Laisse-faire
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.
Population II&MulchMulchulation II
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Montreal psych trio Population II recently paired with the punk act Mulch for a split EP. Mulchulation II landed on Halloween, presenting a twisted middle ground between the groups' respective genres. The project grew from the seed of "Laisse-faire," a track Population II wrote during an improvisational session with Mulch vocalist Rose Cormier. It became a staple of their 2024 setlist and opens this four-song collection. Each band has two entries on the EP, with members drifting between each group to sing backup.
The EP goes for the throat, thrashing through a gnarly and unpredictable soundscape. It's thrilling, and one of the year's best. Mothland rightly refers to Mulchulation II as a "mutant":
"Mutating at a pace that is best described by the musicians as 'not chill', this creature living in the Montréal sewer system is a nightwalker feeding off pure sonic energy."
That sentiment's given form in Trever Yardley-Jones's monstrous cover art. The bands recorded with Philippe Roberge at Studio Newton. Dominic Vanchesteing mixed.
The EP follows a productive year for Population II that saw the Bonsound release of their sophomore LP Électrons libres du québec and April's follow-up Serpent Échelle EP. The trio features vocalist/drummer Pierre-Luc Gratton, guitarist/keyboardist Tristan Lacombe, and bassist Sébastien Provençal. This past February, Mulch delivered a mix of hardcore punk and noise rock on their bilingual debut Nothing Grows Out of Dried Flowers. They have a French-language follow-up titled Nuance Maximum scheduled for mid-November.
The OBGMsSorry, It's Over
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Toronto punks The OBGMs recently unveiled Sorry, It's Over, their third full-length and the follow-up to their acclaimed 2020 LP The Ends. The nine-song outing finds the quartet working independently through their Burn Industry label, and while they're no less boisterous than before, the record brings their vulnerabilities to the fore.
In a statement, vocalist/guitarist Densil McFarlane reflected on the group's motivation, stating:
"Our goal with this album was to go deeper. We wanted to make something that felt bigger than ourselves, I went to therapy and wanted to make something that feels like therapy for anyone who listens. We've always been a band about raw energy, but this time we wanted to share our soul."
A spoken piece by Greyskiin lays those themes bare on the album's opening track. They're the first of several guest voices on the record, which features Toronto hard rock vocalist SATE, rapper Just John, and R&B artist Faiza. The OBGMs co-wrote select songs with some notable Canadian talent, including PUP's Stefan Babcock, Alex Edkins from METZ, and Hotel Mira's Charlie Kerr. The new record reunites the group with their longtime producer Calvin Hartwick. Jesse F. Keeler of Death From Above 1979 mastered.
The OBGMs will celebrate the new album with a release show at Toronto's Velvet Underground on November 15, supported by Toronto darkwave act Gloin and Waterloo's Frankie Flowers.
Among new songs, Sorry, It's Over collects the entirety of August's Your Friends Are Not Your Friends EP and May's The Healing. The album follows up on 2020's The Ends, which landed the group on the Polaris Music Prize short list. The OBGMs feature vocalist/guitarist Densil McFarlane, drummer Colanthony Humphrey, bassist Joseph Brosnan, and guitarist Simon Outhit.
Jonathan PersonneNuage noir / Nouveau monde
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Jonathan Personne is back with a new double single for Bonsound, lead by "Nuage noir," a shoegaze-flavoured tune with a noisy bounce. The band contrasts it against the baroque 60s pop vibes of "Nouveau monde." The A-side arrived alongside a surreal video from director Liam Hamilton, awash in VHS grain and vintage visual effects.
The songs find vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Robert backed by his Corridor bandmate Samuel Gougoux on drums. That band's Mathieu Cloutier plays bass on "Nuage noir," with Emmanuel Ethier covering the low-end of "Nouveau monde." Robert co-produced the new tunes with Ethier, recording with engineer Miguel Marcil-Pitre.
The new material arrives in the shadow of Corridor's acclaimed album Mimi, issued this past April through the legendary Seattle label Sub Pop. It landed the Montreal group on the Polaris long list for the second time in their career. These new solo songs follow up on Jonathan Personne's self-titled 2022 LP. You can expect both on a forthcoming full-length, slated for release in the new year.
BambiesSnotty Angels
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Montreal power-trio Bambies has a new full-length out. Snotty Angels arrived in September as the group's sophomore effort, a 15-song collection of 77-styled buzzsaw pop, briskly performed with the hallmark sneer its title implies. The record's available through Spaghetty Town in North America and Wanda Records in Europe.
The punk group recorded with Matt Damron at Montreal's Sud-Ouest Recording Service, with Harris Newman mastering at Grey Market. A video for the lead single "Mute," directed by Luc Binette, is available on YouTube. The band celebrates the release this weekend with a November 9 show at Montreal's Le Cheval Blanc with support from Luger.
Bambies spoke with Vive Le Rock Magazine about the release, commenting:
"We were tracking 'oooooos' for the record and they sounded too soft, too nice. Sami wanted them more nasal, more snotty! And when we got them right, Franki mentioned that it sounded like snotty angels. And we thought that this image of snotty angels represented us. Like, we're good guys but, not always good, you know? It's about snide self-assertion. In a way the name embodies the feeling we had while recording, singing bratty parts that ended beautifully. We really felt like snotty angels."
Bambies features guitarist/vocalist Sami, bassist Feli, and drummer Franki. The new record follows their 2021 full-length Summer Soon.
Fucked UpSomeday
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Toronto punk maximalists Fucked Up cap off a prolific year with Someday, a surprise LP featuring an impressive cast of guest vocalists. It's the third in a series that stealthily kicked off with 2023's One Day. The band stated:
"This record is about how far our actions and our ideas can travel, and how we can plant consequences in the lives of other people without even realizing it and how we can use our lives to make this a better world."
Similar to 2018's genre-bending Dose Your Dreams, Fucked Up's usual screamer Damian Abraham takes a supporting role here. He sings lead on just two of the album's ten songs, one paired with Graham Sayle of the UK post-punk group High Vis and the other sung alongside Max Williams of the London punks Rifle. Mike Haliechuk sings lead on the remainder of the record, save a pair of luminous tracks helmed by Tuka Mohammed (who you'll recognize from Year of the Horse) and Niagara's mighty Julianna Riolino. The album also features guest vocals from Pat Flynn of Fiddlehead and Boston heroes Have Heart.
Fucked Up assembled these tracks at several Toronto and London studios over the past few years. Alex Gamble mixed the record, with Arthur Rizk mastering. The new album follows August's full-length Another Day and lands amidst several live recordings the band's made intermittingly available this year. Someday's streaming everywhere now, with physical copies available in 2025.
The current Fucked Up lineup features Damian Abraham on vocals, Mike Haliechuk and Josh Zucker on guitar, Sandy Miranda on bass, and Jonah Falco drumming.
