The easiest thing to do when you don't know a band really well is to draw comparisons to genres and other bands. So keep that in mind every time you see a reference!
The Black Fever are good for not only their poppy hooks, but the actual musical talent. Three pieces are always especially challenging in rock bands because your singer has to also be good at an instrument, if you're sporting the traditional get up - guitar, bass, drums. I just saw the Black Keys a little earlier this week. I found them to be beyond inspiring - especially in their duo get up. Singer/Guitarist Dan Auerbach really impressed me with his ability to carry incredibly strong vocals with equally strong guitar work.
I really don't know much about playing the guitar, but I can really appreciate when bands have clean, clear sounds. It's far too easy to be messy, especially when you're trying to make your band sound more full than you should. The Black Fever were extremely impressive for this reason. In hearing them live I could hear all the little details as they were being played. This was something I could never do at the Black Keys gig because it was so god damn full, and loud.
Singer/Guitarist - Sumon Mukherjee's vocals are something i'll need to get use to. They're a bit higher, but they keep strong, he's definitely got his own personal style to his sound. In all his stage banter he was really funny too - kindly acknowledging the audience without over-doing it. If I didn't know the guy already - I'd find him charming (not to say that he isn't in knowing him)
The bassist was great too. I've always admired plucking over picking a bass. I like how it looks and how it sounds much better. Seeing them at Rancho is quite the opposite of seeing the Black Keys at the Kool Haus. My favourite part of tonight's show was being able to see where the different sounds were coming from. The bass lines really glued all the songs together. Normally, I'd simply say the bass followed along with the guitar bits, as I did earlier this week when I diminished the role of the bassist who played with the Black Keys in light of Auerbach's amazing guitar work. I could definitely not say the same for this band. Mukherjee's guitar lines for a large chunk of the songs are quick chords. But not in the pop-punk Blink 182 kind of way, but more of the shoegaze distorted kind of way. The tight bass lines worked - this also meant that Mukherjee could jump in at out with ease as there'd be a cohesive skeleton to support him.
Good quality local music is not impossible in Toronto, but it's really hard to find good clean sounding bands. This is a band that should have a stacked dance floor every time with tunes that'll get the girls moving, there are very few excuses that should keep people from going to this gig on a Saturday night.
You can see them next week on Friday August 13 at the Hard Luck Bar at Dundas and Bathurst. Give them a listen.
They often get compared to the Stone Roses (among other Brit-pop acts):
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