By Will McGuirk

Well this will be interesting, three female fronted synth-fuelled acts on the Atria stage, a stage more used to the rage of cock rock, hard rock and punk rock. I’m betting the girls tear the place a new one.

That stage has seen it all and so have the regulars who must be among the biggest music fans in the city and the most knowledgeable. But three smooth as smooth pop bands are on this bill on this stage, its unusual, well, there you go, nu-Oshawa, prepare to be amazed etc.

Wooly are a band I’m digging a lot of late. We did a session with them. The four-piece are kats, Amika, Jonah, Alex and Chris, They will smother you in beauty, its their plan of attack; craft songs with a soulful glow, bright guitar, shiffle shuffle beats, slow and low bass and they will gather you in and there you are wrapped in the aural equivalent of embroidered boiler suits, yes even the trappings of the working class, the literal blue collar blues, are clouded up in this snuggly dream-pop. Wooly may just be exactly the soundtrack for these times of ours, filled with Netflix and get laid-off.

BRYN is from Toronto. She has a track , 'Honey” with a teaser video of appropriately dripping visuals but if you linger on the drops lingering on the lips you will see they’re dripping poison maaaaan. Don’t let the girl-next-door looks fool you, you’re living beside a femme-fatal attraction. Lorde help you.

Cubs Refrain, a two-piece, also from the Six, saddles up and saunters between the melancholy of Stars and the 80s Cancon earnestness of Eye Eye (remember Out On a Limb, no - Spotify that mother). The bio says the two met at university, marrying up the love of indie by one with the love of mainstream modern rock by the other or words to that effect. As they say in the 80s, they lay it on the line.