A TEXTBOOK TRAGEDY PLAY THE REVERB (651 QUEEN W) THU, MAR 6, 8PM.
A band whose sound features any hint of the nü-metal formula has to be either ballsy or oblivious to use the word “textbook” in their name, and with one singer who yells high and another who yells low, I wonder whether this Vancouver quintet have giant testicles or an ignorance of genre clichés. With incredible proficiency, the band barrels into a mosh-friendly grind on “If You Want Blood,” but then quickly descends into a slower groove. It’s a trend that continues through songs like “The Gospel According to Textbook” and “Stay Out Of Riverdale,” although they do an adept job at switching tempos within their arrangements. This is a schizophrenic genre that I find impossible to get used to — it’s like you need to memorize how a song goes before you can properly dance to it. The guitar squeals are good, the drumming is at times faster than Carl Lewis and I can’t hate this entirely, but the non-stop assaultive changes annoy more than they impress.