If you’ve been following me, you’ve heard a few things about some friends of mine called Teenage Kicks. This passed Friday was their 7″ release for Shook Our Bones and I went to the show with a bunch of friends. I was so amped on the turnout because there were a ton of kids spilled out onto the street in front of Sneaks and even more kids inside. I saw a lot of old pals and it felt good to be at a show with a bunch of warm familiar people who drank and danced with abandon rather than the usual stone-faced Toronto crowd. That’s the kind of reaction this band elicits, no pretentiousness, just classic radio rock that borrows from classic sixties rock & roll while offering something different than your pick of any Toronto band- they’ve got character. Fronted by two endearing, wildly talented brothers and their friends, Teenage Kicks’ ethos was always a slow build. Although they’re a brand new band, they’re veterans in the Toronto music scene, graduating from previous bands like Cain and Abel.[You can read more about them from my interview]

The show opened with Sandman Viper Command and The Bad Ideas. I’d previously seen Sandman Viper Command playing a Live in Bellwoods set and was so glad to see them play as a full band, live, because it was exceptionally better. To be honest, I didn’t care for them much at first ever since I heard them singing playfully about cocaine addictions as surburban kids, but I’ve since really grown to enjoy them. I missed the Bad Ideas, but I was stuck in the unbelievably intolerable Toronto traffic. (2 more months till I’m back in California, but who’s counting?)

Teenage Kicks’ set was stellar, and I mean that without a bit of hyperbole. They sounded like they were having fun, which in turn, delighted the crowd and it felt like something of a revival. Something that was a long-time coming for these guys. The momentum stirring from this weekend will most definitely catapult them into a new frontier as a band, and hopefully break them out of Toronto’s glass ceiling, because let’s face it, they’re a classic American rock & roll band.

Teenage Kicks- Shook Our Bones

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Sandman Viper Command- Strawberry Quick

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Tags: Teenage Kicks, Uncategorized

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