BIONIC PLAY THE EL MOCAMBO (464 SPADINA AV) NOV 8.
This bearded Montreal quartet have been around for a good 10 years now, playing unpredictable, aggressive guitar rock since it was briefly cool to do so and maintaining their position through blistering live shows as well as many tours throughout the land. This release does a more-than-able job of translating their live show, which, despite being impressive, is often so loud that it can obscure their other qualities. On Black Blood, their creative songwriting is in full effect, with songs that fall into classic-rock structures but also display the chunky precision of bands such as the Jesus Lizard, augmented by the band’s overall tightness and the guitar antics of both Jean Belanger and ex-Doughboy Jonathan Cummins. The vocals of the latter provide a sweet mixture of hard-rock melodies and guttural screams as he conveys his caustic lyrics. If you want deceptively straightforward music to drive fast cars to, this won’t disappoint.