by LORRAINE CARPENTER

"I'm not sure what the connection is between '60s garage music and Flintstones memorabilia," says Dave, lead singer/bassist with Toronto's tightest, brightest retro rock explosion, the Midways. "There must be a gene for obsessive collecting of something from an era you were never part of," he adds, admitting to a touch of the time-warp in his own life. "But every artist has an obsessoid gene that would never allow them to survive in nature because it renders them unable to perform any useful work. All artistic behaviour is obsessive-compulsive. To sit there like Van Gogh and paint paintings all damn day - I mean come on, after a while, wouldn't you like to go boating?"

Pre-Midways, Dave ventured to Van Gogh's country to join a '60s revival band. The Amsterdam experiment lasted a year, but it inspired him to strive for garage greatness at home, where he'd previously wandered through bands half-heartedly.

"Garage had yet to be the next trend, but it was inevitable," he recalls with playful contempt. "I watched the other trends come and go, like surf and swing, or suddenly there'd be a rockabilly flare-up like acne on a teenager's face. Lately it's been this weird '80s death disco. I'm not even sure what that is, but I was actually afflicted by the Neutron Dance in the '80s, and it was pretty hard to shake."

Being the nice guys they are, the Midways offer an alternate classic sound to shake to. After Dave hooked up with Peter (organ), Johnny (guitar) and Chris (drums) - yes, first names only - the quartet toured the country to road-test the white-hot songs that would make up their debut album, Pay More and Get a Good Seat. And, occasionally, things got a little punchy.

"Once in a while, you get really excited and you wanna take off your pants," states Dave. "We're all very comfortable with our bodies, especially Pete. He's the kid in the band. He's into wearing the baggy pants and saying ‘dude' a lot, but it's acceptable for him 'cause he's just breaking in his first pubes as we speak."

With BBQ and the Dropouts at Petit Campus on Friday, June 11, 8:30pm, $6

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