Tag: NAIVE PUNK

PREMIERE: LO SIENTO’S “BRUJAS”

Sometimes isolation and social withdrawal isn’t conducive to healing from our cumulated hardships. Building up communities that share pain, frustrations, and disappointments is an act of reslience.

The latest release from Lo Siento, Brujas (translation: witches), is a narrative of finding strength and solidarity through femme friendship during times of distress. Based in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Lo Siento is Pepa Chan (guitar/vocals), Andrea Mcguire (bass/backing vocals), Allison Graves (drums), and newest member Jake Nicoll (keys/synth).

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Lo Siento: Pepa Chan, Allison Graves, Andrea McGuire
Photo by Knoah Bender

Brujas delivers the same spanish naive punk as their first release, Bingo Bango, but with the addition of pop melodies from Nicoll on keys and synth.

While Brujas delivers a sound that is light, enthusiastic, and cheerful, a deeper look into Chan’s lyrics will reveal that Lo Siento is a very political project that isn’t afraid to talk about all the hard things with all their complexities. Her voice, scrappy yet sweet, sings to us about coping, grieving, and resisting.

Brujas offers consistency. Together, Chan, McGuire, Graves, and Nicoll have developed song-writing that is cohesive and specific to Lo Siento. A standout track, for me, would be Despierta-aahhh, a song about struggling with insomnia (“si me acuesto me desvelo” translation: if I go to bed I wake up). The guitar walk-down that is punctuated by three snare hits really mirrors the way that restlessness can feel.

I think it’s okay to name that Lo Siento is an outlet, and a place of refuge, for when everything you are living is becoming too tough to manage alone.

See Lo Siento live:

March 15th – Brujas release w/ Pillowcount, Black Market Hard-Tack, and Hay Carbon! @ Peter Easton Pub, St. Johns, NFLD.

March 16th – Brujas release @ Fred’s Records, St. John’s, NFLD.

April 13th – Kazoo! Fest, Guelph, ON.

April 15th – w/ Property @ Burdock, Toronto, ON.

April 17th – w/ Property @ TBD, Kitchener, ON.

April 19th – w/ Property @ Black Squirrel Books, Ottawa, ON.

April 20th – Presented by Out of Earshot w/ Property @ La Plante, Montreal, QC.

Contribution by: Nikki A Basset

PREMIERE: BBQT’s “ALL FOR SHOW”

Someone once admitted to me that they identify as an intersectional feminist in their tinder profile just to get more dates; an acute example of a bad dude who’s using feminist language but is all for show (swipe left).

BBQT’s new EP, ALL FOR SHOW, is a sweet and salty treat about bad dates and being disappointed by a crush. These high-tempo minute-long tracks will satisfy all your garage-pop cravings (swipe right).

These BB CUTIES, now based in Montreal, met at a BBQ (well, of course) and quickly became great pals and supportive bandmates; each of them contributing some of their own spicy charm to the songwriting process. If you had the pleasure of looking deep into their online message threads, you would find lyrical content that has creeped into every BBQT song.

Despite only writing music for three years, Amery (vocals/guitar) delivers six well-crafted pop songs with silly, but relatable, lyrics. Allison (drums), in distinct BBQT fashion, keeps you swaying with her double snare hits across the entire EP. Jack (guitar/backup vocals) is responsible for most of the sun-kissed lead guitar that gives ALL FOR SHOW its power-pop inspired sound. And finally, Mike (bass/backup vocals), brings much more than just his sweet boyish demeanor; his driving bass lines bring each punchy track to the next.

Forget your crush and let ALL FOR SHOW be the summer soundtrack to your sunny afternoons drinking radlers in the park with all your best pals.

Fav track: FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. In thirty seconds you are blasted with the lyric that named the EP, noodley back-and-forth lead guitar, and a solo walk-down bass line that is punctuated by an effective single cymbal hit.

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BBQT’s: Allison Graves, Mike McDonald, Amery Sandford, Jack Bielli
Photo by: Tricia Robinson

Catch BBQT on their ALL FOR SHOW June 2018 Tour:

June 13th – with Property and Fog Lake @ Brasserie Beaubien, Montreal, QC

June 15th – w/ Dusk, Tough Age, and Peach Kelli Pop, @ The Clocktower Parking Lot Ottawa Explosion Music Festival, Ottawa, ON

June 16th – w/ Rareflower, Mountain Laurel, and Goodbye Stephanie @ King Edward Hall (All Ages Show) presented by Sweaty Palms, Edmonton, AB

June 17th – w/ Vi’s Guys (Canmore) @ The Canmore Legion, Canmore, AB

June 20th – w/ Dark Time, Le Plaisir, and Michael Rault @ Ship and Anchor, Calgary, AB

June 21st – w/ SBDC, BIRDO, and The Allovers @ The Palomino, Calgary, AB

STAFF CONTRIBUTION: Nikki A. Basset

NYBC PRESENTS: LO SIENTO AT GREEN BEAN CAFE

On April 25th, not your boys club presented Lo Siento (NFLD) with scrambled meggz (NFLD) at the Green Bean Café in Windsor, ON. On the afternoon of the 25th, Lo Siento—Pepa, Andrea, and Meg (of scrambled meggz and filling in for Allison on drums)—pulled up to my house in their (hilarious) royal blue Dodge Charger. We had some time before they needed to load into the venue, so I took them across the river to Detroit to see the installations at the Heidelberg Art Project and the Detroit Industrial Gallery.

After our visit to Detroit, Lo Siento loaded into the Green Bean Café for their early show. Green Bean Café is a safe, accessible, dry, and inclusive space with a large capacity, great food, and a welcoming atmosphere. It was the perfect venue for the first not your boys club show. Before, between, and after sets, I played my favourite records (women and trans musicians only!).

Once a handful of people were there, scrambled meggz started her set. Meg has a way of making a show feel intimate and personal as if she’s playing in her living room to her closest friends. My favourite track that Meg played for us was “2 little lazy eyes (a song for pepa)” which was realeased on the two-track album xoxo only a few days before Lo Siento went on tour. When Meg didn’t have a trumpet for the solo, she compromised and sang it for us.

Lo Siento did not disappoint. Pepa sings in spanish, but regardless of language, she gets her (feminist) message across. Two specific songs, “Historia en el Placard” and “No Es No”, really resonated with me.

“Historia en el Placard” is a song that Pepa wrote about her experience of moving to Canada and learning of the injustices that Indigenous people face. She told us she wrote it specifically about the residential school systems and forced assimilation, and with the recent failures of justice for Colton Boushie and Tina Fontaine, this live performance hit me hard.

Second, “No Es No” (translates to “No Means No”) is a song about rape culture, victim-blaming, and informed consent. The song begins with a lyric that translates to “tired of feeling afraid”; a relatable lyric for any vulnerable person who is told that they are responsible for having resistance strategies when “no” is not enough.

Lo Siento delivered a set that was unapologetically sincere.  Their performance was a window into their unwavering friendship; while laughing at their mistakes and refusing to take themselves too seriously, they also communicated love for one another all throughout their set. It is unmistakable how much fun they have playing music together.

STAFF CONTRIBUTION: Nikki A. Basset