Blankets of sound

Tala Just Keeps Grooving

Who:

Tala

Where

: Boot Pub

When:

Monday, March 11

Tala jam band brings you live tunes like 29782 with improvisational instrumentals at Monday’s show.

"We always play a different show every night," says Mark Lajoie, on electric and acoustic bass with the band.

With The Beatles’ Daytripper and other tunes, Tala takes the funky road to new renditions of old songs.

The electric pop groove sound in 29782, which refers to a home address, is part of what represents Tala’s sound.

Like Garaj Mahal, they have yet to release a full album but manage to keep a consistent fan following.

"When we play, we really just go with the flow, and our shows out west have been going really well," Lajoie says.

If you’re lucky, you might catch a rare rendition of Aboulia off their demo, or the meanderings of Daytripper, which they transform and change so that fans cannot tell it’s the Beatles’ song until the end.

"If everyone is sitting down and cheering, we’ll play a song a different way than if they were dancing in the front," says Lajoie.

Although a record is now in the works, a two-song demo is part of a hug array of live shows taped by fans.

You may know Tala as the former Fat Tala, established by Jason Blanchard and Steve Venkatarangam while living in New Brunswick.

With appearances on CBC Radio 1 and the Contact East Coast Music Conference, Tala’s growth has been swift over the last year.

When the duo relocated to Montreal they formed Tala, adding musicians Lajoie, Rob Maguire on keys, and Dave Chan on drums. The only non-New Brunswicker, Chan, hails from Goderich, Ontario.

-photo saved in scans for use, would be great!

Mr. Solid Releases New CD

Thanks for the Job, No Thanks for the Hair debuts

Who:

Mr. Solid and Limit

Where

: The Shack

When:

Monday, March 11

Punk bands, are always super enthusiastic about their choice of lyrics and names.

And the title of Mr. Solid’s new album is no exception.

Thanks for the Job, No Thanks for The Hair

has yet to be-released, but songs from the album include radio-friendly pop punk, mostly written by Steve C. and Ryan C. in the band. New titles at the show include I Know He and Caught with Your Pants Down.

Songs from Straight Up will also be performed at the show.

Dominik Koric, of Going Blind, sits in with both Limit and Mr. Solid at the Shack shows.

"With Limit we’re really riding on the coat tails of Mr. Solid, who I’ve been playing with for six years, a band that carried over from Going Blind," says Koric.

Limit features Stephen Chartrand on guitar and vocals, Koric on lead guitar and vocals, Whistler’s Bryce St. Arnaud on bass, and Duncan Ius on drums and vocals.

The band describes themselves as having "catchy hooks and melody, a band with no limits."

Meanwhile Mr. Solid mixes it all up.

"We play some metal riffs, a touch of hardcore emo and some lighter punk riffs. We all have really diverse musical tastes which you hear in the music," says Ryan C.

The band has played over 100 shows in Western Canada and play from their latest CD Straight Up.

"There’s still a lot of songs about girls, and a few look at racism and street violence," he says.