Local Scene

Mlle. Poxy can be found here with some of her friends.

The only recent semi-famous band that I know is local is the Promise Ring

Oh yeah, despite the lack of bands who skip playing here, only to play in Chicago, Low likes to pop in about every year, so that's nice. As for the rest.. F&%$ YOU ALL!!

These are some of the interesting original hard rock bands I've come across in the past few years. It's all different amalgams of good camaro rock from the 70s mixed with some punk, country and metal.

The Dammit - Louisville, KY

https://www.reverbnation.com/thedammit

Those Cross Town Rivals - Lexington, KY

https://thosecrosstownrivals.bandcamp.com/album/kentucky-gentlemen

Cocaine Wolves - Muncie, IN

http://www.reverbnation.com/thecocainewolves

Mad Anthony - Cincinnatti, OH

http://madanthony.bandcamp.com/album/mad-anthony

Devil to Pay - Indianapolis, IN

https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/fate-is-your-muse

The Footsteps - Lexington, KY

https://footsteps.bandcamp.com/

Mass Driver - Knoxville, TN

http://massdriverrockpower.bandcamp.com/album/mass-driver

The Down-fi - Indianapolis, IN

http://www.reverbnation.com/thedownfi

Well, this is a nice thread! Nice to see The Czars and Kepler etc. get some shout-outs, almost twenty years ago.

I realized when I was reading the R.E.M. thread that I have a teeny fraction of affection for that band compared to my abiding adoration for three particular Toronto or Toronto-adjacent musicians, who I can and will celebrate until the day I die. And I wanted a place to talk about them, I guess? Generate enthusiasm not in the interest of "breaking the band" (no hope in that for any of these acts, I don't think) but just because their music is So Important To Me and I really hope others might hear it and understand.

The first of these bands is Hank. Hank is fronted by a dude named Jeremy, who goes by Jez, who has a stage name of Cab Williamson, who is the front-man of a solo project called Hank, which typically involves a other musicians (though they've shifted and changed over time.) Jez is from England, somewhere, but he moved to Toronto and recruited a number of my friends to sing as backing vocalists while he bashed at his guitar and sang and a reel-to-reel played the backing tracks. He would marry, and then move out of the city; Jez now runs a successful small cafe in Kitchener.

https://hankthepopgroup.bandcamp.com The albums are there, but,

http://www.weepingtruckers.com The website is so much fun.

There are four albums at this point. The second one got a rating that was higher than an 8.0 on Pitchfork (can't remember the exact number and I'm not googling it). There is also an EP, a vast number of singles, and the constant threat of a "Rave Anthems Of The 90s" album-- I have a 90s rave cover of "Be True To Your School" on my iTunes that I always play whenever I'm rarely asked to DJ. My favourite Hank album is the third one, "The Luck Of The Singers". There is a song on it called "Exclusive Plot" which has such a beautiful lyric:

You have to visit my tombstone
You have to promise to come back every year
You have to visit my tombstone

I will be buried in an exclusive plot
I planned it and signed all the papers
It cost a year’s wages to install me there
But I’m attracted to the high life

And we will sing at the post-burial
Of all the love that we have wasted

It’s quite a distance away from the main gates
You can faintly hear the traffic
There’s a gardener who comes once a week
To throw out all the dead flowers

And we will sing at the post-burial
Of all the love that we have wasted

And there’s some famous people across the way
Which has been cordoned off by fences
So when my shabby days come to an end
At least I’ll recognise some faces

I will be buried in an exclusive plot

The thing about Hank is that none of the songs feel finished, they all start and stop and go in strange directions AND YET they are filled with many, many more ideas than any average song.

If I had to pick one song to introduce the band I couldn't, so I'll pick three, and I insist you listen to them.

"Danes In Peril" - first album first track. Famous in Toronto in 2003 for what happens at the 1:30 mark (do not skip ahead, wait for it, and when it arrives, let it happen, do not fight it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaSVqBJ1fgw

"Heswall Diesel" - my favourite track from the second album. It begins with the lyric "Rush to the bus to get the back seating / And then I’m going out to do some heavy petting" and ends with Jez moaning "dead friends" over and over. It's perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfrks869lo

"Whatever Happened To The Forster Appeal?" - this is such a hit, my god

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8WflurTz-M

Anyway I'll post more about the other two bands later I guess