MUSIC PREVIEW: No Problem amps up doom
Edmonton’s punk rock pride No Problem have always been a bit dark – and in these dark times, what do you do but literally amp it up?
The band’s new album Let God Sort Em Out – their seventh since 2010 – is a bold work filled with raging punk rockers interspersed with spooky bookends of horrorshow atonality. Would love to hear more of this sort of experimentation from the band. Meanwhile, in short and sour-sweet songs, angry lyrics both shouted and sung take aim at what presumably pisses them off, without necessarily naming names: War, injustice, religious zealotry – you know, the usual things punk rock bands rant about. Because it’s a dirty job and someone (still) has to do it. Taken all at once, the sneeringly-titled Let God Sort Em Out is a fatalist slap in the face, a punch in the nose. Rhetorically speaking, of course.
But until we die, we party. Fresh from a European tour, No Problem is back home for a record release show Friday night at 9910. Also on the bill will be Languid and Sister Suzie. 9 pm, tickets $15
Thursday 28
Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra – The pride of Victoria, B.C. play here a lot, but no one seems to mind. Their evil accordion-violin-driven klezmerish style is practically a soundtrack for summer in Edmonton. With Nanise, at the Almanac, 8 pm, $20 advance
Friday 29
Blood Sweat and Tears – What goes up must come down, spinning wheel got to go ‘round, talking about your troubles, it’s a crying sin, ride a painted pony, let the spinnin’ wheel spin – yes, truer words were never spoken, then sung, and then surrounded by a wonderful set of horn arrangements rich in crunchy, satisfying chords. What we have here is one of the original “brass rock” bands, born of jazz, steeped in Tin Pan Alley pop. There of course can only be one Blood Sweat and Tears, whoever original members are in the band now (too complicated to go into here, but former American Idol contestant Bo Bice is fronting the band now); it’s the music that’s important, a great example of the sum being greater than the parts. River Cree Casino, 9 pm, advance tickets $40
Saturday 30
Raygun Cowboys – Edmonton’s premier “psycho-billy” (rockabilly + punk) band never fails to put on a terrific show, now with full horn section touring relentlessly on the back of their year-old album, The Cowboy Code. Also on a big bill at the Starlite Room will be Fire Next Time, The Resignators, Julius Sumner Miller, and The River Jacks. 8 pm, tickets $20
Kubasonics – Of course they’re joking when they bill themselves as “Newfoundland’s finest Ukrainian band” because they might be Newfoundland’s only Ukrainian band. But they’re so good at it, bringing this ancient form of music into the 21st Century with a rip-roaring, violin-sawing, big butch fiddle-pounding sound, that maybe they should move to Alberta – which is filled with Ukrainians. And Newfoundlanders, too! Aviary, 8 pm, $15 advance
Johnny O’Neal Trio – If you had to pick one show for the closing weekend of the TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival – and we have – it would have to be this cat from Detroit. Monster pianist, great singer, fond of breakneck speed be-bop we like to call “neo-bop,” balanced by tender soul ballads, Johnny O’Neal has released seven albums since 1983, his latest called In the Moment. Varscona Theatre, two shows: 7:30 pm and 9:15 pm, advance tickets $40
The Urinals – Well, boys, we named the band and now we’re stuck with it … is what might’ve gone through these guys’ minds back when they formed their low-fi minimialist punk band in the late ‘70s. They are considered, by some, to be pioneers. That they’ve been going this long (give or take a 13-year hiatus and a few confusing name changes) has to count for something. Rec Room South, 8:30 pm, $15 advance
Colleen Brown and Major Love – Under the curatorship of local musician Ben Sures, the free outdoor stage at the Works Art & Design Festival has become an eclectic and interesting space. Tonight we have a cool double bill: Acclaimed singer-songwriter Colleen Brown at 8:45 pm, followed at 10 pm by Major Love, the supergroup she formed with members of Scenic Route to Alaska. The Works shows continue through July 3 at the Capital Plaza at the Alberta Legislature. See schedule.
READ: Interview with Colleen Brown
Sunday July 1
Wilfred N & the Grown Men – If you had to pick just one show to see on Canada Day – and we are – make it this blast from Edmonton past. Big in the ‘80s, these guys are putting on a rare full band show – now featuring Wilfred Kozub’s son Nik, whom area fans will know as a member of Shout Out Out Out Out. With Thomas Alexander and the Fusion Experience also on the bill, this show is the kick-off for Festival Place’s Qualico Patio Series. BBQ starts at 6 pm, bands on at 7:30 pm, advance tickets $8
