Middle of Summer
Some Party is a newsletter sharing the latest in independent Canadian rock'n'roll, curated 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.
PONYClearly Cursed
Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
In the early Punknews days, high on our misbegotten authority, I used to make laughable assertions like: "I have no idea what the kids actually like, but if there was any justice in the universe this-or-that band would be huge." We were, in retrospect, far too young to be feigning such ignorance, but this was useful bullshit. It painted my lackadaisical disengagement with mainstream culture as a virtue rather than a blind spot. I'm in my forties now, and quite justifiably out of touch, so I feel entirely comfortable reclaiming that sentiment at face value. So let me say: PONY is a magical band - pure confection - and the fact that they're not absolutely massive is an aberration of cosmic proportions, and one for which I shall not stand.
Now my family typically doesn't factor into these write-ups. They never agreed to live as Cancon ascetics, and I'd not force that life on anyone. But in the truck, my truck, they're stuck with me and my radio. The other day, my otherwise K-pop-obsessed teenager threw some rare feedback as she left for school, proclaiming, "you usually just listen to the Ramones or loud stuff but I really like that PONY band you keep playing." Youth approval! We've therefore externally validated the parallel truths that while I am indeed aging into irrelevance, I'm also 100% right about PONY.
The Toronto band returns this February with Clearly Cursed, a ten-song set of bubblegum grunge-pop that promises shimmering hooks and Sam Bielanski's effortlessly euphoric vocals. In a statement, the singer-songwriter revealed the record's origins in a portentous psychic reading:
"She read my tarot cards and told me boyfriend was cheating on me. That was true. She also told me that I had a dark spirit attachment which she could easily vanquish if I paid her $1500. That was obviously out of my budget so I left and decided I would have to coexist with this dark spirit for the rest of my life."
Clearly Cursed finds Bielanski and partner/guitarist Matty Morand (Pretty Matty) joined by their touring collaborators Christian Beale (This is Hell, Iron Chic) on bass and Joey Ginaldi (Webbed Wing) on drums. Iron Chic's Dan Leo, who drummed for PONY on their previous go-around, appears as well. The group again worked with producer Alex Gamble (Fucked Up, Alvvays) - reviving the studio team that crafted 2023's Velveteen.
You can hear four tracks from the record today, three of which surfaced as stand-alone singles over the past few years. The album opens with the familiar favourites "Superglue" and "Freezer", with 2024's earworm "Every Little Crumb" sequenced in the penultimate slot. Those songs are available alongside the newly unveiled "Middle Of Summer." Clearly Cursed arrives February 13 through Take This To Heart Records, supported by a late-February East Coast tour with Californian pop-punk act Star 99.
G̱a̱mksimoon"Huk Aat" / "G̱a̱woo Üüla"
Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
You've Changed Records recently issued the debut 7-inch single from G̱a̱mksimoon, a riff-heavy rock trio from Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The group sings entirely in the Sm'algya̱x language of the Ts'msyen people, which pairs perfectly with a backdrop of 70s-indebted guitar heroism.
The set features "Huk Aat" on the a-side backed by "G̱a̱woo Üüla," tracks that draw lyrically on north coast Indigenous tradition and pre-contact ways of life. Band lead Wil Uks Batsga G̱a̱laaw (aka Jeremy Pahl), explained the hunting practices expressed on the b-side:
"This song is about the protocols Ts'msyen seal hunters have been passing down forever. I'm lucky enough to have learned about this from my uncles. A long time ago our people communicated with the seal people and made this protocol. The song lyrics themselves are pretty self explanatory. I hunt seals in this way today. It's a great nutritious and delicious food. I like to render the fat into oil to use for frying fish or mixing with berries as a dessert."
The three-piece features Pahl on vocals and guitar, Isaac Story on bass, and Danny Bell on drums. They recorded with John Rahm at Afterlife Studios in Vancouver, with Connor Pritchard mixing at Pulp City in Prince George.
G̱a̱mksimoon is an evolution of a project formerly known as Saltwater Hank. The group issued their final full-length under that name, Siip'nsk, in 2024, supported by a performance at Sappyfest in Sackville, New Brunswick that summer.
Jeremy Pahl's a member of the Gitga'at First Nation, hailing from the isolated Hartley Bay community (Txałgiiw) about 145 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.
American LipsOn Strike!
Watch "Cardboard Trash" on YouTube - Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
Montreal/Los Angeles trio American Lips recently returned with On Strike!, a playful and often sardonic full-length that tears down the excess and absurdity of late capitalism. The record accelerates the band's angular art-punk attack, delivering 10 statements perched atop the jittery shoulders of Devo and The Fall.
Guitarist/vocalist Adrian Popovich of garage legends Tricky Woo fronts the trio alongside Death From Above 1979 drummer Sebastien Grainger and bassist/vocalist Jessica Bruzzese. In a statement carried by New Noise, Grainger shared some thoughts on the album, stating:
"Musically, this record is tight and boxy, like an engine made of wood and elastic bands trying to play pop songs. Lyrically it speaks to this intergenerational sense that we are all alienated, yet how can this be? If we all have the same feelings of 'otherness' shouldn't that make us closer? More able to relate to one another? Strangely no. So this record is at once a warm hug and punch in the neck."
You can see the single "Cardboard Trash," celebrated in a video assembled from walkthrough footage of the 1989 graphic adventure game Space Quest III: The Pirates Of Pestulon. The band commented, "We all played Sierra games as kids and it means a great deal to us to have been able to pay tribute in this way." The retro digital aesthetic suits the band's quirky sensibilities perfectly.
Popovich remains prolific as a producer in Montreal's indie rock scene and plays these days as part of the space-punk aggressors FRVITS. American Lips last issued the maxi-single Waste of Crime / Labor of Hate in 2022, following up on their 2017 debut Kiss the Void. The new album's available through Ancient Fashion Records.
Our SinsA Sea of Nude Limbs Thrashing
Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
London, Ontario's Our Sins emerged on Halloween with their debut LP A Sea of Nude Limbs Thrashing. The group, which features familiar faces from southern Ontario's punk scene, delivers a diverse slate of songs that hopscotch nostalgically between subgenres, shifting from emo and pop-punk to post-hardcore and 90s radio rock - a love affair with the collective's 90s-rooted influences.
The band wrote and recorded across two weekends, two years apart, in the respective falls of 2022 and 2024, with lyrics by the songwriting duo of Danny Kidd and Ivan Rivers. Kidd sings and plays guitar these days in Pro Wrestling the Band and boasts a lengthy resume that includes Never Betters, The Drew Thomson Foundation, Single Mothers and Wasted Potential. Rivers is best known for his time in the punk outfit Stuck Out Here and maintains an eponymous solo career as a self-described celebrated folk icon. The band's rounded out by drummer Joel Siggelkow (Twin) and bassist Dustin Andrews (Wasted Potential, Snacks?). Andrews recorded, produced, and mixed the material from his basement studio, with Daggermouth's Stu McKillop mastering.
I feel bad that I've sat on this one for so long, particularly since Rivers reached out to me with such enthusiasm. If he'll forgive the privacy breach, here's a snippet of his pitch that illustrates just that:
"We're so stoked about this thing. It started as a lark and a way to hone D.A.'s burgeoning production chops in his new home studio, but we ended up making 9 killer wild dramatic ridiculous songs about like, killing god and burnt-world romance and fed them through a lifetime of collected alt & scene influences, like Maxell CDRcore. We call it 'forest city god-fearing music' and it's a damn blast."
The album arrived as a joint release through Rivers' Eternal Bummer label and Andrews' Get Party! Records. You can dig more into the band's deep London scene connections in a feature by Em Moore at Punknews.org.
Parisian OrgyParisian Orgy
Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
The lo-fi art-punk of Calgary's Parisian Orgy feels decidedly distinct - it's provocateur pop, raw and unpredictable, both immediate and danceable yet somehow vaguely threatening. Neon Taste Records recently served up the band's debut LP, a self-titled set that collects eight originals plus a cover of the French new wave group Tokow Boys. These songs have percolated for years, some of which first surfaced back in 2019 on the Come Pretty Pump Sleep EP. This is the first time the band's collected any of its material on wax.
Multi-disciplinary artist Gwen Morgan fronts the project, leading a collective of local players who've built a thrillingly disorienting, sonically asymmetrical series of tunes on a bass-and-drum foundation. The label references the New Wave exotica sound and cult favourites like Inflatable Boy Clams and Sara Goes Pop. Fans of Toronto's Luge will find familiar ground here.
The band recorded at Pee Blood Studios, with Orchid's Will Killingsworth mixing and mastering at Dead Air Studios.
The WesleysExplosive Device
Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
Last month Montreal quartet The Wesleys issued Explosive Device, a four-song EP that finds the garage-pop unit shuffling the deck, both in regards to their songwriting and lead vocalists. The set finds guitarist Henry Girard, bassist Quentin Chisholm, and drummer Pablo Garcia-Rejon Gaubeca (Jyraph, Raindog) each taking turns at the mic, supported by William D'Amours on guitar and mellotron. The tunes vary from hooky power-pop to fuzzy psych-rock, all delivered with a sharp garage edge.
On vinyl, the new songs come paired with the entirety of The Wesleys's 2022 debut Outside Voices, the first physical release for those tracks. The group recorded with Scott 'Monty' Munro (Preoccupations) in Montreal, with the aforementioned Adrian Popovich (Tricky Woo, American Lips) handling the mix.
Explosive Device follows up on The Wesley's self-titled LP, issued last spring. You can find it in Canada via Petit Village Records or internationally through Spain's Meritorio.
Low BlowMoney Fetish
Preview and purchase at Bandcamp
Calgary hardcore act Low Blow sounds slavishly devoted to the classic American hardcore sound, which isn't in and of itself all that uncommon, except for the fact that it's the product of a bunch of 18-year-olds. These aren't some aging lifers on a quest to recapture past glories, but the genuine fire of youth. Neon Taste likens their sound to Rollins' early DC group State of Alert and Touch and Go pioneers The Fix.
The four-song Money Fetish demo crashes by with abandon - completely unrefined and intently so. The label has a limited run of 100 home-dubbed tapes available, complete with xeroxed J-cards. It's the classic no-budget DIY aesthetic, and probably the truth. Nothing else would be appropriate.
