Ribbon Skirt: Bite Down Album Launch at La Toscadura

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Montreal’s Ribbon Skirt (formerly Love Language) held their debut album release at La Toscadura on April 25th accompanied by Heaven For Real and Taupe. The band played Bite Down to a sold-out and lively crowd at the relatively new St-Laurent Boulevard venue.

With a capacity of roughly 300, La Toscadura is the newest edition to the growing Casa Del Popolo family. The door of the easy-to-miss venue is marked: Club Espanol De Quebec and inside is a long and narrow but spacious, rough and ready venue. Black curtains are draped from the ceiling panels lining its sides with a bar near the entrance and a black stage at the far end. To the right of the stage is the green room and the sole bathroom is to the left.

Ribbon Skirt has a post-punk/alternative sound and much of lead singer, Tashiina Buswa’s lyrics draw on her Anishinaabe heritage with the name Ribbon Skirt referring to a traditional Native American garment. Bite Down has garnered praise from many outlets and was named Stereogum’s album of the week. The band was mentioned in Rolling Stone after playing the SXSW festival and most importantly received a glowing endorsement from Nardwuar the Human Serviette.

I arrived just before the post-punk/psych band Heaven For Real took to the stage. The singer, Mark Grundy’s soft and shaky vocals at times resembled those of Daniel Johnston as psychedelic lights swirled behind him and the band. He was accompanied by his twin J. Scott Grundy and Nathan Doucet who was having his way with the drums.

As three of the four members of Ribbon Skirt prepared their gear on stage I stood to the left of it with a proper view. The guitarist Billy Riley’s guitar case was open with the numbers one through nine and the letters A to J stuck on it–a work in progress. He quickly checked his pedal setup. Some cheers poured in as Buswa climbed onto the stage. The band–who played the show as a four-piece–is led by Buswa and Riley who write the music together, with Buswa writing the lyrics.

When the set began it was immediately clear that the stage presence was brought to life by Riley who wore a cloak of some sort and was always on the move–often crouching down to hug the amplifier for feedback. He swung his guitar as if trying to escape it and the instrument made its way through the ceiling panels on more than one occasion. It was evident that he and Buswa had logged a good amount of time on stage as they would come together often, swinging their guitar heads an inch or two from each other’s faces without so much as blinking.

A few songs into the set, Buswa was forced to stall as Riley unsurprisingly broke a string and had to do a mid-show change. She spoke to a very supportive crowd and appeared to be slightly overwhelmed by it. It wasn’t long before the band was back in full force and Buswa was making her way through the crowd with microphone in hand. The energy was high and the audience was very much a part of the show.

The band has built a nice following in Montreal and is beginning to do the same on a larger scale. With the release of Bite Down, the artists are being taken seriously, as they should be. They’re also laying the foundation for a deeper exploration of the Ribbon Skirt sound and it is evident that many are excited to hear it.