Die Scum Inc. - Flight Of The Infinite (2020)

As folks who grew up with new wave, we're still a bit unsure what to make of the current crop of synthwave bands. We kinda really like them, but we also kinda really wish we could still get away with popping our collars and using mousse in our hair.

That aside, Die Scum Inc. is a local band that's doing synthwave well - and backing it up with solid packaging. Their "notion picture soundtracks" are a cross between an imaginary soundtrack and synthpop; it's fun, catchy, and  well-executed.

Get it via the Die Scum Inc. bandcamp.

Parisian Orgy - Parisian Orgy (2019)

It's been an understandably slow year for local physical releases, thanks to the inability to have shows (safety first, remember). BUT there are still tapes from last year we had to track down, like this excellent release from Gwen Morgan's newest project, Parisian Orgy. With bandmates from Purlicue and Polly Dactic in tow, this is a six song romp that's been well worth the wait.

Parisian Orgy is catchy and fun. The amazing closer, "Boys Town," sounds like a slapstick remake of the Shiverettes' "Boys Club." The chorus of "la's" is worth the price of admission alone.

Get it via the Parisian Orgy bandcamp.

CCPS Miscellany: Minstrels on Speed - Id (1991)

Uh oh. We can't remember which Edmontonian passed this one to us. Was it Corey Hamilton or Chris Zuk? We're grateful to both guys, and apologize for this moment of forgetfulness. This has been sitting in the CCPS queue for way too long.

This tape looks like it predates the one we previously posted by a year. It's a lot more Jr. Gone Wild than that tape, as well. Which we certainly approve of!

Get it here.

Vernal Season - Vernal Season (1998)

Here's the second Vernal Season tape from Brendan Tincher. This is highly confusing for us - both tapes have the same title, and neither has a date on it. We could have asked Brendan, but... we're lazy.

Anyways, this tape is more of the punk pop trajectory that would take Blood/Hetherington/Tincher on to great heights (?) with the Neckers. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's solid.

We guess that's always in season.

Vernal Season - Vernal Season (1997)

Brendan Tincher of the Neckers/Pygmies/Jeans Degrees made good on a long-standing promise/threat, and gave us a couple of tapes of the band that preceded the Neckers.

This is the first of 'em, and, sure, it sounds like a bunch of high school pals playing for shits and giggles - 'cos that's probably what it was. But Vernal Season is pretty good - Bil Hetherington's voice and delivery are already solid, and the band is tight. The only questionable inclusion is a five-minute power ballad. Very happily, this isn't something any of the following Hetherington/Blood/Tincher bands were known for.

Guess those power ballads went... out of season!

21st Inheritance - Swamp Production Demo (1991)

We just updated our post on Red Autumn Fall precursor Playground Treason with some amazing history from Greg Williams, who recently reached out to us. He also passed along this demo and memories of his next project, 21st Inheritance. Greg writes:

Over the spring and summer of ’90 I moved on to form 21st Inheritance with Dave Berezan (bass). We knew each other from the Warehouse and The Republik, and we were joined by John Bland (drums). John and I were from Oakridge, and we’d both attended Wise Wood; we jammed in John’s dad’s basement.

That was short lived, and the three of us found rental rehearsal space at Swamp Productions at 116 Forge Road S.E. in Fairview. We auditioned a couple of vocalists before finding Chris Stevenson – another Wise Wood alumnus. We recorded a demo tape that we delivered to Wes Hegg, and a comment from Wes led me to believe it was Chris’s vocals that landed us two 1991 shows at the Westward Club, once opening for my old bandmates Red Autumn Fall on April 11 and another show on May 31 opening for The Grain, Windwalker and One Fell Swoop.

 

Vocalist Chris Stevenson in the sound booth of Swamp Productions.

Bass player David Berezan in the booth.

Guitarist Greg Wililams, likely putting out a cigarette.

Drummer John Bland.

Shortly after, to accommodate Chris’s impending move to New York to attend acting school, 21st Inheritance disbanded. I jammed with John a few times, tried to find someone else to work with, but finally decided there were those who could play the guitar, and those who really just wished they could. I was in the latter camp.

Greg tells us that while he have up the guitar, 21st Inheritance drummer John Bland went on to play with bands in Vancouver and Chris Stevenson fronted a few bands out east. It's bassist David Berezan that we find pretty fascinating - he's gone on to an accomplished career as a composer and academic. If you want a rabbit hole to fall down, we suggest digging into his amazing SoundRunner project.

Get your inheritance here!

Basic Black - Envy The Dead (1990)

Corey Hamilton sent along a second Basic Black tape, so... here it is! This tape sees the band paring back to a threesome (we assume Randy Burton was off playing with the mighty Ded Souls by this time), but one that's no less powerful. Despite this pointedly negative review in VOX:

Please note also that there's a negative review of the Wheat Chiefs in here, along with a somewhat positive review of the Barenaked Ladies. Maybe they had been sniffing too much glue that month?

Or maybe they were just envious.

Basic Black - Dreamer's Unit (1989)

Big thanks to Edmontonian Corey Hamilton for passing a couple of Basic Black tapes our way. These ones somehow weren't in the collection, and we're happy to have 'em. Because, you know - no tape left behind!

We're not quite sure how to peg Basic Black - there are elements of bands like Ninth Configuration in their sound, but also a bit of that Seattle grunge thing, which makes sense after reading this VOX article, which starts with the band rhapsodizing about the greatness of that city's music scene:

Get back to basics here!

Day of Eden - Spark (1992)

 

Not only did we have yesterday's Day of Eden tape sitting unposted for years, but so was this one... Huh. Who knew? 

And remember how we said their first tape was dramatic? This one is even more so, with a first epic track that takes us thru seven minutes of feels. This whole thing knits together like a rock opera. Based on the cover art, we think that's the intent...

Catch a Spark here. 

Day of Eden - Day of Eden (1990)

 

We recently did something ridiculous, and put the entire CCPS library into Discogs, including this one - which we've had on the shelf for years, but somehow neglected to post. Why? We really have no idea. 

And despite scouring our VOX archives, we can't find anything about Day of Eden. The band roster consists of two former Beat Apostles, but that's all we got. The band plays a very dramatic and epic flavour of music, with bits of pop, rock, folk, and, uh, drama. We suspect Day of Eden put on a good live show...

Get it here!

Weep, O' Mine Eyes - New Urban Gothic (2000)

Here's another CD from twenty years ago... Michael Weicker has been active in the city's electronic music scene for over 35 years, so we're pretty excited to have found this disc of his. New Urban Gothic is a great set of electonica - crossing somewhere between minimal, industrial, and ambient techno. 

This one doesn't seem to be up on the Weep, O' Mine Eyes bandcamp, so we'll point you here.

Sheldon Overboard - Fill Your Voids Accordingly (2000)

We've been a bit side-tracked of late, posting gig posters over on the CCPS facebook page. We've got a stack of odds and sods that have shown up during the pandemic - starting with this CD, passed to us by PJ Lavergne. 

Sheldon Overboard was Chris dela Torre's all-Filipino mall punk band, prior to the formation of his Axis of Conversation. A rock-focused band made up entirely of people of colour is a very, very rare thing in Calgary - and dela Torre hints that they sometimes didn't have the warmest of welcomes in this article. Which is probably not completely unexpected, but is completely dumb - this is CD is pretty great.

Go overboard here!