Hey, it’s our fourth episode! How’d that happen? Anyway, we’re stoked you’re here…

This is our first in what will probably be a recurring series on our favourite regional or local scenes… today we start with beautiful… weird… and expensive… British Columbia!

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From the East Kootenays to Haida Gwaii… #bogmonstermusic

Click here for a YouTube list full of tracks from the Left Coast! And if you like what we’re doing… or perhaps especially if you don’t… drop a comment at the bottom of this post or on the YT!

Dan’s Notes

Daddy’s Hands (Victoria)

One of the more tragic tales of Canadian punk/indie music but one of my favourite bands, even if there was a point in my life where some of their songs drove me totally up the wall (the problem when a band you like starts using your basement as a practice space,as was the case circa 1998-1999 for me). Active from early 90’s to 2006 from Victoria, though occasionally based out of Montreal. Started out closer in sound to members’ previous bands like MBlanket mining more of a melodic raspy-voiced punk vein but turning up the weird more and more over the course of two demos, two full lengths and an EP with a full time saxophonist, unconventional percussion (their drummer used an actual kitchen sink and multiple metal garbage cans of different size as part of his kit at one point) , occasional violin and toy keyboards, and  wild onstage theatrics involving masks and wacky costumes added to the mix. At their full powers the band sounded like what would happen if you stuffed The Cramps, Jawbreaker, various members of Captain Beefheart, and a haunted doll into the teleporter machine from Cronenberg’s The Fly. Their first full length, Tutankhamen, was originally supposed to come out on Headhunter Records in 2000, to the point of promo copies going out to campus radio even, but the label went bankrupt right before it was supposed to be released. The final incarnation of the band moved back to more standard loud guitar indie-rock on their posthumous 2nd full length and most widely available release “Welcome, Kings” though that material was written after the passing of founding co-frontperson Emily aka Mousey Connection who died in 2002. Surviving vocalist Dave Wenger and Emily had been on and off romantic partners since before the start of the band, and all who knew him during that time said he never really recovered from her passing. Not long after recording finished on that last album in 2006,Dave passed in a bicycle accident. Despite the tragic story of the band, their music has always sounded so unique and vibrant and weird and dark and sexy and melancholy to me in a way no other band has reproduced, and their live shows were pure chaos in the best way.

Third World Planet (Victoria)

With no hyperbole, I can say that two piece Victoria grindcore band Third World Planet are possibly the punkest band I have ever run into in my life.  From touring across Canada by hopping freight trains from city to city, to relocating to Switzerland to help take care of a long running anarchist squat and arts center, they lived what they believed in. Originally formed by members of Nanaimo’s Droid and Victoria’s Mexican Power Authority (one of whom also performed solo noise shows under the name HERMIT), this powerful duo mixed warped guitars (like physically warped, as their guitarist had to constantly experiment with new tunings to compensate for the toll taken by multiple cold nights riding in an unheated grain car between shows) and lightning speed drumming to mix grind, crust punk and an emotive hardcore passion in 60 to 90 second bursts. Most of their recordings were released on a mix of cassettes and short-run 7”s released in a variety of countries in the mid-late 1990’s and not well preserved on the internet so for the YouTube playlist I’ve included a rip I found of a full 16 song demo “Only Nature Can Control” from 1997, clocking in at just over 20 minutes. Also, their drummer Jason Flower currently runs a great record label and shop called Supreme Echo in Victoria. The label end of things does reissues of notable but hard to find punk and metal from Canada and all over the world and the store sells new and used vinyl with a focus on rare and international music you probably won’t find anywhere else. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.

Jerk With A Bomb / Steve McBean in general (Vancouver)

In my opinion Steve McBean is one of Canada’s finest singer/songwriters, though maybe doesn’t get the recognition he deserves from certain circles due to most of his bands up to a certain point were  pretty squarely centered in punk and . From Red Tide and Mission Of Christ in the 80’s, to GUS and Ex Dead Teenager in the 90’s, until he and EDT-mate Josh Wells started the stripped-down JWAB with Steve on vocals and guitar and Josh handling drums and backing vocals, while occasionally freeing up one hand to also play keyboard while also drumming and harmonizing. Their sound was balanced between alt country and new wave-ish elements, though by their third album they started having a bassist play with them occasionally, and a full time keyboard player, and big riffs more akin a more mature and musically skilled evolution of some of Steve’s early thrash metal projects, and next thing you know….Jerk With A Bomb was no more, with the psych-rock juggernaut that is Black Mountain made up at that point of everyone that was in JWAB plus a few extras rising from their ashes. Not to abandon the more stripped down vibes of the previous version of this band, McBean started side project Pink Mountaintops for his more acoustic and new wave-inspired endeavours. Eventually, a big movie soundtrack song placement later (in the third Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie) and Black Mountain end up touring with Coldplay of all freaking bands. When I saw them in 2008 here in Halifax they had some guy from Wisconsin opening for them who had just recorded an album at his cabin out in the sticks named “bone something” cough cough (it was Bon Iver). That being said, those three albums as Jerk With A Bomb(one of which is only available via their Bandcamp) hold the dearest place in my heart of all of their projects.

Needles//Pins (Vancouver)

Needles//Pins are the most recent band to make my part of the list. I first saw them when they toured east in mid 20teens for No Funswick Fest with Montreal’s late great Mental Fix, and made sure to catch their stop in Halifax as well as I was so blown away. Formed in 2009 and still active at least recently as the past couple of years including releasing an album in 2021, they have spent most of their existence as a trio though occasionally have had former DBS frontman Jesse Gander join them on second guitar and keyboards to further expand their sound over the past few years. Their music draws from a mix early 80’s melodic punk and power pop like Stiff Little Fingers, The Buzzcocks and The Undertones mixed with the gruff emotion and epic chords of bands like Hot Water Music and Leatherface. They’re the kind of band you could throw on a bill with a bunch of “emo” acts, or more Ramonesy leather jacket punk traditionalist types, and they would have everyone tapping toes and hoisting beverages along with the excellent jams in no time. Their four full length albums are all available via Bandcamp -with the first three albums available on the band’s own page and their most recent self titled album from 2021 via their label Dirt Cult Records’ page, and I would heartily recommend seeking them all out. As well, their drummer is the  proprietor of cool Vancouver veggie eatery Budgie’s Burritos on top of helping make excellent music if you are ever in search of food in that city.

Bison (Vancouver)

Bison are a band I can thank my sister for introducing me to. She used to see them play live quite a bit during her time in the trenches of the Vancouver pastry chef game in the mid-late 00’s and thought correctly they’d be right up my alley, though it turns out that I was familiar with one of the guitarists (Dan And) from around the Vancouver Island scene back in the day, primarily his time in The Afterthought in the early 00’s. Formed in 2006, they were sometimes billed as Bison BC in sort of a BUSH X situation while signed to Metal Blade Records until parting ways with the label in 2013 and going independent once again. Crushingly heavy and favouring slower tempos of bands like Black Sabbath, Neurosis and early High On Fire, Bison trample you with massive doom-filled riffs but aren’t afraid to speed things up on occasion in a stampede of thrashing guitars and pounding drums and then throw in the occasional breakdown nodding towards some of the members’ roots in the hardcore scene . I’m sorry for that pun in the last sentence. It was right there. Anyways these guys are HEAVY but a smart heavy if you know what I mean.Their four full lengths are worth seeking out if you like your music heavy, and while the band is not as active as they may have been a few years ago but they recently headlined a celebration of 40 years of the movie FIRST BLOOD in Hope BC, where 80’s action classic was filmed in late 2022 and seem to still play shows here and there so check them out if you get the chance! 

Honourable Mentions

Of some other great BC bands over the years and some footnotes:

Kat Moore, Writer: https://katmoorewriter.com/

And of course the legendary Submission Hold who we covered on a previous episode!

Matt’s Notes

A word of respect for Screaming Trees bassist Van Conner who passed away on January 18, 2023 at the age of 55 after two years of serious illness. He was the anchor in a band the kind of which only comes along once in a generation… Please forgive my attempts at writing… He was among the best within his immediate cohort… He fucking clubbed… He fucking swayed… He rolled in battleship fashion…. Lanegan said in a late 90’s (?) interview that Van was “the soul” of the Trees. What’s interesting to me has been how the Screaming Trees Fan Club FB group has been a site of public grieving by Van’s brother and Trees guitarist Gary Lee Conner… as well as other members of Van’s family… and fans from around the globe… and the sincere, organic way this seems to be happening… this is a band that has lost its singer and now its bassist within one year… both in their mid-fifties…

Northcote (Victoria)

So… every time I open iTunes on my Android phone… which is about maybe 40% of my music consumption… it’s been to Northcote’s fantastic record Hope is Made of Steel (2015). It’s been like this since just after Christmas… can’t stop, won’t stop… 

I won’t go too far (further, FML) into the weeds with this. See the previous show notes for that! 

But… the guy is a few years younger than me… and this is an eight year-old record! 2015 was… literally… a lifetime ago for me. Totally different in every possible way. So I don’t want to say that this is the best this artist is capable of. Of course it isn’t! He’s just getting started!

Everything on the record is big. The hooks. The choruses. The drums. The landscapes. The feelings. Every fucking person from a small town in Canada can relate to this record, whether relating with it or against it… it is a punk record, after all. It’s Born in the USA for people my age and of my general demographic cohort. And of all of his four or five awesome records, this is to my mind the one that feels the most like a band release as opposed to the singer-songwriter thing… and the singer-songwriter thing is great! Just different. And I am a lame middle-aged punk, so I always look at bands first…

ANYWAY…

Matt has a new record coming out in March! And a couple (?) of songs from that album are available now…

I will go out of my way to see Northcote this year if he’s playing, and I swear to fuck I won’t be as drunk… #fingerscrossed

Nomeansno (Victoria) and DOA (Vancouver)

A few personal observations about arguably the two most influential Canadian punk bands of all time:

• Nomeansno and DOA both landed in my consciousness around the same time… somewhere during the summer between grades 10 and 11…
• Both bands played the Boyce Farmer’s Market in Fredericton in that early-mid 90’s period…
• I missed the DOA gig… likely due to a shift in the kitchen at McDonald’s that night…
• The Nomeansno gig in particular has an almost legendary status among everyone else I know who went to it… a formative musical experience like no other… that may have been one of the few times I tried stage diving…
• Rumors were circulating that the Hanson Brothers would put in an appearance at TNB for a game of ball hockey with local skateboarders before the show… I would be happy to have this either confirmed or dismissed…
• As per Dan on this episode, Fredericton’s mighty Roach opened for NMN… which adds even further to the legend of that gig…
• I’ve been catching lots of references to DOA in Jim Ruland’s books about the LA and So-Cal punk scenes… first in his book from last year about SST Records… and now an earlier book co-authored with Bad Religion…
• Both weird trailblazers…
• I also recall that Gumby MacFarlane presented me with Nomeansno’s Wrong and Hanson Brothers’ My Game on vinyl as birthday gifts one year. Fucking lit!!
• Living in a smallish city in Interior BC… there is one record store in Kamloops that sells DOA records… and even when I go to Vancouver I never see Nomeansno in the punk bins… perhaps it’s a different story in Victoria…

Early Bryan Adams (Vancouver)

So… there’s music… and then there’s music from your childhood… 

No, really… I’m onto something here. I think.

I have memories of Bry going back to when I was six years old. In late 1984 Bryan released his one stone-cold classic record Reckless. My Cool Uncle Barry got it for me on cassette that year for Christmas, along with John Cougar Mellencamp’s Scarecrow… solid choices, right? And I remember in the grade one after school program getting into serious arguments with Jon Bowie about who was better… Bry or Corey Hart… Jon had the black leather jacket and I believe spiked hair at that point, so it was clear who won that debate…

How do I associate this with contemporary, early 21st Century BC? I don’t, really… in my mind Bry belongs to this monolithic block of inaccessible corporate rock… complete with bland songwriting and delivery… like Def Leppard, except he’s just the one guy…

*Let me be clear…I fucking love Hysteria… which Jon Bowie gave me on cassette as a birthday present somewhere around age 11… telling me at the time it was a toss-up between that and Appetite for Destruction…

Shit… I love my friends, man…

And uh… you know, Summer of 69 and shit as well… 

Oldage (Vancouver)

Just heavy, nasty, melodic punk from Vancouver, circa mid-10’s. I can assume from the songs these guys have had some pretty hard lived experiences. It sounds to me like how Leatherface = Hüsker Dü plus Motörhead… with Oldage landing squarely on the Motörhead side of the equation…

I will confess that this band could just be on coffee… check the cover art on Bandcamp… but something tells me it runs a bit darker than that… Vancouver being home to uh… third-world living conditions… like a fucking bomb went off… for stretches of the Downtown East side…*

*Says the middle-aged dad who blithely went record shopping and took his kids to nearly the front-row at a couple of Canucks games #truestory

There is no other recorded output from this band that I can find besides this one album… and there isn’t a whole lot otherwise online… like many bar rock bands, I expect they just got preoccupied with life and with other projects… but who knows? In all instances, I stand to be corrected… 

Honorary Mention: Moist (Vancouver)

Look, I liked that one album by them as much as anyone. I may have actually taken this in an ill-advised shoplifting experiment somewhere in my teen years from the Sam the Record Man in the Fredericton Mall conveniently across the street from both the McDonald’s where I worked for 3 years… and Fredericton High School… go Black Cats! I guess!

What were we talking about? That band from Vancouver? The one with that video on Much? Yes, I guess at the time they seemed pretty good! And maybe they still are!

Thanks for joining us on this go-round! We hope to see you again sooner than later!

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Filed under: Uncategorized - @ January 25, 2023 2:25 pm