A crackling fire fills the northern air with applause as singer/songwriter David Partridge lands on the final chord of a newly finished melody. Ages, the name David has given to his music, couldn’t be more fitting for this solitary composer, whose breadth of influence spans over the past century. With such a diverse background, it’s no wonder this finger-picking guitarist gets some serious work done from his secluded cottage in Bobcaygeon, ON.

Imagine the breathy vocal delivery of an Elliott Smith mixed with lush, full-band arrangements, and a taste for the grit of iconic vocal performers like Leonard Cohen, and Jacques Brel. That’s Ages. But when David writes a song, he writes the whole thing. Guitars, drums – even mandolin, and cello – this artist turned recording engineer will make it happen. And he’s perked some serious ears across the Southern Ontario music scene.

Since its inception, Ages has shared the stage with Millencolin front man Nikola Sarcevic, as well as the Junction, opening a night at Edge 102.1 studios in downtown Toronto. The solo project has also been featured in a live original music video shot and edited for SouthernSouls.ca. Currently, an EP is in the works, which David is producing and engineering himself from his Milton, ON recording studio, HELM.

On stage, Partridge incorporates a full band, with all the eclectic instrumentation of his recordings. With this comes the allure of a true performance. And it’s a refreshing departure from the front man obsessed rock-and-roll paradigm we’ve all seen done to death. With Ages, the audience is invited to peer into David’s world through a “keyhole.”

The guitar feedback swells as bodies pack into a cold garage in Chinatown to catch a glimpse of Toronto’s newest and dirtiest rock band, Greys. In spite of the February chill, people crowd the quartet as they rip into a set of throat-searing, fist-raising anthems that mix muscular riffage with atonal discordance in a style that wouldn’t be out of place on a Sub Pop or Touch & Go sampler from 1991.

Put it this way: If Fugazi suddenly displayed a penchant for stoner rock riffs; if Duane Denison jammed with John Reis; if Nirvana never released Nevermind; if the nineties never ended – this is the alternate universe in which Greys exist.

They’re no throwback band, however. Far from it. They simply display the raw, aggressive, yet artful and progressive traits bands haven’t shown off in over a decade – especially in their hometown. They play very, very loud rock music, and that’s enough cause for applause. The lack of likeminded artists in their city is what spawned Greys in the summer of 2010, as the four young men sought to fill this void themselves with serrated guitars, pounding drums, guttural basslines and pissed off vocals.

This frustration manifests itself at their energetic live shows, impressing fans of acts as disparate as Mike Watt & The Missingmen, Marnie Stern and Tera Melos, plus those of local heavyweights Teenage Kicks and Indian Handcrafts, in packed venues all over Toronto and the rest of Southern Ontario – and this is all before their debut EP, Ultra Sorta, is released on April 26th.

The EP serves as the perfect introduction to Greys’ sound. With five tracks clocking in at just over fifteen minutes, it is at once visceral, caustic, blunt, yet somehow laden with hooks; melodic landmines buried beneath waves of feedback and gargantuan guitar licks. The packaging itself represents the band’s DIY attitude – pressed on a limited run of 10″ coloured vinyl, with hand-printed and hand-numbered sleeves, and released on grassroots upstart label, Concession Records.

So when you see throngs of devoted fans surrounding Greys in similarly unorthodox venues, know that the band is offering their audience something more than just shelter from the cold – they provide an alternative to the hip dance parties and forgettable “indie rock” bands taking up space in their city’s venues. They’re giving them more than a soundtrack for a debauched evening out with the cool kids. They’re giving them a breath of fresh air. They’re giving them rock n’ roll.