They took over L.A. Beat jam , but it was totally worth it and so was the deafness as Winnipeg surf/ punk band the Thrashers along with Edmonton indie rock band the Slates and local garage rock trio the Ruby Plumes tore up the Owl Acoustic Lounge, March 27.
I was there to hear the Thrashers. I’ve been playing their new EP “Ramp Locals” non stop on my Wednesday night punk show on CKXU. And they came ready for the beach dressed in singlets and sunglasses, guitar, bass and drums in hands.
They began with pop punkish “Ramp Locals”, the title track off their Ep, but it was all about reverb laden surf music after that as they ripped up a hot set of surf infused punk music which sounded like a blend of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, the Ventures, or any ’60s/ ’70s surf band, the Dead Kennedys when guitarist Jesse Bercier sang and even a touch of the Beastie Boys when big haired bassist Iaian Loeppky sang. Drummer Sean G kept the beat going and ev
en got one guy dancing all by his lonesome in front of the stage to “Dance Party” as the rest of the audience slowly made their way to the front of the stage.
Songs like “Shark Attack” and “Beach Party” from their CD “Make a Splash,” were some of my favourites as was a sizzling version of “Yakety Yak.” They even threw in an obscure Ramones cover of “Why Is It Always this Way.”
They also introduced a couple new songs, then Jesse Bercier broke strings on two of his guitars, then asked if anyone had a spare to lend them to finish their last two songs. Luckily one of the Slates was happy to oblige.
While I was hoping to hear “We Hate This” from the new EP, they played a hot set of enjoyable, toe tapping surf music instead.
The Ruby Plumes were the most responsible for my hearing loss from their set of high energy garage rock and punk music.
It is very cool to see young people playing music that was probably written before their parents were even born. So their set included liberal doses of bands like the MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges (Search and Destroy and I Wanna Be Your Dog) plus a few originals from a new Ep they are recording at Lethbridge record label Esper Records. Their cover of McLusky’s “To Hell With Good Intentions,” with the rousing chorus of “My love is better than your Love, we take more drugs than a touring funk band, my band is better than your band,” was ear bleedingly exceptional.
The Slates ended the night with an energetic set on indie rock influenced a lot by pop punk and modern rock like the Foo Fighters.
