We’re back in writing-mode with a bunch of new songs being cooked up. There’s a theme floating there, but it’s not clear yet where it will take us. We’re trying to change the way we write songs, which is as exhilarating as it is scary.

We’re also revisiting an old ghost and cooking up more Disney fun

***

We’re also getting busy on the touring side, visiting Quebec and Ottawa for the first time and planning many more out-of-town adventures in the near future. No worries though, we’ll still be around Montreal, our very own fairytale island…

…starting with a very special show on March 5th at Le Gymnase : We’ve been selected to feature on a compilation to officially launch Espace Emergence, a great local website geared at promoting underground bands.

***

Keep warm.

– Phil.

01.12 – The Concordian - Show review

01.19 – McGill Tribune - Show Plug and interview

Look for the January 8 edition, at the 1:30:00 mark.

Click here for a listen

2010 is the year of the doll.

We start it off with a show at Casa Del Popolo with two great local bands : Divingbell and Final Flash.
We close the show around midnight. Facebook event here.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/intensivecare3

OK, let me start off by stating once more how much I love Toronto. There’s something about this city that just clicks with me. I’m always stunned when (some) Montrealers’ state how much they dislike it. Sure, it’s very “new-york-like” but since when is that a bad thing ?

Anyway, the ride there was great fun. No old lady collapsed in my arms this time around. We went really nasty (what we call “level 4 junk”) on the rest stop and decided to see what KFC tastes like. Surprisingly not so bad ! However, we also had a taco from the annexed Taco Bell. and that’s literally the worse piece of junk I ever ate ! (Taco Bell, you got demoted to “Level 5 junk” ). But I digress…

The Rancho Relaxo is a peculiar place. We got there early and watched Ghostbusters with the bartender and sound guy. It’s that kind of a place. Soon enough, the room started filling up and the openers started their set. Ours was on the short side but we had the most fun on stage. The audience was very receptive, which is always a good thing. There was an extra mic on stage this time, and Nad had some fun screaming into it when he felt like unloading some energy…

Again, Ontarians (ontarionites?) are really something. Such naturally nice people; it makes you rethink your own evil nature. Many of my friends and coworkers were there, and I was very touched by their presence. If you’re reading this, thanks again for coming ! While we’re at it, here’s a shootout for the best team of all time: Mongrel Media ! (of course now you HAVE to visit http://www.mongrelmedia.com).

***

Well, here we go. Our first tour ends here.
We could not be more happy.

Oh, and freshly baked chocolate chip muffins at Tim Hortons are bliss !

– Phil.

Dec 9 - Casa del Popolo – w/ The F in Fresh, Cottonmouth – 9pm.

Guelph was very surprising. I absolutely loved this town, and it managed to shatter every negative assumption I had about it. We hung out on the Guelph U campus all day, surrounded by the most good-looking, diverse and energetic people I had seen in a while (some weren’t so good looking, though). The town itself seems to be run by students, and downtown is alive ! We ate the best burrito ever + the best nachos ever + the best mango juice ever at a place called Salsateria. If you’re ever there, don’t you miss it !

We had a great audience at the Jimmy Jazz.  It was really a blast playing that set! We pulled off a cover of Street Spirit, and the bar owner was in total awe that someone finally nailed that song ! haha Of course, I had to ruin it all by stepping on the on/off switch of Nadim’s power bar at the last minute, preventing him from playing the closing guitar solo in Treasure Hunt  The band we were opening for was called Chinese Food, and they blew our minds. They play a very interesting brand of rock, one that jitters and fizzles and makes you laugh, while still being substancial and inspired. http://www.myspace.com/chinesefoodmusic ( I will add they sounds way crazier live).

Now the real challenge :  we had to drive back to Montreal right after the show. Still fresh out from a beer buzz, I took the first shift and drove on the limitless 401 highway until my eyes were uncontrollably closing. What happened after that is up for the others to tell you: I was only half-conscious for the rest of the trip and my bandmates were sounding like barbie dolls to me. So whether they were really talking about nail polish for 2 hours is still unclear to me.

Now we’re back home for a couple days, before we go back out there. We can’t wait to play Toronto on Thursday and show them how it’s done !

(i can’t believe I’m still writing these blogs, but I promised so many people that I would… I’m stuck.)

– Phil.