Episode 6
Welcome to Today New Brunswick… Episode the Sixth! We are crawling out of our skins to share this content with you… continuing our look at regional and local scenes… in this case going broad and mostly flat… as we discuss our prairie favorites… bands and scenes from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba… We’re stoked you’re joining us!
Hear ye, hear ye… we’ve got the YouTube playlist here…
Dan’s Notes
Weakerthans
What do you say about a band like The Weakerthans? John K Sampson’s songs on the first two Propagandhi albums always stood out like poetic sore thumbs, so when I heard he had a new band with some of the Red Fisher guys I was full of anticipation, and that first album of theirs, Fallow, is one of the pieces of music I have had to repurchase in physical format multiple times due to just playing them to death. Over the course of their four full lengths plus a live album and a collaboration Jim Bryson, the Weakerthans perfected their brand of melancholic prairie rock full of cities of small lives and long drives, with Sampson cementing his place alongside folks like John Darnielle and Craig Finn as one of the top lyricists in the indie rock game. Sampson never abandoned the politics of his Propagandhi days but instead shifted more to painting portraits with his words rather than issuing screeds, with the band mixing country, folk, indie rock and pop punk into their haunting ballads of prairie angst. They definitely helped proved the soundtrack of a certain part of my early adult life, and I cannot think of taking the bus along extended stretches of the Trans Canada Highway without remembering the sound of their music playing in my ears.
Cadence Weapon
Former Edmonton poet laureate Rollie Pemberton aka Cadence Weapon has been a stardardbearer for the avant-garde side of hip hop in Canada over the past two decades. I’m in the middle of reading his memoir Bedroom Rapper right now and have been revisiting his music because of this which has been a rewarding experience. His beats mix UK grime and techno influences with weirdo indie vibes and lyrics that artfully mix the personal and the political, and reading his memoir really shows how deep his love and knowledge of the genre goes, though that makes sense given that his father was the DJ who literally introduced the province of Alberta in the early 80’s. I’ve been a fan of his work since his debut (2005’s Breaking Kayfabe) and even managed to catch him live here in Halifax a few years ago. Reading Bedroom Rapper inspired me to go check out his newest album Parallel World from 2021 and I heartily recommend giving it a listen. Opening track “Africville’s Revenge” starts with Pemberton listing off historically Black communities from across Canada that have been destroyed and made defunct by racism, gentrification, and other factors and stating that they are coming back for revenge, and never lets up from there over the next half hour or so of music. Cadence Weapon is an artist whose music has always been just a little too left of center for mainstream but he deserves his accolades as one of Canada’s top hip hop artists of the music log era for both his lyrics and his groundbreaking beats while also being an immensely talented writer outside of music as well. Oh yeah, did I mention that he was Edmonton’s poet laureate? Oh yeah, yeah I did. Also he wrote reviews for Pitchfork in the formative years of that site, before he had even finished high school, and is largely responsible for that site even covering rap music after taking them to task over their previous (lack of) coverage of the genre at the time. For these and many other reasons I had to include Cadence Weapon here on my list of faves from the prairie region.
Basement show faves
What is an episode of our show without a band I used to see in basements or weird rented community halls in the 90’s? Here’s a quick twofer of bands that played venues like Calgary Multicultural Center and the Carpenter’s Union Hall while I lived in that city in the mid-90’s.
Bonaduces and Showdown 76
Bonaduces
The Bonduces were around from 1995-1999 and were a bridge between the Winnipeg DIY political punk scene and the more indie-pop Endearing Records scene of bands like B’ehl and Duotang. They also made the trek to play Calgary frequently while I was living there in the mid 90’s. They stood out for their wordy, narrative-driven lyrics and catchy three chord melodies alongside the high-jumping onstage antics of guitarist and young Al Yankovic lookalike Mike Koop. Their songs were all (possibly fictionalized) short stories of the romantic foibles and allergic reactions of young vagabonds and weirdos in a chilly prairie town, that, in retrospect give off real strong theatre kid energy but still had me tapping my toes while revisiting them in prep for this ep. Also, their blatant theft of the art of Adrian Tomine for one of their shirt designs led me to discovering the work of that great comic creator as well so bonus points there as well I guess.
Showdown 76
The workhorses of the Calgary scene circa the time I was living there in the mid 90’s. I don’t know if they even ever left the city on tour during their time as a band but Showdown 76 honed their craft like few ever do while playing cruddy and not so cruddy venues around the city pretty much every weekend during those years. Guitarist Jeff Caissie also hosted a long running and beloved punk rock radio show on U of C’s radio station, and later went on to more regional fame while fronting 00’s emo unit Porter Hall, but SD76 always seemed like the sort of band that seemed down to play your show if you asked them, even if they never really toured outside of the city at all during their shortish existence. To be totally honest they’re a band I had not thought of in years until doing a bit of research for this episode and found their album uploaded to YouTube, which blew me away and made the realize I had to include them here to share their awesome melodic punk tunes on the show so please check them out at the link above,
SNFU
SNFU were a major band in multiple eras of the punk/hardcore scene h their initial run of albums on BYO Records in the mid-late 80’s, through their reunion in the early 90’s (where they first popped on my radar through multiple tour stops in Fredericton including the time people thought St Charbel’s Hall was on fire because of the steam coming out of the windows due to packed bodies dancing, the time they recruited dozens of the TNB skater crew kids to destroy the UNB campus Social Club where they were booked despite allegedly telling the promoter that they had only wanted an all ages show, and the time singer Chi Pig pelted the crowd of the Pyramid Warehouse with the multiple deli trays they had insisted the promoter buy for them included in their rider while dressed as Fred Flintstone and also wearing a Frankenstein wig. This 90’s reunion led to them eventually signing to Epitaph Records and being one off the many boats whose tide rose in that label’s post Offspring heyday and making appearances on Muchmusic and other big media outlets, all while still being a bunch of arty skateboarding weirdos from the prairies whose singer was gay and a person of colour in a scene that at times could be less than welcoming to either of those communities. They kept going all through the 00s after a few lineup changes and inter-member squabbles, while Chi’s issues with addiction and mental health problems worsened, It feels insensitive now to recall how in that era folks started commenting on his in reading resemblance to the skeletal visage on their iconic t-shirt design but I do remember noting the similarities. Still, every time I remember seeing them in that era he wa always happy to talk with anyone who came to the merch table and would offer hugs to those he reorganized from previous stops. There is a great and sad documentary feature film on his life made in this era that tells his story better than I could, but he is missed and SNFU’s legacy still stands today as a seminal Canadian punk institution.
Chad Van Gaalen
A weirdo polymath – composer of psyched out indie pop rock jams, record label/studio co-proprietor, and acclaimed 2D cell animation art film creator, CVG has been releasing albums of spacey yet catchy indie guitar jams peppered with circuitbent electronics, warped toy synths, noisy oscillations, and his watery falsetto vocal melodies via his own Flemish Eye label since 2004’s Infiniheart. His songs mix fuzzed out guitars, synthesizers, lo fi drum machines and acoustic string band instrumentation with noise machines and his aforementioned vocal melodies in short, often melancholic and sometimes creepy but occasionally even joyful pop blasts. Fans of stuff like our beloved Eric’s Trip will most definitely fall in love with his music, and in keeping with the themes of the podcast he even has ties to New Brunswick due to his tenure as artist in residence at a gallery in Sackville NB for a time due to his wild psychedelic 2D cell animation work. He has also released music under the name Black Mold and put out collaborations with members of bands like Dog Day (more Maritime ties) and Xiu Xiu and has moved from self releasing his stuff through Flemish Eye to the big time of Sub Pop. Full disclosure I used to play in a band with his Flemish Eye partner and sometimes live drummer Ian Russell, which was my initial introduction to VanGaalen’s music but I’ve been a massive fan since, and have always enjoyed the times that I’ve had the chance to see him live so he has be included as another one of my favourite artists from Cowtown and the prairies as a whole over the past nearly two decades.
End notes/miscellany
Shoutout
…to Zach Worton, Regina/Calgary hardcore frontman turned graphic novelist of books like Klondike and Charley Butters… and also to the Calgary Cassette Preservation Society…
Matt’s Notes
So… it’s been a week since this episode was recorded… for those who follow the ed tech podcast as well… the brave, hardy, and slightly foolish few of you… you will recognize this story…
I fucking ran away to Kelowna for (another) week… to hang out with my lovely friend who lives there… and some of the lovely other people in her life…
This lovely-ish podcast sat still-born for days and days…
NOW I’ve got the paddles charged… and the electrodes are set to FRIZZLE FRY…
Administer the fucking jolt, Dr. Stranach…
But… the patient mightn’t live…
Godammit, this is exactly why you’ve been unemployed for thirteen months and eight days…
Dr. Stranach reluctantly readies the paddles…
There is the smell of creosote… and burning flesh…
The WordPress post begins to twitch…
We have SOME KIND of life, doctor…
Yes, and may God have Mercy on our souls…
Uh… anyway!! Now that we’re up and lurking, here are a few of my faves discussed digustingly on the show… and otherwise…
Such Monstrous Overlap
We could make the world’s most hideous Venn Diagram between Dan’s list and mine… particularly with regards to Weakerthans and SNFU…
As mentioned during the show, I’ve only come to the Weakerthans recently… during this… joyous journey of divorce and prolonged unemployment…
Having said that, the obstacle is the way… as per the Stoic philosophers… and if that isn’t punk as fuck, I don’t know what is…
Our actions may be impeded, but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
Marcus Aurelius… possibly written at the borders of a Second Century all-ages show…
John K. Samson (Weakerthans)
Uh… anyway! Do yourself a solid and check out any and/or all tunes and/or albums by Weakerthans singer and guitarist John K. Samson… who also did time in Propagandhi…
A shoutout to my best friend Jon Bowie who sent me a text message telling me most emphatically that I had to own Provincial… and that such purchase WAS NOT OPTIONAL…
Jeez, I love my (provincially-minded) friends…
Propagandhi
Have I known about Propagandhi for many years… decades…? Yes, yes I have.
And why then, you bandwagon jumping motherfucker, did it take you so long to actually buy a record or stream their catalogue?
Shrugs. I was listening to other artists, man…
You’re not gonna last another fucking month as a vegan with that kind of lackadaisical attitude…
Shrugs again. Positive (anarchist) vibes only, man…
Uh, anyway…
This is clearly my way of filling space in this post for my lack of experience or significant personal anecdotes about this band prior to a few months ago… but in that time I’ve grabbed at least two or three of their records… and paid into a GoFundMe to help them repress their classic and highly influential Supporting Caste LP…
Yes, I just used capitalist cred to hype one of the most staunchly uncommercial punk bands on the planet. Don’t @ me…
Chixdiggit
This is one of those things where I haven’t thought about this band FOR YEARS… decades?… prior to preparing for this show.
Running late as this production is, I’m doing my best to write these notes in full within the length of I Should’ve Played Football in High School…
And… I’m not gonna make it…
Types a couple of things… restarts the clip…
This is it for fucking sure…
What was noteworthy at the time… when I was in high school… not playing football… or any sport… were the melodies… and the ASCENDANT GOOFBALL ENERGY….
Plus, they wrote back to fan mail!! Back before the Internet was a thing. A few blurry pics from the Fredericton show… and a brief handwritten note. It was nifty as fuck (NAF) at the time!
Whatever these dudes are up to now, I’m sure it’s awesome. My homework, after these notes are finished, is to listen to the two tracks below… which I have hitherto not bothered with…
I feel like these guys are now middle-aged somewhere and working day jobs somewhere in Canada… in fact, I’d love to think so. Cause punks who work day jobs AND find time to tour and record… are doing the Lord’s Work… in my unhumble opinion…
In any case, well-fucking played, gentlemen…
**Pats himself on the back for completing this post within four plays of Should’ve Played Football…
Northcote (Again)
At this point, Matt Gould is probably like: What the fuck, man?
I’ve gushed about his performance opening for Hot Water Music in Vancouver last fall… tagged him on a bunch of episodes on this show… and I even messaged him on Instagram asking if he’d like to weigh in with a pithy quote or two about the Saskatchewan punk scene that propelled he & his Christian hardcore band Means to international tours… ultimately leading to a solo career that’s seen him create numerous albums… and touring with the likes of Chuck Ragan and Dave Hause…
As of the time of writing, he has yet to respond.
So… this is all to say… I’m a fucking fan…
His “songs about turning thirty” thing resonates… cause MY life changed significantly when I was thirty… that was the year I moved to Qatar… after which nothing was the same… in the best possible ways…
ANYWAY
I will refrain from calling this dude Young Man… and I’m straight-edge now so… fewer worries about shouting besottedly during one of his gigs…
His new album is called Wholeheart and he is touring Western Canada beginning within days…
I can’t recommend him enough as a writer and performer. Sorry, dude!
That & This… This & That…
I’d be remiss (and inaccurate) as a motherfucker if I failed to list a few of the non-Western Canadian must-listens of late…
Brendan Kelly and Joe McMahon’s split acoustic album from a bunch of years back wears you out with its tunefulness and grinning existential malaise. That’s right, I fucking went there… and I’m never coming back…
Dave Hause is one of these dudes who’s been around seemingly forever… always seemingly mentioned in relation to another artist… like Chuck Ragan… and Northcote… for a couple… and his records slay on their own terms. Bury Me in Philly is some hard rocking post-hardcore… it swings and sways and thumps, with hooks aplenty and clever wordplay for days… his new record Drive It Like It’s Stolen is coming out any week now…
I’ve also had the Sainte Catherines’ amazing 2010 album Fireworks on repeat for many days… to be in Quebec in the springtime is a lovely thing… not that I’ve been since 2001… In fact I lived there for September 11th… and then left back for New Brunswick shortly thereafter… Dear Universe… remind me I have to fucking go back there one of these glorious fucking springs…
Finally, Samiam’s new album Stowaway is coming out in three days! My son will turn eleven that day… and I will be listening to Crystallized several dozen times… as I have been each day for the past GREAT MANY weeks…
Speaking of shoutouts, we would also like to give a shoutout to YOU… “the listener”… because otherwise this endeavor is less than an iota as interesting… so thanks as ever, & until next time!!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Filed under: Uncategorized - @ March 28, 2023 6:28 pm
