Fresh Snow

The Garrison, Toronto ON, February 15

Photo: Atsuko Kobasigawa

BY Ian GormelyPublished Feb 16, 2015

9
Fresh Snow are made up of record and music store clerks, a recipe ripe for indulgent record-collection rock. But the band occupy a unique space: their influences are both immediately obvious, yet frustratingly elusive. Just when you think you've got them pinned, they switch things up.
 
Their set took the form of epic post-rock, building from subtle soundscapes into sludgy riffage, touching on pulsing Krautrock along the way. But it's the band's innate tunefulness — they suggest melody without necessarily building it into their songs — coupled with an ability to get butts wiggling, that really puts the instrumental quartet over the top. How else to explain their cover of "Mony, Mony," that somehow managed to capture Billy Idol's snarl without having to sing any of the lyrics? The alchemy at work within the group demands listeners simply give themselves over to the group's thundering groove.


 

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