Natural born thrillers

Around 11 p.m., Vancouver, B.C.'s the Double Blind Experiment took the tiny Riff Raff stage and proceeded to shred through a half-hour set of dual-guitar, bass and drums post-punk pop that was worthy of a raucous Saturday night. Very tight, fast and clustered with eccentric rhythmic shifts, the music of DBE riveted the crowd’s attention and left it excited and craving more.

Which is exactly what The Con-Tra-Band delivered in short order. Lead singer Sid Locksley led his group through a set of blazing Brit-punk that burned with politically critical intensity seasoned with large doses of glowering, sarcastic humor directed at "that fucking wanker" George W. Bush. Musically, the Con-Tra-Band immaculately mutates classic punk riffs with dashes of surf and even a bit of high speed blues. Judging from the rousing reaction of the late-night Monday crowd, they’re doing it just right.