I've been fairly obsessed with Suuns (pronounced “Soons”) ever since I saw their mesmerizing video for “Pie IX.” They are one of the more unique musical entities coming out of the great white north. On their debut, 2010’s Zeroes QC, they managed to establish the perfect dichotomy between eerie noise and accessible dance music. I’m writing this on Halloween and songs like “Gaze” could serve as the perfect soundtrack to your night. Having been impressed with their performance at this year’s SXSW, I was happy to once again catch the exciting live act with Valleys and PS I Love You on October 7 at Great Scott.
I was completely unfamiliar with the opening band, Valleys. However, I was glad I caught some of their set as it proved to be an intriguing performance. I only caught the tail end but their atmospheric sound was fairly unique with no two songs sounding alike, which is always a good thing in my opinion. The song they ended with, “Ten Thousand Hours,” displayed the most potential. It started with a slow build before the percussion came crashing in along with some shouted vocals that brought to mind WU LYF. The tension and release structure served as an excellent way to close the set.
PS I Love You are a fantastic garage rock duo from Canada. Their 2010 album, Meet Me at the Munster Station, demonstrated that they could write songs as tight and memorable as the more lauded garage rock duos like No Age and Japandroids. What I didn’t realize until I saw them live was how accomplished guitarist Paul Saulnier was. With a doubleneck guitar in hand, Saulnier was doing some serious fretboard work that even brought to mind J Mascis at times. Drummer Benjamin Nelson provided the perfect backdrop to frame some of the catchier licks like the ones found on “2012” and “Facelove.” I highly recommend you listen to Figure it Out: A Collection of EPs & Singles by PS I Love You by liking their facebook page.
After much anticipation, Suuns took the stage and went to work combining dissonant art rock with plodding electro. It’s amazing that they managed to successfully combine sounds from Deerhoof, Beck, and The Soft Moon in just one song. Watching them live you really get to experience the full spectrum of their sound and it’s hard not to be impressed at how they can perfectly replicate the complicated sounds of the studio counterparts. For the aforementioned “Pie IX,” the singer could be found strutting on stage to the hypnotic beat before taking a mic out of his back pocket with the unforgettable and admittedly creepy vocal effects. “Armed for Peace” was another obvious highlight. It began with a disjointed buzzing sound that was held together loosely with a thumping drum beat. Once the searing guitars and falsetto vocals came roaring in, you were fully engaged and bobbing along. These favorites fit perfectly along some interesting new material like “Red Song” which was marked by its pounding beat and warbly synth loop. Below, you can listen to said song which is featured on an upcoming 12″ single and you can also view the trippy NSFW video for “Pie IX.”
01 Bambi by DOJAGSC
02 Red Song by DOJAGSC
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