Halifax meets Guelph at The Making-Box
Even with Kazoo! Festival 2016 a mere three weeks away, the Kazoo! team paired up with The Making- Box to put on another great night of original Canadian independent rock. Halifax imports Cousins and Joyfultalk took to the second floor of 40 Baker St. with local Guelph dusty garage pop quartet Esther Grey on March 18, 2016.
It’s been awhile since Esther Grey performed in the Royal City and their return was much appreciated by the local audience. The band is tight and these musicians have an obvious history together that pokes through in the murkiness of their staccato cadence. Each note in their compositions seems to have its own unique inflection that has a mesmerizing effect. Not so much music to dance to, but to stare at in reverence.
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Not so much music to dance to, but to stare at in reverence.[/pullquote]
Cousins have long been a favourite in the Canadian indie scene and fall into the genre of plain old rock. Lead singer Aaron Mangle’s vocals seem to effortlessly fill a room with over the top, big slapback-laden guitar chords that chug along like a train at full speed. Notably absent from the Cousins lineup was powerhouse drummer Leigh Dotey, who provided thunderous percussion on Cousins’ excellent second release