This Week in Sound: Real Estate, RX Bandits, Thomas Dybdahl, Billy Talent and more

Real Estate (July 19 @ The Garrison) will either put you into a trance or put you into a coma — nothing in between. The New Jersey indie darlings know how to set a mood with their spacey surf rock, that’s for sure. Check them out if relaxed vibes and endless reverb sounds like your bag of Twizzlers, but take a pass if you expect your rock to register on the Richter scale.

The RX Bandits (July 18 @ Mod Club) will bring their farewell tour to the Mod Club tonight. Anyone who came of age in the early 2000s will definitely remember them, but if their horn-driven punk was your fave, we suggest you scout out their new material to be sure — the RX Bandits of today are more prog than ska.

Don’t pretend that you’ve ever heard of Thomas Dybdahl (July 19, The Drake Hotel), because we definitely hadn’t. But if you happen to have a date on Tuesday, consider dropping by The Drake, where the Norwegian troubadour will be plucking guitar strings and heart strings. Think the fingerpicking of José González, but a little simpler, a little less moody, and with pop songs playing overtop. Swoon.

Seeing them on a bill that also includes Megadeth (see below) is a little confusing, but Mississauga’s Billy Talent (July 24 @ Downsview Park) will be playing Saturday at the Heavy T.O. fest. Say what you will about Billy and his Talents; you’ve got to hand it to a Canadian band that has staying power and enough guts to walk into an sea of metalheads and play radio singles.

Also at Heavy T.O., Anthrax, Motörhead and Megadeth (July 23 @ Downsview Park) will be making Edgefest look like an episode of Shining Time Station. We won’t bother editorializing, since chances are you either love metal or avoid it like smallpox, but we’d be amiss if we didn’t also mention that Anvil (July 24 @ Downsview), stars of Anvil: The Story of Anvil (and all around nice guys) will be shredding fretboards the next day.

The Indie tastemakers at Pitchfork dismissed their album as trite, but we still think they have a certain charm: Young the Giant (July 20 @ Mod Club) will deliver a foot-stomping dose of U2-ish arena rock this week. Edge listeners will appreciate, hipsters will absolutely not.

And finally, to be filed under "n" for "nostalgia:" those looking to relive their emo days can catch Taking Back Sunday  and Thursday (July 22 @ Kool Haus) this Friday. Those with a closet full of ripped jeans and Kurt Cobain posters, meanwhile, might want to angst out with The Tea Party (July 21@ Sound Academy).

This Week in Sound is PostCity.com’s weekly roundup of the best shows coming to Toronto

Article exclusive to STREETS OF TORONTO