Sophmore Jakes won the Lethbridge College Student’s Association Band Wars, March 8 at the Lethbridge College Barn
As I found out again, being a judge at a band wars and being responsible for choosing the best band is the Devil’s work especially when all of the competitors are varying degrees of awesome.
This year, veteran Fort Macleod pop-punk band Sophmore Jakes won a close race out of 10 widely different bands. Deadly new Lethbridge metal band Death Pledge placed second, while young metal band Shocked Standards won third place. A new indie rock trio Brodyr took fourth place while Calgary funk. blues/ indie rock trio the Outlets took fifth in a tough competition which also included local indie rock band the Utilities, metal trio Penitentz, a unique group called Bronx Cheer, rapper Furious D playing with acoustic guitarist Peacock and revamped garage rock/punk trio Chief Mountain.
I haven’t seen Sophmore Jakes for a while, so I was glad to see they haven’t lost their sense of fun, energy and knack for writing and performing catchy pop punk in the vein of Blink -182.
They owned the stage leaping all over it, trading vocals and playing a few old favourites and some new songs off their upcoming EP. Their set was all the more impressive considering drummer Jessie Goodfellow was playing with a broken foot. They gave a shout out to all of the other bands, noting a band wars event is a community building event.
“There wasn’t one band who was lame. And after seeing Death Pledge, I don’t even want to be in a band anymore,” grinned lead singer Ryland Moranz, summing up the thoughts of much of the audience.
Death Pledge was a deadly force of metal to behold. It was dual devil horns all the way as lead singer Phil Sirias alternately growled from the depths of hell and blasted ear piercing shrieking high notes that would have deafened Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickensen and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford. He sang over a massive backdrop of guitar, thundering bass and wah wah pedal drenched guitar solos. If you missed them, they will be at the Slice, April 19.
And I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. The future of Lethbridge’s music scene is assured if Shocked Standards’s performance is any indication. These young musicians, aged 15 and 16 played a rock solid set of classic metal and originals, and even the Power Rangers theme, ending with a sizzling version of Ozzy ’s “Crazy Train.” Lead singer Payton Hansen has the potential of being a monster talent as do the rest of them. Much of the audience and several of the bands were in awe at how good they were at such a young age.
All of the bands played enjoyable sets.
Young indie rock trio Brodyr also had some pleasant vocals and some tasteful guitar and even brought out a baritone ukulele for a slower song for which the band sat down. They began with a couple more ska and reggae influenced numbers with a cool bass groove.The bassist was a highlight of this band, dressed like Hunter S Thompson as big mirrored sunglasses covered his entire face as he leaped about the stage.
Calgary trio the Outlets played an enjoyable set of indie rock which began on a funk fueled blues note. The lead singer was personable and played lots of biting guitar licks and solos on his Stratocaster. They started on an upbeat, energy filled note but slowed things down a lot for the end of their set.
The Utilities opened the show with an easygoing set of indie-rock reminiscent of Sloan. They added an upbeat cover of Justin Bieber’s “Baby” into their set.
Metal trio Penitentz were up next to crush it ’80s thrash metal style as the bassist was a sight to see leaping all over the stage. There were plenty of loud Metallica/ Megadeth style guitar riffs and an unstoppable beat. They played all of the original songs off their new self titled EP.
Bronx Cheer played the weirdest set of the night.
They incorporated a Moog synthesizer and even a telephone receiver for a couple songs of original and unusual indie-rock song s full of ambient guitar. The entire band took turns switching it up on different instruments and their bassist sang a more straight ahead punk version of Iggy and the Stooges’ “Search and Destroy.”
Rapper Furious D showed another new level. While he gets funky with experimental jazz band the Naked Ear on the first Friday of the month at Ric’s Grill, this time he performed accompanied only by acoustic guitarist Peacock, who played pleasant guitar and sang excellent harmonies. Peacock sang one of his own songs during which Furious D freestyle rapped a couple verses.Furious D also sang soulfully in between raps.
A revamped Chief Mountain showed a lot of variety during their set. While they usually play straight ahead garage rock, for their set, they added some punk, a very cool instrumental and began with a psychedelic blues flavoured number. They praised Penitentz for “singing about society.”
One of the highlights of their set was a straight ahead punk cover of the Spits’ “All I Want.”
