SEMI PRECIOUS WEAPONS PLAY THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (510 QUEEN W) OCTOBER 4.
A quick glance around Toronto’s nightlife proves that people still embrace the rock deal. Weird bracelets and necklaces, leopard-print unmentionables and defiantly regrettable tattoos adorn a segment of the population that still thinks mash-ups are something you feed to babies. Semi Precious Weapons speak to this group, with squealing guitar riffs, straight-ahead songwriting, and attitude-heavy lead vocals from singer Justin Tranter. Songs like “That’s Kunt” betray a street-level mindset, and as a fellow skint frontman, his lyrical references to being very broke affected me in particular. Tranter explores his voice’s upper range, almost to grating effect, when the band get closer to Britpop on “Genius,” but at times he also gives glimpses of late AC/DC singer Bon Scott, albeit a glammier one. SPW slow down on songs like “Time Zones,” with the band hitting a nice, melancholy swing — in fact, they display a high level of balls-out ability the whole album through. Your love for this will probably depend on your affection for Tranter’s singing. It’s up to you, friends!