Toronto Uncovered

Toronto has a great live music scene.  On any given night, Torontonians can pick and choose from a number of concerts, genres and venues. On Tuesday night I ventured to Lee’s Palace to see Brooklyn’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Because their latest (self-titled) album had been stuck on my iPod’s repeat list for the last week, I couldn’t wait to see them live.

Any band that mans their own merchandise table before the show gets an instant nod of respect. It shows that they are truly down to earth, and happy to socialize and talk with their fans. As they took the stage, the energy (and temperature) of the Palace rose. Over the next hour they played songs from their last album, as well as a new one called 103 which is set to be released on Slumberland Records this summer. For those not familiar with the POBPAH, the style is very much a mixture of indie rock and dream pop. It’s fun, light-hearted and easy to dance to music that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. I danced to the entire show with a perma-smile plastered to my face, and joined the crowd’s enthusiastic demand for an encore.

Post show, I contacted the band’s PR rep to ask a few questions – I wanted to know a little bit more about the POBPAH and was happy to get a quick response.

Question 1: What do you like most about Toronto?

Kip (guitar and vox): People in Toronto were so awesome. It’s hard to say what “one thing” about their awesomeness was most awesome, but everyone was inviting us to stay at their place or help us out in any way we needed. Each time I’ve been to Toronto I’ve always wished we could stay longer and just hang out more.

Peggy (keys and vox): People in Toronto buy merch!!  And the ones who do are sooooo nice. Seriously. We’ve played Lee’s Palace twice now and I always make sure to hang out at the merch table the whole time.

Question 2: Brooklyn seems to be busting with great bands lately (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio) – do you attribute this to any specific subculture or movement taking hold in Brooklyn?

Peggy: Yeah, it is cool though because there’s never a shortage of good shows.  And all our friends are in awesome bands.  There’s like, at least 3 shows a week!

Question 3: Peggy admitted to having a slight obsession with Degrassi High (as it’s also one of my own guilty pleasures, this only made me love her more ). Does she have a favourite character?

Peggy: Rick is my favorite, but he was only on like 6 episodes.  I also love Lucy’s style, and I find Snake really endearing, the way he’s so awkward around girls.

Tuesday’s show kicked off their tour. The band is now South of the border for a couple of months before heading overseas. If you’re in the area, and can spare ten bucks to catch one of their gigs, you won’t be disappointed. The POBPAH are defintely a band to watch out for – It’s only be a matter of time before I utter the phrase “I remember seeing them when…”

If you’re into this type of music check out Rob Manne’s blog Soundtrack2 for weekly audiocasts and reviews.

Young Adult Friction – I can’t get enough of this song right now!