Last week I went down to Sala Rossa to check out one of my favorite bands, Apostle of Hustle (photo above), only I was lucky enough to be get a great performance by them, but also discovered a new band while I was at it. I've heard Sebastian Grainger and The Mountains (photo below) on the radio before, but wasn't really struck by them until actually seeing them live. Grainger puts on a live show with energy and a 150% type energy like I can't remember seeing at this level for a long time. In that sense, I'm almost tempted to compare them to AC/DC. Okay, so maybe no one will ever have the energy of Angus Young, but it's their style and sexy old-school charisma that really tempt me in the comparison. Anyway, it's at the point of this show that I really started digging this band. Their Rock is a lot harder live than on their recordings, but both have their own set of merits. The lead signer, Sebastian Grainger, has a powerful and very well-controlled voice. The band is also very rhythmically driven. A great sound and good songs in general. Other interesting fact: unless he was born in Quebec and moved to Ontario, I'm pretty sure Grainger is a Franco-Ontarian, which I think is pretty cool. He has a few songs in French on his MySpace too.

Now onto the main course of the evening, Apostle of Hustle. I think I really started listening to this band by pure coincidence after the release of their first album, Folkloric Feel. Last year, they released a second full length last year, National Anthem of Nowhere. The lead guy of this trio is Andrew Whiteman, one of the founding members of Broken Social Scene. The sound resembles the collective's, but without Kevin Drew's influence in the picture, Whiteman's music evolved from a range of outside influences of his own. With lots of Spanish lyrics and sounds, it strays from the general Indie sound in a very creative and interesting way. I have a hard time putting my finger on the thing that makes them my favorites as opposed to so many other bands out there, and what it is that makes them so great and special. I truly feel that the songwriting is unique; it's off the mainstream track of Canadian Indie in so many ways, that though it has it's similarities, I feel there's a lot of interesting stuff to listen to in AOH. It's dark, but not heavy. It breaks into tasteful heaviness at times, and in others it'll be soft like a lullaby (i.e. No no no).

This was my third time seeing them live, and I'm pretty sure last week's performance was the best I've seen so far. They had the usual guest sax player of BSS, Liam O'Neil, as well as the BSS trombone player with them that night, which was definitely quite a bit more enticing than a single horn carrying all the supporting load. We also got the chance to hear some sneak-peeks of the new album coming in the Spring. Judging from how different the first two albums were from one another and from the sound of the new songs, I think we're in for something fresh and exciting from the brilliant Apostle. Whiteman also has a real knack for live performances. His on-stage presence is almost theatrical and super interesting to watch. All I can say is that it's definitely not just the usual musician in front of mic stand, with guitar in hand, singing songs.

One thing that still gets me though, I have no idea how it's possible that this band doesn't have a wider fan-base than it actually does. Drew went solo and sold an exorbitant amount of records, same is happening with Canning. Maybe it's the "Broken Social Scene presents..." part that's missing to the marketing of the Apostle. Also maybe since it's not actually a solo project and an actual band... Maybe it strays too far away from the mainstream Indie formula... Beats me, I think they're brilliant, but what do I know.

Photos by SarahBrideau.com

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