Twin Smith delivered a strong set this weekend – despite being short one member – at Measure, a restaurant/bar in Toronto. The group is tight, and one of the most enjoyable features are the two and three part vocal harmonies shared between the two guitar players and the bassist. How would I describe their sound? Psychedelic rock meets old-time spaghetti Western. Think Kill Bill (I overheard an audience member comment that their music should be in a Quentin Tarantino film).
They were the last band to play on Friday, but despite the approaching late hour, they retained their audience who were enthusiastically clapping along until the bar closed. Two young chaps who were very inebriated took their excitement over the music to the extreme, acting out dramatic scenes through dance for the entire set. It was pretty ridiculous, and fun to watch, albeit a bit distracting. I’m not sure how the band members managed to keep a straight face while these two were acting out scenes from a Western shoot-em-up movie basically on stage, sound effects and all, but they did. They even thanked their “interpretive dancers” and played a song about trolls for them, an irony which I think was lost on them but everyone else found quite amusing.
They’re building up a nice local fan base, but don’t have many recordings of videos out yet. In this clip, the video quality is shite, but you can get a sense of their unique and fun sound. They’re even tighter and stronger now, so if you happen to be in the area when they’re playing, check out a show. They’re quite a force live!
