Despite all evidence pointing to the contrary, friend from residence, Sarah Jensen’s boyfriend’s Mile End band played a gig on March 28 that didn’t totally suck. While they seemed like any other tiny-hat toting group of boys, Plunger actually played a pretty solid set; several audience members described it as “a little long winded, but honestly, alright.” The audience itself was mostly a crowd of turtlenecked twentysomethings with a diverse range of Anglo-Saxon roots. One song in particular, “Hal(lelujah)ucinations” a nine-minute ballad about a mystery girl the lead singer had met at TRH-Bar was a crowd favourite, although the lyrics were sometimes inaudible over the sound of shuffling Blundstones.

Plunger’s  three person lineup consists of Nick Hewlett, the loud dude with bad takes from POLI 325, on bass; Josh Byman, who you met in the distant past of Sangria Wednesday at Gerts when you both tried to put ‘Drift Away’ into the jukebox, on drums; and Jensen’s boyfriend, Xander Dave, singing and playing his uncle’s electric guitar.

In an interview with The McGill Tribune Xander explained the origin of “Hal(lelujah)ucinations” and described his artistic process.

“Well I don’t know, it was just sort of an uphill battle, you know?” Xander said.  “Like, even if I hadn’t wanted to end up there I just kinda had to [….] I don’t know, it was just something I’d never experienced before and like, those things just leave an imprint on you.”

Another crowd-pleasing hit was “Puddle-Jump,” a track which Nick described as “like a Peach Pit–Steely Dan fusion with some Tank and the Bangas.” The duration of the five minute song saw Xander and Josh shouting “Hop” repeatedly over Nick’s bassline.

Plunger is not on any music streaming services, but they are playing a gig at Sala Rosa on June 3— so, in Xander’s own words: “Come through. It’ll be chill, or whatever.”