Raised By SLUSH.

Here is an old show review from Dec 08 that was posted in The Skinny Magazine. Be sure to catch Raised By Apes and Slush performing live @ Funky Winkerbeans this Friday Nov. 12th! 

Raised By Apes, Cambridge, Slush, and The Remedials 

The Cobalt, Fri Dec. 12th

After pouring rain all day, the clouds parted, and made way for an unstoppable evening of punk rock. It was the Canadian release show for the Punk Rock Concoction Vol. 3 compilation CD, which features both Raised by Apes and Cambridge as the lone Canadian bands on the disc. There was a free copy for everyone in the bar, and who doesn’t like party favours? As always the sound at The Cobalt was good no matter where you stood, and all the bands brought a festive cheer that would have even had Ebenezer Scrooge downing some rum and eggnogs.

With feet planted firmly on stage the evening began with The Remedials shooting through their two minute punk blasts in the vein of a Ramonesesque, or Schreeching Weasely sound. They are a 3 piece from Vancouver that hasn’t played a show in quite a while, so it was great to see them gracing the stage again. The Remedials featured trade up lead vocals that kept things interesting because of the different singing styles the bassist and guitarist displayed. Even the drummer got involved on the singing front at times, but he mainly stuck to rocking out with a slightly spastic style that I was digging. They featured simple lyrics for simple minds, which made it quite suiting when they covered a Diesel Queens song with the lyrics; “I like to drink, I like to fuck, I like to fuckin’ drink!” Those are lyrics I can get behind.

Next was Slush. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the name, but they’re from Whistler, so maybe it’s some kind of double entendre that I don’t understand. All band name’s aside, Slush rocked it tight, melodic and slightly agro at times. Their singer had this hilarious red neck growling voice for addressing the crowd in between songs and it seemed to be getting them revved up, but unfortunately it dropped off after a couple songs. If I were Slush I’d just go all the way, change the band name to Slurpee, and try to get a 7/11 sponsorship.

Then it was Cambridge’s turn to bust out some high-energy, upbeat punk tunes. The crowd finally decided to kick up some stank on the dance floor, and there was even some impromptu jumping jacks from one drunk patron. But who am I to call anyone drunk? Maybe he was stone cold sober and an enthusiastic exercise buff. Cambridge seems to be running with a style all of their own. At one point they sang some melodic gang vocals. Does that happen? I know it doesn’t seem right to put the words ‘gang-vocals’ and ‘melodic’ together but it totally worked. Cambridge made fun of themselves between songs in a good-naturedly way, and seemed real comfortable on stage, which shone through to the crowd, who also seemed quite comfortable with drink in hand.

Last but not least was Raised By Apes. The singer had dropped trou by the second song to show everyone he had no shame. Then he yelled “It’s Christmas time!” and all sins were forgiven. It surely wasn’t the first bare buttock to grace the stage at The Cobalt, and we all know it won’t be the last. Everybody in Raised By Apes has got chops, backed by a kick ass fast drummer. Their guitarists ripped it up and played super tight, but as far as performance goes they were a bit straight laced. The rest of the band totally makes up for it with great energy and funny quips that left me thinking Raised By Apes were a lot of fun. Bricin from Loose Tooth was reppin’ the mosh pit and throwing the ice cubes from his drink at bassist Gang-green Santiago while he played. They were bouncing right off his face and he was loving it! On top of the madness Raised By Apes threw out free CDs like they were going out of style. I suppose it was an ode to their song ‘Something for Nothing’. Then someone snorted the set list and the show was over. Up the punks in Van-city, and keep supporting your local scene!