Working Out Words

What irks me about Stylus' unflattering review of The Diableros' album "You Can’t Break the Strings in Our Olympic Hearts" is not merely the fact that they slag an album that I really like but how far they go to say they don't like it. C'mon, a C-? Gimme a break. Anything below a B- is really heresy. I know reviews are by nature subjective but Stylus' review crosses the line over to arrogance. When the reviewers mentions the difficulty of hearing the vocals on "Through The Foam" and being unable " ...to decipher one iota of lyrical substance" I'm just wondering how aware the reviewer is to the fact that you can't necessarily make out lyrics in ALOT of music. I can't say that I pay attention alot to lyrics myself, and many times vocals for me are just another sound in the mix. Later on the reviewer points out about "Tropical Pets" that it's "...jarring synthesizer thirds, eerie and affecting ten years ago, are forgettable now..." which is something that I just do not agree with. It's the reviewer's final paragraph that really takes the cake as it goes on for four sentences to paint a picture of The Diableros as revivalists but with little substance. Listen to the album and decide for yourself, but I swear that if you aren't moved by these songs, then you're dead inside.

Concert news galore comin' at cha':

As part of Ryerson University's frosh week Shad K, God Made Me Funky and headliners The Stills will be performing at a stage in the campus' quad on August 31st. Show time's between 1 pm and 5 pm. My experience with such frosh concerts is that they don't really check who is or isn't a student so if you're in the area, I'm sure you'd have no problem strolling in[info].

According to their MySpace site, The Silver Hearts have a show coming up on September 7 at The Drake Hotel.

Regina Spektor will be at Phoenix on October 10, tickets $18.50[via Rotate This].

Joanna Newsom's finally coming to Toronto for a show at The Mod Club on October 14th October 4[via Chromewaves over at Stille Post]

The New P0rnographers w/ Noveillero & Immaculate Machine will be at Kool Haus in Toronto on November October 11 as part of the Exclaim!/15th Anniversary Mint Records showcase.

The press machine continues for The Bicycles with articles at chartattack and Jam Showbiz. Remember, their CD release is tomorrow at Tranzac with an afternoon(2pm) as well as evening(9pm) show featuring an army of guests.

Jam Showbiz speaks with Sean Dean of The Sadies about the band's insatiable desire to play live. The band's CD release shows for their recently released double-disc live set entitled "In Concert Volume I" goes down September 8 and 9 at Horseshoe Tavern.