Karin Bubas & Mia Cunningham
of Mint records photo
Catch the Mint Records Just in Time for Xmas Party at the Railway Club tonight and tomorrow. There are no advance tickets, and the first 75 paid entrants get a free gift. Bands performing: The Awkward Stage, Bella, The Buttless Chaps, Carolyn Mark, The Choir Practice, at top, Immaculate Machine, above, The Pack A.D., The Ramblin’ Ambassadors, Vancougar, and Young and Sexy.
Turkey, goodwill, presents and sing-alongs: Catch them all at Mint’s Just in Time for Xmas Party.
Of the long lineup, two bands fit the sing-along tag perfectly. The 14-odd members of The Choir Practice and Immaculate Machine’s trio all split vocal duties in their respective projects, reflecting their love of harmonizing.
“Every Christmas, we’ll have sing-alongs with dad banging out really loose versions of Neil Young songs on the piano,” said Immaculate Machine’s singer-guitarist Brooke Gallupe. “Never Christmas carols, as I’m not from a traditional background, but always a sing-along.”
As a seasonal job, bandmate Kathryn Calder once sang carols at Victoria’s Butchart Gardens. B.C.’s capital received a second dose of indie-pop cheer after Mint’s island bash last Saturday, thanks to The Choir Practice.
“During our drunken trek back to the hotel, we stopped on some church steps and sang carols,” said Choir Practice’s Larissa Lovya, laughing. “(At the Mint show) we’ll play our songs, interspersed with a few Christmas songs … I hope people join in.”
At last year’s Mint party, Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, who also appeared on Immaculate’s 2007 album Fables, hopped on-stage with the Evaporators. This year, Immaculate has recruited Bella to sing during their set, and vice versa.
“(Both examples are) a testament to the community that Mint created in the Vancouver music scene,” said Brooke. “With Choir Practice, and with the Bella recruits (and everyone else) hopefully it will be a big sing-along.”
Mint’s event offers presents for early arrivals — and proceeds for the show go to the Portland Hotel Society, a non-profit that manages social housing projects in the Downtown Eastside. Choir Practice founder Coco Cuthbertson (who now lives in Saskatchewan) along with several others in the group are active with the organization.
As for turkey, the Railway Club serves a club sandwich . . .
