She Wants Revenge

There’s good and bad news about She Wants Revenge’s sophomore release, This Is Forever. The bad news: it sounds exactly the same as their first album. The good news: it sounds exactly the same as their first album.

That’s always been the central conundrum of She Wants Revenge. Originality is not their strong point, but they never meant for it to be. The music, even sometimes the song titles, are a precisely calculated homage to post-punk and Depeche Mode style New Wave. Of course, you can’t go wrong with that, and there’s no denying that the songs are good. There’s a kind of genius in their achievement, an admirable exercise in excellent style over substance. What keeps the whole thing from slipping into tired parody is that She Wants Revenge is doing it with tongue firmly in cheek.

Like their first album, the new one This Is Forever, starts off with a moody electro instrumental piece, First Love. The rest of the album essentially follows suit with varying degrees of success. Written In Blood is the weakest song. It comes off as less knowing homage and more like a formulaic pastiche. The fun wears a bit thin on She Will Always Be a Broken Girl and Replacement. One song starts to blend into the next.

There are some genuinely good moments. All Those Moments is a gentler counterpoint to First Love, and is a welcome change of pace. Checking Out’s Sisters of Mercy style guitar and bass play to the duo’s strengths. Closer Rachael is the most successful song; it’s moody and coolly detached, and the brazen influences come off as cheeky rather than tired.

There’s not much new in This Is Forever. There doesn’t have to be. It’s all in good fun, and even though the party is winding down it isn’t quite over yet.

the does at the Smiling Buddha

the does post-show. Photo: Nicole Votta

Devoted fans faithfully turned out to see the does band play the Smiling Buddha on a miserable, wet Monday night. The stormy weather suited their moody rock tunes perfectly.

“We’re the band you listen to in the dark,” singer Carol Ann said.

Diablo Red started the night out with a set of stoner rock tinged metal. The singer, Rob, disappointed the crowd only by not speaking between songs in the same growl he sang in.

Then it was time for the does. Drummer Alex Croft and guitarist Neddal Ayad set the mood with a slow paced improvised instrumental number. Singer Carol Ann and bassist Nicole Lee joined them on stage and the band launched into a driving version of their song ‘Ice and Snow’.

They put on an intense performance, well worth braving the elements for. There’s a raw edge to their music, a roughness that contrasts with and complements the simple arrangements. Neddal Ayad’s ragged guitar and Carol Ann’s voice are the musical core of the band’s sound. It’s a dramatic tension they know how to use.

“Make ‘em cry, Nicole,” Ayad said to Lee as the band began the bass driven ballad ‘Gunfighter’.
Broken hearts and moodiness aside, they do have a sense of humour about what they do.
“Neddal does it to pick up the hipster chicks,” Croft said.

The coming months will be busy for the Toronto- based band. Their packed schedule includes shows at the Bovine Sex Club. They’re working on a full-length release tentatively scheduled for March 2008.

Orn at the Smiling Buddha

Orn filled the Smiling Buddha in Toronto with a palpable wall of doom last Friday night. Dense waves of feedback and a low-end throb were felt as much as heard by the enthusiastic crowd that packed the venue. They played a two-song set that still clocked in at 30 minutes.

Orn isn’t quite your typical doom metal band. The long, droning songs and the tortured wail of vocalist Adam Cooper are classic doom. But the structure is minimal to the point of being avant-garde. Cooper, guitarist Dan Ross and drummer Justin Smith created an affecting soundscape of feedback and simple, heavy beats.

The three of them started the band a year ago, and have only played one other show. Ross, a shaggy, bearded political science doctoral candidate, commented on Orn’s slow, steady pace before the show.

“Like all things in doom metal we move very, very slowly,” Ross said.

They drew a surprisingly mixed crowd. The usual metal heads in bullet belts and ratty hair rubbed shoulders with hipsters in bandanas and Cons. Doom metal has gotten a stamp of approval from magazines like Vice, and another Toronto-based doom outfit, Nadja, has gotten coverage in mainstream media.

Everyone seemed equally caught up in the music though. Any song that can hold your attention for 20 minutes has to be good. The crowd pressed right up to the edge of the stage, and even the most detached hipsters rocked out to the pulses of noise.

Orn have just released an EP, Teeth/Knowing. They plan to gig around Toronto and eventually release a full-length album.

Unlike other bands in the doom scene, like Sunn 0))), who put on pretentious, conceptualized shows, an Orn show is refreshingly down to earth. They’re just three guys in black playing their hearts out, no props or robes needed.

“There’s nothing complicated or tricky, it doesn’t ask you to be over-sophisticated or to intellectualize what you’re looking to do,” Ross said. “It’s just big, loud, stupid music. I think sometimes people just want to listen to big, loud, stupid music.”