In live music, the booking of opening acts is an art that too often gets ignored or taken for granted. The wrong opener might make showgoers restless, set a sour tone for the night and leave headliners with an uphill climb back into the crowd’s good graces. Yet, at their best, the right lineups can give great exposure to local acts, stoke crowd momentum, and provide a shared context with new insight into the bands and the evening as a whole. By taking headliners Waxahatchee and stacking the card with the Muscadettes and Girlpool, Monday night’s lineup at Le Ritz blended the individual acts into a perfect love letter to low fidelity and high talent.

Montreal’s own Muscadettes were up first, taking the small stage of what is becoming my favourite venue in the city. Fronted by twins Chantal and Kathleen Ambridge, the surf pop/garage rock five-piece chugged their way through a tight set of sunny harmonies, punk chords and groovy synth. Firmly in the Best Coast tradition, but with a little more grit and bite, the sisters played through tracks from their new EP Side A – out as of April 21st from Paper Cup Music and Costume Records. With an extra dose of blood and guts missing from the studio records, cuts like “Growing Pains” and frenetic standout “Pearl and Oyster” gave the crowd a sample of the summer to come. Sounds good.

Girlpool followed next, replacing the sun-drenched rock outfit with just a guitar and a bass. Hailing from the mean streets of Los Angeles, Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad proudly exemplify “bare bones” in all possible dimensions. Yes, they strip down instrumentation to simple bass-lines and skeletal guitar progressions – but on top of that, Girlpool also celebrates a lyrical approach that is proudly open and raw. Poignant and funny in equal doses (and, often, at the same time), Tucker and Tividad’s songs come off as a collection of short stories about growing up and feeling stuff. Nothing new there, but the straightforwardness that they bring to their lyrics (see “Before The World Was Big”), delivered in the harmonies of a double-tracked punk-rock Joanna Newsom, is immediately relatable and refreshing. Playing tunes off their upcoming record (including highlight and set-closer “Cherry Picking”), Girlpool carry this affability into their between-song banter, punctuating the set with goofy appreciation of Le Ritz’s multi-coloured walls and inquiries about Montreal’s best digs for falafel. On their penultimate track, the duo invited Waxahatchee drummer Ashley Arnwine to the stage, instantly evolving into a confident power-trio and giving the crowd a taste of the headliners and, perhaps, a glimpse of a Girlpool to come. I like what I hear – but I’m sure they won’t forget their roots, either.

In 2012, Philadelphia’s Waxahatchee didn’t look that much different from the Girlpool of today. Rising from the ashes of P.S. Eliot, Katie Crutchfield’s first release as Waxahatchee was recorded in her bedroom in 2012. With similar audio quality to the Mountain Goats’ pre-4AD output (minus the frequent collaborator of John Darnielle’s boombox wheel-grind), Waxahatchee’s American Weekend was a lo-fi dream – but with this spring’s Ivy Tripp, Crutchfield officially transformed her one-woman operation into a fully-fledged rock ‘n roll group. Like a fusion of the Muscadettes’ pop-rock and Girlpool’s emotional directness, Crutchfield has successfully integrated the DNA of her bedroom confessions into a beefy live rock setting that, quite frankly, slays.

The hints of Guided By Voices that cropped up on second release Cerulean Salt (represented in the night’s set-list by album MVPs “Coast to Coast” and “Peace and Quiet”) have now come to maturity, driving new barnstormers like “Under a Rock” and “Poison”. Even shorter, peppy songs like “Grey Hair” and “The Dirt” feel like fully-formed songs and not mere sketches. Of course, low-key moments persist – but even down-tempo ballads like the bruised “Air” are augmented by the might of the full band, echoing the spooky synth flourish of the recording.

It should be mentioned, however, that if there has to be a trade-off for this newfound muscle, then the clarity of Crutchfield’s vocals is the first to suffer. Although evocative imagery like “I left you out like a carton of milk” remains intact during the more balanced ballads, the lyrics that animate Waxahatchee’s louder numbers seemed to often get buried in the mix despite the strength of Crutchfield’s voice. Luckily, these songs are strong enough to get by on melody and emotion alone – however, I can’t help but feel like a key component of the equation is hiding underneath the layers of drums and guitars. Seemingly recognizing this, Crutchfield returned alone after set closer “Bonfire” for a three-song encore that featured new ballad “Half Moon” and two songs from her debut. With just her guitar, her words, and the crowd, Crutchfield single-handedly brought back the intimacy of her bedroom and her records’ quieter spaces. Those spaces are still there – it’s just that, between the Muscadettes, Girlpool, and Waxahatchee 3.0, they now have some more company.

Review – Dan Corber