Soupcans, Ultrathin and The Yips @ Mugshots Nov. 22
Friday night was the Kichesippi and Bruised Tongue Tap(e) Takeover Over at Mugshots with Soupcans, Ultrathin and The Yips.
Code red — the inmates are loose and they are delivering a rock n roll onslaught. Toronto’s Soupcans were noisy, rambunctious, loud and exactly what you want as a headliner at 2am at the end of a Friday. They have hints of The Cramps in their vocals and I loved their heavy and destructive bass lines. And nothing like some good ol’ late night moshing to top off a wonderful evening.
Ultrathin from Montreal opened with a song where they sang ”I don’t know what I want, what I want.” I’ll tell you what I want… Ultrathin to play Ottawa more often. Some songs were a wicked old school punk rock band that made me picture the 80s in New York. Other times their great energy was invested into skate punk or even hardcore paced tunes. Great set! I also loved that the bass player took the time to talk sports, and ask what the name of our soon-to-be CFL team was to be. When I informed him they were going to be called the Red Blacks, he laughed and said ”That’s a terrible name. The Red Blacks won’t last a year, sorry.” I hope he is wrong, but funny nonetheless.
Getting the jam started was Ottawa’s The Yips. Blasting out of the foggy and eerie cloud of smoke in the jail, The Yips played a set full of their stellar new tracks. This is the second time I see The Yips in the past few weeks and I’ll say it again: the new tracks sound great and I can’t wait to get my hands on that album. There is something great about going to a show of a band you know quite well, and not actually knowing most of the songs they play because they are new. Yes I write about The Yips a lot, because they always seem to be on great bills and they are a sweet local band.
Kichesippi took over the taps with delicious brews and Bruised Tongue took over the tracks. The local record label was selling tapes and the Bruised Tongue duo of Craig Proulx and Pierre Richardson performed DJ sets between bands.
There was also some sweet show posters and prints by Ben Jensen, Barb Ochman, Ross Proulx, Neil Magadzia and Meaghan Isaacs for sale with proceeds being donated to One Square Foot. One Square Foot is an initiative that is raising funds to fully utilize the the square footage allocated to the new outdoor skate park to be built at McNabb Park.