Curtains for Cursed

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

I’ve really wasted way too much ink on bands getting their equipment ripped off but sadly, this trend only seems to be getting worse. The hardest hit in the last couple of weeks was Toronto’s Cursed, who were only two days away from finishing up their European tour in Germany when a thief crept into their room while they were sleeping and stole passports, bags containing their personal items and all of their money. The money that was stolen was reserved to pay off the backline and van rental for the tour, airline tickets etc. In fact, the theft was so devastating that it now looks like the band has called it a day. Their label Goodfellow has set up a Paypal account for people who might want to help them out—contact paulyspastic@hotmail.com for details.

In more infuriating thievery news, Mikey Heppner of Priestess was sleeping last Friday night when somebody broke into his apartment and stole his Dan Armstrong guitar. If you see anybody trying to sell a Plexiglas-bodied guitar missing a pick-up, please try to get some contact info from them and get hold of me at the e-mail address at the bottom of this column, and I will forward it.

Okay, now that you’ve gotten the bad news first, let’s turn that frown upside down. Although I’m a bit of a Johnson-come-lately here, there are (fairly) recent hometown seven-inch releases that are just too good not to spill some ink on. First up, ex-pats and current New Yorkers (or at least two-thirds of them) the Nymphets. On the lo-fi tip, this trio really nail it down on the two songs here. As sweet as it is tart, A-side “Feels Like Motherfuckers” is chock full o’ the good stuff, with a snotty, early-’80s U.K. punk brashness. The B-side gets a little bit more catchy with the bubble-punk of “Bekki Anne” proving the Nymphets can pen a tune with the best of them as well as giving a melody a good bashing. Order it from new local label Psychic Handshake’s MySpace page or get it at Sound Central, Sonik and other respectable wax shacks.

Another great local seven-inch just off the presses is the O Voids’ split with Edmonton’s the Wicked Awesomes on local label Lost Space Records. Two songs apiece here, with the O Voids easily matching their live show. If you aren’t hip to the O Voids yet, just imagine everything that was so good about Mission of Burma and Pink Flag-era Wire all in one band. The Wicked Awesomes are indeed worthy of their name, with an apparent worship of the Fall’s Mark E. Smith, Syd Barrett and probably most things on Julian Cope’s iPod. Only 500 slabs of this wax available, so better hurry up and order it from the label’s MySpace page, or better yet, just pick it up directly from the band when they launch the single on Saturday at l’Escogriffe with Pink Noise and Phil Console. The O Voids also prove they’re no chumps when it comes to “pushing product,” and give us a double shot this week when they open up for the no-wave of So Cow, with Home Blitz and the Procedure Club, at Casa del Popolo on Wednesday.

OFF WITH THEIR HANDS! JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM