TOPS
This all-day show, an unofficial NXNE adjunct, has actually already begun, but if you can sneak out of work early and down to El Gordo’s in Kensington Market, bands and DJs will be keeping the backyard loud until 11 p.m. The emphasis is on acts associated with organizer Elliot Jones’ Pretty Pretty label, such as Prince Innocence and his own group Ell V Gore, but Brooklyn’s Google-defying Men are also slated to appear. $10 gets you in; smaller amounts of money will get you beer or empanadas, tacos and churros.
Friends (Lee’s Palace, 11 pm)
Because the Bushwick band will assuredly saunter through “I’m His Girl,” a proclamation on behalf of liberating relationships (and vintage film grain), and “Mind Control” implies that it’s worth staying to hear the rest of their new debut album.
METZ (Wrongbar, 11pm)
As was announced only earlier today, the noisy local trio just signed to Sub Pop. Expect them to celebrate with the usual churning, manic dissonance.
Ivan Julian (12 am, Silver Dollar)
Every NXNE seems to feature at least weathered punk elder playing almost surreptitiously in a snug little club. This year brings Ivan Julian of the Voidoids, whose 2011 WFMU live set still throbs with curt treble.
TOPS (1 am, Silver Dollar)
Reuniting various former members of the defunct Silly Kissers, TOPS share an insouciant love of pop with several labelmates on Montreal’s Arbutus Records. Where they differ is in their soft, tender handling of that long musical vein, with Jane Penny’s high-pitched vocals suggesting a cleaner Grimes.
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Chris Randle is the culture editor at Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter at @randlechris.
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