NEEDLES//PINS

Vancouver's Needles//Pins have a hell of summertime-fun album out on Mammoth Cave Recordings, and every live show they play seems to get a little better. At this afternoon set at Calgary's Broken City, the band displayed the barely controlled sloppiness that suits their music so well -- a kind of scrappier, punkier Replacements, replete with shout-along choruses and bangover-inducing riffs. Standouts "Drop It" and "Shaker" had a remarkably enthusiastic daytime crowd lurching around and singing along with the band, and while the bar filled out even more afterwards (for a surprise performance by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet), Needles//Pins were the clear highlight of the afternoon.