The New Music

By Liem Vu

After a six-month love affair with Thunderheist’s “Jerk It,” I found myself at a sudden crossroads of having to find an equally danceable track with a perfect mélange of melodic hooks and frenetic electro-rhythms. Guelph synth-rockers, Green Go, were the answer to my woes as they burst onto the small stage a few weeks ago at Sonic Boom Records with their anthemic tune, “You Know You Want It,” in celebration of Record Store Day.

Holding their own against other Toronto indie-heavyweights like Slim Twig and Hooded Fang, frontman Ferenc “Fezz” Stenton and frontwoman Jessica Tollefsen’s co-ed stage presence were nothing short of a perfect marriage of Chris Martin-esque humility and Emily Haines-like ferocity; traits that seemed ever more potent at their CD release party last Thursday at Wrongbar.

Like the colourful orgy of confetti-like Chiclets on the cover of their first full-length, Borders, the Guelph quintet hit the stage in celebratory fashion (and often, in technicolour) as they ushered in the album’s release with a sonic sampling of tracks that included the spirited (“Brains for Breakfast”) and the sassy (“Cash for Gremlins”).

The large crowd of fedora-rocking and skinny jean-sporting hipsters went from subdued sways to voracious head bobbing offering us a glimpse of what Electric Circus (ah, the nostalgia) may have been like today if it were still around.

In a warm and fuzzy moment that rivaled any episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (ah, the cuteness), Tollefsen’s dad gave a gleeful grin when the red-panted frontwoman screamed out, “That’s my dad!”

While the under sixty-minute set omitted some of the stronger tracks from Borders, it was nevertheless a success as even the photographers abandoned their stoic professionalism for periods of psychedelic thrashing.

So if you haven’t done it yet, Go Green…er…Green Go! You know you want it. *Cue strobe light, disco ball, sweaty-ness and most importantly, indie-ness*