Best Shows of the Year: The Courtneys at the Biltmore Cabaret, August 17

I love the Courtneys, but as much as it hurts admitting it, they sound shitty almost every time I see them. Not on August 17 though. They couldn't have been more bang-on. Moreover, the show contained some of my favourite concert moments of the year: Nü Sensae drummer Daniel Pitout guested on the skins for one song and pounded out the most intense version of "90210" I've heard; I didn't know the song could sound so good that fast. Even Courtneys drummer/singer Jenn Twynn Payne shouted, "Too fast!!" with a laugh. The giggles continued when, during the same song, Hockey Dad Records founder and B-Lines singer Ryan Dyck paraded Payne around the Biltmore on his high shoulders, nearly smashing her head into the ceiling several times. Yet Jenn sang on. Trooper.

Speaking of Pitout, I have to note that he claimed yet another one of my top concert moments this year when he marched onstage during B-Lines, mic in hand, and launched into a SCORCHING version of "Busy Man".

The Courtneys FEAT. Daniel Pitout - 90210 at the Biltmore from The Courtneys on Vimeo.

The Courtneys X Tegan and Sara

Whoa. Mega-stars Tegan and Sara with my favourites. The Quin sisters were at Ambleside Park in West Van this past Saturday, and someone, somehow, hooked this up. It really makes me wonder how far the smallest bands' connections go.

The Courtneys Feat. Daniel Pitout (Nü Sensae) and Ryan Dyck - "90210"

The sound quality in this video is shit, but after having seen Nü Sensae's Daniel Pitout drum on the Courtneys' "90210", I will never listen to this song the same way again. Can Daniel play on all of the Courtneys songs from now on? And B-Lines'/Hockey Dad Records' Ryan Dyck almost dumping JTP on her head and smashing her against the ceiling - best Courtneys show I've ever seen no question:

The Courtneys FEAT. Daniel Pitout - 90210 at the Biltmore from The Courtneys on Vimeo.

The Courtneys Interview with the Grey Estates

The Courtneys give lyrical insight into some of their songs, an update on future plans and, of course, discuss Keanu Reeves. The Courtneys play the Chinatown Night Market on July 27 and this year's Victory Square Block Party (Labour Day Weekend, TBA). Both shows will be FREE! Click here to read the interview.

Vancouver Weekly's Best Albums of 2013: Mid-Year Round-up - Run-Offs

Since my pitches for Thee Oh Sees' Floating Coffin and Waxahatchee's Cerulean Salt didn't make Vancouver Weekly's mid-year round-up of the Best Albums of 2013, I'm posting my mini-reviews here. At least my vote for the Courtneys self-titled debut album passed. Click here for the full list, and read on for my blurbs:

Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin (Castle Face Records, April 16)

San Fran's hyper-prolific garage outfit Thee Oh Sees returned this year with Floating Coffin. It's meaty - a thick, bubbling stew of bloody psychedelia, cavernous claustrophobia and hypnotic, mangled riffs that burst like stressed sutures. Though it's one of the band's rare releases primarily written as a group, it still creeps and crawls the way only Thee Oh Sees can before tearing your flesh from bone.

Stand-out track: "Toe Cutter/Thumb Buster"

Waxahachee - Cerulean Salt (Don Giovanni Records, March 7)

Bedroom pop songs sung with enough obliqueness as to never quite feel confessional. A single guitar is mostly all Katie Crutchfield needs on her doleful second album Cerulean Salt, but bassist Kyle Gilbridge and drummer Keith Spencer make little rock gems like "Coast To Coast" possible, even lifting the album's spirits a bit, at least musically.

Stand-out track: "You're Damaged"

Johnny de Courcy - "Cherry Lane"

"THEY TOOK MY - FUCKING DRUGS, GIVE ME MY - FUCKING DRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGS!" 

Johnny de Courcy may be a better show than I expect. I'll find out Friday when he plays the Courtneys' tour kick-off show along with my other local favs Juvenile Hall and Student Teacher at the Railway Club.

My Album of the Year?

I'll let you know in December. My album of the half-year? I'll let you know right now. Watch the video for the Courtneys' "Nu Sundae", from their just-released debut LP The Courtneys, below, and read their interview with Rookie Mag here. 

The Courtneys: "Nu Sundae" from Rookie on Vimeo.

FULL STREAM: The Courtneys - The Courtneys (Hockey Dad Records, 2013)

Pop sun summer feel good happy yay. Stream the Vancouver trio's self-titled debut album for a limited time at Exclaim.ca.

The Courtneys - "90210"

Vancouver's Keanu Reeves-obsessed trio the Courtneys have released the video for "90210," their upcoming full-length debut album's lead single. They've blown up and cleaned up their sound, but their guitars remain fuzzy, and they still play and sing with beach-ready poppiness. I can already tell I'll have this one on repeat for days.

The Courtneys - 90210 from Courtney G on Vimeo.

Yes! She's Coming Back!

La Sera returns to Vancouver on Nov. 6, this time at the Waldorf with hometown garage rockers the Courtneys. I missed La Sera when she played the Biltmore in July due to financial constraints, but so far, November looks like a pretty show-barren month. And the Courtneys are great. I may finally get a taste of them live if I decide to go to their show with Nü Sensae at 360 Glen in a couple of weeks. You may recall that the Courtneys were one of the bands I missed at this year's Khatsahlano Music + Arts Festival. Weee, pop-rock!