Japandroids

Vancouver guitar/drum two-piece, Japandroids, exploded onto the Gladstone's stage with an anti-Thin Lizzy scorcher that, lyrically, had boys leaving town and, well, nothing much else. Though, that wasn't the point. In a display of OCD-clean, no-bass, thrash-ish rock (yeah, it's a paradox), the west-coasters made their Toronto debut. Presumably, the duo have a dusty collection of mid- to late '90s emo-core sitting in their bedroom closets, as "Young Hearts Spark Fire" nodded to At the Drive-In and the Promise Ring, while Fugazi references turned up periodically. Still, Japandroids aren't revivalists. Instead, the visceral band proved a frenetic, grubbily polished team.