Big Mouth
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 Mint Records laid bare their plans for Necking. The label signed the well-regarded Vancouver punk group back in January but kept the details of their first foray with the four-piece under wraps until now. Mint will release Cut Your Teeth, Necking's full-length debut, on July 5. One of the record's nine songs debuted on Exclaim: the thundering, attitude-driven single "Big Mouth." Speaking to the magazine drummer and lyricist Melissa Kuipers shared this about the tune:
"'Big Mouth' is the dollar store version of 'Our Lips are Sealed' by the Go-Go’s covered by Hilary and Haylie Duff. It’s about having a mediocre time with someone and them leaving convinced you’re obsessed with them. This song is the brave face you put on after you’ve overshared and overstayed your welcome."
Necking features the talents of vocalist Hannah Kay, bassist Sonya Rez, guitarist Nada Hayek, and the above-mentioned Melissa Kuipers. Cut Your Teeth marks their first follow up to the 2017-released cassette EP Meditation Tape. The band recorded with producer Jesse Gander (Needles//Pins, Japandroids, White Lung).
In the press release Kuipers commented on what to expect from the album as a whole:
"These songs are all about personal growth. 'Go Getter' is a tongue in cheek thing, but the lyrics are things we’re trying to focus on so we can be good, healthy people. 'Drag Me Out' is about being alone and feeling like a nobody until someone drags you out and you feel like yourself. The album’s overarching theme is starting from scratch and learning how to be a person in the world again, thanks to the help of your best friends."
Listen: Necking - "Big Mouth" @ SoundCloud
Chladny is a folk-rock group featuring members of several quirky Toronto punk and indie rock outfits who get frequent mentions here, including Luge, Hobby, Tallies, Westelaken, and WLMRT. The project just released an excellent full-length titled The Finch Flyer. While the group cites artists like Bonny Prince Billy, Van Morrison, and Elliot Smith as inspiration, I'm hesitant to drop any particular names, or even recommend a single representative song, as this record rather delightfully goes all over the place. I get the unencumbered genre-defying vibes of Attack In Black's The Curve Of The Earth from Chladny more than anything (it shares a certain spirit, more than a direct influence). Look to SomeParty.ca in the coming week where I'll be premiering something special from the group.
The band features Evan Chladny on guitar and vocals, Cameron Fraser on guitar, vocals, and some percussion, Stephen Pitman on bass and vocals, and Tobias Hart drumming.
The band will play an LP release show for the album next Saturday, May 4 at the Baby G in Toronto with Kaleidoscope Horse, WLMRT, and Your Grandad. It's part of the Redeemable Screwball Revue showcase.
Listen: Chladny - The Finch Flyer @ Bandcamp
Toronto three-piece punk group Losers launched their first full-length this past weekend, playing a show backed by Damagers, Oxalis, and the mighty Psychic Void. The band's debut arrives as a mean and crunchy 9-song cassette titled Welcome To Help. It features the single "Feedback" I shared here a few months back (you may recall it was rather quizzically released on a floppy disk). You should check the riffy midtempo track "Fight Me" for a great example of how much Losers' vocalist seems to gleefully tortures himself over the course of this album. The group recorded with producer Jesse Turnbull at Worst In The City, with Dan Weston at Taurus Recording mastering.
Listen: Losers - Welcome To Help @ Bandcamp
A third single from the upcoming Greys record is now available. The Toronto noise-punk group shared the tense new song "Kill Appeal" alongside a video co-directed by Allison Johnson and lead singer Shehzaad Jiwani. In the premiere at Consequence of Sound, Jiwani commented:
"The lyrics of 'Kill Appeal' deal with various aspects of living in a major metropolitan city, from old neighbourhoods being rapidly mutilated to suit the needs of wealthy newcomers to the increasingly imposing police presence. The video seeks to convey still more elements of city living in this era of content rot, constant surveillance, and civil unrest by creating snapshots of several different facets of life through the lens of a half-baked millennial flipping channels or scrolling through his Instagram feed. Spoiled for choice, and none of the options are the right one."
"Kill Appeal" will appear on Age Hasn't Spoiled You, Greys' third proper full length. The 11-song set is due May 10 from Carpark Records. It's the band's follow up to 2016's Outer Heaven, and also arrives in the wake of recent solo recordings from Jiwani (Golden Drag's world-weary Pink Sky) and bassist Colin Gillespie (C.R. Gillespie's ambient Séance Works). Greys drummer Braeden Craig has been playing in the synthpop trio Sauna, a band that just released their self-titled debut last week.
Watch: Greys - "Kill Appeal" @ YouTube
Melodic Toronto punk quartet Stuck Out Here premiered the second single from their new record at Get Alternative last week. The band shared the song "For You, For Me." Speaking to the website, they commented on the personal tragedies that inform the mellow track:
"'For You, For Me' was written as an empathetic ode to my old partner who tried to console me after my dad had passed away, as imagined from her perspective, though our love languages were in totally different dialects. she still stood by my side, even as I was frustratingly inconsolable. The love she gave in that trying moment is a testament to the strength and quality of her character and I wanted to reflect that."
If you missed the first single from this album, jump back to Some Party circa March 10 to hear "Embarrass You" and get some detail on the devastating few years Stuck Out Here had in the lead-up to this new record.
The song appears on band's upcoming third LP Until We’re Each Someone Else, which arrives on May 31 via Get Party! and Must Be Nice Records. An accompanying video for the track, directed by Adam Cook, can be seen below.
Watch: Stuck Out Here: "For You, for Me" @ YouTube
Ottawa's power-pop/garage-punk institution the Steve Adamyk Band has a new 5-song EP on the way. The self-titled set is due on May 10 from Dayton, Ohio's Rad Girlfriend Records. You can get the instantly catchy song "Roll It Over" stuck in your head below.
This release comes fast on the heels of the band's latest full-length Paradise, which arrived just this past March on Dirtnap Records. It was the band's sixth LP.
Assuming the line-up's the same on this EP as it is on that album, the Steve Adamyk Band features its namesake on guitar and vocals backed by Pat Johnson of The Acorn/Telecomo on drums with Johnny O of Uranium Comeback on bass.
Listen: Steve Adamyk Band - "Roll It Over" @ Bandcamp
Dundas, Ontario power-trio The Dirty Nil will celebrate the coming good weather with a series of cover sets to be released over the next few months. The first pair available in the You're Welcome series finds the group tackling "So Busted" by the contemporary San Francisco punk band Culture Abuse, along with The Jesus and Mary Chain's 1989 classic "Head On."
The band also announced that Ross Miller has resumed his duties on bass. He was sidelined for much of the band's recent overseas touring with a broken hand, serving instead as their on-stage hype man while he recovered. The Dirty Nil are headed into the US this May for a tour with the popular Kingston, Ontario alt-rock band The Glorious Sons.
The band's been supporting 2018's Master Volume, their second LP of new material for Dine Alone Records following 2016's Higher Power.
Listen: The Dirty Nil - "Head On" @ YouTube
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia singer-songwriter Mo Kenney dropped a polished new pop single last week titled "Ahead of Myself," her first new music to arrive in the wake of her well-received debut album The Details. The artist commented:
"'Ahead of Myself' is a little snapshot in time. I had recently moved to Downtown Dartmouth and I was running around town sporting a black eye and a Hawaiian shirt. It was the first time I had ever had a place to myself – no roommates – so I went a little wild there for a bit. Reckless, but fun."
Kenney recorded the track a few months ago with Joel Plaskett at his New Scotland Yard studio. Plaskett's served as a mentor and producer for Kenney since discovering her as a high school performer at the age of 17.
Listen: Mo Kenney - "Ahead of Myself" @ YouTube
BC punk legends D.O.A. premiered a new video last week at Punknews.org for the song "Time To Fight Back." The track comes from their 40th-anniversary full-length Fight Back, released last year by Sudden Death Records.
The long-running group recently announced an upcoming archival album titled 1978. It's a 21-track collection of previously unreleased demos, rare tracks, and well-loved singles from that year. Hop back a couple weeks in the Some Party archives for the full scoop.
Watch: D.O.A. - "Time to Fight Back" @ Punknews.org
Last Friday Montreal's Planet Smashers shared the title track to their upcoming ninth full-length, Too Much Information. You can stream the song below and expect a video for the tune to arrive sometime this week. The third-wave ska band will see the 14-song new record arrive on May 10 through Stomp Records. There's a massive array of vinyl variants available for this sucker, so check Bandcamp for all the details if you're a collector.
Listen: The Planet Smashers - "Too Much Information" @ Bandcamp
Toronto three-piece post-punk group Laurie have a video online to accompany their debut single "Anxiety." Speaking to Exclaim, the band commented:
"'Anxiety' is a dark, humorous take on the fragility of life. A frantic over-sharing of fearful thoughts, that sarcastically celebrates ill-advised coping mechanisms. It simultaneously captures the whiplash that comes from a close brush with mortality and the desire to live in happy ignorance."
Shawn Kosmerly (Sam Coffey, Casper Skulls) directed the video. Laurie features Trent Bristow on guitar and synth, bassist Fabian Kearns, and drummer Jessica Maxwell.
Watch: Laurie - "Anxiety" @ YouTube
Montreal's Hugo Mudie has a new electronic dance-pop single online titled "Post-Pyong," recorded with producer Adrian Popovich (Solids, PRIORS). While announcing the track, Mudie commented that it sounds to him like a mix between New Order and the Quebec singer Ariane Moffatt. You can preview the track below.
Mudie commented on Facebook that the song is the first single from an upcoming EP titled Mon Fantôme De Marde, which is slated to appear later this summer. It's said to include collaborations with the Montreal bands Birds of Paradise and Figure8, as well as the veteran LA punk group Dead Fucking Last.
Hugo Mudie was the frontman of the early-2000s punk band The Sainte Catherines and the alt-country group Yesterday's Ring. He's one of the principles behind Pouzza Fest.
Listen: Hugo Mudie - "Post-Pyong" @ YouTube
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the not-real band Chronicles of Chaos has released the very-real song "I'm a Crab."
The song comes from the Upsy Daisy project. It collects oddball tunes from anonymous Canadian musicians that are so strange, off-brand, or just plum embarrassing that the creators dare not attach their real names. The Chronicles of Chaos moniker previously appeared on the second Upsy Daisy cassette compilation.
Let's all remember that I'm taking time to share this nonsense, but I neglected to say a single damn thing about the two recent Broken Social Scene EPs. You've got to use what precious time you have on this earth wisely, my friends.
