Arts & Entertainment

Canadian Boys Make Good

Cuff the Duke at Richard’s on Richards, November 14

By Luke Simcoe, A&E Editor

Na ember 14 will probably go

down as one of 2007's busiest days

for live music in Vancouver. Maya
Arulpragasam, a.k.a. M.L.A., was
busy rocking the second of two sold-
out nights at the Commodore, Ween
was at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre,
Baltimore's finest, Celebration, were
at the Plaza, and Cuff the Duke were
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Mitem eu enneher(ectrnl RMO mle core
that they were giving free tickets away
for Celebration.

Anyway, assuming you're literate,
you've likely figured out that I was at
Cuff the Duke. Hailing from Oshawa,
the alt-country four-piece has been
putting a lot of rubber on the road
and a lot of music on wax since 2002.
Their third LP. Sidelines of the City,
was recently released on Hayden's
(remember him?) Hardwood Records,
and they were in town ona rainy
Wednesday evening to promote it.

In tow were Vancouver upstarts
Said the Whale and Montreal’s Land

of Talk. Both acts are extremely
solid, both live and on record, and
their presence made the night well
worth the price of admission. Said the
Whale obviously grew up on a diet
of The Shins and The Decemberists,
and while that’s hardly an original
pastiche, it’s still a can’t-lose
combination. They opened with their
best song, “The Banks of the English
Bay,” and never quite recovered,
but they're still one of a handful of
Vancouver bands to Keep an eye on.
Land of Talk’s debut EP, Applause
Cheer Boo Hiss, has merits far beyond
its clever title. Their chunky and
sporadically dissonant take on indie
rock is entertaining enough on its
own, but Lizzie Powell’s vocal chops
elevate in them into potential “next big
thing” territory. Despite being almost
universally praised in the blogosphere,
the band seems humble enough,
and their stage banter — particularly
Lizzie’s inability to refer to her
borrowed Boss Blues Driver pedal as
anything other than a “Blues Traveler”

pedal — was pretty endearing.

As always, the night belonged to
the headliners (I’m pretty sure that
the only time this doesn’t happen is
when someone like Maroon 5 brings
someone like The Hives out on tour
with them). Cuff the Duke have built
a fairly dedicated following almost
entirely through their strength as a
live act — Hardwood Records doesn't
exactly havea stockpile of money for
promotion, and you can’t even find a
review of the band on Pitchfork, which
normally welcomes alt-country acts
with open arms — and they definitely
lived up to the hype. The band was
tighter than your parent's wallet
throughout the night, and they weren't
atraid to tweak their songs with the
addition of everything from keyboards,
to violin and even some lap steel
etic

One of the best things about Cuff
the Duke is that contrary to many
country-fried bands — think Ryan
Adams or Wilco — they're happy and
hopeful, as opposed to hungover and

morose. This facet of the band is even
more apparent in their live show,
thanks in large part to frontman Wayne
Petti’s antics as a showman. Petti is
something of a small man, but the way
that he set out to conquer the stage at
Richards suggests he has something
of a Napoleon complex when it comes
to performing. He sang his heart out
all night long, made excellent use of
the stage, even climbing up onto the
PHI CGOs hari me) em OTTO ING ICeMUITS
crowd to join the band onstage during
(ems Kor

I actually had the chance to speak
with Petti before the show, and one
of the things we talked about is
how early country artists like Hank
Williams or Johnny Cash had a lot
in common with the ethos of punk
rock. “It’s three chords and honesty.
man,” said Petti, and while they may
use more than three chords, Cuff the
Duke is undoubtedly one of the most
honest and engaging acts, country
or otherwise, that our country has
produced.