Beef up your 'mixtapes' with this growing collection of overlooked songs, old and new. One track, up to three times a week. Don’t forget to join in on the conversation, too.
‘I'll cut you down/I'll hold your face/And we will stay/In your happy place’
There is something vital going on in 2022 at Vancouver’s Rickshaw, the former theatre turned live music venue located in the bloody heart of the Downtown Eastside. It reminds me of 1979 through the early 1980s, when every band worth seeing – from XTC to Devo, to Magazine and The Stranglers – seemed to be stopping in Vancouver, usually at The Commodore. English post-punkers shame are among the newest wave to hit Vancouver, with their original February show pushed back to August due to the pandemic. They are loud and dark and angsty, just like so many bands in that original wave, with two excellent albums (2018’s Songs of Praise, and 2021’s Drunk Tank Pink) and a growing rep for live show bedlam. Angie is the restrained closer to Songs of Praise, reportedly a song that wasn’t planned for the full-length but which was added after the producers fell hard for it. It’s brooding and riveting, a “dark twisted love story” in the words of vocalist Charlie Steen, based on the true story of a man who can’t shake his love for a woman who committed suicide. At nearly seven minutes long, it requires patience. Stick with it.
https://youtu.be/eGQAW4631Xo
Another great recommendation. And, yes love to see stages like Rickshaw and Imperial hanging in there through pandemic. So good to have more venues for original live music and touring acts.