Small Sins, The Little Ones, and the Big Sleep
11/16/6
Schubas in Chicago
I truly hope no one out there thinks I’m above going to see a band just because they are Canadian. If so, you overestimated me. I decided after feeling their myspace songs to be overall lackluster to check out Small Sins anyways because they come from Toronto and I thought it might be another case of Birdmonster where you don’t really have any connection to the music when you listen passively but seeing them live is another story.
It’s not really their fault in some ways that they didn’t impress me. Canadian bands have really raised the bar to live up to considering amazing live Canadian bands Sloan, The High Dials or The Dears who not only have fantastic albums out but always put on phenomenal live shows. So what’s created is a certain level of expectation that has to be met.
Small Sins is a five piece out of Toronto whose best song is perhaps “Big Within,” third listed on their myspace page. There are some nice keyboard parts and samples at the end. The Small Sins came out and played against a big banner announcing their name. Which leaves me to my next point…their name. I mean, what exactly is a small sin? Just thinking of their name causes me to mentally arrange a piece of paper in my head with small sins on one side (like lusting after Jon Stewart?) and big sins (well, obviously murder) on the other. I digress. What I really want to say is that this band has a way to go before they can measure up to the level of some other Canadian bands but I was fairly impressed that the keyboardist was playing so well with his broken arm in a cast. In any case, I’m a little confused about how they are influenced by Neil Young.
California’s The Little Ones were a different story altogether. Melodic and catchy, this five piece had the crowd smiling and dancing a bit, which was nice to see. On the Astralwerks label, their “sounds like on their myspace page in some ways does a good job of describing them: “Tiki shacks, lobster, thought bubbles, winks, juggling, laughter, games of laser tag, chocolate, burritos and smiles.” Listen to “Cha Cha Cha” on their myspace page for some catchy pop-psychedelic melodies.
Opening the night was Brooklyn three piece The Big Sleep which would be more appropriately called “The Big Awake” by their sound if you ask me. Indulging the audience in a bit of a sonic wonderland, their intensity at times made it difficult to catch the more feminine moments of the band contributed by Sonya Balchandani. At times, I felt I was drowning in motion and sound but it was definitely worth beholding. Unfortunately, it was very different from the other two bands, which made that transition between the 100% muscle rock to the catchy pop songs a rocky one. They list Smog as one of their influences and I dare say I couldn’t see them opening up for Bill Callahan either. No one would be ready for the slow fi of Smog’s set after the onslaught. Perhaps opening for Norway’s Serena Maneesh would be a good choice if they could swing that in the future.
Listen to the Big Sleep on myspace
View the complete photo set of The Small Sins, The Little Ones, and The Big Sleep on flickr
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The Small Sins:
The Little Ones:
The Big Sleep:
