At It Again
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.
Last week Halifax four-piece punk act Future Girls revealed the finished version of their song "At It Again." It's the first taste they've given of their next release, which Matty Grace says is "basically done" and is expected sometime later this year. Whether that ends up as a few EPs or an LP is to be determined. If you picked up a copy of the Ottawa Explosion Weekend digital compilation last year you'd have heard the demo version of the track. The band recorded this iteration with Charles Austin and Ben Brennan at Echo Chamber Audio and Almon St.
The band on this recording features Grace on guitar and vocals (she's a former member of HFX pop-punk outfits Fat Stupids and Outtacontroller), Heather Grant (who fronts Crossed Wires) on guitar and vocals, Dewayne Shanks (also of Crossed Wires) on drums, and Coleman Johnston on bass. Johnston's no longer playing with the group, with Eric Diolola (of the electronic act Maximata) having since joined as their new bassist.
If you're looking to hear more of the band's self-described "bummer punk" in person, they'll be playing a hometown show at Radstorm on March 8 with Jon Creeden and the Flying Hellfish, Goldbloom, and No, It's Fine.
Listen: Future Girls - "At It Again" @ Bandcamp
Minneapolis punk label Anxious & Angry, which is run by Ryan Young of the band Off With Their Heads, has announced the singing of Edmonton/Calgary power-trio The Allovers. The label will release the band's debut full-length, Yer Guises, on May 18.
The Allovers got together in 2011 and features guitarist Matt Pahl, bassist Paul Arnusch (The Wet Secrets, Faunts, The Whitsundays), and drummer Garrett Kruger (Fire Next Time).
The press release praises the band's mix of influences, stating:
Allovers have levels that belie their lighthearted exterior. With punk structures reminiscent of The Ramones, melodies and harmonies cut from the same jib as Burt Bacharach or The Everly Brothers and sonic textures entering similar territory as Thurston Moore, The Allovers are guaranteed to hook you, move you, then keep you singing along for years to come.
At this time neither the band nor the label has shared any of the new material, but you can get a sense from a demo recording of the track "Honey Gets Me Flies" that the band shared previously. You can check it out below.
Listen: The Allovers - "Honey Gets Me Flies" (demo) @ Bandcamp
The lineup for this year's edition of the Guelph, Ontario music festival Kazoo! has been confirmed. Running from April 11 through the 15th, the event will feature over 50 performers, including Faith Healer, Mauno, WHOOP-Szo, Luge, Moon King, and Tough Age (and that's just my surface-level rock-centric skim of a pretty damn diverse lineup, so hit the event's website to dig into it). The event will feature a rare performance by 73-year-old transgender artist Beverly Glenn-Copeland, a co-presentation with Sappyfest and CFRU. Indigenous record label Revolutions Per Minute will also be curating a showcase at Kazoo.
The event will run from a 5,000+ square foot pop-up venue and gallery in downtown Guelph. The week will also feature a zine expo, night market, and a number of visual art installations.
Listen: Luge - "Lbs" @ Bandcamp
Listen: Prime Junk - "Ladybird" @ Bandcamp
Speaking of Tough Age, the Toronto-via-Vancouver three-piece recently unveiled a video for the song "Unclean" from their 2017 Mint Records full-length Shame. The video was directed by Travis Boisvenue. In the premiere over at Brooklyn Vegan, guitarist / vocalist Jarrett Samson commented:
"Our friend Travis made this for us after we loved his work on a video for Penny & Jesse’s old band Century Palm. I had no idea what to expect, and loved Travis’ subversion of expectations in the framing, cutting & matching of this video — I think it works with and enhances the song so perfectly that I can’t imagine any other video for Unclean."
You can check out the video below. The band, notably, is absent from the clip entirely. Tough Age are touring down the US east coast in the coming weeks. You can find those dates at BV as well.
Watch: Tough Age - "Unclean" @ YouTube
I last saw Tough Age play at the Wavelength Winter Festival in Toronto, a show which also featured the energetic TO garage-rocker Kurt Marble performing with his band. Marble recently released a video for "Hands," a song from his Friend of Mine EP from 2017.
Marble spoke to Exclaim about the video, which features a fair amount of fruit-based fantasy gore.
"I've always wanted to make a B-horror movie filled with terrible special effects, so when director, Shawn Kosmo, of Here Kitty Kitty productions told me he could make a head explosion effect using a watermelon, I hit up the nearest No Frills and purchased as many melons as I could carry...
That's all you need to know. You can find the "Hands" video below:
Watch: Kurt Marble - "Hands" @ Youtube
Burlington, Ontario's The Penske File have revealed the lead song from their upcoming album Salvation, and it's gigantic. "Kamikaze Kids" is a muscular pop-punk anthem, and it's the clearest sign yet that this three-piece is bound for a big leap in recognition and stature when this record hits. Montreal's Stomp Records will handle the release on April 6.
"Kamikaze Kids" is the second track the band's shared from the record, having earlier previewed "Come What May" last year. The new record follows up 2015's Burn Into The Earth LP and a ton of time slugging it out on the road.
Listen: The Penske File - "Kamikaze Kids" @ Bandcamp
Toronto hardcore legends No Warning have released another video featuring a song from their 2017 LP Torture Culture. The clip for "In The City" features frontman Ben Cook stomping and glowering through a particularly gritty vision of his hometown. Torture Culture came out last October on Bad Actors, Inc. and Last Gang.
Watch: No Warning - "In The City" @ Vimeo
In The Red Records has announced a vinyl reissue of Cyborgs Revisited by Hamilton psych / proto-punk legends Simply Saucer. The label recapped the record's history in thier press release:
In 1989 a record label called Mole Sound released an album of previously unreleased recordings done in 1974-75 by Canadian proto-punk band Simply Saucer. The album gained an immediate cult following and, sadly, went right out of print. Byron Coley called it “the best Canadian album ever made”. The NME said the album was, “a divine mix of Pink Floyd (with Syd Barrett still mercifully intact) and the Velvet Underground (when Andy Warhol was at the helm)”. The record has received praise from the likes of Thurston Moore, Jon Spencer, John Dwyer and Ty Segall (who has covered the band’s Bullet Proof Nothing).
The In The Red reissue will feature the original LP remastered and served up in a gatefold sleeve, paired with a second platter of live recordings. There are limited edition colour variants available as well. You can find more details and secure one for yourself over at the label's website.
Listen: Simply Saucer - "Bullet Proof Nothing" (from the 7" single) @ Bandcamp
The '77 Montreal punk rock festival will take place on July 27 at Parc Jean-Drapeau on the Île Notre-Dame. The event, a sister production to the also-recently announced metal fest Heavy Montreal, will feature a lineup that spans generations. At the fest you'll find Rise Against, Suicidal Tendencies, Me First and The Gimme Gimmes, Steve Ignorant of Crass playing with Paranoid Visions, L7, Sick Of It All, The Interrupters, the Rezillos, and Jeff Rosenstock. A number of Canadian acts are on the bill as well, including Montreal 3rd wave ska mainstays The Planet Smashers, Vancouver legends D.O.A., Oakville pop-punk group Seaway, Vancouver lifers Bishops Green, Québécois Ramones cover band Les Fucking Raymonds, and Montreal stoner/punk act Pussy Stench.
One band that bears a closer look is No Policy, an early Montreal hardcore act that's been apart since 1985. '77 Montreal will be their first show together in over 30 years. Here's what the event had to say about them:
No Policy played at least once a month, benefits for “Free the Five”, another for Peter Watkins, opening for out of town touring bands at the Cargo or Rising Sun to Headlining Concordia’s Thrash Bash. Always to full houses.
Schwartzberg and Jones from the Montreal Mirror wrote, “No Policy is certainly the best Hardcore band in Montreal possibly the best in Canada. Their songs are very well- written and well-arranged and all of them are different (a welcome relief of the tedious similarity of most hardcore)." News or Propaganda is a cult classic and played frequently on CBC’s Brave New Waves and CHOM’s New Music Foundations. The band’s No Policy cassette was distributed in the UK on Bluurg Records.
Listen: No Policy's 1984 Demo @ YouTube
Orangeville, Ontario garage-rock three-piece The Discarded recently celebrated the release of their second full length, titled Manifesto. The band's a family affair, featuring J.P. Wasson and his two teenage sons Jared Dean and Caden Jax. The trio recorded at Ian Blurton’s Pro Gold Studio last August and play a mix of 70s punk influences, with a heavy debt owed to the Ramones and the Cramps. The band's currently gigging around Ontario in support of the release, and you can find those date at Facebook.
Listen: The Discarded - "Toxic Reasons" @ Bandcamp
Vancouver Celtic punk pioneers The Real McKenzies have released a video for their song "One Day." The song comes from the long-running band's 2017 Fat Wreck Chords / Stomp release Two Devils Will Talk (their ninth full-length). Jeevin Johal directed the clip. You can check it out below.
