Pitchfork Media called The Constantines, aka Horsey Craze, aka The Constantines debut album "perfect," and their follow up Shine A Light was the must-have album of that year in Toronto. Ryan McLaren talked to Doug MacGregor about luck and life and to Steve Lambke about music in the city.

While going on this ride of popularity, have you ever felt that maybe you've taken the wrong path? Or do you feel the opposite? Doug MacGregor: Yes and no. Mistakes, yes. Wrong path, no. I guess it all depends on what you call the wrong path. For this guy, the wrong path begins and ends with "let's do this one funky."

Do you feel lucky? DM:Since about age nine, yes.

Do you see where you are now in life, the good and the bad, as a matter of destiny, or chance or focused determination? DM: A little bit of luck, a lot of work, a lot of fun, and lots of love.

What are some things that you are currently hoping to achieve? DM: Well, by the time we play this show, we should be about half way through recording a new record, so that's about all that's on my mind these days. So, a new record in 2005 is about it.

What's something you get excited about? DM: Spring.

I heard that the first Constantines show was at Wavelength four years ago. If that's true, how does it feel to be headlining one of the Anniversary nights? Steve Lambke: Wavelength was not our first show. I just checked the archives, and it was around our 30th show as a band. Nevertheless, of course we're excited! To call it an institution would drain the fun from it, but Wavelength is what it is, and it's a great thing, a great night. It's impossible to imagine the thriving Toronto indie scene without it. I'm super excited we're playing the anniversary. I'm excited that we're playing with The Creeping Nobodies again. All the shows are going to be great. We're going to be in the studio on the tenth, but I'm going to make it to Cinecycle. Save me a spot in the pit for the Lullabye set. That'll be me drunkenly screaming for "All I Can Give Ya."

You're opening up for the Weakerthans on a new tour, right? How did that come about? SL: We toured with them in the American southwest in late 2003 and really hit it off musically and personally. After a couple of shows together last fall on the way home from the Pop Montreal Festival we got each other excited about the idea of a coast to coast Canadian tour. It's a LONG tour. We're hoping for good weather. The Weakerthans are a great band, and the idea is that we'll be playing with some of the best bands across the country. It's going to be fun.

What music are you listening to these days? Are there any new or upcoming bands that are pIQUing your interest? SL: We just did a ten-day tour in the states with Oakley Hall, which is the new band fronted by Papa Crazee who used to play in Oneida. When they make it up here sometime, you all have to check it out. My favourite bands in town these days are Brutal Knights, The Bicycles, and the Sea Snakes (have you heard their cover of "It Makes No Difference"? Holy holy!). Nathan Lawr. Nate, I love you, I'm sorry I was screaming for "Spanish Armadas" through your whole set at the El Mocambo, but I really love that song. And, of course, the almighty Lullabye Arkestra. I've been listening obsessively to that song "Sloppy Ground" off the most recent Silt record. I love Andre Ethier's record, and the Ghost Story record, and I think when the new Deadly Snakes record comes out it's going to be all over. In a good way. I realize that most of these bands aren't "new" or "upcoming" but what can I say? I don't get out enough.

What's your favourite city/town in Canada? SL: Dude, Toronto. But, there are a lot of great towns in this country. I've become oddly and unexpectedly patriotic in the last few years. Maybe it's all that Gordon Lightfoot. St. John's, Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Dawson City.

BY RYAN MCLAREN

THE CONSTANTINES
Friday Feb. 11, 12:15am @ Lee's Palace
First played WL 49, last played WL 75
www.constantines.ca
See interview here.
Doug MacGregor's Top Five:
1. The first snowfall.
2. Public ice rinks.
3. The last snowfall.
4. Spring.
5. Dawson City last July.

THE CREEPING NOBODIES
Friday Feb. 11, 11:30pm @ Lee's Palace
First played WL 86, last played WL 164
www.thecreepingnobodies.com
Formed out of the ashes of Parts Unknown by WL co-founder Derek Westerholm and friends in 2001, the Creeps remain one of T.O.'s sharpest purveyors of avant-garde rock'n'roll. Their `04 disc Stop Movement Stop Loss is available through the Blocks Recording Club.

Paddy O'Donnell's Top Five
1. My nephews Karl and Grant
2. Family and friends
3. Personal music successes and setbacks
4. Time spent at CIUT
5. Time spent at Wavelength

MASIA ONE
Friday Feb. 11, 10:45pm @ Lee's Palace
First played WL 219
www.masiaone.com
Probably the only artist to be both a regular at Wavelength and on MuchVibe, MC/architect Masia One is skilled at making hip-hop, indie and jazz audiences feel equally comfortable. For this show, as with many others, she'll be backed up by members of Afro-beat crew Ultra Magnus.

Masia One's Top Five
1. Mississauga people
2. Aritzia sponsorship
3. Roosbeh introducing me to Jackie Mittoo
4. Astro Black, i.james.jones and the Romantic Gangsta
5. Manhattan Club and the advent of Dema Dog

KIDS ON TV
Friday Feb. 11, 10pm @ Lee's Palace
First played WL 201
KOTV, meanwhile, must be the only WL vets to have collaborated with the "Karma Chameleon" himself, Boy George, who recently lent his vocal talents to the dance-punk crew's "Breakdance Hunx." They're currently shopping a five-song demo, someone pick it up already!

Kids on TV's Top Five:
1. Good quality boots
2. Good quality beats
3. Good quality boys
4. Doing it no matter what
5. Good quality nachos at 3:30am

S.S. CARDIACS
Friday Feb. 11, 9:15pm @ Lee's Palace
First played WL 212
www.sscardiacs.com
Montreal refugee and unrepentant pop kid Jessie Stein is an equally talented singer, songwriter and guitarist, and now she's got a new rhythm section in Mike Small (Meligrove Band) and Leon Taheny (Germans). The record's in the can... labels??

JessieSteinAintNoCayote between the lines of age says top five:
1. Wisening Polemics
2. Wisecrack semantics
3. Well meaning Poetics
4. Righteous Romantics
5. I know lots of people have been trying hard to mean it.

With the release of their sophomore album, We'd Better Be Dreaming (Go-Rock Records), Vancouver's Chris and Cora Burnette are set to hit Toronto with songs about "friends, foes, family and the end of the world." Matt Blair spoke with Cora just moments after she had installed MSN Messenger.

WHAT EXACTLY IS "NEW WAVE COUNTRY KITCHEN PARTY POP?" Who knows? We've been having a hard time describing our music, and that was a compilation of a few different suggestions. I guess we're just trying to get across the various genres we like and see them come across in the songs. Every song is a little different, so that makes for a long description. Chris and I are very different musically in a lot of ways, and that's just what comes out.

YOU PRESENT YOURSELF AS BEING FROM A ROOTS BACKGROUND, WITH CHRIS BEING MORE PUNK ORIENTED. WHEN YOU COME TOGETHER TO WRITE, IS IT GENERALLY THE TWO OF YOU PLAYING THOSE SAME ROLES? It's hard to say. Every song is different. We both have a long-lived love for punk rock, but Chris has actually been playing in punk bands since he was like 12, and I have always leaned toward writing rock, folk and blues based songs. I guess that's what happens when you're locked in a room with just you, a guitar and a shitload of Zeppelin albums. Chris definitely adds an electrical element, and our songs are a combination of both. But I must say, they all stem from good old-fashioned down-home front porch jamming.

DO YOU FIND THAT YOUR RELATIONSHIP AFFECTS YOUR CREATIVE PARTNERSHIP? We don't try and hide the fact that we're together on stage or anything, and we've even been known to bitch at each other pre-show (okay, just me bitching at him). But what it comes down to is that we love playing together, and making music together. A huge part of it is the recording process. We do everything ourselves at home and love it. I won't lie and say its all roses. Anyone who's ever worked with their mate knows that it's a lot of work and not always easy, but it's very rewarding. Besides, Chris is my guitar hero, so what's not to enjoy? Plus, now we have a mediator on tour with us, which is always nice! We call him "the Ref."

THE REF? Our new drummer. His name is Kreg "Mung" Brow, and he comes from a post-industrial noise background, but we convinced him that folk music was good for the soul. And when things get ugly between me and Chris, he'll just stare off into the distance until we shut up. It works out great.

YOUR MUSIC IS OBVIOUSLY THE PRODUCT OF A VERY INVOLVED LEVEL OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU. DO YOU FIND THAT ON STAGE, YOUR SUPPORTING MUSICIANS BRING A LOT OF THEMSELVES INTO THE MUSIC? Yes. We much prefer that whoever plays with us writes their own parts. And no, what you hear on the record is not necessarily what you'll hear at a show. The albums are quite layered, with Chris and I adding and playing whatever instruments and parts we feel, and whatever noisemakers are at our disposal. But at a show, or the ones on this tour anyways, you'll be hearing two dueling distorted acoustic guitars, and a full drum kit. No bells and whistles this time.

ON YOUR FIRST ALBUM, THERE'S MORE OF A PLAYFUL SOUND. THE NEW ALBUM, IN CONTRAST, SOUNDS A LITTLE BIT MORE SOMBRE. I've heard that. We're always evolving, I guess. For this album we had a lot of songs we wanted to get out of us. It's all cathartic in a way, isn't it? So it just wound up that way. Chris actually calls it a really dark album, so it's interesting that you pointed that out. I think we were experimenting more with different sounds and techniques. Hey, who knows? Maybe the next album will be all banter! I don't know.

BY MATT BLAIR

The Bicycles have been playing their unique Super Pop around Toronto for five years. To celebrate, they've decided to record an album. Ryan McLaren emailed some questions to Drew Smith and Matt Beckett, who passed them on to Andrew Scott. I bet he has to unload all the gear too.

WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF EVERYONE IN THE BAND AND WHAT DO THEY ALL DO? Matt Beckett: Hands on hips and roll the eyes... Now your doing the Beckett just like Matt! He just discovered reggae music and can play the solo to "Smoke on the Water" (though it may take him a few tries)... at least he told me he could. Drew Smith: I know Drew Eats and Sleeps... he befriends homeless people... umm... he takes any chance he can to take potshots at me (probably because I do the same to him). He can dance better than any of us other Bikes. Dana Snell: Brings her Mom to shows, keeps us focused. She's more man than the rest of the band put together AND she has a good reason for singing like a girl (whereas the rest of us don't). Randy Lee: Tries really, really hard not to completely perv-out around someone until he really gets to know them (but doesn't always succeed). He drives. Or at least lends us his car for late night Drive-Thru. Andrew Scott: That's me. I play trumpet. That is all.

THE BICYCLES' SOUND IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM ANYTHING ELSE BEING MADE IN TORONTO. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INFLUENCES? I KNOW DREW'S A BIG FAN OF THE ARCHIES. After I'd been in the Bikes for a week or so (I met them the same day I played my first show with them!), Matt and Drew accompanied myself and FuzzyLogic [Recordings'] Maria Bui (our new boss!) on a magical New Year's Eve get-to-know-each-other trek to Barrie (don't ask), and I was blown away that Matt and Drew picked Marcos Valle, Margo Guyrian and Quasi out of my trip CDs to sing along to (and we did!), so those are always in my mind as influences. There are too many others really... and we don't ALL agree on that sort of stuff ALL the time. We've covered The Kinks, Harry Nillsson, The Velvet Underground... do those count?

SO... ALBUM? Well, we're done tracking and it's en route to mixing, which hopefully won't be too painful. Actually it feels weird to be able to say that it WILL actually be soon. I think we actually thought we'd be done a lot sooner but we just kept writing more songs and learning how to record more effectively with each new one and subsequently having to go back and fix all of the mistakes we made on the previous ones. NEVER TRY TO RECORD DRUMS LAST. We knew this already, but did that stop us?

ANDREW IS NOTOROUS (SIC) FOR PLAYING WITH A NUMBER OF BANDS, AND DANA ALSO PLAYED WITH THE S.S. CARDIACS. DO ANY OF THE REST OF THE BICYCLES HAVE SIDE PROJECTS? Wow, I'm notorous?? Check it out dudes, I'M NOTOROUS! Take that!!! Dana's not playing for the Cardiacs anymore but I know she joes around with some of Toronto's rock notables, Cloak and Dagger styles I hear. Drew, Maria and Meligrove Jay [Nunes] have a song coming out shortly on a kids compilation under the moniker "The Poos" or maybe "The Poohs". I think Randy has formed a band with his new, slimmer, network-ready Playstation 2 of late, and Matt stopped playing in The Weekend to concentrate on The Bicycles. Now The Weekend have a tour bus. We still just have Randy's car.

CAN YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THIS SLUSH? They have straws at 7-11 that are a bit bigger than regular for that sort of thing...and at the bottom they're flattened out into a sort of spoon-like contraption for getting the very last bits. Look out for the brain freeze though. And don't go for the jumbo size ones. No one ever finishes those ones without ending up sick or diabetic.

BY RYAN MCLAREN