Swallowing Shit

 

Photographer: Unknown

I'm from Winnipeg, and haven't done an entry of a band such as Propagandhi or Weakerthans. What the hell?! Those will all come soon, most likely, but I would always like to focus on the more obscure ones. Which is why I'd probably sooner choose an Agassiz or a Sixty Stories over the aforementioned bands. With that being said, here's Swallowing Shit from Regina, Saskatchewan. SS were a grindcore band formed in 1994 and lasting to 1997, and featured MANY members in it's ever changing lineup, with vocalist Mike Alexander being the only permanent member (although drummer Cory Koss was the second longest lasting, joining immediately after the release of their first demo.) Probably the bands' 2 most popular members were guitarist Todd Kowalski, who would go onto join Propagandhi (and was also in I-Spy around this time), and Jahmeel Russell who has played with KEN Mode and Kittens, among others. This band was, as most Kowalski projects have been, very left-wing/anarcho-punk lyrically.

Swallowing Shit released a rare demo in 1995, a few 7 inches and a compliation which included some songs that never appeared on those past releases. The band disbanded in 1997 and played their last show with J Church and The Weakerthans.

Here are some links to some places where you catch their music. 

Spotify

Discogs

Soundcloud

I sincerely wish you luck if you are trying to look for physicals of this band.

North of America

Pic credit: Unknown

North Of America is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in 1997 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Though only lasting until 2003 in their initial run, the band toured around much of North America and Europe, and even after their initial breakup, reunited to play around Canada many times, including with Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Past and current members now currently live in Halifax and Vancouver, and included in it's initial lineup, Michael Catano, Mark Mullane, J. La Pointe and Mark Colavecchia. Jim MacAlpine would replace LaPointe in 2003 after the release of Brothers, Sisters.

If you're a fan of much of late 90s/2000s indie-emo and post-hardcore, with bands such as The Van Pelt, Modest Mouse, Milemarker and Q And Not U (and yes, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists). Halifax (and the general New England/Atlantic Canada area) had such a booming music scene for this kind of music back in this era, and some of these bands deserve a little more love. North of America's full discography was uploaded a few years back so you can look for that, here's some links to their Bandcamp page and more, if you'd like to support them:

North of America Spotify

North of America Bandcamp

North of America Discogs

Pic credit: from Exclaim! Please tell me who the photographer is; author of article is Josiah Hughes.