The Rebel Spell tonight in Vancouver

Great band, whose new album I've written about twice, here and now here, in a feature in the Georgia Straight this week. It's a very different sound for them, and one thing I didn't say in the Straight story is that I'm not actually that wild about the way Jesse Gander has handled Todd's voice; you pretty much NEED the lyric sheet for this album, compared to their past releases, where you could at least pick out 60% of what Todd was saying. Then again, spinning the new record and It's a Beautiful Future back to back only really serves to highlight just how muted and indistinct Erin's guitar sounded on the last album, compared to the amazing, up-front clarity that Gander brings to the mix. I have never been able to pick out her individual guitar parts before, and now I can, so that's cool. Check out "Pride and Prejudice," for a taste; that's some pretty stingin' guitarwork! Erin sent me a gear geek email that I couldn't work into the interview, but, besides the main amp being the one she always uses, she writes that "for the guitar tracks the rhythms were doubled: the first set up being my stage sound (Marshall JCM 900 with a Marshall lead 1960 cab), the double was a Peavey 5150 (that's the Eddie Van Halen signature amp) through a Mesa cab, and the leads were an orange Rockerverb 50." The show is at 333 Clark, with various opening acts. Highly recommend being there!