photo: Sarah Amroussi-Gilissen

by Daniel Colussi | It’s been two long years since Toronto’s Hooded Fang last played Vancouver. During this time they’ve overhauled the line up, dropping some members and shedding the glockenspiel-twee of their earlier incarnations for something a little darker, a little more ferocious. The Hooded Fang of today is a leaner beast, one that revels in amp buzz and out-of-tune guitars. All of these qualities are well-evidenced on their delightfully trashy, melodically ambitious new LP, Gravez.

This is my kind of album, one that clocks in at an easy thirty minutes (I love short albums) but which is nonetheless packed with enough ideas to make any lesser band’s career. This is hooky, literate lo-fi basement music; it might even be punk rock but it’s ultimately quite unnecessary to apply the usual reductive journalistic genre identifications because Gravez has its own feet to stand on. Ode To Subterrania speaks to my ill-fated time living in a mouldy basement suite off Commercial Drive. Bye Bye Land is lethargic pop with an air of detached weariness a la Mellow Gold, a tip that’s beloved to me. Even Pitchfork has taken notice (never a band thing). Check them out when they come to town this weekend.

Hooded Fang play the Media Club Sunday June 16th. Tickets at Zulu, Red Cat and the venue.

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Daniel Colussi is the Music Editor of Scout Magazine and a contributing writer to Ion Magazine. A veteran employee of Zulu Records and tuneage aficionado, he DJs on an infrequent basis (about four times a year) and is a musician around town who plays in several ensembles.