~ Wasted Space Kidz:
The Clips & The Paper Cranes

ANZA Club, Thursday, November 1

Luke

Simcoe
arts and
entertainment
editor

    
 
   

Ve as music scene has
more than its share of stumbling blocks.
The city’s venues are dropping like
flies at the predatory hands of condo
developers. We’re
miles away from
the talent scout
and A&R havens
of New York and
Montreal. Our
crowds have a
reputation for
being stodgy, and
the scene has a
reputation for
being a cliquey
echo chamber.
We have but
one decent radio
station (CiTR).
The closest major
tour stop that
doesn’t involve
crossing a border
is a ten-hour drive
away. And Ontario
sucks up all that
sweet, sweet
culture funding.

Yet somehow,
in the face of all

this adversity, $e ws
there’s been b
a Cambrian

explosion of musical
creativity in the city
as of late. People
are finding venues
in the unlikeliest of places, crowds are
dancing again, and a lot of really good
bands have sprung up anew or risen
from the ashes of former projects.

The Clips — consisting of Edo Van
Breemen (keys/vox), Andrew Seeton
(bass), Mike Jones (guitar), Cohen
Brown (guitar) and Jeremy Gruman
(drums) — are one such band. Although
they’ve been kicking around in some
incarnation or another since 2003, the
band solidified their line-up in early
2006, and have been wrecking shop
around the city ever since.

November first marked the release
of the Clips’ debut LP, Matterhorn, and
the band, their fans and their friends
gathered at the ANZA Club on Ontario
St. to celebrate. While not an illegal
warehouse like some new hot spots, the
ANZA is an excellent example of one
of our city’s ‘alternative’ venues. What
started in 1935 as a gathering place for
upper-echelon Aussie and Kiwi ex-pats
has become a host to sweaty, drunken

local shows.

The Clips brought both Small
Frames from Vancouver and The Paper
Cranes from Victoria to join in the
revelry. Small Frames is fronted by
Dan Moxon of Bend Sinister (who just
returned home from headlining the
cross-country CBC Radio 3 tour), and
the band continues Moxon’s tradition
of cribbing heavily from the likes of
Queen, Ozzy, Rush and other wizards
of rock.

Despite the fact that it was their CD
release party, The Clips graciously let
The Paper Cranes headline, meaning
that they played second. The band’s live

a strong case for being one of the
nerdiest bands in Vancouver: Seeton is
a mechanical engineer who specializes
in something like earthquakes, Van
Breemen smiles goofily throughout
their live performances, Gruman works
in the IT sector, and Jones could pass
for the Star Wars kid. As a live act,

it’s these very qualities that make The
Clips approachable and charismatic.
Van Breemen and Seeton had the near-
capacity (which is an incredible turnout
for a Thursday night) crowd singing
and clapping along to the marching
band aesthetic of “Missing the Plan,”
and a somewhat out of place mosh

“The Clips make a strong case for being one the

nerdiest bands in Vancouver.”

show is a big part of their appeal; every
one of the nine songs on Matterhorn
is uniquely danceable, and I’ve yet
to come away
from a Clips
show without
breaking a sweat.
They opened
with “Darko,” a
comparatively
slow song by
Clips standards,
but one that
builds carefully
into a great
piano-driven
breakdown that
had the crowd
cutting a rug
without any of
that supposed
Vancouver
hesitation.

On paper,
The Clips make

pit materialized to pay homage to the
catchy synth hooks of “Kassel.” There
was even a girl dancing around in bare

feet.

The band’s aforementioned nerdiness
did rear its head towards the end of
their set when they nicknamed their last
three songs “the triad of doom.” Still,
with the possible exception of “Kassel,”
the triad was probably the highlight
of their set. Truthfully, it was less of
a triad and more like a sandwich; a
jazzy instrumental breakdown featuring
Bryan Davies (who plays in Van
Breemen’s side project, Brasstronaut)
on trumpet was bracketed by the fist-
pumping laptop rock of “Space Kidz”
and “Second Hand Deal.”

Possibly because it was a weeknight,
a large portion
of the crowd left
after The Clips
were done. Those
that stuck around
kept the dance
floor going to the
Cure-indebted
New Wave
of The Paper
Cranes. Whereas
The Clips are a
forward thinking
band, The Paper
Cranes are rooted
firmly in the past,
but both bands
are good at what
they do. Plus,
if they joined
forces, they
could start a band
called The Paper
Clips!

Anyway, the
night was just a
small example
> of what can be
found on your
own musical
doorstep if you’re
just willing to
look. So go pick
up a copy of
Matterhorn (or
any other local record), and check out
The Clips (or any other local band) live.
You might be glad that you did.

 

 

PHOTOS BY LUKE SIMCOE