B-Lines… July 19

B-Lines
with White Lung and Chris-a-riffic
at the Chez Nous Ballroom, July 19, 2008
Reviewed by Stephen Jersak

Chris-a-riffic opened the loft with his insistence that everyone was going to hate him and the idea of him opening for B-Lines and White Lung was ridiculous. He followed it up with a short set of delightful pop. The piano teacher neglected his casio, relying on a floor tom, some A Capella percussion, and audience participation to grind along beneath his clever lyrics and endearing voice.

The Victory Square Block Party is not White Lung’s element. I missed them at Music Waste, and their set at the Emergency Room comp release disintegrated as they were assaulted by the excited audience. It’s taken way too long to see them “properly”.

The girls kicked us in the shins with a quick, raucous set of some of the most aggressive and interesting punk I’ve seen. It’s catchy and attention-grabbing, and everyone knows how to use their instruments. They finished off their set with a song from their upcoming Deranged 7″, promising to be as excellent as their Hockey Dad debut.

With their line-up shuffle earlier this year B-Lines got aggressive and sloppy. They’ve cleaned up since, and re-calibrated the mix of punk and power-pop. They played a great set, jumping into songs with minimal hesitation, and Ryan screaming brains out. After a couple shaky shows, it’s great to see them tightened up without losing the attitude that spray-painted B-Lines on the living room wall and took credit for punk.