AfterpartY

AfterpartY Live Review / Karin Chu

No story can ever be as random as that of how AfterpartY came to be: “Idan and I met at an afterparty and discovered almost immediately that we had nothing in common whatsoever. Naturally, we decided to form a band,” recounts Kristina. Hey who cares about the randomness? After all, this “take it or leave it” attitude is what makes AfterpartY – Kristina as the front, Idan on keys, Avital and Lavi on guitars, Ryan on the bass, and Lord Carlos on the drums – one of the hottest bands in the indie scene.

In the past, AfterpartY has been compared to the likes of Blondie, Madonna, Talking Heads, The Clash, Garbage and Metric. Their eclectic themes are also bound by one similarity – a sense of personality and novelty. “We put a lot of thought into our songs and especially into our lyrics. It’s really important to us that our music get across how we feel – as young people living in this city, as artists trying to create something new. The only way I can go out there and sing these songs in front of people is if I know, and they know, that we did our best not to surrender to irony or cliché,” explains Kristina.

AfterpartY’s style, as seen in their smashing tunes, “Tokyo Blonde” and “Your Love So Retro”, is identified by a front of thrashy guitars thrown on top of disco grooves. This energetic sound is topped by Kristina’s characteristically sweet vocals, which plays the key role in defining the band’s edginess. As enjoyable as Kristina’s voice may be, however, there are times when it comes across as too squeaky, especially o someone who is not accustomed to the post-punk/New Wave sound that the band tries to achieve. This squeakiness is great in fast tunes, but can certainly be taken down a notch or two in slower and mellower tunes.

Other than that, AfterpartY’s achievements serve as a testament to how good their music is. They have just finished taping their demo material at Sony-BMG and DoaneLeBlanc. Past gigs include an opening act for the famous FourGoodMen at Opera House and a featured performance at Edge 102.1 Indie Steamwhistle Nights – where Tokyo Police Club once played. With all these accomplishments under their belt the band is continuing to push themselves harder. “I have all the faith in the world in our players – seriously, you ain’t seen nothing yet”, grins Kristina.

Visit http://www.myspace.com/afterpartyretro to order a copy of AfterpartY’s 5-track EP, or check out their next live show. For other details, visit http://www.afterpartyband.com. - University of Toronto Press- Salterrae 2007

Link to Review:

http://duggup.com.au/2007/01/18/afterparty/

"Tokyo Blonde is the pick of the tracks that this Canadian power pop outfit are offering. Punchy arrangements, clever lyrics delivered up by in your face vocals and a strong tight band, make AfterpartY a very listenable and danceable act. They are fashionable and a little pretentious (but I never said that was a bad thing) but I think their hearts are in the right place. See for yourself, from their website:

AfterpartY was created by 20-year-old vocalist Kristina B and keyboardist Idan Erez at 3am in a downtown loft in Toronto, sometime in 2004. Both of them hated turning on the radio and hearing the same thing over and over again. Somewhere along the line, they realized, pop music became less about melody and songcraft and more about production. So the two set out to form a band dedicated to bringing something new and unforgettable to the music scene.

Now I’m not sure that they have succeeded in their aim but they seem to be having a great time trying and more power to them too. There is some video footage of a live performance on their website is pretty distorted." - Duggup

Link to Review:

http://itsnotdarkyet.blogspot.com/

"It was this thought that led to the forming of Toronto band Afterparty. Idan Erez and Kristina B met at said afterparty and after deciding it was terrible, they figured they would form a band that played good music instead of crap. A very novel idea. It is hard to explain the sound they've come up with, it's kind of disco-y punk pop. The music has an '80's feel to it but delivers a bit more punch than your average '80's pop song. Regardless of what category the music fits into, I think it's safe to say that Idan and Kristina have succeeded in making some good and different music. You can hear four of their songs on their myspace page to get a taste of what they're all about. Afterparty has yet to release an album but they are currently working on their debut and hopefully it will be out by the end of the year. You can keep checking out their official website for updates and news on everything Afterparty. I'd also be interested in feedback on some of these bands I post about. So if you've read this and checked out the band, please leave some comments on what you thought of them. I was planning on ending this blog by saying "One things for sure, this Afterparty definitely does not suck," but that's pretty cheesy isn't it. I really gotta come up with some better ideas. Oh well." - It's Not Dark Yet

Link to Review:

http://itsnotthebandihateitstheirfans.blogspot.com/2009/01/modernboys-moderngirls-amos-transparent.html



ItsNotTheBandIHateItsTheirFans.blogspot.com
Sunday, January 25, 2009
AfterpartY @ Sneaky Dee's

"….what an epic show it turned out to be!The evening's Golden Hands... replacement was a local act called AfterpartY. Right off the bat, I couldn't help but notice that lead vocalist Kristina B. was ridiculously good looking. Always a good thing. Oh ya, they played music too. Apparently this was their first show since March 2008, but they didn't sound rusty or out of practice at all, and even though the larger crowds still had yet to appear, the band played a very enthusiastic set of guitar driven retro sounding power punk. Krisitina's vocals reminded me a bit of a girl named Aimee Echo from a California band called theSTART, but if you need a less obscure reference, than anywhere between pre-sellout Gwen Stefani and CBGB-era Blondie will give you the basic idea. Musically, the band boasts a definite early 90's punk revival influence, although with a little less MTV sheen and a little harder of an edge. You could tell that the band had a bit of experience behind them, as their playing was tight, and their showmanship, solid. Admittedly, I haven't been listening to all that much shiny accessible disco punk these days, but every once in a while, it feels good to transport back to 1993. …."
- ItsNotTheBandIHateItsTheirFans

Link to Review:

http://liveinlimbo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199:saturday-june-20-2009-&catid=56:day-3&Itemid=116

Neutral Lounge 8pm

"Now, this was my first time going to the Neutral Lounge. The fact it was on such an odd side street and how the club was right under a Shopper’s-like drug store made me question it greatly as a club. I go in and the club was incredibly sketchtacular, the lights were probably so dim so it would hide the awful mess of a club. Then AfterpartY played and they completely gave a fantastic performance. “Let me break your broken heart again” will be remembered, in my mind, as one of the best lyrics I heard that weekend. Even though the singer sounds like a pixie, she worked with it, giving an amazing showing with the strange singing chops that Kristina B was born with. In addition, many eyes did not mind her appearance as well. The rest of the band gave a good performance too, playing as if it was the last show they would play, even Juan Carlos Riva rocked so hard he broke a string. Many thanks from the band were given to bassist Mark, who filled in that night for Idan Erez. Overall, a very Metric/Blondie band but with a much harder edge with a disco-ey twist. I hope to see more from this band in the future. 4.5/5"

-Andrew Tomayer
- Live in Limbo.com

I heart the Music

Link: www.iheartthemusic.com/2009/04/21/afterparty-senor-kasio-the-framework-good-times/

April 21, 2009 - AfterpartY + Senor Kasio + The Framework = good times

"Tattoo Rock Parlor was the destination du jour on April 16th if what you were looking for was an exciting, fun night combined with stellar music. AfterpartY, Senor Kasio and The Framework were the perfect line up, proving they are all great songwriters, musicians, and entertainers. First out was AfterpartY, an up and coming pop rock quartet out of Toronto. Throughout the whole performance my eyes were peeled on lead singer Kristina who I feel is destined to become a pop rock icon with her confidence and stage presence. I can just picture it… instead of every little girl emulating Avril and Gwen Stefani, in a couple of years they will be singing AfterpartY songs at the top of their lungs, pretending they are Kristina. Not only did she have a great energy, she also had a powerful voice, not necessarily unique in any way, but boy could she belt out a ballad. The sound mirrored the punk/pop music of the moment - non pretentious, just catchy and fun. Everyone in the band looked like they were having a great time on stage, but hands down the lead singer stole the show for me. If the stars align, they will be the next Paramore in a couple of years."

reported by Kristen Tignanelli
- I heart the Music

Link to Review:
file:///Users/tc_studio/Desktop/Lonely%20Vagabond%20»%20Blog%20Archive%20»%20Afterparty%20-%20The%20Horseshoe.html

Normally a four-piece (recruiting two members for the show) Afterparty create a sound that’s heavier than pop and prettier than rock, delivering an infectious breed of swaggering riffs and pumped-up rhythms, straddling the line between thick indie-rock and driving post-punk. Fronted by a sassy rock-diva Kristina, belting-out vocals and a fountain of energy onstage, the stock of these retro-pop-punk talents continues to rise. - Lonely Vagabond

Link to Show:
http://itsnotthebandihateitstheirfans.blogspot.com/2010/02/afterparty-horseshoe.html


Friday, February 12, 2010
AfterpartY @ The Horseshoe

There are many bands that work hard to be as weird as possible so as to establish a sound that is new, vital and fresh but sometimes, it's simply working with the original template of pop music construction that enables a band to stand out from the rest. This is an area where local retro post-punkers AfterpartY shine and they proved that well when they played The Horseshoe last week as part of Dave Bookman's weekly free Nu Music Nite Showcase.

I first saw the band at Sneaky Dee's about a year ago, and I thought that they really stood out amongst the other bands that night in the sense that they displayed a little too much pop polish to fit in with the local music scene, but they also weren't mainstream enough to be the latest teeny bopper fashion statement of MTV either. This put them in sort of a unique position where I found it hard to figure out exactly where they fit in. But as I've listened to their music more and more over the year that followed I came to realize that that is exactly what makes them so good. Sure, there are many bands that borrow and copy from the late 70's/early 80's pop punk aesthetic, but in most cases it's obvious that their trying hard to emulate that sound. AfterpartY on the other hand, come across as a band that just HAPPENS to sound like that without really having any preconceived desires of actually doing so. That's difficult to accomplish, especially when you watch some of their interviews and realize that were very much influenced by bands like Blondie and Talking Heads. Of course, another aspect of their appeal is the fact that they put on a great live show.

Lead vocalist Kristina B is everything a frontperson should be, exuding a mix of rock 'n roll attitude and scintillating presence that I found it impossible to take my eyes off of her while she performed. I thought that the band had really stepped up the energy level also, making the songs sound more energetic and raw. This was no doubt aided by the fact that they had expanded to a six piece for this show, recruiting a couple more members on bass and guitar, filling out their sound nicely and making it come across as a little bit more anthemic. Whether or not the band has permanently expanded to a six piece remains to be seen, since guitarist Juan Carlos indicated to me that the lineup was likely to become a permanent thing, whereas Kristina mentioned that they were just trying it out for now, so we'll see. Either way, I think that the band is finally beginning to carve out their niche and with a full length album poised and ready for release in the near future, it will be interesting to see how the indie loving public responds to their infectious melodies.
- It's Not the Band I Hate, It's their Fans