news
This Band’s My Favourite, Man; Don’t You Love ‘Em?
Photo-illustration by Dave Meslin, courtesy of the band.
There’s a hot new band generating tons of Facebook buzz, and they have yet to play their first show. But the giddy anticipation of their live debut is palpable, in comments on their fan page such as “Yes, I’ve been waiting for this my whole life” and “So good I think I peed my pants.” Seems people get pretty excited about the idea of an all-girl Weezer cover band. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Sheezer.
The band is the brainchild of local musicians Dana Snell (formerly of The Bicycles, current drummer for Gentleman Reg) and Laura Barrett, both fans of the Los Angeles–based geek-rock legends (who recently released an album nobody seems to care about).”On Reg’s spring tour I was reintroduced to the first two Weezer albums, which I always loved but hadn’t listened to in forever,” Snell writes via email from Saskatoon. “There was a lot of air drumming.” Then, on the way home from Pop Montreal, Snell and Barrett listened to the albums together and decided to form an all-female Weezer cover band. “Once I thought of the name Sheezer, we knew it had to happen.” Rhythm guitarist Magali Meagher of the Phonemes and lead guitarist Lysh Haugen were recruited to round out the lineup.
Their Facebook fan page boldly states that they will play material from the blue album (you know, the one with “Buddy Holly”) and Pinkerton only, which should please those who subscribe to the idea that everything Weezer did after Pinkerton sucked. Barrett says, simply, “We all agree that the first two albums represent the pinnacle of Weezer’s sonic output.” Adds Snell: “The first two albums are, in my opinion, nonstop pop masterpieces and inspired a lot of people to form bands. And the fact that Weezer never produced anything as good again, yet continue to exist, makes the albums even more special.”
Rehearsals for Sheezer’s first gig are currently going on, but you’ll have to wait a month to see them play. Snell promises that their New Year’s Eve show at the Tranzac will be “a celebration of all things Weezer” and that the band hopes to perform the blue album and Pinkerton in their entirety, a notion that pretty much sounds like any Weezer fan’s wet dream. First a Weezer cover chiptunes album and now this? What more could a fan want? How about a re-enactment of what is arguably Weezer’s cutest video? “It would be fun to do a remake of ‘Island in the Sun,'” says Snell. “That’s one of my favourite videos. I choose the baby lion!”
Sheezer play their first show New Year’s Eve at the Tranzac (292 Brunswick Avenue) along with Gentleman Reg, Jim Guthrie, Mantler, and others. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door, available at Rotate This, Soundscapes, and the Tranzac.