Not only is Dead Dog Records a great place to pick up music, but they do also occasionally host live music in their store. This day they held a live show at their Church St location.

They have 3 bands come in and do about a half hour set each.

Monstera

Monstera is a pretty popular band that packed the place right from the back of the store to the front door. These are people that are fans of the Indie scene. The band plays a dark style of hard pop rock that has some catchy hooks.

It was very clear that this band are really close because the singer told us how long she knew each member and how they are important to her.

As I looked around, I could see plenty of people singing along with all their songs. As it turned out, I was standing next to the guitar player’s teacher. This band makes friends and stays close to their people. I think this band just wanted to play simply because we survived another winter in Canada.

Monstera:

Quotas

Quotas came all the way from Brantford just to play for us. This is the level of dedication resides within these walls. It must be a special place. Bands must get some kind of badge of honour if they get to say that they played Dead Dog Records.

This band is a raw Indie band with a minimalistic poetry approach. Their compositions are choppy with a mix of cool grooves to purposely keep you a little off balance.

When they approach the last two songs they admitted their song, Troubleshoot was difficult to play. This song had a sense of urgency with moments of relief. The middle section threw me off with its lost and confused sounds. It’s true; this is a pretty complex song. It was my personal favourite from them. It felt very original and stood out for me.

Quotas:

Burner

It seemed everyone was there for Burner, and the place was fully loaded to take on what was about to happen. This band comes on pretty strong like a dude who has had too much to drink and doesn’t know when to stop. They mixed their sounds like a toxic drink mixed with whatever they had on hand at the moment.

Was it Punk with a mix of hip hop or could it be metal mixed with indie rock. It didn’t really matter because this music helps get that angst out of you. They leave you feeling raw, like you have just been in a fight, and you don’t know who won, but you got to walk away.

The singer walked through the packed house that felt like the start of a riot as he yelled right in your adoring face, so you screamed back.

This is what a caged animal looks like when it wants to exercise its demons.

Burner:

What record store is brave enough to bring in such raw acts that really could be like a Bull in a China shop? Dead Dog Records!

You can find them at 568 Church Street and Wellesley.

You can also pick up Blast Toronto’s discount card there and save 10% of your purchased there. The cards are on the front counter.