Friday 29 December 2023
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Thursday 23 November 2023
Gatekrashör - Revenge At Midnight (2016)
Wednesday 22 November 2023
Gatekrashör - Fear Of Attack (2012)
We're not sure why we've sat on this tape for as long as we have... local speed metal dudes Gatekrashör haven't been seen in many years, with guitarist Matt Ries now playing in Traveler. Gatekrashör didn't have an interest in being super-polished, as Beatroute noted in 2013:
Describing the Gatekrashör sound is a straightforward task. Keeping the old guard alive and well with Venom-esque style, Judas Priest’s heft and the speed of Exciter, Gatekrashör is absolutely drenched in the NWOBHM style they so flagrantly wear on their collective sleeves. This is Banzai worship at its purist...
“It just sounds like rough, dirty, raw speed metal. It’s what Canada needs right now. We have all these polished bands, bands [that] are singing like Riot’s Thundersteel – not that it’s a problem. We wanted to play stuff like Iron Angel and Jaguar instead,” says Neild.
Of note: the CCPS offices are in what was the riding of former NDP MLA Deborah Drever, who appears on this cover. We didn't know that when we voted for her, but had we known... we would have voted twice for her.
This tape is still streaming/downloadable over on the Gatekrashör bandcamp.Tuesday 21 November 2023
Black Pestilence - Chaotic Wisdom (2023)
Monday 20 November 2023
Riot City - Live In Newcastle 04.05.23 (2023)
Sunday 19 November 2023
Harsh- ...I Wish I Did Better... (2023)
There are several reasons why Harsh are one of our favourite punk bands in town; they're unapologetically political, they don't take themselves too seriously, and they're a whole lot of fun. This new tape of theirs captures that best with the photo of the Real Dan Izzo on the folded paper insert. At least, we think that's Dan??
This one's recommended - you can get it via Harsh's bandcamp, but it's best to catch them live.
Friday 17 November 2023
Telstar Drugs - Unknown Tape
This is a tape we picked up at one of the record collectors shows last year... it had been sitting on our desk waiting for more info - but we couldn't find anything, so we'll make something up (as usual). We were told this is a Telstar Drugs tape, which checks out - two of the tracks on the A side also show up on a 2014 cassette of theirs (the B side is random bits of noise that sound disturbingly like a failing cassette player), but there's no indication that this is an official release. We're also not sure if this came out before or after their move to Montreal... so we're just going to send you towards the download.
Thursday 16 November 2023
Shrinking Violet - Shrinking Violet (1998)
Thanks to John Hadley for passing us a copy of this tape from Shrinking Violet, a band he played in at one point (though not on this tape, from what we understand). We're not familiar with this band, but some helpful person has posted a bio to archive.org (of all places):
Lisa German (vox, gtr) and Brad Pharis (bs) began playing music together in high school, inspired by the sound of grunge and punk rock. They founded the original incarnation of Shrinking Violet and before long had graduated from playing high school talent shows to opening for bigger acts from the nearby city of Calgary... Shrinking Violet captured the grand prize in the first-ever Java Sharks Independent Band Challenge, beating 26 other bands and winning among other things, a VW van, and recording time. These sessions led to the release of the "What Matters Most" EP, featuring Jared Schimnosky on guitar and Rob Shawcross on drums... the departure of Schimnosky and Shawcross led Shrinking Violet to take a bit of hiatus, but the band returned, re-vitalized with new additions John Hadley (gtr) and Chris Potter (drms).
Wednesday 15 November 2023
X-Ray Cat - Chemical Imbalance (2017)
Tuesday 14 November 2023
Antisocial Club - Antisocial Club (2010/2021)
We somehow missed picking up this cassette reissue when it first came out a couple of years ago - so with former Antisocial Club drummer Bart Dutchak winding down his quite fantastic Wasted Wax Records, we figured we better nab a copy before it disappears into the ether.
This was originally put on vinyl by Handsome Dan's records, so as you can probably expect - it's very much in the genre we call "Dan Izzo punk." If we had the skill and ability, we'd definitely be out skateboarding to this. So it's also probably not surprising that two thirds of this band would go on to form the rhythm section of Izzo's Spastic Panthers.
As mentioned, it looks like Dutchak is going to be shutting down Wasted Wax after 10 years of putting out some great Southern Alberta punk records - for now, you can grab this Antisocial Club tape and other goodies over at the Wasted Wax website.