Toronto indie rockers Zeus (handout).
Zeus
- At the Mod Club Theatre
- In Toronto on Thursday
I asked a friend what she thought of Zeus, the Toronto power-pop quartet. She said the members were excellent musicians and that the band was great live, but that when she would ask Zeus fans to name one of the group's songs or even hum one, they were unable to do so. Naturally, I told her to pipe down - that such scandalous talk would bring down the whole indie-pop world, a scene which thrives on songs that are tuneful, yet not entirely memorable.
Zeus's most recognizable song at the Mod Club Theatre, which at 600 people-capacity is a step up in venue size for a band with one album under its belt, was a robust cover of Genesis's That's All. "You've probably heard this one before," said one of Zeus's three fronting singer/multi-instrumentalists, "but never quite like this." He didn't quite have it right - the eventful, lurching cover version of the Phil Collins-written ditty has been a staple of Zeus's live shows - but you guessed what he meant: That the crowd first knew the song because it was a genuine radio-wave sensation - a hit from 1983, an age before most of them were even a crazy notion in their parent's Abacab-addled minds.
Here's what the band's official bio says: "Zeus draws upon classic influences to craft timeless songs, complete with fuzzed guitars and shimmering three-part harmonies; classic rock 'n' roll with a touch of twang."
Direct hit! Zeus doesn't lie.
On stage, the band kicks it up a notch. Some of the shimmer of 2009's Say Us drops by the wayside as songs take on extra garage-rock grit and heft. The shaggy foursome, part of the Arts & Crafts family, showed those classic influences - including the Beatles, I imagine, and perhaps Fleetwood Mac and Electric Light Orchestra - while rolling though a sweaty, enthusiastic set marked by melodic pop done in blissful, rugged and crowd-thrilling ways.
Let's not mince words: Zeus is one of the finer live bands in this city.
The River by the Garden was quirky, with a laconic chicka-boom Johnny Cash thing happening . You Gotta' Teller began with a stomping psychedelic-funk intro (think the Temptations' Ball of Confusion) before moving forward to a Strokes-like verse. Blame it On Me, with its Rhodes organ set to a spongy tone, rode a muscular bass line and a sharp guitar riff.
Zeus gets a lot of Beatles comparisons - comparisons that, frankly (and naturally), flatter the group. More modern, Canadian comparisons could be made with power-pop colleagues Peter Elkas and Afie Jurvanen (who both appear on Say Us), or Sam Roberts.
As for my friend who questioned the hummability of Zeus, she might not know about How Does it Feel?, an agile, piano-pouncing tune about a sad soul. Is it a standout track? Perhaps not. But if it doesn't stick out, it's only because Zeus has a wealth of solid material. It's just that they're all B-sides, not A-sides. It's the common condition of indie-pop, that's all.
Zeus, with Broken Social Scene, Pavement, Band of Horses and others, play Toronto's Olympic Island on June 19.