Satellite
Some Party is a newsletter sharing the latest in independent Canadian rock'n'roll, curated more-or-less weekly by Adam White. Each edition explores punk, garage, psych, and otherwise uncategorizable indie rock, drawing lines from proto to post and taking some weird diversions along the way.
Jimmie KilpatrickJimmie
Watch "Satellite" on YouTube - Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
I've lost all semblance of time. I'm not even referring to this newsletter overshooting its deadline by a whole month (although I am nodding at that). I'm talking about the six years which have allegedly passed since the last Shotgun Jimmie record. I'm skeptical.
The pandemic fucked with our collective sense of continuity, but even taking that into account, I can't acknowledge that it's been so long. Jimmie Kilpatrick doesn't fit the usual narrative - the ebb-and-flow of album cycles and band activity. Jim's songs boast the kind of muscle-memory familiarity you'd reserve for an old friend, picking up right where you left off. Has it been six years since we last spoke? I don't believe it. Jim's never left.
That known quality could cut both ways. Will a neophyte listener pick up that "Gum" again finds the artist referencing "Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist"? Unless they're steeped in a very narrow stripe of the Canadian indie universe, probably not, but it's also not necessary. Jim may be an underground hero, but his subtle references and overt tributes never feel like a shibboleth. He sings with infectious sincerity and an everyman charm. There's no code to crack. Whatever universal language sits at the core of good rock'n'roll, Jim speaks it fluently.
The Brandon, Manitoba artist sheds his old stage name on the twelve-song Jimmie, but it's less a reinvention than an affirmation. Jim remains affably plainspoken while weaving in new textures. While the artist sources experimental sounds from elaborate auditory sculptures, he deploys them with considerable restraint. Kilpatrick may have bolstered his avant-garde bona fides (while pursuing a Master of Fine Arts under none other than Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo), but his enthusiasm for new noises never gets ahead of his instincts.
These techniques are most overt on the album-opening "Tape Loop," recorded using a fifteen-foot, six-device art installation. You've Changed Records' press release elaborates:
"With one player recording the sound of the other five players, as they amplify various points along the loop's timeline, the installation worked like an accelerated Alvin Lucier I Am Sitting in a Room machine. With each rotation of the loop the recording degraded and shifted, reinforcing and amplifying dominant room-tones. Tape loop is an aural documentation of time and place but also holds analog technology as a metaphor for the human body - constantly decaying, from time to time in need of repair, and eventually dying."
Any pretension implied by that description isn't evident in the finished song. While the source sounds of Jimmie seem weighty on paper, they're in conversation, if not outright contrast, with the artist's warm accessibility and earnest delivery. The lead single, "Satellite," exemplifies that discipline. While the track opens with the novel drones of a mechanically-bowed electric guitar sculpture, it quickly shifts into a triumphant, propulsive anthem. For years Jim's collaborated with Ryan Peters of cult Vancouver rockers Ladyhawk, and the squelching lineage of that band shines through here. You can see the track visualized in a new video by Colin Medley.
Peters co-produced and performs on the record, which also features contributions from José Contreras of By Divine Right, cellist Leanne Zacharias (Christine Fellows), Espanola's Aaron Goldstein (pedal steel go-to for Bry Webb and Danny Romano), and Newfoundland vocalist Jenina MacGillivray.
You've Changed has the record out now on vinyl. The new album follows up on 2019's Transistor Sister 2.
The Dirty Nil"Gallop of the Hounds"
Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
On the topic of familiar comforts, I've had the pleasure of listening to Luke Bentham belt 'em out since the band's early days. The Dirty Nil's now so far into their career that we could carve out distinct eras (each, uncoincidentally, lining up with the rotation of another bassist). It's that time again, and with the band's low-end in flux, they're again tweaking their formula.
The relentless "Gallop of the Hounds" sets the stage for The Lash, the Dundas band's ten-song studio album and their fifth. It promises a stripped-down, back-to-basics approach, contrasting with 2023's intently indulgent Free Rein To Passions. Look for it on July 25 through Dine Alone Records.
In a statement, Bentham shared a story from a recent trip to the Vatican, revealing:
"I was in a very dusty part of the basement, and they had these crazy bronze reliefs that were some of the most brutal things I've ever seen. There was a particular one called The Horrors of War. It was two guys fighting over a knife. That image ended up guiding a lot of this record."
That sensibility is reflected in the medieval brutality on display in the album's cover art, laid out in a cassette-first format by UK designer Jack Sabbat. The Nil completed The Lash in just a few weeks, recording at Hamilton's Boxcar Sound with Vince Soliveri (The Drew Thomson Foundation, Pillea).
In a press release, drummer Kyle Fisher joked about the cathartic bent of their latest material, stating, "I've been telling people that this is Luke's therapy record."
Casper SkullsKit-Cat
Watch "Numbing Mind" on YouTube - Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
In April, the indie rock trio Casper Skulls returned with a new full-length. The 11-song Kit-Cat arrived through Next Door Records and found the band embracing new chapters in their lives. The record finds the husband-and-wife core of Melanie St. Pierre-Bednis and Neil Bednis relocating to Sudbury and welcoming their first child. Meanwhile, multi-instrumentalist/drummer Fraser McClean spent time on the road, serving as a guitar tech for Toronto heavyweights PUP and Tokyo Police Club while performing in the acerbic noise-punk act Burner.
St. Pierre-Bednis shared some insight on the band's collective headspace, noting that they endeavoured to make the record "super fun with no expectations." The resulting set, tracked over six days at Sudbury's Deadpan Studios, is just that. Well-mannered and inviting, Kit-Cat is a remarkably breezy listen and a refreshingly unburdened counterpoint to troubling times. The record shines brightest when Melanie and Neil sync up on vocals, as on the shoegaze-tinged "Roddy Piper" and the hooky chorus of the album-opening "Spindletop."
The record features guest contributions from Augusta Veno (Lonely Parade) and producer Matt Weiwel. You can see the single "Numbing Mind" highlighted in a playful video from director Bosmo that reflects "technology's role in fostering a self-obsessed and vain culture" by casting the group in a series of retro television roles. Neil commented:
"We felt the video was a fun summation of the song's meaning. It shows that Mel and I are just as guilty, distracted, and addicted to technology and content as everyone else."
Kit-Cat follows the band's acclaimed 2021 album Knows No Kindness.
The RiptidesBurn after Listening
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In March, Ottawa punk veterans The Riptides unleashed Burn After Listening, a pandemic-born collection that distills years of pent-up tension into a finely-tuned three-chord assault with both feet firmly planted in the 90s sound. Did you once own at least four Ikea Gnedby CD towers brimming with EpiFat classics in cracked jewel cases? No judgement, fellow traveller! This one's for you.
Following up on 2017's Canadian Graffiti, the album serves as the long-running band's first outlet to react to years of turbulence. They shared:
"This record was born in the weirdest time. There was so much uncertainty, and it gave us room to really go deep. Lyrically, it's satire, reflection, and frustration—wrapped up in fast hooks and shout-along choruses...
Every song has its own identity, but together they make up a record that keeps you on your toes. We still sound like us, but this one pushed us creatively—sometimes into uncomfortable places. But that's what punk is all about, right?"
The Riptides brought their new material to one of the genre's modern meccas, recording in the storied Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado, with prolific engineers Andrew Berlin and Jason Livermore (Descendents, NOFX, et al.). Teenage Bottlerocket drummer Darren Chewka and guitarist Kody Templeman perform on the punchy pop-punk single "Bad Habit." The record also features guest vocals from Austrian mainstay Heavy Kevy (The Apers, Insanity Alert) and Merel Schaap from Rotterdam punk act Lone Wolf.
This is the sound I grew up on. Pick your pantheon of melodic pop-punk favourites, and there's a high chance you'll hear the reflected, lovingly, in The Riptides.
Matthew "Doc" Dunn"Tally Ho!"
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Ruminative psych-rock troubadour Matthew "Doc" Dunn has a sprawling double LP ready for the summer. Due June 2 through Cosmic Range Records, Dunn calls the 22-track Love Raiders his "rural glam opus" and "a real labour of love." In his announcement, the prolific Toronto player shared his hope to "raise some synapse and bring some light" with the new release.
You can preview the songs "Forbidden Life" and "Tally Ho!" now. The former's a slow-burning, country-fried acid-folk ballad, while the latter kicks over the amps with a fuzzed-out assist from Dinosaur Jr. legend J Mascis. Dunn co-produced the album with longtime collaborator Asher Gould-Murtagh (Mr. Joy, Dr. Joy). The record features further contributions from Brian Tysoe and Mas Aya's Brandon Valdivia.
Known for fronting the acclaimed psych-jazz combo The Cosmic Range, Dunn is following up on 2023's solo outing Fantastic Light. Last year, he took part in the legendary Sub Pop Singles Club, issuing the songs "Your Feel" and "Look In" on 7" vinyl.
Chris PageSplit Seconds On Earth
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This week, Ottawa singer-songwriter Chris Page issued his new solo album, with Split Seconds On Earth clocking in as the artist's seventh outing under his name. The ten-song collection curates and finalizes material that first surfaced as a long-running series of digital singles, issued monthly since the lockdown days of 2020. Some Party covered that run religiously, so it's nice to see many of those songs - some of the artist's best - finally get a proper place in his discography. There's a warm gravity to Page's solo work, an earned quality that comes from years in the trenches.
Page recorded the new album throughout 2024 between his home studio in Ottawa's Vanier neighbourhood (lovingly dubbed "Las Vanier Haus Of Fuzz"). Dave Draves, Chris' bandmate from the early-2000s group power-pop group Camp Radio, mixed and mastered at Little Bullhorn. Toronto singer/songwriter Lily Frost appears on the track "Plagiarism Fun."
The 10-song record is the latest milestone in a lengthy underground career stretching back to the 90s-era Glengarry, Ontario garage-punk outfit The Stand GT. In recent years, Page has performed as half of the droney noise-rock duo Expanda Fuzz with Leila Younis.
In 2022, Chris Page issued Those Aren't Stars Above Your Head, an acoustic reworking of the self-titled 2016 Camp Radio album.
Barnacle"The Edge" / "Pharmacy"
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Montreal sea-punks Barnacle continue their resurgence with a new two-song single, previewing their upcoming album Live From Rock Bottom. "The Edge" and "Pharmacy" arrived in April, showcasing the evolution since their 2024 LP, Such a Waste.
Both tracks carry the band's signature lo-fi sound, anchored by reverb-drenched vocals. This time, they're employed on songs that feel decidedly darker - with the claustrophobic noise-wall "Pharmacy," in particular, feeling particularly bleak. It's a dark shift from a band that made their name with a SpongeBob-shitposting beach-goon aesthetic. If you've dug the aggressive weirdness of Sudbury's Teleporters and Psychbike, you'll find a similar vibe here.
