Reviews
There's a lot of "punk" bands
out there, but how many of them are actually "punk"? How many
of them even know what a real "punk" is? Probably all of
them. These reviews well try to keep a Canadian
basis, but that's not overly easy to accompish, so the odd Foreign
band may sneak in here and there.
5 Knuckle Chuckle
- Charliee Horse
I know what you're saying, you're saying who? Most of you, except for
the odd Canadian don't have a clue who 5 Knuckle Chuckle is. They're a
band based out of Orangeville Ontario. Don't expect any half assed jobs
at pumping out the tunes from these guys. They hit you right away with
a full throttle first song called My Box. You can hear some of their harder
influences here sounds a little like earlier Jughead's Revenge. From here
you go to Honor Roll, a song that some people may think was written by
Propagandhi, the lyrics to this one are great. Of course, there's even
songs for the true Melodic Punk lover, Noosepaper is one of these, well
timed guitar solo's and well thought lyrics make this song one of the best
on the album. There's no way in hell that any true "punk" should
be without this one, it's one of my favourites. It rocks the boat!
Raw Energy Records
** Thanks to Chris at Raw Energy for telling me that the band's actually
from Orangeville, not Burlington.
Various Artists -
Punk: the Next Generation
This my friend, is the best single representation
of Canadian indie punk out there. No, you won't find any SNFU or Propagandhi
on here, but you well find some of my favourite songs. Apart from the obvious
great songs via 5 Knuckle Chuckle, Trunk and The Wetspots (R.I.P.) there's
a hell of a lot of good shit on here. The Phil Foundation, a previous unknown
to me play one of the best songs I've ever heard, I'm working on a sound
clip, but I lack the space on my homepage. Kermit's Finger and Tarbelly
pump it out too. For a complete track listing click here.
This quote pretty much sums it up.
"It was the late 70's when punk music managed
to make it's way over to Canadian soil. This was an unexplored market in
the music industry that shocked and literally scared Canadians. But their
interesting haircuts and rough-edged 3 chord guitar riffs gained much popularity.
From this emerged such classic Canadian punk
bands as SNFU, Teenage Head, The DikVan Dykes (the first Canadian indie
band to sell more than 5000 albums), and the ever classic Forgotten Rebels.
With the re-emergence of Canadian Punk in the
90's brought a long awaited CD from the Forgotten Rebels and the re-grouping
SNFU.
Creative new bands influenced by the 70's Canadian Punk movement has brought
a new Punk sound the Canadian stages across the nation. There will be no
other Canadian Punk CD that will emphasize the importance or represent
it in a better way. This is Candian Punk-Rock in the 90's as it should
be!!....... Vive le Rock!"
So go steal this CD, because the rhyme is worth
the crime.
Barely
Legal Records
The Vapids - Five
Minute Major
What do you get when you cross The Ramones with
Screeching Weasel? (Besides on real weird looking rodent) Give up? The
Vapids, Canada's Kings of 1-2-3. Don't expect any lightning fast rolls
or blazing guitar solos from these guys, they're kind of stuck on the Green
Day thing. Some of the high points of this album are Finding Somewhere,
Real Job, and Seven Long Years. If you do get this album, then start with
the last songs and go from there, the last songs are better.
Fish Tank Records
The Satanatras - Eight
ate hate
Uhhh, I don't know about this one, it's Canadian
and everything, but the thing is, it isn't very good. It's got some good
songs, but I guess I just expected something more from the label that
produced 5 Knuckle Chuckle and Trunk. There's too much crap at the start
of all the songs. This get's real annoying, real fast. The music
styles are very original, they're kind of like The Bollweevils meet Sebadoh
meet Digger meet Dwight Yokam meet Pavarotti meet Porno for Pyros meet
The Tea Party meet Reverend Horton Heat meet Down By Law. If you were just
hearing this for the first time, you'd swear it was a compilation, that's
how different all the songs sound. The CD does have high points like Out
of the Blue, Kay La La (the intro to this rocks!) Wild and Fuzzy (Cool
Rockabilly) and Jacket Off. In fact, now that I listen to this again,
the CD's actually pretty cool. So tape this one from someone.
Raw Energy
Records
Gob - Too
Late.. No Friends
You may have seen these guys on MTV or Much Music
or something, if you did, then you think they suck. You're wrong, those
are just the worst two songs on their 20 song album. Also, they're the
only two with little or no umm, cussing. Lots of little guitar leads &
tidbits here and there make this a cool album. I'm not sure who these guys
compare to, probably something like The Mr. T Experience meets Lagwagon
or Strung Out. The standout song on this one for me is without a doubt
Asshole TV, it's one if my favourites songs ever. Of course, you'd be hard
pressed to find a bad song, except maybe Marching Song, but it's good for
a laugh, and it precedes Asshole TV, which automatically makes it cool.
Other high points include Custer's Last 1 Nite Stand, and Fuck Them. This
one's another one to go steal, for sure.
Mint Records
The Smugglers
- Selling the Sizzle
Canada's answer to the Hi-Fives are back at it
again. Their latest releast, Selling the Sizzle is full of more snotty
surf punk than ever. If you like that kind of stuff, like the Hi-Fives
or the Grapefruits then you'll like this, if you don't then you won't.
I'm not overly fond of the album myself despit the amount of talent they
posess (way too much). There's some song's I listen to quite often,
like Death of a Romantic (I love that solo) and Pick `Em Truck, the rest
of the CD tends to start to sound the same. If you ever get a chance to
see these guys live though, do it. They put on a wicked show, dressed up
like the London Mob and everything.
Mint/Lookout
Records.
Various Artists - Team
Mint
Hmmm, there sure is a lot of crap on this. Of
course, that's how my Satanatras review started out. The album consists
mainly of Canadian bands, but there's some Americans on it like The Mr.
T Experience, Pansy Division, and the Groovie Ghoulies(?). Huevos Rancheros
play some cool Rockabilly with Get Outta Dodge and Whiteout in Wyoming.
Gob's on it too, and you know how much they rock, don't
you? There's The Smugglers with their Original,
showstopping sound too. Other bands include Maow, another Smugglers type
band, and Duotang, who's not really punk, in fact, I don't know what the
hell they're classified as. Oh yeah, there's Cub too, that's too bad. Anyway,
click here for a complete track listing. The CD's
relatively cheap (like $5) that's the only reason I bought it. Generally,
if you're a fan of crap, then buy this, there's about 5 real good songs
on it.
Mint Records
Various Artists - How
to Start a Fight
If you only buy 2 compilations in your whole
life, buy this, and of course this. I bought this
about a month and a half ago, and it still hasn't left my CD player. Besides
the funniest insert I've even seen in my entire life, the music on the
album rocks too. First off there's Murphy's Law with How to Start a Fight,
it's not the best song on the CD, but it's sure worth mentioning. Hard
aggressive music goes well with the singer's (whoever that is) naturally
hardcore voice. Don't get me wrong, they aren't any Minor Threat, more
like Jughead's Revenge album Elimination. The best song on the CD
I think is Screw 32's Best Revenge, I don't know why I like it so
much, I just do. Other high points include Me First & The Gimme Gimmes,
22 Jacks, Youth Brigade, Dance Hall Crashers and Nofx, who play a song
called Reagan Punk. It's short, only about 50 seconds long, but it's pretty
fast, and I think Eric sings the verse. Click Here
to see a complete track listing. Despite all the praise I gave this CD,
Lagwagon's song Drive By and NUFAN's Fairytale of New York
sure do suck, escecially NUFAN. Anyway, make sure you go buy this one,
you won't regret it.
Side One Dummy Recordings
Diesel Boy - Cock
Rock
You more than likely know these guys from the
Survival of the Fattest Compilation (Titty Twister), or maybe from Punk
Bites (Lime Green). Both those songs are on their first full length CD,
although they've been re-recorded (for better or for worse?). Besides those
two, there's lots of other great songs on here, Saving the World is the
first song on the album, and probably the best, it starts out as a slow
ballad, then breaks out into a full fledged punk anthem. Punk Rock 101
and Andy Stern are other cool songs too. Generally the whole album rocks,
but all the songs sound a little the same. If you want to check these guys
out live, I think Crux
is still broadcasting one of their concerts with the Vandals, so go see
what you think. The CD was put out on Honest Don's Hardly Used Recordings,
Fat Mike's new label. I'm not sure why they didn't go to Fat, probably
because they wanted to be cool. This is another good CD, you should at
least tape it from someone.
Honest Don's Hardly Used Recordings
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