Monday, March 30, 2009

The Black Hat Brigade @ Walker's Brew (Brampton). Sat. Mar. 28.2009.


So, it pretty much worked out perfectly that the Black Hat Brigade were playing in Brampton last night (or maybe two nights ago by the time this goes up) for a couple of reasons. Partly because, based on their s/t 2008 debut EP, they've become one of my favourite bands, and, the other part being it was a nice excuse to get out to the great nation of Brampton to see Liz's parents.

Initially, Liz and I, both recouping from Friday night, were not that into it and were kind of in survival mode (i.e. you know that point when you're hung over when the smell of booze makes you kind of sick to your stomach?). But once the BHB got going, particularly after the (2nd, 3rd or 4th song... I can't remember) one from the BHB EP, both of us really started to perk up and really have a good time.

From there, as the two us got more into the show, I started to pick up on a kind of Explosions in the Sky (the guys who provide the Sndtrck to FNL) vibe to their music.... the driving basslines, the rising action, the really pointed, catchy guitar hooks. At first, when I talked about their s/t EP last year I made the comparison to Wolf Parade - as did many others - but, after seeing them live (and hearing the last WP album) I almost think the WP comparison almost is a disservice to the band.

.. maybe I'm over selling it a little here, but if you haven't give the BHB a chance yet, you ought to. And, now's the perfect time because they've got a new EP coming out in May, Fathers (and a free sampler they're giving away at shows), which you can buy through their myspace page.

As a final note, this may turn into Black Hat Brigade week here at BM (haha! nice acronym) headquarters (my couch) since last night (perhaps foolishly) the guys agreed to trade emails with me this week for a new segment I'm going try, aptly titled "Exchanging e-mails with...". I'm hoping (but not holding my breath) that this segment will turn into a weekly, but more likely bi-weekly or monthly, segment as an excuse to try and associate with people way cooler than me.

[mp3] Black Hat Brigade - Zombie Shake
[mp3] Black Hat Brigade - Swords (live @ Walker's Brew)

And, I played around with a bunch of different settings on my camera last night, so here are some that turned out... at least kind of:











1 comment:

Allan said...

I remember you mentioning AWHILE back. You gave them a strong comparison. I should really ask for a copy of their album. Really like the songs they have available for stream.