The Radio Dept. @ Petit Campus

It’s strange how you remember the exact moment when you got into a band. In some cases, I think of people that got me into certain bands. For example:

-Miss Ginger, whose mixtape got me into The Replacements, The Pixies and Redd Kross
-Shane, my former HMV boss, who got me hooked on Townes Van Zandt & Big Star
-Lise, who gave me guitar lessons and a burnt copy of The Jam’s All Mod Cons at the end

Naturally, I remember DJing a CJLO event five years ago where former CJLOer Alex Huyhn told me about The Radio Dept. So I wrote their name on a piece of paper and put it in my wallet. Since then, they’ve remained one of my favorites. (Thank you Alex!)

Since being introduced to them, I must’ve listened to their first 2 albums hundreds of times. Their debut, Lesser Matters, is the perfect blend of Shoegaze and Noisepop, while Pet Grief relies more on slick production, synths & drum machines. Both albums feature splendid vocals (Johan Duncanson) that hover just above the distortion. Their new LP Clinging To A Scheme falls between the two, though its sound leans closer towards that of newer synth-oriented recordings. 

So what did I think of their sold out Petit Campus performance??? 7/10 

First off: why play Petit Campus? It’s tiny, and the sound isn’t great. They could’ve easily sold out a slightly bigger venue; though, to be fair, many of them were booked on a busy Saturday night (Best Coast, Wavves, Julie Doiron and Heart were all making pit-stops in MTL).

The setlist was fair. They JUST released Passive Aggressive, a retrospective album that featured 2 discs full of goodies, and so you’d expect a bunch of great songs. Their performance relied rather heavily on the new album and featured a few non-album A-sides & B-sides ("Freddie & The Trojan Horse," "Messy Enough", "The New Improved Hypocrisy"). Few older songs ("Ewan," "The Worst Taste In Music") made their way into a fairly short set (14 songs), but they received the greatest reception. 

Their live setup featured two guitars, a bass (rarely used) and a keyboard. Though I’m fully aware that their last 2 LPs did not include a drum-kit, I was immediately bothered by the ultra-hollow keyboard drum sounds bouncing off the walls. Their studio albums are so meticulously crafted that it’s understandably difficult to recreate that sound onstage. I felt the same way after seeing Miracle Fortress play for the first time. I absolutely LOVE the Five Roses LP, but seeing GVP play his songs live just ruined it for me. Although The Radio Dept.’s show felt slightly cheapened by an ineffective drum machine, it was still a decent show and they continue to be one of my favorites.

In their defense, who wants to lug a drum-kit around the frozen Canadian tundra?

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Click here and here to see some awesome videos I shot at the show, and here for the full setlist.

-Catch Mike B hosting The Lonesome Strangers every Tuesday from 8-10pm