No Kids at Sala Rossa, Montreal

No Kids won over a Montreal crowd with a dazzling set of R'n'B inspired Ivy League pop. I was lucky enough to be there and witness it....

I had the pleasure of seeing the alleged first ever Canadian show by Vancouver's No Kids the other night. Made up, if I'm not mistaken by three quarters of P:ano, the group is fronted by Nick Krovich (also of Burquitlam Plaza) fame and features ace drummer Justin Kellam, and keyboard whiz Julia Chirka.

With three players as fine as these manouevring through the complex-in-every-way songs from their brilliant Tomlab debut, Come Into My House, the show was deeply satisfying to those who were already fans of the yet-to-be-released album. I can also guarantee you with absolute certainty that the band made fans of 99% of the audience, who audibly and visibly went from cool unfamiliarity to pure enthusiasm and ecstasy by the end of the set.

What is it that could rile the crowd up so? First off Krovich's songwriting on this album was mind-boggling, drawing on influences as diverse as The Four Freshmen and contemporary pop rhythm and blues. Secondly, the live show rocked the album tracks harder and more rhythmically to great effect - with Kellam's impressive drumming providing a propulsive backbeat to Krovich's funky (excuse the dirty word) keyboard playing and deeply melismatic vocal parts that would make even Mariah Carey question her talents. Finally Julia Chirka had her mitts all over not one, but two, keyboards, changing sounds every other bar to flesh out live the complex orchestrations of the album.

You're going to be hearing a great deal about No Kids this year, I can assure you that. The band stands at the forefront of contemporary experimtal indie pop alongside a selects few colleagues including bands like Dirty Projectors (who they were opening for at this show) and Xiu Xiu. If you have a chance to see this band, for god's sake - take it! And until that chance arises, Come Into My House is an astonishingly good debut album to get you started.

http://www.myspace.com/nokidsband

Gordon B. Isnor