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We Are Wolves and Kiss Me Deadly After the usual delectable dinner at Chai Yo up the street, V, N, G, and i walked a few blocks down Polk to the Hemlock, where earlier in the day G and N had bought four tickets to the evening's Voxtrot, We Are Wolves, and Kiss Me Deadly show. I was unaware the Hemlock had shows, but after a few Guinnesses at the bar the door guy allowed the crowd into the back room, which was barely bigger than my living room. Maybe not even. Despite an advertised 9:30pm start, Kiss Me Deadly didn't take the stage until about 10:15pm, featuring a female lead singer/guitarist sporting a nifty military cap and a bizarre shiny red skin-tight bodysuit. Upon hearing the first notes played by the lead guitarist, i was hopeful for a set of moody, melodic guitar rock. Upon hearing the singer's voice, those hopes were dashed. As V and i discussed later, Kiss Me Deadly consisted of assorted shrill yelps and yipes laid on top of a Kitchens of Distinction-esque soundscape. The bass and guitar would create an engaging rhythm, ranging from shoegazing to dance punk, but then the frontwoman would essentially piss on their instrumental backdrop. Not a totally meritless effort, but certainly a disappointing one. After the usual 20-30 minute setup, three men walked on stage carrying huge decorated skull masks, which were placed at the back of the stage as they took their instruments. We Are Wolves consists of a drummer, who plays standing up without a bass drum so he can really get into it, an organ player, and a bass guitarist. All three sing ... or perhaps more accurately they shout. And all three are adept at belting out some funky and menacing electro-punk. It's an interesting dynamic, having three friendly-enough musicians conversing amongst themselves and with the crowd in poetic, melodic French, then ripping into vehement tunes with shouted, abrasive vocals. Our four person party were entranced, even given that just in front of us were a collection of supremely drunk and vocal yuppy-looking guys. One found his way to the front and was doing some extremely freaky dancing along the stage, annoying the bass player as he kept interfering with equipment on the stage. He asked for security to do something about him early on, and it seemed he had been removed. But during the rolling groove of "La Nature", my personal highlight of the set, the inebriated reveller reappeared at the stage. And in keeping with the aggression of their music, the bass player finally lost it and kicked him, at which point he disappeared for the remainder of the show. I've enjoyed their debut album Non-Stop Je Te Plie En Deux for a few months, and was happy to see they can bring it live as well. Exhaustion encouraged us to forgo the also anticipated Voxtrot set. On our way out, V (similarly impressed by the dance punk Montreal threesome) and i bought assorted We Are Wolves merch, including a t-shirt, cd, and a few buttons.
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