July 22 — Horseshoe Tavern. On a mild summer night in Toronto (or at least, it felt mild after the heatwaves from earlier in the month), The Great Tick Eater threw a release party for their new single, “The Great Rearranger,” headlining a bill that also featured fellow Toronto duo Anti-Spectacular alongside Cabin Fever, up from New York City. The three bands were well-suited to the same bill, with similar yet distinct styles complimenting each other.

Anti-Spectacular

First act of the night was the punk duo Anti-Spectacular. Consisting of Alex on vocals and bass and Colin on the drums – their on-stage presence and sheer talent behind their instruments made them seem like a quartet. Alex was amazing on her Hofner bass, and Colin was a prodigy on the drums. Describing them as a punk band doesn’t do justice to what they’re actually pulling off. Their set showcased a genuinely unusual blending of influences: imagine Nirvana’s grunge aggression meeting Prince’s funk sensibility, with threads of George Harrison and a healthy dose of swing and rockabilly thrown in for good measure. I was even reminded of Brian Setzer at times.

A track called “Buying a Gun” was a highlight — groovy and funky in a way that caught you off guard before pivoting into something heavier and more aggressive. That tonal shift wasn’t a one-off either; it seemed to be baked into their approach. Alex’s voice is a genuine instrument in itself: a powerful alto capable of gutturally yelling one moment and melodically soaring the next. Add the Hofner bass, the tight 16th-note rhythmic backbone, and the occasional bass solo moment, and you have a band that rewards close listening.

It wasn’t simply rock. Nor was it simply metal. Their music had a bluegrass funk streak, and the washed-out guitar tone gave the whole thing a hazy, almost cinematic quality. They’re a band to watch.

Anti-Spectacular’s setlist:

1. The Wicked Go Unpunished
2. Slaughterhouse Apartment
3. Wrists Like a Bird
4. I’m Buying a Gun
5. Craven
6. Pink Wolves
7. Like a Pigeon
8. There Won’t Be an Answer
9. Freedom Without feeling
10. You Should Be Angry
11. Nothing Becomes Something
12. The Greatest Feeling at the Time
13. Deliver the Americans
14. Out of Phase

Check out Anti-Spectacular on Instagram. Also, Alex is a cartoonist (webcomic artist?), you can follow her on bsky here, where she also posts updates on Anti-Spectacular.

Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever are from NYC, but are no strangers to performing in Canada. Their band members are Matthew Quirk on vocal and guitar, John Miele-Herndon on drums, Luke Uppenbrink on vocals and bass, and Alex Lo Pinto on guitar.

Their vibe landed somewhere in the indie rock space, with a melodious quality to their playing that reminded me of . I loved the the airy, washed out guitar they had. At moments, slight dissonances crept in; whether those were intentional textural choices or just live looseness, they mostly worked. A particular standout was “Emma”— the kind of track that hypes you up before you can explain why.

Their energy and chemistry were evident, and the set was tight enough to suggest they’ve done this a lot.

There was some points in the set that betrayed their origins from the States. “I say July 4 in this song,” quipped Quirk. “That don’t mean shit up here,” as the band launched into the track. I think they played it off nicely, although I might be biased as an American who’s made Canada their home for the last 8 years.

Here’s Cabin Fever’s setlist:

1. Glass Ceilings
2. Wild n Free
3. Silver Tongue
4. Chasing After You
   • 4.5 Who Knows
5. Nosebleeds
6. COVER – Kiwi
7. Emma
8. Timezones
9. Changes
10. Forever

Follow Cabin Fever on their Instagram so you don’t miss the next time they’re in Canada!

The Great Tick Eater

I don’t think I’ve seen a band’s self-description match up so perfectly with their on-stage performance. Tick Eater’s Bandcamp describes them as making “folk music for the apocalypse, punk music for lovers, and rock n’ roll for the ravine coyotes” — and I can’t disagree. They’re funny, endearing, quirky, and musicians with a clear appreciation for their craft and style.

If Anti-Spectacular defied their genre label, The Great Tick Eater defied categorisation entirely. It was like they crawled out of the nearest bog and into the Horseshoe, and the room was better for it. (Incidentally, Jojo caught a related act – Amelia Earheart’s Sonic Aviary – a couple years back. So this is our 2nd run-in with these forces of chaos.)

A word on the cast of characters of Tick Eater:

We’ve got Kass Free on guitar and lead vocals, who wore a red wizard/witch hat for tonight’s performance. Then, there’s Andrew “The Microwave” Brazier on bass — whose lore, we’re told, involves eating pennies alongside bandmate Adam. One day Adam, according to Kass, wandered in off the street with such raw energy that someone apparently just placed a bass in his hands and things took off from there.

In contrast to his bandmates bombastic chaos, drummer Curtis simply said “hi.” He bore a polite smile when introduced to the audience. He and bassist Andrew both wore animal ears, rounding out the aesthetics of the band’s outfits for their performance. Then, they were off into a song that came to Kass in a dream. And then there was Adam “Amelia Ear Heart” Borohov on harmonica and vocals, who brought the energy of a coked-up gremlin: grimy face, animal-like vocals, a bandana, and crazy eyes.

Onstage Energy

The band perfectly calibrated their banter for the absurdity. “Here to celebrate the end of the world. And also our new single — yaaaay!” Kass’s David Byrne / B-52s-style talk-singing played in fascinating contrast to Adam’s guttural, barely-contained howls — it looked and felt like Cass was perpetually, just barely, keeping the whole thing from flying apart. Drew, for his part, got his own moment of shouting incoherently into the crowd (Cass called us “creatures of the night,” since the stage lights apparently rendered us invisible to him). The set was bluesy, punky, folky, and funny, and the band had genuine chemistry behind all the chaos.

Setlist:

1. Who needs dreams
2. War
3. Bullet Rat
4. Safety Dreams
5. The Footchase
6. Wolfpup
7. Great Rearranger
8. The Sweep
9. The Clay
10. Rabbits are not afraid to die

One minor and reoccurring gripe

It’s frustrating to keep seeing this: each band’s fans show up for their set, then disappear. After Anti-Spectacular finished, I spotted two groups that seemed like they knew Alex of Anti-Spectacular cleared out. Same story when the headliner hit — the table to my left evaporated into the night, leaving a thin crowd of maybe 15. To their credit, members of both Anti-Spectacular and Cabin Fever stayed to support their fellow acts. That kind of reciprocal energy matters. It’s just a shame the broader room didn’t have more of it. Still, it was a great night.

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