Tranzmitors… March 8

Tranzmitors
with Dateless, the Spinoffs, and B-Lines
at Pub 340, March 8, 2008
Reviewed by Stephen Jersak

B-Lines are victims of school and jobs. Norm’s last show was a spastic showcase of why they deserve to trash punk houses inter-continentally. It was brief and sloppy, and maybe the wildest I’ve seen them play. Ryan keeps getting more comfortable, scaling the balcony, swinging the mic, and smashing light-bulbs. Everything was on overdrive, and broken glass suited the attack of a band on its way to being one of Vancouver’s most exciting.

The Spinoffs are the Spinoffs. They’ve been around forever, and keep surviving on speed and familiarity. It wasn’t bad, but I got bored with six songs left.

Youth Conference 1997. Dateless don’t bother with any distinguishing marks, aside from a few tattoos that compliment the generic, out-of-touch pop-punk band image. They were kind of funny, mostly bad, and would have benefited from more tongue-in-cheek “oohs” and “na na”s.

The Undertones and Buzzcocks get invoked in descriptions of the Tranzmitors because it’s a fair comparison. They don’t have the string of classics to match the legends tête-à-tête, but they have a unique classiness that still maintains a lot of aggression. It’s a combination of the suits and the more substantial lineup, matched up with impressive musicianship and refined backup vocals. Singles Going Steady and the Undertones’ self-titled debut are closer to my heart, but the Tranzmitors make sense as an overdue next step.