Another day and more NXNE. Don’t worry, this is the last installment of my coverage this year—and it ended with a Swedish bang.

Lethargic after the herculean day of shows (and booze) that was last Friday, I took my sweet time leaving the ol’ basement apartment on Saturday. Unfortunately that was my first mistake, as places like the Horseshoe and Rivoli were lined up down the block by the time I made my way to Queen West. My second mistake was not having a backup location in mind—not to mention leaving my schedule at home. Thankfully, there was a buzz on the street that the Silver Dollar was the unsung place to be that night anyway (in fact, it was George Stroumboulopoulous who urged my friends and I to head over there).

We made it just in time to grab a tipple and catch The Luyas. The Montreal band have garnered some well deserved buzz for their debut, Faker Death, and exhibited the characteristic endearing awkwardness of a humble indie band—in fact, front-woman Jessie Stein evoked favourable comparisons to the on-stage charm of Jenny Omnichord. In the end though, it was their crescendoing arrangements, complete with bells, thundering drums and pedal-modified horns that won me over for good.

The Luyas - Dumbblood

Next up was Toronto’s own Slim Twig,who recently released his debut full-length, Derelict Dialect. Mustachioed and clad in some of the tightest pants around (I swear his legs were the size of most people’s arms, but I digress…), he took to the stage backed by a merry band of like pranksters. The end result was much more cocksure and flamboyant than The Luyas, but the upbeat set had no problem winning over the packed house.

Slim Twig - Birthing and Birthing

Speaking of a packed house, when it was time for highly tauted Oholics to hit the stage movement in the Silver Dollar was definitely limited. I’d never heard of the Swedish band before a few hours prior to their set, but they were the main reason we had ended up there and it became clear why pretty much instantly.

Having played the Silver Dollar on all 3 of the NXNE filled nights last week, The Oholics were a force on stage. Case in point, lanky front-man, Christoffer Rydeståhl, danced throughout the set as though perpetually on a Stairmaster and sitar/electronics player, Anders Thunarf, stirred up the crowd nicely with some frantic tambourine work. The overall sound was somewhat of a cross between Spoon and Soundtrack of Our Lives (a member of whom produces the band).

Overall this was definitely one of the most enjoyable sets I’d seen over NXNE (second only to Amos the Transparent)—Hell, I bought a CD copy of The Oholics’ latest EP, Baby Blue Eyes, which says a lot for a guy who usually sticks strictly to digital or vinyl.

As usual, there’s video of all three sets forthcoming on Zunior.tv, but for now here’s The Oholics performing “Wasted Youth” from the aforementioned Baby Blue Eyes EP:

The Oholics - Step Inside Your Mind

Incidentally, did anyone else find Chart’s report cards for The Oholics gigs from the two previous nights a bit (re: ridiculously) disparate? I mean, from a 90 to a 55 in one night!?! If you ask me, Thursday’s report card is pretty spot on (and they are written by two separate reviewers), but check out the over-the-top ripping that is the Friday assessment— “awful blues bar rock” ?

I wouldn’t normally care that much, but when someone asserts that:

“…most of the crowd was either drunk or believed they were supposed to like this group because Burke booked them for three nights”

and repeatedly infers that I would have to have been intoxicated in order to enjoy this band I can’t help but get my back up a little.

I guess The Oholics could have been excellent on Thursday, but absolutely horrible on Friday (which is the gig the reviewer is bashing), but I certainly wasn’t “hammered” when I saw them the following night and they sounded great to me. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time I haven’t seen eye to eye with Chart over a show (though this time it is admittedly about two different nights, but the criticism is too damningly harsh to be caused by a simple case of an off performance). I suppose I’m just a lowly blogger, so what do I know…

…actually, screw that—I know damn well that I enjoyed this show.