Music

Victoria's Freak Heat Waves burn up the Egg Paper Factory

by Jesse Locke

No Rest for the Obsessed is a column spotlighting some of the most exciting new music AUX Editor Jesse Locke finds each week. It began in 2010 for Calgary’s dearly departed alt-weekly FFWD, and takes its name from a Lightning Bolt song.

Freak Heat Waves – “Design of Success” / “Dig A Hole” (Easter Eggs)

Heat Take: Victoria’s Freak Heat Waves released one of the most underrated albums of 2015. If you’ve been sleeping on the the West Coast post-punk deconstructionists, check out this two-song live session from Montreal’s Egg Paper Factory (whose Easter Eggs series has also played host to artists like Un Blonde, Whitney K, and Quaker Parents).

Expanded to a six-piece including Cindy Lee‘s Pat Flegel, Freak Heat Waves propel their static dance with gangly guitar dissonance, liquid basslines, and monotone Mark E. Smithisms. If you’ve ever swayed to Minimal Compact or Lizzy Mercier Descloux, this one’s for you.

Freak Heat Waves’ Bonnie’s State of Mind is available from Hockey Dad Records. Catch them live at the following tour dates:

25/03/16 – Bunk Bar, PORTLAND, OR
26/03/16 – Treefort Music Festival, BOISE, ID
29/03/16 – Fun House, SEATTLE, WA w/ Mild High Club
30/03/16 – The Cobalt, VANCOUVER, BC w/ Mild High Club
31/03/16 – Logans Pub, VICTORIA, BC w/ Mild High Club
02/04/16 – The Vault, NANAIMO, BC
12/05/16 – Zacks, KAMLOOPS, BC
14/05/16 – Owl Acoustic Lounge, LETHBRIDGE, AB
15/05/15 – The Buckingham, EDMONTON, AB

Sheer Mag – III

Sheer Mag continue to crank out hits for the hardhats on their third self-titled 7″ EP. Joe and Jane Lunchbucket are stoked that the South Philly quintet haven’t messed with their formula of Thin Lizzy guitarmonies and the powerful pipes of singer Christina Halladay.

Copies online are already sold out, but you can catch Sheer Mag live on tour with a stop at Toronto’s Silver Dollar on April 2. Tune in to the video for “Nobody’s Baby” below.

Grace Jones – Warm Leatherette: Deluxe Edition

The legendary Grace Jones follows up her tongue-in-cheek autobiography, I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, with an expanded reissue of her 1980 album Warm Leatherette.

Alongside its radical reggae reimagining of The Normal’s car-crash sex jam, the original album included covers of Roxy Music, The Pretenders, Tom Petty, and Smokey Robinson. This 4LP, 2CD, or Blu-ray box set with “leatherette packaging” includes the motherlode of rarities like Jones’ electrifying 8-minute take on Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control.”

Pre-order copies from UMC and check out the full tracklist here.

Various Artists – Kazoo! Fest 2016 Mix

Guelph’s Kazoo! Festival is back from April 6th to 10th with its buzziest line-up to date. To introduce you to the artists performing this year, they’ve blown out a 43-song mix that includes everyone from Canadian mainstays like Chad VanGaalen and Julie Doiron to East Coast faves Nap Eyes and Partner, the duo of Oneida drummer Kid Millions and sax monster Jim Sauter of Borbetomagus, plus Tenderness, Above Top Secret, Gambletron, Kappa Chow (now known as Protruders), and way too many more.