Rabies

It starts with ominous thumping from behind a closed garage door. The crowd that had gathered in the chilly parking lot all crane their heads to see. The door slowly creeps up and the words "Do you trust me? Should you?" start spilling out; equal parts menacing and sweet. Halifax's Rabies know how to introduce themselves. The menace of the initial contact and their malignant name is quickly dispelled as the four piece, on guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, reveal they are more interested in songs about love gone wrong than any mouth-frothing attack. Rachel Fry on vocals and guitar delivers equal parts grit and gleam, supported by Jeremy Costello's low-toned swirl of keyboards. Their sound imagines a world where Echo and the Bunnymen formed in mid '90s Olympia, Washington. Their songs start with a spark and then work around in spirals that quickly burn a pleasant pattern in your brain. If they are guilty of transmitting an infection it is through the bite in their melodies.