Plants And Animals CD Release @ The Drake Underground

February 22nd, 2008

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Photo By Chris Johnson

OK, I have an admission to make…and this is terrible: the number of shows I’ve attended this winter is less than one per month. Basically I’ve been on hiatus and it started making me twitchy. So, when my friend Vivek, invited me out to the Plants And Animals CD release I had to take him up on his offer.

While I’m making admissions, I’ve got another one to make. Prior to Vivek’s invite I had never heard of Plants And Animals. I was going to this show completely free from any expectations. I didn’t even know if I should expect to see an opening band. Last night was about breaking the dry spell of shows and discovering something new.

Doors opened at 9pm and, as it turns out, there was an opening band; The Bruce Peninsula. They began taking the stage around 9:30 and it took them a bit to set up since I think I counted about nine of them on stage. hey introduced themselves and went into their first song.

Their sound was unique - folk, sometimes gospel, sometimes rock but always interesting and something that I hadn’t seen in Toronto before. Their song arrangements were very complex, making good use of a whole group of vocalists at various points in the set. At times the male vocals reminded me a lot of Nick Cave. Straightforward, gravelly and moody. This is a band I’m going to keep my eye on, partly because I liked what they did last night and partly because I’m hoping to catch them covering the tune Stagger Lee.

I was worried that after the stage party that was Bruce Peninsula the three guys on stage for Plants And Animals would be underwhelming. After a short break, Plants And Animals came out and went into the opening track of their new CD, Bye Bye Bye. My worries melted away. They had a great presence and filled the stage keeping me listening and watching.

Their songs ranged from some lighter sounds to an all-out everyone-in- the-room-is-moving rock out. I know that’s a terrible description, but I’m really having trouble describing this band. At times I’m almost certain I can see similarities to bands like CSNY. At other times I’m convinced they could have helped write the Hedwig soundtrack. Ultimately, I’ve come to the conclusion that they should really just be taken for what they are - extremely talented and interesting songsmiths that are on to something.

Check out their new album Parc Avenue and let me know what you think. Also, if anyone can find lyrics for either of these bands, I’d love to read them.

Links:
Official Site: Plants And Animals
MySpace: Plants And Animals
Record Label: Secret City Records

Posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 3:25 pm by Alberto and is filed under Concerts & Events.

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