Defektors… Aug 14

Defektors
with B-Lines, the New Values, and Dichotomy
at the Honey Lounge, August 14, 2008
Reviewed by Stephen Jersak

Chad Loewen’s inebriated dicking around seemed like a detractor in the moment, but really, it defined Dichotomy’s sound. Beats are non-existent, relentless runs of snare/hi-hat/kick smashes surrogating. Screams were squeezed through the sound system, coming out as bursts of white noise. The bass parts were ripped off from an alternate Ramones who went hardcore after Leave Home. Over top of all of it, Mister Loewen layered shitloads of feedback and distortion on his scrappy chords, before fucking around for 10 minutes, alternately annoying and entertaining. Did I like them? I have no idea.

From some niche of power-pop that collected the dust of hardcore until sometime mid-80s, the New Values played a solid set that didn’t betray their lack of shows. I wasn’t blow away, but it’s great that Vancouver has a fun new band that can cover Bad Brains without mangling the sound, or resorting to straight imitation. Expect to see them playing with the Tranzmitors.

Preluding their west coast tour, B-Lines kicked Vancouver’s ass with a fun set, full of catchy insanity. Jason figured out what’s going on, not repeating the Music Waste Thursday that frightened Bev Davies. Meanwhile, all the songs have sped up and developed more aggressive tendencies in the vacuum left by Norm’s power-pop influences. Ryan has been at his best at every show I’ve seen him play for months, getting closer and closer to full-tilt screaming as he jumps around and breaks glass.

Defektors showed off at the Emergency Room comp release and stole the show. They played another superb set, even if we couldn’t make out the vocals. It’s gorgeous art-punk in the vein of the Endtables, played over Evan’s amateur-but-appropriate beats. Look forward to their dual double-A sides from Hockey Dad and Nominal later this month, or whenever they finally get pressed.