Saturday Songs: the best nxne ever, so far?

A flaxen-haired Vincent D'Onnofrio in Adventures in Babysitting, also known as the best movie ever

ROYAL BANGS "WAR BELLS"
The first best show ever of the week: MATH/PROG ROCK WITH HOOKS, you guys. I feel like that's all I need to really say about that.



CROCODILES "NEON JESUS"
Everytime I see a show at The Silver Dollar, I think about Adventures in Babysitting. I keep waiting to hear "The Babysitting Blues" But it never happens. I also keep waiting to see a blonde Vincent D'Onoffrio appear out of the dry ice mist and whisk me away. But that never happens. Oh well. I also keep hoping that one day they will serve better beer there, too. I'm persistently optimistic to a fault, sometimes. But I digress. I just learned that Brandon Welchez is married to Dum Dum Girls frontwoman Dee Dee Penny! Squeee! Which is surprising, because with his sunglasses and blazer, he reminds me of a young Tom Cruise in Risky Business, if he met up with the kids in Adventures in Babysitting and had to get on stage and sing his way out of trouble along with them. Adorable. And great music, did I mention that yet? Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen are often brought up when talking about these guys. I have no problem with that whatsoever.

THE PAINT MOVEMENT "FORTUNE'S WINDOW"
Our friends over at The Little Red Umbrella have already written about probably the best thing to come out of Mississauga ever. Well, mayor Hazel is alright too, I guess. But seriously, this was great. Definitely reminiscent of Broken Social Scene, but that's not exactly a bad thing, if you're asking me. But then I've always loved BSS, not everyone does, I know. So don't ask those people. Check out this Southern Souls video (and all the SS videos, while you're at it, because they're all sooooo good) and see what I mean.

DIRTY BEACHES "LORD KNOWS BEST"
Knowing very little of this "band", I wasn't expecting a one man show when Dirty Beaches (a.k.a Alex Zhang Hungtai) came on the stage, but that's what I got. And while it often veered towards the uncomfortable feeling of watching a private therapy session, it also kinda felt like a mix between the Beats and Karaoke (and no, that's NOT a dis!) The thing is, those are two things that I often feel like I shouldn't like, and yet I really, really do. So sue me. That's how I felt about this.

DUM DUM GIRLS "HE GETS ME HIGH"
You might already know that I have a penchant for girl bands with fuzzy guitars and cute dresses. Or maybe you didn't, maybe we just met and I'm telling you now. Well, Dum Dum Girls have these things in spades. And I love it. And Dee Dee Penny is one of the best names ever, and as I mentioned earlier, she is married to Crocodiles frontman Brandon Welchez, making them one of the bestest, most totes adorbs indie/garage/noise pop/rock couples ever.

CULTS "ABDUCTED"
Err, okay, so I liked this band, I did. But. They've got a lot of hype surrounding them right now, a "Best New Music" endorsement from Pitchfork and everything, which means I think they might be letting it get to their heads. I'm not saying they aren't at least partially deserving of the praise they've been getting, but when Madeline Follin announced that the last time their band played Toronto their van got broken into, and she didn't want that to happen again, it pissed me off. That's all you have to say to the crowd? "Don't steal my shit, Toronto."?After spending half the night talking to the sound guy, making everyone wait? Okay, that might not be totally fair, I mean, Deerhoof spent a lot of time setting up, too, but they're DEERHOOF, and it was worth it. Also, the guitarist stopping between songs to ask them to turn the lights down on stage because you "feel naked up here" just sounds like you're whining. But. I like this video. Still, we left halfway through the set to get to Deerhoof. Sorry, guys.

THE PACK A.D "CRAZY"
Since we left the Cults show early so as not to take any chances missing Deerhoof, I was not there to see these ladies, but am I ever glad I did! The Pack A.D were one of my favourite bands of the week (I know. But I really mean it!), The Pack A.D (Becky and Maya) are funny, charismatic, engaging on stage, and totally awesome at making music, to boot. Oh, and their influences include Miranda July, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, and The White Stripes. HELLO. They rock. They really, really rock.

DEERHOOF "SUPER DUPER RESCUE HEADS"
HOLY #$%@&&* THIS VIDEO IS AWESOME. Did I mention how much I love Satomi Matsuzaki? She's so weird and kooky, but also totally cool. And Deerhoof are one of my all-time favourite bands. And they played a secret show at the (Legendary) Horseshoe Tavern at 2 am on Friday night. And they never fail to blow me away. Seriously. I once saw them open for The Fiery Furnaces, and after they left the stage, half of the audience went home. And that's what every band should do if they're supposed to follow Deerhoof. Because there is no point of even trying to go up after them. None. Oh, and did I mention that I was right by the speakers, and it was so ear-bleedingly loud that every single hair on my body stood up and took notice.

Only two more nights to go, and already I feel like this might be the best nxne for me yet (although, seeing Les Savy Fav at The Wrong Bar last year right after seeing Iggy and The Stooges might have been the most concentrated amount of awesomeness in one night ever.) I don't know, I'm not very good with declaring "bests ever". You'd think I'd be better at it, since I do it so frequently...