The One Time Life Was Actually Kind of Like 'Glee'

This was almost 10 years ago or so, but still sticks in my memory, especially now that Glee has risen to such popularity.

My friend and I were at a festival on Toronto island several years back, one of those ones that Sloan put on. To put in perspective how long ago it was, Death From Above (1979, now) was the opener and Arcade Fire played second. The thing about Toronto Island, if you've never been, is that it's an island of course and as such, you have to take a ferry out there. On a normal day this isn't much of a problem, as the traffic is steady, but not jammed. On this day (and any other event day), the ferry dock is a bottleneck at both ends throughout the day. Only one ferry can load at a time, so each shore was busy for a portion of the day.

We got over relatively early, which meant not a lot of waiting. When the night was closing up and Sloan went on, we thought we'd be the savvy concert-goers and take off after 4-5 songs. It became immediately clear that we weren't the only ones who had thought of that. The wide path leading to the port was jammed ten-wide and several deep, chugging along very slowly. We got about 40 people deep when the gate closed and the ferry took off, accompanied by a collective groan from all of us. Just then, two guys got up on the railing and said, 'Hey, it's no problem - we'll make waiting fun!' Before anyone had a chance to figure out what was going on, they broke into a full-volume version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Normally, this would be silly and cringe-worthy, but they were actually really good. They picked the perfect song to get everyone involved and that they did. Very quickly it became roughly 200 of us singing along, harmonizing and pumping our hands up. Then, just like Glee, it ended with very little fanfare. There was a bit of clapping and they announced that they were part of a performing group that would be playing the following week at some place, then everyone returned to normal. The ferry arrived and we all returned to our lives as if it were a normal thing to spontaneously burst into song.

A Record a Week: Death From Above (1979) - Heads Up!

SIDE 1.
DEAD WOMB
TO MUCH LOVE
DO IT!

SIDE 2.
MY LOVE IS SHARED
LOSING FRIENDS
IF WE DON'T MAKE IT WE'LL FAKE IT

I put the 1979 in brackets because the original release of this album was prior to the cease and desist letter that forced them to add drummer Sebastien Grainger's birth year.

I remember the time this album came to be, because the band I was in at the time was playing a boatload of shows with their other band. I was at the house where they lived and they invited me into the basement to hear a new project they were working on. A month or so later, I booked their first Canadian show at a small bar called the OPM Den. There were a grand total of about 35, maybe 40 people there.

This is a fast-paced album, exploring many facets of the loud dance-punk/indie sound. It comes in at a short 14 or so minutes, leaving you wanting more. This was released during an overlap while the duo were also performing in the live version of Jesse's solo noise-dance outfit Femme Fatale.

The beauty of this album lies in the fact that it sounds familiar to other music you like, but contains enough different elements that it also sounds completely unique. In my opinion, this was their best recorded album. The music they wrote was always good, but the production of this album really harnessed the energy of their live show, which was probably their most attractive element. The vocals have a slight distortion and a lot of emotion to them. The production on the later albums makes the music more commercially viable, while somewhat taking away from the energy.

The highlight for me (also awesome at their live shows) is 'Do It! (live)' If you ever have the pleasure of seeing it live, you will see Jesse finger-tapping the bass part with his left hand while he uses his right to play the vocal line on his vocorder. The album was re-issued on CD, but if you are a savvy searcher, you may still be able to find one of the two presses of the LP.