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.

 

 

 

One Of Us

 

Photo credit: Unknown. Taken at the Osborne Taphouse in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

One Of Us is a melodic hardcore band based out of Winnipeg, Canada. They consist of members Thurston Granger (vocals), Dave (guitar), Jorden (drums), RJ and Myke rounding out the lineup. They are heavily influenced by the melodic/skate punk bands of the '90s, notably the SoCal scene, including Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Strung Out and No Use for a Name. They've been performing together since 2018 and have performed at many of Winnipeg's finest venues, including the Pyramid Cabaret, Park Theatre and The Osborne Taphouse, and performed at 2019's SOS Fest with the first night's headliners Good Riddance and The Ripperz (alongside other local favourites Screaming at Traffic, Dinner Club and Suburban Hypocrites). One of Us dropped their debut full-length album in January 2023, and is an exceptional piece of Canadian hardcore. Check it out if the SoCal scene is your thing and you enjoy the evolution of the modern era of bands (especially the Canadians). Down below are some links to their music pages where you can hear that album.

One Of Us Instagram 

One Of Us Spotify

One Of Us Bandcamp

 

 

Ceilings

Picture credit: Unknown

Ceilings is a Winnipeg-bred hardcore-adjacent emo grunge/shoegaze (or if you prefer it, grungegaze) band, essentially a supergroup. As far as I can tell, they formed sometime around late 2017 or 2018, and have been playing every local dive bar, social club, bowling alley and taphouse in the city since then. The lineup currently consists of vocalist/guitarist Trevor Buckley, guitarist Nick "The Fonz" Fondse (who also plays in Locater), drummer Sean Kaye (who also plays with Elder Abuse, Locater and Witchtrip), and Josh on bass and backing vocals.

Forming close friendships with other notable punk bands in the WPG and surrounding scene including The Uglies, Broken Nose Mall Santa and Higherlows (a band with members of Escape from Echo Base), Ceilings have taken their unique, noisy sound, fit with guitarist Nick's absolutely unmistakable guitar tone, and have expanded their reach out west, with spring 2023 dates out in Vancouver and Edmonton/Calgary with Swear Jar and others. Once they finish that leg of dates, they come back to play a show in Winnipeg on May 26th at the Goodwill Social Club, with How To Boil Water (past members of Look North/Prinport), Lake Disappointment and Harley James Flett.

Ceilings are an incredible band and the Winnipeg scene is lucky to have them, I have very much enjoyed the shows I've seen and the interactions I've had with their band members. Check out their latest EP, Double Vision, and listen to the early stuff too. Also, do consider supporting the band by buying their merch, because the designs (some of the recent ones done by Josh himself) look really sick.

I'll throw some links down below where you can access their Bandcamp and social medias, etc.

Ceilings Spotify 

 Ceilings Bandcamp

Ceilings Instagram (show announcements, etc) 

Other bands that contain members of Ceilings:

Elder Abuse (melodic hardcore) 

Witchtrip (metal) 

Locater (emo/grunge/shoegaze) (on No Sleep as of 2023)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Mothers

 

Photo credit: Unknown

Single Mothers is a (post-)hardcore punk band with alternative tendencies from London, Ontario, Canada formed in 2008, currently on Dine Alone Records as of 2023, but had previously been on Big Scary Monsters and Secret Voice (Jeremy Bolm's label, an imprint of Deathwish Inc).They are about to release their 5th studio album, 'Roy' at the end of April, a pretty good number for a band as spontaneous and/or unpredictable as them.

 They have been through about 20 members (which includes touring members) through these 15 years. Vocalist Andrew Thomson is the only member who's been on every release, even with the hiatus he took from the band. It should be noted that Single Mothers has had members of fellow Ontario punk/alternative rock band The Dirty Nil (Dave Nardi and Ross Miller, both as bassists). Single Mothers has toured with Drug Church, A Wilhelm Scream, Title Fight and Quicksand, and appeared at Winnipeg's 2019 SOS Fest at the Park Theatre alongside other headliners Sharptooth, Good Riddance and Cancer Bats. Sonically, this band sounds like a mixture of other notable hardcore guys, between Fiddlehead, Drug Church, Title Fight, Ceremony, DANGERS and Touché Amoré. Vocally, Andrew Thomson takes some influence from bands such as The Replacements, The Hold Steady and Bear vs. Shark.

Single Mothers currently has 2 singles out, so scour those out via the links below. They are called 'Head Shrunk' and 'Sad Dumb Game'. Enjoy those and listen to the album when it comes out via Dine Alone, on April 28th.

Single Mothers Spotify 

Single Mothers Bandcamp

Single Mothers Store

Single Mothers Dine Alone Page

Single Mothers Facebook

 

 

Carlo Capobianco PRAY TO YOU ALBUM REVIEW

 

Picture credit: James Baines - Wasted Youth Photography

It's been a busy past few weeks for great Winnipeg releases! Between singles, EPs, videos and albums, the scene has been greatly active in providing us great jams from several genres, including pop punk, metal, and today's subject: indie/synth-pop. Carlo Capobianco is an Italian-Canadian musician out of Winnipeg, who is releasing his debut full-length, "Pray to You" on April 20th, 2023. Carlo is a beauty and offered me a review copy ahead of the release of the album, so let's talk about some synth-pop! 

To be honest, synth-pop is a genre of music that I'm not super knowledgable about and haven't dug deep into, but I still jam to some of the basics such as M83, CHVRCHES, Future Islands, and the classic 1980s sound. The reason I bring this up is because the latter style of 1980s-era synth-pop is clearly a large influence on Carlo, between acts such as Madonna and Tears for Fears, and their glamorous stage appearance and performances. Carlo is a breath of fresh air in our scene as in my opinion, the synth scene (and additionally, the retrowave scene, etc) should have more traction.

Pray to You is just under half an hour, spanning 8 tracks. It was preceded by 3 singles; Pray to You, Call You Sometime and Sleeping with The Enemy. There was also an off-album single released around the Christmas holidays,  entitled "Holiday Kid". I was made aware of Carlo around the release of the last single, and his music really resonated, not only because it was different, but the production of the drum and percussion patterns, the keyboard arpeggios and passages and extremely soothing vocals and harmonies from Carlo (and Poodle Paddles' Danielle McDonald's signature gritty yet breathy vocals on the track "Mermaid"). I would like to take Sleeping with the Enemy as the perfect example of a song that represents how well this album is produced. In the hands of the wrong producer, it could've been overproduced, far too busy. However, what Adam Fuhr (of House of Wonders) and Carlo did on this album production-wise, is simplify it. The space on this album makes it very easy to breathe, and to listen to. This album is very personal to Carlo and he wanted his lyricism to be the forefront of the record.

"This is my personal bible. A conversation between me and God. A conversation about envy, obsession, love, heartbreak, religion, and dancing through the tears." - Carlo Capobianco in a recent Instagram post announcing the album. 

You can tell that so much love went into all of these tracks. Another thing that I'd like to give credit for is the great mix, done by Adam Fuhr with additional mixing by William Grierson of Collector Studio, and mastering done by Ryan Morey and Donavan Ostapowich. Between tracks that trigger nostalgia (Mermaid and Call You Sometime with it's cool opening synth riff) and good party vibes (Big City), and even some chill, gothic darkwave if you're into that (on the track Dance With the Devil). This album is going to have something for you if you're into the darker, grungier side of pop music. Catch the album, 'Pray to You' when it releases April 20th, and if you're in the Winnipeg area, Carlo will be performing at the Goodwill Social Club on that night for an album release show with opening acts Jupiter Meltdown and Dayloft. See you on the dancefloor!

Photo credit to Valentyna Gabinyetova

Thank you again Carlo Capobianco for sending over a review copy! I absolutely loved this release and I look forward to hearing more from you very soon.

'Pray to You' is out April 20th, 2023.

Produced/Engineered by Adam Fuhr, House of Wonders; Carlo Capobianco (Exec. Production)

Mixed by Adam Fuhr, William Grierson of Collector Studio

Mastered by Ryan Morey; Donavan Ostapowich

General writing credits/special thanks: Carlo Capobianco; Danielle McDonald; Max Hamilton; Adam Fuhr; Jesse Lawrence; Cam Dasher.

Carlo Capobianco Spotify

Carlo Capobianco April 20th Show at the Goodwill

Carlo Capobianco YouTube

CC Instagram

CC Bandcamp (pre-orders live!)

 

Justin Fisher's New Music Recommendations of March 2023!

 

Fish's New Music Recommendations of March 2023!

Hi! It's been a bit busy here but I promise i'll be getting back-on-route with the reviews and bios and such, starting with a local album review this week!

I just want to make a post saying that if you're in the mood for some new music and old emo gems, I have something for you! 100 songs in all kinds of genres including indie rock, screamo, metal and pop punk. I will be making lists with lots of new songs that you'll want to check out, every month! Stay tuned, follow this blog or my instagram @justinfishermusic for the latest updates if you're a new music playlist kind of person.

This playlist includes music from locals (A Grizzly Fate, Taylor Janzen, etc), musicians all across Canada (Cloaker, Cawston..), and a heavy focus on legends making a return to the scene with new music (Samiam, Jeromes Dream, Mudhoney, Depeche Mode)