standard order ($17.99). Here they have combined Aburi (torch seared) and Oshizushi (pressed) sushi. Overall, this was a good meal because sometimes with non-Japanese joints it can be a major miss. The fish had good texture and a smoky flavour. The rice was moist and not tightly packed even though it was pressed into cube form. However, the cheese cake with the set order was heavy and cake-y.

After a short unwind, I headed over to Lee's Palace to listen to some punk bands. For a Dan Burke show, it actually started at a reasonable time. So I entered at around 8:50 pm to hear the first band warming up into their first song.  Anticipating some loud music, I had my earplugs tightly jammed in so I couldn't say what most songs were about tonight. Sham Family was grunt punk which is to say some heavy chords and a lot of short, shouty lyrics punctuated by occasional screams. Shitbats from Hamilton did lindy-hop punk. I have no reason to call their style this (publications name them garage surf) except that a certain rhythmic jauntiness in their songs encouraged vocalist Cat Clyde to shimmy and shake. In any case, they alternated between Ramones-like speedy tracks and bluesy tunes that Clyde imbued with an Amy Winehouse vibe. None more so than a mash-up that started with Dusty Springfield's Spooky and segued into a mosh-pit friendly "eff you" middle section.

I used to sometimes skip out on headliners if they came on really late. But now at my age, even the prospect of an 11-11:15 pm start time was too daunting.  So although Wine Lips' release of their psych punk album was the reason I got a ticket, I left the young crowd (with a smattering of grey-haired ex-punks) to their partying and headed back to the inn. The next day, I had one more reason to lament decrepitude. Despite being always diligent with ear protection against loud music, it was obvious that my left ear hear at about only half the volume of my right ear. No more pretending that cheap earbuds or weird Youtube mixing was the cause of my "off-center" and unbalanced sound perception.