BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [May 2018]

FairyTales Film Fest • Sheer Mag • The Allovers • Crystal Method • Hammerfall • Jill Barber

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

COVER 30-35 

EAST TOWN GET DOWN 

ARTS 8-13 

Skate Club, Skateboard Furniture, Collecting Detective, 

Graphic Novel, YYC Scene, Horoscopes 

FILM 15-18 

FairyTales Film Festival, Mike Hooves, Vidiot 

MUSIC 

rockpile 21-37 

The Allovers, Sheer Mag, Cancer Bats, Wonder 

Years, Pre Nup, Chris Reimer, Scratch Buffalo, 

MomentsFest, Frog Eyes, Palomino Anniversary, 

Supersuckers, Shooting Guns, Peter and the 

Wolves, Stueyed 

edmonton extra 38-41 

Double Lunch Anniversary, Whisper Suite, The 

Hearts, Fire Next Time, Northwest Fest, Artisan 

Loyalist, Mercy Funk, Eye On Edmonton 

BOB LOG III 

Women, whiskey and good, ol’ Bob 

Saturday, May 19 

The Palomino 

jucy 43-45 

The Crystal Method, Pictureplane, Let’s Get Jucy 

roots 47-49 

Jill Barber, Kensington Sinfonia, Rosie & The Riveters, 

Astral Swans 

shrapnel 51-53 

Brujeira, Power Trip, Hammerfall, Month in Metal 

REVIEWS 

music 54-61 

Courtney Barnett, Arctic Monkeys, Mariel Buckley, 

Iceage, and more 

live 61-62 

King Woman, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan, PVRIS, 

The Wrecks 

savage love 63 

BEATROUTE 

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief 

Brad Simm 

Marketing Manager 

Glenn Alderson 

General Manager 

Colin Gallant 

Production Coordinator 

Hayley Muir 

Web Producer 

Masha Scheele 

Social Media Coordinator 

Amber McLinden 

Section Editors 

City :: Brad Simm 

Film :: Morgan Cairns 

Rockpile :: Christine Leonard 

Edmonton Extra :: Brittany Rudyck 

Jucy :: Paul Rodgers 

Roots :: Liam Prost 

Shrapnel :: Sarah Kitteringham 

Reviews :: Jamie McNamara 

Contributing Writers 

Christine Leonard • Arielle Lessard • Sarah 

Mac • Amber McLinden • Kennedy Enns • 

Jennie Orton • Michael Grondin • Mathew 

Silver • Kevin Bailey • Jackie Klapak • Hayley 

Pukanski • Nicholas Laugher • Arnaud Sparks • 

Brittney Rousten • Jodi Brak •Breanna Whipple 

• Alex Meyer • Jay King • Alec Warkentin • Paul 

McAleer • Mike Dunn • Shane Sellar • Kaje 

Annihilatrix • Dan Savage • Miguel Morales • 

Sarah Allen 

Cover Art 

Aron Diaz 

Advertising 

Ron Goldberger 

Tel: (403) 607-4948 • e-mail: ron@beatroute.ca 

Distribution 

We distribute our publication in 

Calgary, Edmonton, 

Banff, Canmore, and Lethbridge. 

SARGE Distribution in Edmonton 

Shane Bennett 

(780) 953-8423 

photo: Paul Chirka 

e-mail: editor@beatroute.ca 

website: www.beatroute.ca 

E-Edition 

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Copyright © BEATROUTE Magazine 2017 

All rights reserved. Reproduction of the contents 

is prohibited without permission. 

BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 3

PULSE 

Art Gallery of Alberta 

LandMark: A New Chapter Acquisition Project 

The exhibition, LandMark, features new works by Alberta Indigenous artists: Brenda Draney, Tanya 

Harnett and Terrance Houle. For each of these artists, the land and landscape of their home territory 

in Alberta has provided inspiration for the creation of works that address time and ancestry, nature 

and the environment, community and story-telling. Working in painting, photography and video, 

the work of these three artists present the land, not as geography or vista, but as intimate and person 

places that are marked by lived experience. 

LandMark is the second in a series of exhibitions supported by a Canada Council for the Arts “New 

Chapter” grant, that showcase new acquisitions to the AGA’s permanent collection of work by Indigenous, 

Métis and Inuit artists.This is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada 

Council for the Arts’ New Chapter program. 

Tanya Harnett 

April 28 – November 11, 2018 

Cold Lake 

Camping Included. Gates Open 6pm Wednesday June 20th. 

No Pets. No Canned Music. 

4 | MAY 2018 • BEATROUTE

DOLLY WIGGLER CABARET 

WHAT’S WITH THE DOLLS? 

A raucous night of puppetry for adult audiences, produced by a bunch of wild 

and weird theatre types who aptly named themselves, CAOS – Calgary Animated 

Objects Society. Cabaret director Xstine Cook stole the Dolly Wiggler 

term from famous marionette virtuoso Ronnie Burkett, who uses it to describe 

the art form of puppetry. 

WHO’S THE COMPÈRE? 

A fancy word for emcee, famous Cirque du Soleil clown Mooky Cornish is 

a legendary compère with a closet to rival Liberace. Working with New York 

vaudevillian Shane Baker, “a nice Jewish goy,” Mooky will unveil some new tricks 

up her sleeveless dress. 

WHERE’S THE BEER? 

Calgary’s #1 Legion is the perfect cabaret venue, inspiring rapture previously 

only experienced in 1920s Paris. Okay so there’s no absinthe on tap, but the 

Wiggler is a licensed, 18+ event. VIP tickets get you special front row seats. 

WHEN DO PUPPETS HAVE POWER? 

WP Puppet Theatre’s inspiring Puppet Power runs the same weekend, and 

the Dolly Wiggler showcases brilliant artists from that conference, including 

Ireland’s Beyond the Bark, Puppet Mongers, Bighetty Brothers from Manitoba, 

and Mulat Puppet Theatre from the Phillipines. 

WHY DO PUPPETS SLAM? 

The Dolly Wiggler is supported by the Puppet Slam Network, a brainchild of 

Jim Henson’s daughter Heather. Catch the latest brilliance from Calgary’s own 

puppet greats Long Grass Studio, Alice Nelson, Elaine Weryshko and a whole 

lot more. 

HOW THE HELL? 

CAOS founder Xstine Cook was inspired to start the annual Dolly Wiggler at 

a cabaret run by a group of performer friends in a squat across from a police 

station in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. Coz Calgary deserves the best. 

photo: Sean Dennie 

Dolly Wiggler Cabaret: Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2 

Royal Canadian Legion No. 1, 116 7th Ave. S.E. 8 p.m. 

Tix$25 – $40. 403-266-1503 

For more info go to animatedobjects.ca/dolly-wiggler-cabaret 

photo: Sean Dennie 

photo: Doug Wong 


INTERNATIONAL AVENUE COMES ALIVE!! 

70 great bands, 8 great rooms 

May 26 – see p.30 

May, 2018 

International Avenue is an area full of pride. We 

are proud of our people, we are proud of our 

food, we are proud of our art, and our multiculturalism. 

We are resilient, with some of our 

local businesses being around more than 50 

years to attest. And we are dynamic, with new 

businesses, activities and artworks arriving in the 

neighbourhood with each passing year. 

And now, we are proud to be host to Calgary’s 

newest independent music festival – East Town 

Get Down. 

This festival represents the strength of International 

Avenue: the unique intimacy and cultural 

flare of our venues. It also highlights us as a 

destination within Calgary. When music lovers 

arrive to attend East Town Get Down, they will 

undoubtedly discover a treasure they hadn’t 

known previously. It may be a delicious new 

cuisine enjoyed at Ensira, having their eye caught 

by the extensive workshop behind the stage 

at FUSE33 Makerspace, or a conversation with 

someone who calls Greater Forest Lawn home... 

All augmented by the incredible variety and 

amazing talent of so many Calgary bands and 

musicians. 

Please, accept our invitation to East Town Get 

Down, get your wristband now, and come find 

out all the wonderful things that International 

Avenue has to offer. 

• Alison Karim-McSwiney 

International Avenue 

Business Revitalization Zone (BRZ) 

A MESSAGE FROM MAYOR NENSHI 

On behalf of my City Council colleagues and the citizens of Calgary, it is my pleasure to welcome you to 

the inaugural East Town Get Down Music Festival 2018! 

This exciting festival is a result of the collaboration between the International Avenue BRZ and the Major 

Minor Music Project whose intention is to expose Calgary music lovers to all that International Avenue 

and East Calgary have to offer. East Calgary holds a special place in my heart. I love the diversity and 

tremendous vibrant energy that it encapsulates. A music festival such as this will undoubtedly add even 

more flair to this already wonderfully colorful community. 

I commend all who have made this festival possible and extend a warm welcome to all of the amazing 

artists and neighbours, alike. I hope you have the most amazing day celebrating together. 

Sincerely, 

Naheed K. Nenshi 

MAYOR 

8 | MAY 2018 • BEATROUTE 

ARTS

100 % SKATE CLUB 

takes on a fashionable future 

BY KYLE WOOLMAN 

Newbie skaters getting some experienced insight during the House of Vans pop-up event. 

Among the live music, art installations and fact, girls out there skateboarding and now there’s 

local independent vendors, there was one this vibrant, awesome community where everybody 

thing that uniquely stood out during last month’s 

can meet each other and learn together.” 

House of Vans pop-up event, which attracted 

Vans Canada and %100 Skate Club successfully 

10,000 music fans, young skate enthusiasts and 

teamed up promoting the future is now for 

whole lot of parents to Stampede Park. If you were women’s skateboarding by demonstrating that 

hanging around the Big Four building between big players in the industry are now putting female 

April 14-15 you probably noticed the Get Onboard riders on their teams. 

all-girls skate clinic hosted by Calgary’s own %100 Jacobs says, “These young girls that are skating at 

Skate Club. 

age eight can think, maybe I can skate for Vans one 

The %100 Skate Club, set up specifically for day, or maybe I can skate for Blind or Element one 

female riders, is the brainchild of founder Erica day. It’s great that they now have these role models 

Jacobs whose growing organization over the past and thank heavens for those women who pushed 

four years has been a real push forward for women’s 

through all those barriers to become pro.” 

skateboarding locally. 

With more young women stepping out on the 

“Last year we had 80 girls sign up to participate, ramp, a change is also taking place in skate apparel 

so I’m hoping this year to break 100 for %100 designed for females. For years if a girl wanted 

Skate,” chuckles Jacob optimistically. 

to wear skate gear it usually meant a men’s small 

The main goal for %100 Skate is to encourage t-shirt and men’s skate shoes, but now they are 

and help break down barriers for girl skaters, giving able to buy skate apparel that not only fits but also 

them a safe place where they have friends, get is fashionable. 

support and learn skateboarding skills. The name “Take snowboarding for example,” explains 

%100 was to make the club sound more inclusive Jacob. “Women’s snowboard clothing wasn’t really 

and catchy, but not too girly, trying to steer away a thing. But now you can get brand name quality 

from frivolous names like the “Sparkle Skate stuff like Burton. 

Club”. Jacobs explains her motive to start the club She adds, “I think women in general just like 

stemmed from her own personal experience that fashion. As a woman skateboarder I want to look 

historically has been seen as a “man’s sport”. fashionable for sure. I would say that women’s 

“When I started to skate there really weren’t any skateboard fashion will take off similarly to snowboarding, 

girl skateboarders, so right now it’s really new and 

at least I hope so.” 

exploratory. I think every year %100 Skate Club will 

keep unfolding into whatever it’s supposed to be. I More info about 100% Skate Club is on Facebook 

wanted to see by creating the club if there were, in www.facebook.com/pg/100percentskateclub/ 


WHAT SHAKES 

YYSCENE’s quick scan go-to guide for MAY 

So much going on in May! 

And what better way to start 

the month than with the 

Calgary International Beerfest 

taking place May 4 & 5 at 

the BMO Centre. More into 

ballet? Who isn’t? All of Us 

featuring the music of The 

Tragically Hip presented by 

Alberta Ballet takes place 

May 4 & 5 also (don’t do one 

then the other — you know 

what I’m saying). Dance! Go 

see Karl Nimeni is Not Dead - 

I Killed Karl Nimeni presented 

by Dancing Monkey Laboratories 

May 4-6 at Theatre 

Junction GRAND. Now, to the 

specifics... 

May 4 sees Infected Mushroom 

with guests at The Palace, 

and Preoccupations does a 

two-night stint at The Palomino, 

May 4 & 5. On May 5, Chris 

Reimer: Posthumous LP Release 

Dolly Wiggler Cabaret – Royal Canadian Legion #1 

of Hello People at The Palomino 

(early show). The 2018 Calgary 

Music Collector’s Show takes place at Acadia Rec Centre May 6, and then later that evening 

head to MacEwan Hall to check out Hollywood Babble-On: Kevin Smith & Ralph Garman at 

MacEwan Hall. On the 9th? MGMT is at the Big Four Building. Go. 

More stuff? Sure! On May 12 The Glitch Mob will be at the Marquee Beer Market & 

Stage with Elohim & Anomalie and May 15 you can check out David Sedaris at the Jubilee! 

Or, maybe you’re more of a Supersuckers fan, in which case you’ll want to see them 

with A-Bomb and The Foul English at The Palomino. May 17 is Queens of the Stone Age 

at the Saddledome, and for some LOL action, head to the Jack Singer on May 18 for 

British comedian Jimmy Carr (two shows! Pick one!). 

Slayer. Yes, Slayer with Lamb of God, Anthrax (chickens in my head! wait ...), Behemoth 

and Testament will be at the Big Four — AA, go early! May 21 finds everyone’s fave 

Talking Head, David Byrne and his America Utopia Tour at the Jubilee, on May 25 we see 

Audien with guests at The Palace, and on May 26 the East Town Get Down featuring a 

multitude — MULTITUDE! — of local bands celebrating the amazingness that is International 

Avenue. May 29 we’ve got An Evening with Bon Iver at the Corral, and on May 31 

it’s the one and only Weird Al Yankovic: Ill-Advised Vanity Tour with guest Emo Philips at 

Grey Eagle Event Centre. 

Into June we have the Dolly Wiggler Cabaret (short form puppetry for adults!) at the 

Royal Canadian Legion #1 on June 1 & 2, or Tritonal at The Palace June 1. Your call. 

Kari Watson is a writer and former Listings Editor of FFWD Weekly, and has 

continued to bring event listings to Calgary through theYYSCENE and her event 

listings page, The Culture Cycle. Contact her at kari@theyyscene.ca. 

ARTS

THE COLLECTING DETECTIVE 

Movie collectibles: Here’s lookin’ at you, kid! 

BY DAVID DALEY 

The Gamblers cinema slide 1919. 

Moving-picture shows have captivated advertisements that came in sets of four, or 

the buying public since they first started eight, and were displayed in, you guessed it, 

squeezing out vaudeville stage acts and filling theatre lobbies. 

local theatres in the early 1900s. These “photo Cinema slides were popular from about 

plays” were silent, of course, but the piano (or 1905 to the mid-1920s, when “talkies” 

organ) was there to fill the air with music and began to take over. These 3¼ x 4” glass-plate 

help the viewers get into the spirit of the film. photographs were loaded into lantern-style 

Most of those movies are now lost to the ages, projectors that cast images and text onto 

but the lively sheet music scores with their the screen before and after shows and during 

decorative covers remain for collectors to seek intermissions. Slides showcased coming 

today. 

features, told jokes or tried to peddle Shinola 

Movie collectibles are now a massive consumer 

to a captive audience. Examples can be found 

industry with some items going for mil- 

in colour, or beautiful black white, and often 

lions of dollars, but you don’t have to be Richie have a space on them for the projectionist’s 

Rich to take some of the silver screen magic own notes. Starting at about $15 per plate 

home with you. Here’s the skinny, there’s all on eBay, these glassy images are lot of fun to 

kinds of really cool stuff you can snag for a song collect and learn about. 

— if you’ve got your wits about you. I mean Ephemera such as ticket stubs are considered 

serious film collectibles, not the mass-produced desirable to some, while others worship celebrity 

commercial crud. I’m talking about fascinating 

autographs. Naturally, there’s no shortage 

historical relics that you can sink your teeth into of demand for vintage “stag” reels and unique 

— the meaty, seedy underbelly of Hollywood film-associated toys. 

Babylon, not the glut of mainstream dreck that More specialized collecting interests are best 

the chumps lick up these days. Whether it’s explored through online markets and forums, 

storyboards, soundtrack records, 8 x 10” photo but there’s also a fair amount of late 20th century 

stills or the hard-copy movies in their various 

movie swag that turns up at garage sales and 

media formats, a trove of nifty knick-knacks flea markets. Collectors groups on social media 

awaits the discerning collector. 

are also an asset when hunting down merchandise 

Visual art has long been trying to sell show 

and connecting with likeminded curators 

tickets and movie posters, and are the seat-fillers 

of cinema memorabilia. Cinememorablia? 

of the film collectibles world. Sought for Anyway, The Calgary VHS Tape Swap group 

their genre categories, artistic quality and star on Facebook regularly posts the latest delectable 

appeal, these enduringly, hot what-nots range 

movie camp — buying, selling and trading 

widely in price and availability. Few examples among members. Word to the wise, their swapmeet 

survived the scrap paper drives of World War II, 

hoards are a rich source of horror titles for 

but you can still acquire some remarkably cool those looking to feed their analog addiction. 

movie posters without losing your shirt. 

Collectors go gaga for the oversized prints Visit the Calgary VHS Tape Swap here: 

destined for billboard paste-jobs at drive-ins. www.facebook.com/groups/CalgaryVHS/ 

Meanwhile, lobby cards were smaller movie 

ARTS BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 11

HORROSCOPES 

ARIES (MARCH 21 - APRIL 20) 

Uranus has been in Aries for the past 7 years and is ready 

to transit. Uranus seems to indicate behaviour patterns, if it 

had an affirmation it would be “I behave..” Transits of Uranus 

allow us to break free from old patterns in life and re-evaluate 

anything from our style and purpose to our relationships and 

long-term goals. It may feel as though the energy inside of 

you is heating up ready to release and break through. With an 

invigorating horizon on the other side of this breakthrough 

check in with your motivations, versions of self that are 

crumbling and forming and allow sincerity to emerge. Mercury 

stations direct in your sign this cycle and Mercury is a strong 

influencer of communication. Check in with what you say, how 

much, how little and your quality. Consider tone as you deliver 

what’s important to you. The sound of your own vibration can 

and will heal yourself and others. Remember Aries, Magic is 

alive and it’s in you. 

Song suggestion for the month: “God is Alive, Magic is Afoot” 

-Buffy Sainte-Marie 

TAURUS (APRIL 21 - MAY 21) 

Changes and challenges are the tapestry that surrounds your 

life currently. Are you going to get on board and allow the 

changes to transform you? You can pretend that they aren’t 

happening, but really what will that do for your overall life 

momentum? To quote Leonard Cohen “There is a crack in 

everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Right now, it may 

feel as if some large foundational cracks are happening, trust 

that these are happening to allow you to heal and rejuvenate 

the energy of your life. Self-sabotage may step in as a form of 

self-protection, so keep your awareness on what is breaking 

and what you are making. Like a shark in the water keep on 

swimming forward no matter what the currents bring. You 

have gone into some challenging corners of your subconscious 

and with that an unlock of creative energy. Allow this level up 

to bring you up and let your charm shine on. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Armida” - Lust for Youth 

GEMINI (MAY 22 - JUNE 21) 

Good fortune, community, hopes and dreams- the energy of 

your 11th house, which is in Aries, is a flurry of activity this 

cycle. Did you just find a four-leaf clover alongside quicksand? 

Because life may start to feel like it! Unpacking communication 

with those close to you in an honest way is highlighted to set 

up relationships that hold weight for your future. Look around 

you to those that may not be your inner circle but that hold 

messages for you in your social life. There are some messages 

that you need to communicate, a sense of a communication 

issue is bubbling up in the communities that you are in and 

around. What do you need to communicate? Why are you 

choosing not to communicate it? Boundaries, structure, rules 

that can be bent versus those that need to hold their weight 

and integrity. These are all aspects that come up, as you share 

your energy with many. The timeframe of May 8th to 11th 

holds essential information about what’s taking shape behind 

the scenes for you. As this integrates it charges you up, so be 

aware of the power of your words at this time. Use your words 

wisely; they are spells that you are casting. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Rare Things Grow” -Kaitlyn 

Aurelia Smith 

... the unfolding forevermore paired with a song specifically curated for your sign 

CANCER 

(JUNE 22 - JULY 23) photo: Jessica Wittman 

Communicate, articulate, 

clarify and repeat. Thoughtful 

integrity shines through you 

as you communicate your 

deeper heart truths this cycle. 

Water symbolizes the changing 

nature of the Universe. Being 

the fluid and ever-feeling water 

sign that you are the changes 

that you are going through 

are in turn changing the environments 

you find yourself 

in. Look at how your internal 

Universe is being mirrored by 

your daily experience. Uranus 

has been hanging out in your 

10th house since 2011 and is 

about to shift. The 10th house 

deals with public roles and 

career so take time to review 

at what has changed in your 

responsibilities to community, 

innovations and unique role as 

a leader. Your independence on the career-front is growing increasingly 

important. Take note of how you can grow in your freedom 

and reach out to those who share helping hands and hearts to 

support this unfolding with you. There is an upgrade in your party 

signals this month, so let the good times roll and feel the abundance 

of love and friendship in your life. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Thor’s Stone” - Forest Swords 

LEO (JULY 24 - AUG. 23) 

Shake, shake, shake it up this month! The energy of this cycle is 

allowing you to receive transmissions of innovative and direction 

altering information. There may be some uncomfortable experiences 

as you try on some new opportunities. Like your new favourite 

shoes, sometimes it just takes a little time to break things in. You 

have been seeking, discovering and forging a dream-inspired path 

for a while now. Trust your journey and plan for unforeseen opportunities 

that may set you in a different direction. Uranus is moving 

into your 10th house of career and there is now a seven-year period 

you are transitioning into that creates a new major theme within 

your profession. Invisible accomplishments and visible accomplishments 

are swelling allowing you to feel a sunny disposition. 

Remember to keep your feet on the ground as you continue to soar 

higher towards the sun. You are expanding and have worked hard 

for this expansion. Keep mind of those who have helped you build 

your heights and offer them the same power and support. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Ms. Secret” - Avey Tare 

VIRGO (AUG. 24 - SEPT. 23) 

8th, 5th and 9th house is where your astrology themes are popping 

this cycle. 8th house being collaborative efforts and resources 

alongside mental forces. Have you had time to check in with deeper 

emotions? Big decisions to make? The information you need is 

waiting in the wings; it may be a bit further of a reach then usual 

to gather it this month though. Be patient with choices, a few may 

seem right until one feels fully clear. Give yourself the time you 

BY WILLOW HERZOG 

need for ultimate clarity. The creativity of the 5th and 9th houses 

are highlighting your creative power this cycle, keep on creating like 

the dynamic powerhouse that you are. Take your strength seriously 

and focus on daily rituals. May 7th a professional relation will need 

a little clarity so be ready to clarify and talk it out. Allow space for 

new experience this cycle that connects you to the energy of Earth, 

collecting sunlight and fresh air will do wonders for your sense of 

beauty. 

Song suggestion for the month: “See Me”- Tei Shi 

LIBRA (SEPT. 24 - OCT. 23) 

Who has come into your life this month in a new way? Take a 

retrospective glance at the relationships that are forming, forged 

and teaching you about peering down a new reality tunnel. Don’t 

overindulge this month as it will be a fun-filled one in which you 

may want to throw caution to the wind and burn through your 

bank book. Little luxuries will be key. Share the abundance (material 

or not) that you have obtained with the greater community in 

unexpected and creative ways. This gratitude offering will create 

vibes of wellbeing for the collective. Patch up the missing pieces of 

your foundation that are tying you to your past in a way you no 

longer need to be connected to it. This may be in the realm of heartbreak 

or family issues, look at your inner life and figure out what 

allows you to feel safe and transformative. Business and personal 

relationships are helping you to understand boundaries this month, 

remember it’s okay to be both the incredible host and lover but also 

say “No” and feel okay about it. Shine bright like the diamond you 

are this cycle and save room for self-love. 

Song suggestion for the month: “You Could Be More As You Are” - 

Saada Bonaire 

SCORPIO (OCT. 24 - NOV. 22) 

Uranus is moving into your 7th house of committed relationships 

bringing with it new partners and opportunities. Energy is shifting, 

moving, cleansing and an update of important relationships is 

merging with new beginnings. Uranus is creating an influence of 

freedom and creativity as relationships in your life nourish and blos- 


ARTS

som. Watch how many energetic influences are around you as the 

connections you have and make create intoxication on an energetic 

level. This can be incredibly transformative as long as you give yourself 

the time and space to process all the experience. You are feeling 

motivated to direct your creative energy in a tangible way this 

cycle, especially through the poetics of your communication. Tap 

into your messages and share with others wholeheartedly. Saturn is 

stationing retrograde in your 3rd house of communication and your 

intelligence is asking you to step into greater discipline with your 

daily routine. Saturn is pulling into focus a review of how you have 

been building your future lives on the road to your dreams. Feel 

empowered by the courage you have been cultivating and use that 

to expand boldly and intentionally. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Maria También” - Khruangbin 

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 23 - DEC. 21) 

The Universe is smiling on you and you may not even know it. Just 

beyond the doorway of your current frame of reference lay forces, 

opportunities and contacts that have taken notice of your work. 

The next few months will start to illustrate those who will connect 

you further to your purpose as unknown and foreshadowed 

potential starts to emerge from an ever-unfolding woodwork. This 

cycle is about your creativity, vision, career and how you set up the 

foundations of your life. Checking back in with your motivations 

for how and why you operate in the way you do will create some 

crystal-clear clarity. There are some relationships in your life right 

now that may seem confusing, that’s okay just be at peace with that 

and allow the confusion to live itself out until dynamics become 

clear. Clarity Baby, there is whole reality tunnel of it waiting for you 

once you make it through this cycle. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Black Willow”- Loma 

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 - JAN. 20) 

Perhaps things have been a little like in-flight turbulence this 

cycle. Soon you will be smooth sailing through the cosmos, so 

hold on, peace is on the rise. 

You have been transitioning into new roles within relationships 

and alongside that you have been breaking the norm of 

outdated structures of how you see yourself. Uranus is moving 

into your 5th house of creative energy and there is a bubbling 

potency for your creative potential. Astrologically it feels as 

if a blindfold has come off and is staying off as you excavated 

the honesty within your relationships and a deep transformation 

has taken place. It’s time for some bliss and celebration 

regarding personal breakthroughs. Saturn, your ruling planet, 

is stationing retrograde for the next five months asking you to 

take a look at the structures, daily rituals and commitments 

you have formed and are forming. What are you going to make 

with this blank canvas in your creative life right now? A little 

structure + a little creativity = magic. Know whatever beautiful 

creation you dream into being at this time is very supported 

by the stars. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Water People”- Grouper 

AQUARIUS (JAN. 21 - FEB. 19) 

Intimate and close relationships take center stage this cycle. 

Your forms of communication are awakening as you create 

new channels for the dynamics in which you exist. It may feel 

as if you have been craving routine as much as you love change 

in your day to day travel. There is an intense creative energy 

that is changing the way in which you structure your time. 

Mercury stationing direct is creating a release of energy that 

embodies a greater sense of freedom in that way in which you 

earn your living. Stay with the opportunities that feel aligned 

with your expansion and wellbeing even if they require a level 

of sacrifice and challenge your self-doubt. Deconstruct the 

habits that have created self-destructive loops and put in the 

time for your inner self work. If feelings of ungroundedness 

come up for you this cycle find ways to stay present and connected 

to your current reality. Don’t go building castles in the 

sky until you have built your castle on the ground first. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Wayward Son” - Zachary Cale 

PISCES (FEB. 20 - MAR. 20) 

Communication, projects, community and siblings are the 

places of change for you this cycle. Experimentation of how to 

support yourself while looking at your resources and talents 

in an organized way will allow you to build a strong structure. 

There is a major refresh that’s awakening new shapes and 

structures that feed the parts of your life for you and your 

community. There is a strong desire to be among innovators 

of change within the community. You may be asked to look 

at your leadership role within your social circles and how you 

can hold space for others. There is a stabilization and deeper 

connection happening with the energy of new friends and 

new relationships in your life at this time. As Saturn stations 

retrograde there is a spotlight that shines on you and asks you 

to show up with the greater integrity you know you are capable 

of. It’s time to get out your crystal ball Pisces and look into 

your future. Create a map of how your short-term plans and 

long-term plans can line up and create nourishing expansion. 

Your future self will thank you. 

Song suggestion for the month: “Shine a Light (feat. Thaddillac)” 

- Shabazz Palaces 

ARTS BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 13

FILM 

The little fest that grew and grew 

despite threats to cut funds and plant bombs 

This years festival will mark the 20th anniversary 

of Fairy Tales Film Festival’s opening. Over 

the past 20 years, Fairy Tales has shown great 

resilience and grown into a non-profit organization 

focused on supporting LGBTQ voices. If that’s 

not enough to wow you, they even made their 

own movie this year. 

Festival Director, James Demers, says, “I think 

it’s really significant that Calgary has maintained 

a steady and well organized and kind of forward 

thinking queer film festival in a city that doesn’t, 

hasn’t always been a bastion for visibility. I think 

that was really interesting and I think we’ve 

started to see people coming to the festival who 

are starting to be interested in stories that don’t 

personally relate to their experience, which I think 

has inherent value.” 

According to Demers this is particularly 

important because, “Queer spaces are becoming 

fewer and farther in between. We’re losing bars. 

So, a place where the community can gather is 

actually vanishingly rare. We provide one of those 

spaces, and I think there’s real value in that.” 

Yet, that doesn’t mean Fairy Tales went unnoticed. 

Before the festival was established they held 

an event at the Glenbow Museum. Demers says, 

“There was a precursor to Fairy Tales called The 

Fire Within, that was a short three film series held 

at the Glenbow. There were massive protests for 

the Glenbow partnering with that. They had their 

funding very seriously threatened by a bunch of 

private donors and chose to support the festival 

anyway. So we, the organizers at the time, made 

what they call the elevator pitch of the season and 

ran down there to change that.” 

But, the threats didn’t stop there. 

In the early years, Fairy Tales received “bomb 

BY GREGORY BALANKO-DICKSON 

threats.” Although none of the threats were credible. 

“All you need to do is call in a bomb threat to 

try and call off a festival,” says Demers. 

Despite the protests, Fairy Tales grew in 

popularity. “It was so popular,” says Demers, “that 

we eventually ended up in a situation where 

Fairy Tales really needed to be its own thing. The 

interest was really high and the critical discussions 

around the films and the way that the films were 

selected was taking a lot more time, and so developing 

it into its own organization made the most 

practical sense.” 

Other programs are being developed at Fairy 

Tales, including an “artists in residence” program, 

and a “transgendered education” program that 

will be some of the “first curriculum specific” 

courses that teach medical students how to 

“address the concerns of trans patients.” 

“Our programs have a lot of opportunities 

for community members and allies alike,” says 

Demers. 

And while creating these opportunities isn’t 

always an easy task, Demers and his team are 

always up for the challenge. 

“Trying to create opportunities for you to be 

represented in media is a complicated task. It 

takes a lot of work and forethought and critical 

self reflection to create an event that is authentic 

to experiences that are so rarely shown,” says 

Demers, “there’s a lot of experimentation and 

creative work and I think that adds to the pool of 

queer films to be totally honest.” 

Demers believes that these films give the 

LGBTQ community the opportunity to see 

“self-representation” and “teaches you that there 

is something beyond your struggle to strive for, 

and that you deserve that.” 

FAIRYTALES 2018 

flims to be seen and experienced 

As the largest queer film festival in Canada 

outside of Vancouver and Toronto, the Fairy 

Tales Film Festival has attracting over 35,000 patrons 

since 1999 featuring dozens of entertaining 

and thought-provoking films each year. 

When you’ve spent the last 20 years as a pillar 

in the arts community, the expectation to deliver 

new and exciting programming can be daunting. 

Fairy Tales, however, does this with ease and has 

curated the best of the best in queer cinema for 

their week long festival in May. Here are some 

of BeatRoute’s picks for what we think are your 

best bets for this year’s fest. Congrats on 20 years, 

Fairy Tales! 

DISOBEDIENCE 

Based on the book of the same name, Disobedience 

stars your two favourite Rachels (Weisz 

and McAdams) as Ronit and Esti, two women 

who rekindle their teenage romance when Ronit 

(Weisz) returns home to their Orthodox Jewish 

community. A heavy drama that touches on 

religion, desire, and sexuality (and the repression 

of all three), Disobedience has earned critical 

acclaim for Weisz’s and McAdam’s performances, 

as well as it’s subversion of the ever present malegaze 

in the film’s lustful (and much talked about) 

sex scene. 

A MOMENT IN THE REEDS 

Nothing is more tender and nostalgic than a 

sweet summer romance, and this Finnish drama 

is no exception. Leevi, a university student in Paris 

who returns home to Finland over the summer 

break to help renovate his estranged families 

lakehouse, and Tareq, an architect who has fled 

his native Syria and has been hired by Leevi’s 

father to help with the renovation, kindle a 

romance during their shared summer. With Leevi 

anxious to leave Finland behind and start a life in 

France, and Tareq still adjusting to his new life in 

Finland, both men find struggle with the concept 

of “home” and what it means to find acceptance. 

BY MORGAN CAIRNS 

Signature Move – a wrestling romance. 

tell his mother that Brooke is a transwoman. 

Challenging the traditions of the American 

workplace and family, Woman on Fire is the 

uplifting story of a true badass babe that you 

won’t want to miss. 

REBELS ON POINTE 

Like a dream come true, Rebels on Pointe is 

the documentary story of Les Ballets Trockadero 

de Monte Carlo-an all male drag ballet 

troupe. Gaining a cult following in their 40+ 

years as a company, Les Ballets Trockadero 

mixes camp and high art in a way that makes 

for delightful documentary subject matter. 

Following both the troupe as a whole and the 

individual dancers, this playful doc took four 

years to film, and is worth every second. 

SIGNATURE MOVE 

Zaynab is a thirty-something Pakistani lawyer 

who spends her days taking care of her TV 

obsessed mother, and her nights training 

in Lucha wrestling. Having yet to come 

out to her mother, Zaynab seems content 

to keep her two worlds separate from her 

mother; that is, until she meets Alba. While 

free-spirited Alba is at first hesitant to form a 

relationship with the closeted Zaynab, their 

relationship blossoms and they find they both 

have something to learn from each other. 

While the struggling romance may be at the 

centre of this film, Zaynab’s mother, watching 

Pakistnai soap operas and peering through 

her apartment window with binoculars trying 

to find her daughter a husband, is the comic 

relief that really steals the show. 

WOMAN ON FIRE 

One half of May 27’s Gender Warrior double 

feature, Woman on Fire is the story of 

Brooke Guinan, the first openly transgender 

firefighter in New York City. Following Brooke 

through her transition, this inspiring doc not 

only touches on Brooke’s career as a third 

generation FDNY firefighter, but also on her 

life outside the firehouse, and how the two 

intertwine. Named “New York’s Bravest” by 

the Village Voice, Brooke faces the challenges 

Go to www.calgaryqueerartssociety.com for the 

of being a woman in a typically male profession, 

while simultaneously trying to build a 

full lineup and schedule. 

life with her boyfriend, Jim, who has yet to 

FILM BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 15

Double down the depths of hell 

The Excorcist and The Devil and Father Amorth 

hat an excellent day for an exorcism” 

“W – the croaking words slither between 

cracked, lifeless lips caked with the noxious vile 

which proceeded them. Two entities are scarcely 

visible in a room devoid of light – an exorcist, 

and the shell of what was once a vivacious 

12-year-old girl named Regan MacNeil. Digging 

into the days proceeding this moment in cinematic 

history would strike a collection of images 

revealing a third, commanding entity which 

could only be described as terrifying. Regan, 

once a picturesque vision of a perfect daughter, 

suddenly transformed into a shocking display 

spitting unspeakable profanities and projectile 

vomiting impossible amounts of soupy bile, furthermore, 

morbidly engaging in masturbation 

with a crucifix resulting in bloodied lacerations. 

The Exorcist (1973) boasts not only a high rank 

in horror history books, but also longevity as it 

still shakes contemporary audiences in a way 

they surely have not felt before despite having 

traipsed through the obnoxious gore of the 

torture porn sub-genre that dominated the 

early 2000s. 

The Exorcist was not the first religious horror 

film by any means – after all, Mia Farrow birthed 

her little devil spawn only a handful of years 

earlier in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). Though not 

the first to tap into arguably the most haunting 

sub-genre of horror, it was the first nominated 

for an Academy Award. Given that cinema-goers 

were graced with a film that literally had 

paramedics called on site to treat viewers from 

fainting, I’d consider this a stunning feat for the 

under-appreciated genre, and viable proof that 

some of us genre fans actually like being scared. 

Look Ma, no strings attached! Linda Blair’s levitation scene in The Exorcist. 


BY BREANNA WHIPPLE 

But what made The Exorcist so damn scary? 

Extending beyond the obviously unsettling 

visuals dominating the 122 minute run-time, it 

tapped into an frightening area etched in reality. 

William Peter Blatty, author of both the novel 

predating the film and the screenplay, derived 

inspiration from an actual exorcism of an anonymous 

young boy from Maryland that occurred 

in 1949. From what is known, the boy underwent 

numerous exorcisms, and several elements 

between the fictitious tale of Regan MacNeil is 

linear with the boy upon comparison. 

Blatty’s tale is, however, just that – fictitious. 

Despite this, it‘s reported that 500,000 Italian 

people alone see an exorcist every year. Though 

mastering the craft of lavishly presenting the 

horrors of demonic possession on film, it would 

not be until May of 2016 that director William 

Friedkin would witness one in real life. 

His latest feature, The Devil and Father Amorth 

(2018), is an experience offering a glimpse 

into the non-fictitious side of a spiritual practice 

he brought to light 45 years ago. Praising the 

work of renowned exorcist Father Amorth, 

Friedkin witnesses a woman’s ninth exorcism. As 

if that were not enticing enough, the documentary 

also includes interviews with Friedkin 

himself, Blatty, multiple doctors, and a woman 

successfully exorcised by Father Amorth. Very 

thorough and gripping, The Devil and Father 

Amorth is a wonderful addition to the legacy of 

the world’s greatest horror film. 

Catch The Exorcist and The Devil and Father Amorth 

at The Globe Cinema on Fri., May 18. 

MIKE HOOVES 

local filmmaker strives for a naturalistic 

queer perspective 

Growing up, Calgarian artist Mike Hooves 

fed their fascination for animation by 

spending hours playing Mario Paint on their 

Super Nintendo. Now at 25, Hooves is an 

artist, animator, illustrator, and filmmaker 

whose work is playful, whimsical and gestural. 

“Not completely polished, either,” says 

Hooves, “I like it to be a little rough.” 

Creating art largely from a queer, 

feminine perspective, Hooves also pulls 

influence from nature, which they attribute 

to their upbringing. “My Dad actually lives 

and works in a provincial park, so when I 

was younger he took me on a lot of hikes,” 

says Hooves. “I still go on hikes, but doing 

that when I was younger shaped my art a 

lot more.” 

This past December, Hooves painted a 

winter mountain landscape on the +15 

windows in Bankers Hall for the Bud of 

Bud Artist Collectives Augmented Reality 

Art Show. “I like the mountain-scapes that 

are just beyond Calgary that you’re always 

seeing when you’re in the city,” expresses 

Hooves. “When you see them, there’s that 

lingering thought of ‘there’s freedom, it’s so 

close to us!’ But it’s outside of Calgary. That 

influences my work a lot – that wilderness.” 

Continuously building off their naturalistic, 

queer, feminine perspective, Hooves 

has been shifting their focus from drawing 

and design to filmmaking. “I like filmmakers 

who work with small budgets,” says Hooves. 

“It makes their work more honest in all 

aspects of their films.” Over the past year, 

they’ve filmed and premiered two of their 

own small budget short films; POLYMORH, 

which is about Hooves’ gender identity, 

BY HANNAH MANY GUNS 

and G.E.M., a collaborative documentary 

that focuses on Good Life Community 

Bike Shop’s weekly Gender Empowerment 

Mechanics (G.E.M.) program. 

“I actually made these two films at the 

same time,” informs Hooves. “I didn’t really 

know what I was doing. A day of filming 

for me was just trying to pool my experiences 

together with the other people who 

I had to help me on set, and figuring things 

out. I liked to make it so I was working in 

spaces where it didn’t feel like I had to rush, 

so there was no malice or anything, and 

everyone was kind so we’d figure things out 

together. It was very collaborative, it was 

all about shared knowledge. Nobody really 

knew what we were doing overall, but we all 

knew how to do little pieces.” For these two 

shorts, Hooves’ counts John Waters, Maya 

Deren, and Norman McLaren as her inspirations, 

along with countless underground 

animations. 

Presently, Hooves is working on a project 

with Fairy Tales, Calgary’s Queer Film Festival. 

“They’re going into their 20th anniversary 

this year, so they’ve commissioned a 

short documentary about Calgary’s queer 

history,” says Hooves. “I’m on the project 

with my partner, and I’m helping mostly 

with animation and info-graphics, like animating 

a map that shows the locations of 

where all our old gay bars used to be.” The 

film, Outliers: Calgary’s Queer History, will 

premiere at the Plaza Theatre. 

For more info on Mike Hooves and their work, 

follow them on Instagram at @mikehooves. 

FILM

Proud Mary 

All The Money In The World 

Molly’ Game 

THE VIDIOT 

fresh and funny 

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN 

Being the ringmaster of a circus means that 

you get your pick of the freaks to marry.However, 

that rule doesn’t apply to the host in this 

musical because he’s already wed. 

Following a string of dead-end ventures, entrepreneur 

P. T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) finally 

finds his calling under the big top. After trading 

in his curio exhibit for the real-thing, adding 

a trapeze artist (Zendaya) and a songbird 

(Rebecca Ferguson) to his menagerie, Barnum 

then partners with an eminent dramatist (Zac 

Efron) to bring his show to the masses. Seduced 

by his success, Barnum now risks losing his wife 

(Michelle Williams) and his performers. 

While this socially conscience reinterpretation 

of Barnum’s real life has a number of toe 

tapping tunes and dance numbers to its credit, 

as well as a dynamic performance from Jackman, 

it is completely fictional and misleading. 

Incidentally, circus sideshows still exist; 

they’re just called Walmarts now. 

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD 

You know you’ve made it when strangers 

kidnap your children for ransom. 

So, for the industrialist in this drama, payoffs 

are just part of everyday life. 

When her son is taken hostage Gail Harris 

(Michelle Williams) asks her father-in-law J. 

Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer) for the 

$17M ransom to free him, but the oil magnate 

flatly refuses for fear it will encourage copycats. 

He does, however, hire ex-CIA agent Fletcher 

Chase (Mark Wahlberg) to look into his grandson’s 

release. But when the payment is delayed, 

the kidnappers send the heir’s ear in the mail. 

Based on the real-life events of 1973 that 

brought the reclusive miser into the media 

spotlight, exposing his cruelty and stinginess to 

the world, director Ridley Scott and cast tell a 

compelling and complex tale of the failings of 

fortune and family. 

Incidentally, avoid kidnapping middle children 

as they yield the least amount of ransom. 

MOLLY’S GAME 

Poker is one activity where the facially deformed 

can really clean up. Unfortunately, the 

action in this drama is only open to handsome 

Hollywood actors. 

From slinging suds in a nightclub to hosting 

an underground poker match for her boss that 

included celebrity players to eventually running 

her own game, Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) 

was on top of the world by 26. But when an 

unspecified celebrity (Michael Cera), doesn’t 

get a cut of the take he forces Molly out of LA. 

Things go better in NYC, until the mafia and 

FBI reshuffle her deck. 

The Greatest Showman 

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, this 


BY SHANE SELLAR 

adaptation of Bloom’s own book is reinterpreted 

through the acerbic scribe’s witticisms and 

rapid-pace repartee. Thankfully, his writing skills 

translate to behind the camera, where he gets a 

powerhouse performance from Chastain. 

Fortunately, you can make up gambling 

losses to a movie star by pirating their next 

blockbuster. 

INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY 

Scientists have concluded that monsters live 

underneath beds because they drink kid pee. 

Fortunately, the fiend in this horror movie feeds 

off of fear, not tinkle. 

When medium Elise (Lin Shaye) agrees to 

help the new owner of her ancestral home 

get rid of the evil spirits within, she takes the 

opportunity to reconnect with her estranged 

brother (Bruce Davison) and family. But when a 

creature called Key Face captures Elise’s niece’s 

soul to feed upon, she must travel to the astral 

plane to reclaim it, and destroy the entity that 

has hounded her family for years. 

While this prequel, and fourth installment 

in the metaphysical franchise, ties nicely into 

the original movie, the mystical realm concept 

has definitely run its course. What’s more, the 

key-centric villain is utterly laughable, while the 

scares are predictable. 

Besides, this lady should just be thankful that 

her childhood home hasn’t become an infill. 

PROUD MARY 

You don’t see many hitwomen around because 

they refuse to kill anyone who is cute. 

Luckily, the button lady in this action movie 

only has ugly marks to eliminate. 

When contract killer Mary (Taraji P. 

Henson) takes in an underage hustler, she 

is forced to kill his connected boss in order 

to gain his freedom. But when Mary’s boss 

(Danny Glover) is blamed for the hit, it 

sets off a turf war with Mary and her ward 

caught in the middle. Meanwhile, Mary’s 

unexplained guilt towards the child becomes 

clearer as the bodies pile up. 

Although it harkens back to the violence 

of the 1970s Blaxploitation genre, this 

modernization of those urban actioneers 

lacks their social conscience. Instead, this is 

just a muddled mess with highly improbable 

action scenes, lackluster dialogue and a 

clawless performance from Henson. 

Incidentally, female assassins would be 

more successful if they stopped sending 

condolence cards. 

He’s the Burnt Toast of the Town. He’s 

the…. Vidiot 

Four Films in May 

April (snow) showers bring May films. Can you think of a better 

place to usher in spring than a cool, dark theatre or a hip coffee 

shop after dark? Neither can we. 

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is an universal 

experience which every creature must endure. Boonmee (Thanapat 

Saisaymar) has led a tumultuous life and now is facing death 

due to a kidney disease. Sister-in-law Jen (Jenjira Pongpas) and 

caretakers help for Boonmee in his home in the jungle. Over the 

course of the film the ghost of Boonmee’s wife appears to him as 

help, his son returns as a type of yeti, and additional otherworldly 

creatures appear. With firm subject matter, Director Apichatpong 

Weerasethakul uses surrealist themes for the subject of 

death. 

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives plays at the Globe 

Cinema on May 5 at 7 p.m. 

The Great Silence is a spaghetti-western directed by Italian director 

Sergio Corbucci. Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a mute 

due to bounty-hunters slicing his vocal cords. Silence joins a 

team of outlaws and a widow (Vonetta McGee) in a showdown 

between corrupt bounty hunters. A star of many Herzog films, 

Klaus Kinski plays Loco, the leader of the blood thirsty bounty 

hunters. This film shows the extents taken for survival, disregarding 

whether the audience will find the choices favourable or not. 

Corbucci was influenced by the deaths of both Malcolm X and 

Che Guevara. With this he intertwines politically-driven themes 

within the film. 

The Great Silence Screens at the Globe Cinema on May 12 at 7 p.m. 

Lowlife is separated into four vignettes showing pieces of each 

character. Crystal (Nicki Micheaux) is a motel owner who houses 

undocumented immigrants. One night she is raided due to 

Teddy (Mark Burnham), a man of many trades who sells organs 

taken from these workers or forces them into prostitution. El 

Monstruo (Ricardo Adam Zarate), is a Mexican wrestler with 

simmering anger issues working for Teddy. We meet the ex-convict 

Randy (Jon Oswald) fresh out of prison with a swastika 

tattooed on his face. Regardless of the raid, Crystal comes to 

Teddy asking for a kidney for her husband who soon may die. 

This strange crew of individuals come together in a messy plan 

of getting an kidney for Crystal’s husband. Lowlife is brought to 

the screen by Ryan Prows who provides a journey of adrenaline 

rushes, tender moments, and dark humour at its finest. 

Lowlife opens May 4 at the Globe Cinema 

The Big Sleep stars the seductive couple of 1940s Hollywood, 

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, with Bogart playing 

detective Philip Marlowe. General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) 

hires Marlowe to handle a blackmailer out to get his daughter, 

Carmen (Martha Vickers) and meets her husky-voiced sibling, 

Vivian (Bacall). As the case goes on Marlowe becomes entangled 

in murders of porn dealers and gambling houses in which Vivian 

spends most nights. Director Howard Hawks delivers the classic 

Raymond Chandler tale as a film noir showing the seedy underbelly 

of life and the consequences of being witness to it. 

EspressoKino presents The Big Sleep at The Roasterie on May 10 at 

9 p.m. 

• CHLOE LAWSON 

FILM

ROCKPILE 

THE ALLOVERS 

a tale of two cities and three guys’s 

This whacky power-trio is literally and artistically 

all over the map. Guitarist/vocalist and 

wordplay specialist, Matt Pahl, resides in Calgary, 

while the rhythm section, Garret Kruger (drums) 

and Paul Arnusch (bass/vocals) live in Edmonton. 

With 300 kilometers in between, they write songs 

separately, not too seriously, seldom practice but 

still play and produce bona-fide, primo garagey 

pop-punk. Recently signed to Chicago’s Anxious 

and Angry Records that invests heavily into its 

DIY community, Matt Pahl discusses The Allovers’ 

own crafty, collective spirit and their debut 

release, Yer Guises. 

The Allovers have a fun mix of style and genres 

— surf, old school garage, post-punkish Britpop 

vocals and jazzy, prog-like guitar solos. 

A real eclectic bag of tricks. Is that how it just 

came out, or is the songwriting like adding a 

little dash of this, a little dash of that? 

Yes, we’re “allover” the place. Sometimes on the 

more conventional bubblegum side, sometimes 

on the weird, abrasively noisy, or experimental 

side. That’s where we try to strike a balance that’s 

hopefully appealing. We live in different cities so 

we never jam or practice. I give the other guys 

demos to work on and they make up their own 

out parts on their own. By the time we play something 

live we usually have a good idea of what we 

want to do and we’ll play the thing a couple of 

times together before a show. We tend to agree 

on most musical things, so luckily we don’t have 

to screw around for hours arguing or figuring 

things out together. Paul brings in song demos 

the same way too. We dig melody and harmony, 

as much as we do riffy parts or whacky, blasts of 

psychotic racket. 

Your songs are hilarious with snippets of 

adventures, weird and sometimes nonsensical, 

let’s talk a little bit about them. “Blue Kangaroo” 

invloves drinking champagne in a birch 

canoe, running aground, might as well drink 

shampoo. What’s going on there? 

That was the first ever Allovers’ song and it sort of 

established the general motif of the band. Lyrically 

it’s just sharing half-baked thoughts and observations 

about coping with other people on this 

whacky planet. It’s also a sort of playful resignation 

from a world preferring Enter Sandman over Mr. 

Sandman. 

“Dog Team Cooperation” sounds like a proposal 

trying to get any organization to work 

together. From small rag-tag operations, to 

large-scale corporate and bureaucratic frustrations, 

to trying to bridge the polarized gap of 

everything USA. What’s it really about? 

You nailed it. Collaboration, compromise, cooperation 

for the greater good. On some levels, we 

BY B. SIMM 

humanoids are just smelly ol’ dogs sniffing and 

strutting around, marking our territory, barking 

nonsensically at each other from afar. The song 

is just an encouragement piece for the human 

race to get together and work as a team, however 

idiotic and naive that might sound. 

Is “Tub Time” a variation of “splish-splash I 

was taking a bath,” a fun throw-your-kid-inthe-bath 

track? 

Bobby Darin. Nice! Tub Time figuratively refers 

to those times when I’m muttering to myself, 

sort of like Taxi Driver’s misanthropic voice-over 

narration as DeNiro drives through Times Square 

at night. That’s the gist of that song. I guess the 

message is: In spite of everything, try to look after 

yourself. 

“Sugar Shed” reminds me of building a shed in 

your back yard, with an observation deck to 

drink on. Something along those lines? 

Sounds like my kind of DIY, 21st century design 

innovation. This song is just about goofing around 

with strangers in an abandoned industrial area. I 

felt a song about drinking moonshine and dancing 

around an old outhouse by moonlight might 

be somehow romantic. Add coyotes, owls and 

other night critters hanging around. Who knows? 

“When Freddie’s Back In Town” is that simply a 

bro-nite out? 

Yeah, basically a Thin Lizzy “The Boys are Back in 

Town” sort of thing. I always got a kick out of that 

song. Like you (the listener) were being let in with 

this friendly gang who were “back” and they’re 

gonna be “down at Dino’s” so you’d better go and 

hang with them. However, the good times in our 

version hinge solely on this one charismatic dude 

named Fred. He barbeques, buys all the rounds, 

they twist, shout and paint the town. 

With “Kitty Kat Girl” I can’t decide if this is 

about a rockabilly infatuation or a seven year 

old hugging her kitty in a stranglehold. 

Yeah. The former and the latter works too. This 

song was written on the spot in an improv sort of 

moment as I was putting my little baby girl to bed 

trying to think of something sweet to whisper in 

her ear to ease her nerves and calm her down. It’s 

also another ten word illustration of how hard a 

task I find lyric memorization to be. 

“I Remember Beaver Lumber” is obviously a 

lament for all the fun things that have now 

disappeared, and quite good! 

Thanks. This song only mentions products and 

brands, but the sentiment is about old friends I 

don’t really know anymore. I was kind of going 

for a Ray Davies “Do You Remember Walter” sort 

of vibe with this number. Times change, all sorts 

of things vanish and so do people. I really don’t 

photo: Arif Ansari 

know where a lot people I used to hang with 

ended up, another side of me doesn’t really care 

to know. Like, I’d rather remember my elementary 

and Jr. high pals as they were, along with Prostars 

Wayne Gretzky cereal and Jelly Tots. 

Less is more. Especially when you can spew out 

a storyline in less than 1:22. Reminds me of 

the one-page novelists. But that is the essence 

of good pop – Iggy Pop’s Soupy Sales’ formula 

of getting the message across in “25 words or 

less” that the Ramones reinstated. 

I wish my stuff was as good, but yes, I also 

subscribe to the KISS principle. Keep it stupid, 

simpleton! It’s practical too. There’s usually some 

fast guitar chord changes where I’m having to 

simultaneously sing. It’s a pat head, rub tummy 

situation. So when writing lyrics, I’ll ask myself, if 

Joni Mitchell was a bit of a moron, what would 

she write in this section? Keep it stupid. Same 

thing on the guitar. If Jimmy Page had recently 

suffered an aneurysm, would my choppy solo 

suffice? Keep it to a few repetitive chops. I also try 

to limit the songs to four to seven chords, tops. 

Maybe the odd ascending key change if I get to 

it before Paul thinks of it. Tommy James and the 

Shondells 101. 

The guitars, the solos and sonic layering is 

quite clever all the while having fun with it. 

Not being too serious even though some of 

what’s going on is sophisticated rock ‘n’ roll. 

What are some of the bands, players, records 

that influenced your own playing and how did 

you incorporate that into particular tracks? 

I have fairly common tastes. I am obsessed with 

hundreds of AM radio golden oldies from the 

1950s to the ‘70s, including just about all the old 

CanCon stuff. I must say, W1440 AM out Wetaskiwin 

is the greatest radio station on Earth. They 

play Paul Anka tunes and stuff like “Julia Get Up” 

by the Stampeders. That sort of melodic charm 

just floors me every time. When writing and 

playing I more consciously look to the Ramones, 

Misfits, Black Flag, and the Buzzcocks. From there 

I usually try to throw on some Burt Bacharach, 

Andy Williams, or doo-wop sort of croony 

melodies. After that, The Mary Chain, Dino Jr. 

and Sonic Youth are inspiration for the noisy bits. 

I dunno, anything goes! These days I totally love 

Ariel Pink. He’s my fav newer artist by a mile. 

The album title, Yer Guises, what that in 

reference to? 

We went back and forth on this quite a bit. I 

recently wrote a tune called Yer Guises and we 

thought it’d be cool to have our album named 

after this song, even though it’ll be on the next 

album, not this one! Like how the tune “Houses 

of the Holy” ended up on Physical Graffiti, not 

Houses of the Holy. Haha! Anyway, Yer Guises has 

some wordplay, stupidity and enough ambiguity 

to satisfy, stump and maybe even annoy all sorts 

of people. For me, I always crack up a bit whenever 

I hear someone say something is “your guys’s.” 

There’s something awkward and clumsy about 

that. This sort of thing fits right in Alloverland. 

Anxious and Angry Records. How did that 

relationship come about? What do you think 

that might result in for the The Allovers? 

A & A is a label out of Chicago that offered to 

put the album out after our drummer Garrett 

dropped them a demo. They actually friggen liked 

it! Lucky for us, we are very grateful. Who knows 

what might result. We are not counting chickens, 

but in Garrett’s words we are “turbo stoked”. 

Anxious and Angry Records will releaseYer Guises 

on May 28. The Allovers play on Sat., June 2 at the 

Starlight Room in Edmonton and then scheduled for 

Sled Island in Calgary. 

ROCKPILE BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 21

SHEER MAG 

the politics of being hip 

Few bands have as much buzz around their 

debut album as Philadelphia’s Sheer Mag did 

last summer when Need To Feel Your Love was 

dropped. According to lead singer Tina Halladay, 

the constant pressure to be the ‘it’ band can be 

overwhelming at times. 

“It’s just the fact that we have all these 

logistical things that most bands of our size don’t 

bother with,” she explains. “But it is at the cost of 

other things, it’s a give and take on both ends of 

it. We’re just figuring out how to deal with it in a 

way that isn’t compromising our ideals.” 

In between the constant touring, rehearsing, 

and promoting, Halladay still has to find time to 

do the mundane tasks that drag the best of us 

down. 

“Right now, I’m just trying to get some stuff 

done,” she concedes. “Like, shitty stuff, like taxes.” 

On the plus side, Need to Feel Your Love has 

garnered nothing but praise since it was released. 

Outlets like Spin, Rolling Stone and Paste have 

layered on the acclaim, with the record making 

numerous year-end “best of 2017” lists. 

“I’m so proud of that record. I just love that 

record and I want to play those songs,” beams 

Halladay. 

“I love “Turn It Up.” I laughed every time the 

band did the backup vocals for the first 50 times 

we played it. I love “Pure Desire,”” too. They’re 

kind of the two different spectrums of that 

THE WONDER YEARS 

how to leave town 

Philadelphia’s The Wonder Years have yearned for ages to 

leave their hometown. Following an extensive itinerary 

of tour dates in support of 2015’s No Closer to Heaven, the 

band took to the studio to reflect upon their time on the 

road, culminating in Sister Cities, released at the beginning 

of April. 

Working with producers Joe Chiccarelli and Carlos de la 

Garza, the alt-rock band pulled inspiration from landmarks 

and those contemplative moments spent observing the 

human condition. 

To the Twitterverse, the band described the album as“the 

sum total of 2 years of travel across 5 continents documented 

in songs, photos, journals, poems, paintings & artifacts, 2 

years witnessing the ways humanity towers above all else.” 

An accurate summary as Sister Cities sees the band straying 

further from their pop punk roots in favour of a darker, 

more mature style. This is evident on “Raining in Kyoto,” the 

album’s exhilarating opening track. Lyrically, the song is as 

introspective and wistful as fans have come to expect, but 

instrumentally, The Wonder Years has never sounded more 

cathartic. 

“We try to take a step forward every time we write a 

record,” explains bassist Josh Martin. Guitarists Casey 

Cavaliere, Matt Brasch and Nick Steinborn, drummer Mike 

Kennedy and vocalist Dan “Soupy” Campbell join him. 

“We want to challenge ourselves as songwriters and 


album. It’s hard to pick, but I think those two are 

my favorite.” 

Rounding out the Sheer Mag spectrum are 

Kyle Seely (guitar), his brother Hart Seely (bass) 

and Matt Palmer (drums). Fueled by a DIY-ethos 

and a unique sound that recalls the best of ‘80s 

disco-rock, the quartet has been playing everywhere 

from Coachella to Late Night with Seth 

Myers since forming in 2014. 

“I think that the songs I feel like I love, everyone 

else does. A lot more people knew all those 

songs than we even thought,” remarks Halladay. 

“I guess that’s the miracle of the Internet that 

everyone’s listening to your record as soon as it’s 

done. They don’t have to wait to go get it.” 

As tough as it is, Halladay says the band tries 

not to get sucked into the hype machine, because 

the web can distort your reality quite easily. 

“It’s also weird, because there’s so many 

platforms, so it’s kind of like driving yourself crazy 

like, ‘How many Spotify steams do you have?’ 

It just kind of drives you insane and it’s hard to 

grasp what it even means, so I try not to go too 

crazy with that.” 

Politics can also be a tricky line to walk, but 

one positive about being in the public eye is that 

it has given Sheer Mag a platform to encourage 

people to speak up. 

players… While writing this record, we were focusing on 

restraint.” 

Since their inception, The Wonders Years has banked 

heavily on the talents of Campbell, who uses his emotional 

palate to paint pictures through song. Small-town diners 

thousands of miles away feel like home and lines about the 

despair of growing older feel intimate and relatable. Campbell 

is older now, and on Sister Cities, sings of helplessness, 

regret, and distance, thus projecting a more refined sense of 

introspection. 

The track “Flowers Where Your Face Should Be” is 

photo: Marie Lin 

BY TREVOR MORELLI 

“Even if you’re not saying anything in your 

music, I think that standing up for what you 

believe is important. Not choosing a side is 

choosing the side with the oppressors. I just 

think that at this point, it’s pretty imperative to 

stand for something.” 

It’s clear that Halladay doesn’t care for the 

current administration and hopes that changes 

are coming soon. 

“It’s hard to know. This form of government 

is going to do whatever it wants, no matter 

what people say and do. I hope that there is a 

revolution of some kind that takes power back 

for people and kind of gives power back to the 

working class. Capitalism is out of control and 

there are no checks.” 

Back on the front lines, Sheer Mag is currently 

on tour with Dallas thrash band Power Trip, 

California hardcore group Fury, and Washington 

punks Red Death. 

“It’s going to be crazy. We’ve never really done 

a tour this long with any one band, let alone 

three other bands that are going to share the entire 

bill with us. It’ll be a crazy, cool experience.” 

Sheer Mag play May 21 at Park Theatre (Winnipeg), 

May 23 at Louis’ Pub (Saskatoon), May 24 

at the Starlite Room (Edmonton), and May 25 at 

Dickens (Calgary) 

BY GARETH JONES 

ostensibly a love song, but Campbell recollects watching 

a sobbing man’s wife remain stoic to console him, drawing 

a parallel with a situation shortly after his grandfather had 

passed. Campbell observes that, despite different culture 

and lived experience, this couple experiences love and sadness 

in the same way he does. 

“At the core it’s a record about connectivity and shared 

experience. In a time where many leaders and people push 

a divisive world view, it is important to remember that no 

matter where you were born or where you live, you suffer 

loss like others that suffer loss and experience love like 

others experience love,” explains Martin. 

Sometimes, Campbell sings of moments in time; nuances, 

where he realizes that human beings are interconnected in 

more ways than not. Now, The Wonder Years have toured 

the globe and with that wisdom comes a new worldview. 

“I think this record really tells the story about how the 

world isn’t as big as a lot of people think. Or, for that matter 

how big they want you to think it is. We speak different languages 

and cook different foods but we can connect over 

our common experiences,” says Martin. 

“It’s been a privilege getting to travel the world to share 

our music with other people.” 

The Wonder Years play May 28 at the MacEwan Ballroom (Calgary) 

and May 26 at the Vogue Theatre (Vancouver) 

ROCKPILE

PRE NUP 

the devil’s in the details 

While sitting down over a cup of 

coffee, arts journalist and musician 

Josiah Hughes talked about his band 

Pre Nup’s newest album, Oh Well (Debt 

Offensive/Jigsaw Records). Musically 

delivering a tongue-in-cheek, slack-jawed 

indie rock sound, the album wraps up 

pop, punk, indie, and twee in a jerkydance 

inducing package. 

Over many, many laughs, we examined 

the long process of creation and 

SCRATCH BUFFALO 

Poltergrease hits the beach 

Everyone needs to eat and everyone needs to sleep. But for 

Chris Naish, the mind behind the Calgarian garage rock 

trio Scratch Buffalo, songwriting is just as integral to maintaining 

a healthy routine. 

”I’m always writing. It’s just a thing I need to do,” Naish says. “I 

need to write songs or else my body is uncomfortable.” 

Aided by the physicality of drummer Mark Straub’s impressively 

technical abilities and Scott Wildeman’s melodic bass 

grooves, Naish channels that creative impulse into Scratch Buffalo. 

The group’s upcoming self-titled debut release offers 11 cuts 

of prairie surfin’ garage punk that hops around between thrashy 

riffs, power pop vibes and rock ‘n’ roll psychedelia. 

In Naish’s estimation, what sets Scratch Buffalo apart is the 

band’s willingness and ability to convey sincere emotion. 

“It’s supposed to be exciting garage rock that feels like it could 


how he feels about the state of the 

music scene he inhabits. 

After some conversation about the 

obvious love and passion for the art 

form, Hughes got to chatting about the 

state of modern music. 

“I think people take it for granted when 

they have an audience,” he says in pensive 

observation. “Like, there’s so much 

content, so much streaming, so many live 

shows and there’s so many fucking bands 

everywhere. If someone’s actually paying 

attention to you, you should try and 

entertain them at least. Otherwise, it’s just 

sort of self-indulgent in my opinion.” 

With the pop-cultured Oh Well, 

Hughes (who handles guitars, bass, 

organ and vocals) wanted to write his 

most honest record to date, while still 

keeping to his celebrated satirical wit. 

“This new batch of songs is probably 

the most sincere, but it’s still the 

framework of how I see the world and 

how I communicate is still humourous. 

I figure out what I want to say and then 

I wrap it in a joke.” 

Tongue-in-cheek nonchalance aside, 

BY KEEGHAN ROULEAU 

Pre Nup genuinely cares about their 

audience. It’s an extra focus on lyrics, 

mixing and messaging that makes the 

fun and frenetic songs on Oh Well such 

a fetching earful. Backed by his wife, 

Sara Hughes, on drums and vocals; and 

the multi-talented Chris Dadge providing 

percussion, freewheelin’ harmonies 

and additional keys, Hughes has spent 

the last couple years recording, tuning, 

re-recording and re-tuning until the 

team was satisfied with what the warm 

and fuzzy tones they heard. 

“[Oh Well] is, I think, 21-minutes long. 

10 songs and we worked on it for over a 

year! So, we really painstakingly paid attention 

to each second of it. Hopefully.” 

Ultimately, it was this dedication to 

making an album that could impress 

even their harshest critic — themselves 

— is what makes Oh Well so enjoyable. 

Oh Well drops May 4; order a copy on 

https://prenup.bandcamp.com/. Catch Pre 

Nup (album release party) in performance 

with Lab Coast and Bog Bodies May 12 at 

Tubby Dog (Calgary) 

BY MATTY HUME 

explode at any minute, but doesn’t. Ideally, it sounds like a fun, 

messy and exciting blast of music,” he says. 

“With the lyrics, I really tried to do something that often isn’t 

done in the genre, which is be very personal and honest.” 

An indication of Naish’s penchant for songwriting, the tracks 

that did end up making the final cut for the group’s forthcoming 

self-titled album were selected from a pool of well over 40 

Scratch Buffalo jams. 

“I always like in movies, like That Thing You Do, when the producer 

comes by and is like, ‘Oh, these are your hits, kid!’ I need 

someone to tell me what connects,” Naish says of the editing 

process. 

Luckily, Scratch Buffalo found that producer in Hutch Harris 

of The Thermals fame, who also pushed them to make the 

album itself. Naish, an artist, also opted to design the introductory 

album’s zany cover. A fun cartoonish landscape featuring 

a bunch of anthropomorphic sweet treats enjoying a day at 

the beach, Naish’s eye candy paradise reveals more upon closer 

inspection. Alas, the treats are melting in psychedelic horror. In 

truth, the cover’s description couldn’t fit the album better. It’s a 

joyful surfboard ride on the surface, but with a strong life-lesson 

hiding in the undertow. 

“Mark told me to draw what I think the music is. You look 

at it and think, ‘Oh that’s fun!’ But then you look closer and it’s 

actually kinda messed up.” 

Scratch Buffalo’s debut album is out on May 18. Catch the release 

party on May 26 as part of the East Town Get Down festival at 

International Avenue #250 - 3515 17 Ave SE (Calgary). 

CHRIS REIMER 

Hello, people 

BY MATTY HUME 

Although six years have gone by, the passing of Chris Reimer 

(WOMEN, Azeda Booth, The Dodos, and many, many more) 

in February of 2012 feels much more recent of a memory for many 

members of the arts community in his hometown of Calgary and 

beyond. And while his WOMEN bandmates continue to make 

waves with their post-punk project Preoccupations, Chris’s impact 

continues to ripple through the scene with the posthumous double-LP, 

Hello People. 

Faithfully produced by The Chris Reimer Legacy Fund Society, 

which includes Chris’s partner Rena Kozak, his sister Nikki Reimer, 

his parents Jo and Tim Reimer, and his good friend Marc Rimmer, 

Hello People is a testament to his role in shaping the Calgary arts 

community and the influence of his friends along the way. The resultant 

posthumous release is a recording that explores both Chris’s 

experimental solo forays and his remarkable growth as an artist. 

“It came together because I always knew that he one of his main 

goals in his life was to release his music — his personal solo stuff — 

even though he’d done a lot of things in his various bands he had 

never managed to get things together and release it,” Kozak says. 

“He was always experimenting with different genres and playing 

around,” Nikki recounts. 

“As a result of that, there was a lot of material. Everyone involved 

with the project had the task of listening to everything [and] the 

emotional journey that that becomes.” 

And that journey became Hello People, which includes 15 songs 

spanning from upbeat melodies to ambient and drone. One track 

even includes subtle vocals from Chris himself. 

“He was writing new stuff where he was singing and playing 

guitar and trying to do more. And I think he was starting to get up 

the courage to release something,” Kozak says. 

“[For Hello People], we really tried to choose things that showed 

a bit more range and it showed different ideas that he was working 

with,” Nikki adds. 

The title “Hello People” on the cover is Chris’s own writing, pulled 

from one of his many sketchbooks by Marc, who designed the 

album’s layout. Nikki describes the words as a simple gesture and 

gentle greeting. 

“I miss him so much. He was my best friend,” Nikki says. 

“And certainly he had his flaws and his faults too, but he was just 

a magical person. So I would love people to get to know him a little 

bit through this record.” 

“He may not have said it directly to them, but he was just always 

talking about his love for everybody in the music community and 

I just want to get that across to everyone,” Rena says. “If you met 

Chris Reimer, he probably loved you.” 

Hello People is out on May 4. A release party and listening celebration 

is going down right before the Preoccupations concert on on 

May 5 at the Palomino (Calgary). 

ROCKPILE

MOMENTSFEST 

friends, love and rock ‘n’ roll 

Changing lives, one power chord at a time. 

For the fourth year in a row, some of the 

very best in Treaty 7 Territory talent gather 

in Siksika for an all-ages festival to rule them 

all. MomentsFest, now a two-stage, 29-band 

bash at the Siksika Pow Wow Arbor, is the 

passion project of the excellent lads from 

the legendary Alberta punk band No More 

Moments. In true DIY punk fashion, Carlin 

Black Rabbit, Cory White and Emmit Maguire 

created a festival from scratch that continues 

to grow from its own momentum. 

“The first year we ran four bands on two 

stages. It was just a super DIY thing, we wanted 

to keep it simple,” Black Rabbit says. 

“The second year we tried 16 bands. Last 

year we went extravagant, booked 28 bands, 

started earlier in the daytime and we had a 

great day.” 

This year’s festival is locked in at 29 bands 

on two stages. Talent ranges from the 

ravenous deathcore of Plaguebringer to the 

acoustic stylings of Spencer Jo. White says 

MomentsFest takes a multi-genre approach 

to combine the various scenes that make up 

Alberta’s music community. 

“MomentsFest is about creating a good 

time with friends and it’s about building 

friendships,” White says. “Having a good assortment 

of genres is a great thing for getting 

people together as well.” 

For the organizers, a massive aspect of 

bringing people together is including the youth. 

MomentsFest is not only all-ages, but also has a 

zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol. For 

White, MomentsFest is a great way to showcase 

music as an alternative activity for Siksika youth. 

“That’s why we have it out on the reserve, to 

get some of the kids down there because there’s 

really nothing to do on the reserve. As a cause 

of there being nothing to do, people go down 

[negative] paths,” White says. 

“It’s important to get the youth to experience 

music — to maybe encourage them to pick 

up an instrument and spend a lot of their time 

playing music rather than drinking or doing 


BY MATTY HUME 

drugs and going into those paths.” 

“I want to break that stereotype of the 

reserve,” Black Rabbit adds. “Everything you see 

on the news is always bad, so with Moments- 

Fest, we just want to showcase the good. This 

is community based; we started from nothing 

for this.” 

The ultimate power of punk rock’s positive 

influence comes from Black Rabbit’s personal 

experience with the music he loves. 

“For me, punk rock and metal — heavy 

music — kept me out of trouble as a teenager, 

right? So I wanted to use it as my filter and give 

back to these kids,” Black Rabbit says. 

“And hopefully when I’m older, I can rely on 

someone to put on a show while I’m being old 

and doing other things.” 

Tied closely to the hope of a positive impact 

on the community’s youth, MomentsFest 

also champions Indigenous representation 

in music. One-third of the bands playing at 

MomentsFest are Indigenous and are not 

limited to Siksika, with bands coming from 

as far as Regina, Saskatchewan. MomentsFest 

appears to be just the beginning, as its effects 

are rumbling far and wide. 

“I had people reaching out to me from smaller 

communities, smaller reservations, wanting 

us to come play,” Black Rabbit says. 

“It was just the start of something. And that’s 

the plan in the future, to try and get to these 

small reservations, do a showcase and do workshops 

for these kids.” 

“We just want people to come out and 

have a great time and that’s all we can ask for,” 

White says. 

With a line-up that includes both of Black 

Rabbit’s bands (Iron Tusk and No More 

Moments), Chief N’ Council, Sharkweak and 

The Detractions, a headbanging good time is 

guaranteed. 

Catch No More Moments, Black Mastiff, Plaguebringer 

and many more on May 12 at Moments- 

Fest (Siksika - Calgary). 

FROG EYES 

hothouse wallflowers 

After 17 years of collaborating and participating 

in Canada’s diverse music community, 

the Vancouver-based experimental pop masterminds 

Frog Eyes are closing the book on a weird 

and fruitful career with Violet Psalms (Paper 

Bag Records), their eighth and final full-length. 

It’s a carefully crafted musical collection of tension 

and unease coated in hopeful melody. 

According to Carey Mercer, Frog Eyes’ lead 

singer and guitarist, Violet Psalms isn’t so much 

a headstone, but rather an indicator of a specific 

point in time. 

“It seems like there’s been some kind of 

demarcation line created in the past couple 

years where it feels inappropriate to carry on 

a project that started, in a sense, pre-climate 

change, in a sense, pre-Trump. Frog Eyes was 

birthed in a different time,” he says. 

He explains that Violet Psalms was designed 

to be disorienting and introspective, mirroring 

the strange times we find ourselves in. 

“Let’s just put a nice end to it, and you know, 

the band comes with so much baggage, and 

when I was making the record I never thought 

it would be the last one, but it just feels like a 

right to time to put an end to the name and its 

legacy and hopefully gain a new perspective.” 

Unlike their previous releases, Mercer self-recorded 

Violet Psalms in a studio he built in his 

Vancouver home with the help of drummer 

Melanie Campbell, keyboardist Shyla Seller and 

bassist Terri Upton, which gave him control 

over both the sonic elements and ideas. 

“From the first instant I started making music 

I was very jealous of the engineer’s knowledge, 

like, ‘Why do you put this mic there? These are 

my songs, why do you get to determine how it 

sounds?’ So much of the engineering affects the 

end product,” he says with a laugh. 

“We didn’t want that. We wanted this claustrophobic, 

disorientating, swirl of drums.” 

Thus, in an attempt to take the sonic 

qualities of this record to a new level, Mercer 

Frog Eyes draw the shades on Violet Psalms. 

BY MICHAEL GRONDIN 

got creative. 

“Every time you listen to a record, every instrument 

and microphone is obviously placed, 

and there’s a cohesive totality to the sound. 

Let’s fail miserably at mimicking that, and in our 

failure, let’s create something with a distinct 

imprint,” he explains of his end game. 

Displaying many such examples of Frog 

Eyes’ outside-the-box techniques, the finished 

product is “a gnashing jubilee.” 

“There’s always an image, or a flickering essence 

that you try and capture, and sometimes 

it changes in the process, or when you listen to 

the record after, or when you hear other people’s 

impressions of it,” he says. “When it started, 

I was thinking about shadows, and shadow 

puppetry, and silhouettes. This idea of creating 

depth where depth can’t exist, you know?” 

Apart from the band’s last tour under their 

amphibian moniker, the next developmental 

stage in Frog Eyes’ evolution has yet to be 

unveiled. An exciting prospect for Mercer, who 

is the first to acknowledge that the only real 

constant is change. 

“I spent half my life building this studio in 

my mind, and then after we built it for real and 

made this record, I went and sold everything. 

I don’t know if you have to be happy when 

you make a record, but you should at least be 

engaged and focused,” concludes Mercer. “It 

took a very long time, and a lot of dedication 

to learn how to make a record on your own, 

to compile tracks, to make them fit. And a 

record, in general, is a real magical thing we 

take for granted.” 

Frog Eyes’ new LP Violet Psalms drops May 18 on 

Paper Bag Records. Frog Eyes perform May 11 at 

The Office of Surrealist Investigations (Kamloops), 

May 12 at Milkcrate Records (Kelowna), May 25 

at Copper Owl (Victoria), May 26 at China Cloud 

(Vancouver). 

photo: Lauren Ray 

ROCKPILE

PALOVERSARY 

Palomino and friends celebrate a vinyl anniversary 

BY CHRISTINE LEONARD 

The Palomino’s new “Smokeout 6” LP compilation will be handed out May 12th at their 14th Anniversary Party. 

Ready to notch a decade and a half of “This will be our sixth. Only 500 copies 

being a Calgary landmark into their are being pressed. The line-up is always 

historic doorframe, The Palomino has become 

a staple of the local music and food they offer, sometimes we ask — no real 

‘Friends of The Palomino.’ Sometimes 

scene. Simultaneously holding the title science. It seems to just happen.” 

of familiar watering hole and source of Free with your paid admission, this 

never-ending surprises, the well-worn and sought after 33 ⅓ rpm platter is exploding 

with two hefty sides of country-fried 

much-loved eatery and live music venue 

has never strayed far from its mandate. rock, succulent pop, drunken hardcore 

“Two floors of good times,” summarizes 

general manager and talent buyer Dan ing Crystal Eyes, Allovers, Body Lens, 

and blackened metal. Admirers includ- 

Northfield. “Beers, bands and BBQ. We Child Actress, Forbidden Dimension, 

are Calgary’s original barbeque joint! Our Whitsundays, and more, have all thrown 

Smokey Bourbon Caesar has also cured down a single stand-alone track to grace 

many a hangover.” 

the hallowed bar and restaurant’s latest 

Amen to that tender mercy! 

party-mix. And, while Northfield perpetually 

has his ear-to-the-ground when it 

Recharging the city’s batteries after an 

agonizingly long winter, The Palomino’s comes to scouting talent, it is admittedly 

annual self-celebratory shindig promises difficult to play favourites within such a 

to restore balance to the seasons and tightly knit scene. 

one’s bodily humours. The cure for what “The Palomino is kind of like your 

ails ya? Traditional anniversary gifts of Mum. She is equally ‘stoked’ for all the 

meat and music, of course. 

bands,” he explains. “Tom Bagley designed 

“This is the Palomino’s 14th anniversary. 

Jared, Arlen and I will be celebrating Rock always support us. We would never 

this year’s cover and our friends at Big 

our seventh here,” confirms Northfield. be able to put it all together without the 

“I believe the 14th year is ivory? I think it guidance and help of our friend Todd.” 

would be frowned upon if we gave away The next best thing to enjoying 

anything made from elephant tusks! this variety vinyl release is having the 

At The Palomino we like to think every opportunity to enjoy some live tunes, 

anniversary is ‘vinyl.’” 

especially when they’re performed within 

That can only mean one thing; the the Smokehouse and Social Club’s brisket-scented 

brick walls. 

return of The Palomino Smokehouse 

compilation record! 

“We reached out and invited a lot of 

bands to play our anniversary show and 

have curated a diverse evening of music. 

Presently, we have Mark Mills (Vancouver), 

BRASS (Vancouver), Doug Hoyer Band 

(Chicago), Hairnet (Calgary), Body Lens 

(Lethbridge), Red Hot Gospel (Edmonton), 

Monolith AB (Calgary), Gone Cosmic 

(Calgary), Old Apartments (Calgary) confirmed 

and possibly more to come.” 

More to come. 

That’s exactly what The Palomino has 

in mind as mid-town Calgary casually 

strolls into its saloon and blows out the 

candles on another rafter-raising year. 

“We are still open and I think people 

like coming here…Honestly we just enjoy 

seeing folks leave with a smile on their 

face after spending some time at The 

Palomino,” he continues. 

“We just do our thing; good BBQ served 

in a comfortable environment by friendly 

peeps, keeping up an exciting live program 

for interesting people and making sure 

The Palomino is a venue, with a ‘No Jerk’ 

policy, that is welcoming for everyone. Is it 

worth celebrating? Who knows? I guess we 

will find out on May 12 if it is…” 

The Palomino’s Anniversary Party and LP 

Release with Doug Hoyer Band, Gone Cosmic, 

Body Lens, BRASS, and more goes down 

May 12 at The Palomino Smokehouse and 

Social Club (Calgary). 


SUPERSUCKERS 

hold the phone 


CANCER BATS 

the spark that will light a fire in the darkness 


“If they’re going to spend their time on their phone, that’s up to them; it’s their experience 

they’re going to miss out on.” 

photo: Harmony Gerber 

Touring overseas won’t stop Supersuckers 

front man Eddie Spaghetti from jumping 

on call. Over the line from Munich, Germany, 

he is audibly excited to discuss his band’s upcoming 

new album and their spring Canadian 

tour, one that sees the down and dirty Tucson 

trio playing a show almost every single night. 

“Well, I mean, it’s kind of how you have to 

do it if you want to come out ahead,” explains 

Spaghetti. 

“You gotta keep working. We’re like sharks. 

We’ve got to keep swimming to survive.” 

Always ones to fight the current, Supersuckers 

have been dishing up slabs of messy guitar 

rock with a big ol’ side of country, pop, and 

punk since 1988. It’s hard to believe the band 

has weathered the cultural changes that have affected 

their profession in all that time, of which 

Spaghetti says there have been many. 

“Oh man, I mean, you name it. The fact that 

people don’t buy records anymore. The Internet 

being like it is,” he remarks. 

“Cellphones! When we first started touring, 

there were no cellphones, so it was like pull over 

at a truck stop; you get on a payphone to advance 

your show. And a lot of notebook paper 

and writing shit down, and you don’t have to do 

that anymore. It’s kind of nice.” 

At least pen and paper won’t blind you 

from the audience. Spaghetti’s chief beef with 

cellphones is when fans flash-blind him during 

Supersuckers shows. 

“It’s the worst. That’s when I’ll actually say 

something. I’ll put my hand out and I’ll tell the 

dude, ‘I don’t know if you know or not, but your 

flash is on.’ I don’t care if they’re going to spend 

their time on their phone, that’s up to them; it’s 

their experience they’re going to miss out on. As 

long as it doesn’t bother me.” 

As for the internets, Spaghetti has tangled 

with both advantages and frustrations to being 

able to reach fans in a faster, cheaper, and more 

immediate manner. 


“I don’t know, it’s tough to say. Its hurt us 

in the fact that we sold very little records as 

it were, even before the Internet, and now we 

sell virtually no records because of it. So, it’s 

definitely hurt in that regard, but it helps us in 

being able to get word out about the shows and 

keeping a presence in people’s faces should they 

choose to follow our little operation online.” 

In unaugmented reality, Supersuckers have 

finished recording, mixing and mastering a 

brand spanking new garage rock album that 

aspires to more than commercial success. It’s 

a signal to all comers that Supersuckers are as 

ballsy as ever and aren’t yet ready to give up 

their self-proclaimed status. 

“It’ll be out this summer and it’s super awesome, 

of course. They don’t call us ‘The Greatest 

Rock ‘N Roll Band in the World’ for nothing, my 

friend.” 

While Supersuckers’ last record Holdin’ the 

Bag (2015) focused more on the band’s country 

leaning influences, Spaghetti says the new disc is 

all about finger lickin,’ greasy rock ‘n’ roll. 

“It doesn’t sound much like Holdin’ the Bag 

at all. It’s a full on rock record, more like Get the 

Hell (2014) than Holdin’ the Bag, but it sounds 

even better than Get the Hell did, which is hard 

to believe because that record sounds pretty 

amazing.” 

“So yeah, we’re super happy with it. We can’t 

believe that nobody’s heard it yet because we’ve 

listened to it a million times and we’re just so 

stoked and thrilled that we’ve recorded such a 

great thing. We can’t wait for people to hear it.” 

Supersuckers perform with guests A-BOMB and 

The Foul English on May 15 at The Palomino 

Smokehouse and Social Club (Calgary), May 16 

at The Starlite Room (Edmonton), May 17 at 

Capitol Music Club (Saskatoon), May 18 at The 

Exchange (Regina), and on May 19 at Pyramid 

Cabaret (Winnipeg). 

Reunited in the pursuit of punk rock thrills. 

The best surprises in life are the ones that 

blindside you out of nowhere. On April 

20, Cancer Bats surprise dropped The Spark 

That Moves, their brand new, sixth ear-splitting 

album that was recorded, mixed and 

mastered in Winnipeg in complete secrecy. 

It’s the band’s first release on their own Bat 

Skull Records. 

“We’re coming out with a total bang,” 

proclaims lead singer Liam Cormier on the 

line from Toronto. 

“I’m going to pick up the vinyl tomorrow, 

actually.” 

We caught up with Cormier mere days 

before the surprise release, a genuinely pummeling 

album that’s being hailed as their best 

in a decade. Despite being the provider of the 

aggressive screams that anchor Cancer Bats’ 

hardcore sound, Cormier is a heck of a nice 

guy who expresses genuine excitement about 

the release. 

“We’re like, ‘This would be sick!’” says 

Cormier about the hush-hush nature of The 

Spark That Moves. 

“For us, it’s exciting. It’s rad, and I feel like 

it’s something that we would want as fans. 

I don’t want to wait for a pre-order for like 

three months.” 

Clocking in at just 34 minutes, The Spark 

That Moves packs a ton of meat into a short 

timeframe. Longtime guitarist Scott Middleton 

provides the distorted wails on highlights 

like “Rattlesnake,” drummer Mike Peters adds 

the machine-gun punk rhythms to songs like 

“Headwound,” while bassist Jaye Schwarzer 

brings deafening bass lines to stand-out track 

“Winterpeg.” The band is joined on the latter 

by Propagandhi’s own Chris Hannah. 

“A lot of the songs are back to ripping punk 

vibes. We wanted to embrace all of those 

things that we love about the band,” Cormier 

photo: Cindy Frey 

says. Indeed, the album merges sludge, punk, 

hardcore, and metal into a poignant melodic 

blend. 

“Obviously we’re trying to continue the 

journey and evolve, but at the same time 

we’re not wanting to get too far away.” 

Bands with global fanbases are often 

tempted to use crowd-funded campaigns to 

finance their records, but Cancer Bats chose 

to avoid this. Instead, they’re thankful to 

those metalcore patrons, who have purchased 

their music and bought tickets to their shows, 

for the last 13 years of financial support. 

“We were talking about this last year,” 

Cormier explains. “We were like ‘Oh, we 

should use a crowd-fund’ and me and Mikey 

were like, ‘No, we’ve already put aside all this 

money because we knew we were going to 

do this.’ So, we’ve already been funded by the 

crowds who have showed up to our shows.” 

At present Cancer Bats are tearing up the 

road on a showcase the tenth anniversary 

tour of their breakthrough album Hail Destroyer 

(2008). Armed with the detuned riffs 

and throaty growls of favorites like “Hail Destroyer,” 

“Deathsmarch,” and “Smiling Politely,” 

the band is set to play the album in full, or at 

least the parts they can get away with. 

“We’ve done a bunch of them already 

because we played Manitoba Metalfest in 

Winnipeg, so we did like 80 per cent of the 

record,” says Cormier, laughing. 

“We were just like, ‘You know what? Let’s 

just not play “PMA (‘Til I’m DOA)” and “Zed’s 

Dead, Baby” and we’ll see if anybody calls us 

on it.’ It kind of worked out perfect because 

nobody called bullshit and we just had a great 

show.” 

“We’ve never played “Zed’s Dead,” so that 

one’s kind of going to be interesting,” he 

continues. “I think it’ll be fun.” 

ROCKPILE

SHOOTING GUNS 

welcome to flavour country, population you 

Rising from the heart of the prairies like a 

rye-scented dust storm, Shooting Guns 

have been spinning sidewinding psychedelic 

tales since the dawn of their initial release, the 

mollifying 7-inch Dopestrings/Harmonic Steppenwolf, 

back in 2010. In the eight years since, 

the Saskatoon-based band has grown in skill 

and size, being nominated for a Juno and two 

Polaris prizes and founding their own label, 

Pre-Rock Records, amidst all the excitement 

and praise. And while their compliment has 

swelled in numbers, the hypnotic instrumental 

entity has repeatedly declined offers to 

take on a vocalist. 

At the core, Shooting Guns remains an 

ironically mute weapon, which may be what 

attracted them to the realm of silent cinema. 

Known for their work on the WolfCop film 

franchise’s riveting scores, the band recently 

entertained moviegoers with screenings of the 

classic 1922 horror film Nosferatu, featuring 

an unplugged Shooting Guns performing a 

live soundtrack at the front of the theatre. 

A highlight of 2017’s Sled Island lineup, the 

ambitious and spellbinding project has taken 

on a life of its own and will soon be released in 

video format by the very band who brought it 

back from the dead. 

“Have a good time all the time. That’s our philosophy.” 

“We’re just mixing the Nosferatu 

soundtrack and getting it ready for release in 

late summer or early fall on Cardinal Fuzz out 

of the U.K.,” reports guitarist Chris Laramee. 

“Other than that — work, life stuff, blah, 

blah has kept us pretty busy as of late, but 

it’ll swing around again and we’ll get back on 

more music.” 

photo: Sidney Smith 

Productivity has never been an issue for 

Laramee, whose other labours of love include 

playing with bands The Radiation Flowers 

(formerly Powder Blue) and The Switching 

Yard and a recording project called Wasted 

Cathedral. Riding high on the release of their 

big orange album, Flavour Country (2017), the 

unfiltered sextet is looking forward to seeing 

BY CHRISTINE LEONARD 

how they can top their favourite LP to date. 

“We have a couple things pretty developed 

for the next one, but no titles or anything yet. 

Excited to see where it goes! Our process is 

relax, get worked up, relax, repeat,” he relates. 

“We record everything at our own jam space 

and studio, which is great because everyone 

has full time jobs and it would be a major 

bummer if this wasn’t enjoyable. We produce 

and engineer it all ourselves, by which I mean 

Jim (Ginther, drummer) does most of the 

heavy lifting while we shoot rubber bands at 

him and pull on his hair.” 

Powering through slow-building, Sabbathy 

tracks with patient percussionist Ginther, 

along with bandmates Keith Doepker (guitar), 

Jay Loos (bass), Toby Bond (synths) and 

Brennan Barclay (guitar), Laramee has made 

a career out of mining the fuzzy pockets of 

‘70s and ‘80s rock. From the heady mystery of 

Born to Deal Magic: 1952-1976, to the sludgy 

latitudes of Brotherhood of the Ram, Shooting 

Guns vision has remained as constant as a 

Saskatchewan horizon. 

Shooting Guns perform May 19 at May Bong 

Weekend Party at Distortion (Calgary), May 20 at 

Temple (Edmonton). 


photo: Aron Diaz 

CARTEL 

MADRAS 

brave new breed 

“In retaliating against the narratives expected 

of us, we’re saying women can flip the script on 

sexual swagger, that women can write spicy bars 

and hooks, queer stories can be rapped, and that 

ethnic kids don’t need to be apologetic.” 

Calgary is one of those magical places where a diverse crowd 

of musicians and music fans can form and impress upon one 

another, fostering some of the most unique talents that can 

be seen on a stage. Cartel Madras is one of those unique talents. 

On the surface, Cartel Madras is a hip-hop duo featuring rappers/ 

singers/songwriters/sisters Contra and Eboshi Ramesh complete 

with all the style and flow that can stand toe-to-toe with some of 

the most seasoned rappers in the city. But once you start digging 

into their material, you’ll find that there is much more to chew on 

than catchy hooks and dance-y vibes. 

Identity means a lot to the two Indian women, as does embracing 

their heritage, specifically their Tamalian and Keralite roots. 

Cartel Madras is rebellious at heart, and credits their upbringing as 

immigrants in Canada as an integral experience that has inspired 

them to push the envelope, to push boundaries. 

This can be seen in their work ethic. In their inaugural year as a 

group, they have been able to garner interest in places like Toronto 

and Montreal, and even as far as India, but it can also be seen in 

their music and lyrics. It is no secret that Cartel Madras spit fire not 

only in their flow, but also with the words they choose. The decision 

to be inflammatory is not to be shocking, but to comment and 

critique their expected roles in the world. 

Let’s start off with a little bit of history of you both. When was 

there a decision to create Cartel Madras and why did you feel 

that this was something you wanted to do? 

We’ve always been looking for ourselves in the media we consume. 

Das Racist and M.I.A. meant a lot to us, but they’re a part of a very 

small group of brown cultural chameleons that were pushing the 

envelope in music. We felt a bit culturally deprived and wanted 

icons that looked and felt like us in the media we were surrounded 

by. Cartel Madras is the choice we’ve made to be the people we 

were looking for. 

We’ve always refused to stay in our lane and always felt compelled 

to excel in whatever space we are in. And that’s definitely 

a cliche. Immigrant kids feel a special pressure to succeed and be 

ambassadors for their community. We’ve been questioning those 

pressures our whole life through music, and spent a lot of time rapping 

in our bedrooms, recording it in secret and passing it along to 

friends under different monikers. By mid 2017, we were like, “We’re 

good at this, people fuck with us… ‘Esskeetit’ “. 


From listening to what you have in store on your Soundcloud, 

the sound Cartel Madras has cultivated is both soothing and 

aggressive at the same time, mixed with some ‘90s dance vibes 

(HUNNI is a pretty good example of your dancier material, 

while Area Code mixes that soothing/aggressive feel). Where 

do you get most of your inspiration from for your music? Also, 

do you create your own beats or do you have producers and DJs 

come in and help out with the production side of things? 

We’ve been curating and sharing music and DJing parties since 

we were kids. In those playlists there’s everything from MF Doom, 

Miyavi, Ilayaraja, Ed Banger Records, Lil Kim and Sufjan Stevens. So 

our music is an erratic mix from all those influences. 

We work with producers, beatmakers and DJs from all over. Contra 

and Eboshi do the writing and arranging of our tracks, while DJ 

EGGLAD (who slept through the 10:30 AM BeatRoute photoshoot 

and missing on the May cover), handles sound engineering and 

production and makes sure shit slaps. What’s on our Soundcloud 

right now are more our ‘basement tapes’. The mixtape we’ve been 

working on explores house and trap while still keeping a strong 

lyrical core. 

From your appearance in shows and on social media, you both 

seem to be very connected to your culture as Indian women. 

How important is it to you both to have that identity represented 

in your style and music? 

We never miss an opportunity to tell people we’re from India. We 

grew up surrounded by other people of colour desperately trying to 

erase their identity to fit in. Representing the Tamilian and Keralite 

identity (as a part of a greater South Indian context) is so important 

to us. Reaching women, reaching the LGBTQ+ community, and the 

POC (people of colour) community through the incendiary content 

we create is crucial because we belong in these spaces, and people 

noticing us, is people noticing them. 

In retaliating against the narratives expected of us, we’re saying 

women can flip the script on sexual swagger, that women can write 

spicy bars and hooks, queer stories can be rapped, and that ethnic 

kids don’t need to be apologetic. 

This year is a very busy for Cartel Madras, from playing shows at 

Sled Island and East Town Get Down, to being featured on the 

cover of a music magazine. What do you think of the success 

BY WILL COWAN 

and recognition Cartel Madras has garnered so far? Has it 

changed some of the original goals for you in any way? 

We’re surprised and thrilled to see how much love our city has 

for us. At the outset of Cartel Madras it felt like we were intruding 

but were still confident that we were doing something vital, and 

the rate of our growth tells us that hip-hop is the path we should 

go down. We’re floored by how quickly this has all happened and 

excited because we’re about to live up to all the hype. Performing 

in festivals and shows with seasoned hip-hop acts is intimidating, 

but it is what we want and we’re confident that we can impress 

our audience. In some ways this has brought our long term goals 

into the short term. But what more could an artist really ask for? 

These are good problems and we’re glad that Cartel Madras is 

moving fast. 

Finally, where do you want to take Cartel Madras next? Tours, 

features, videos? What’s on the menu for Cartel Madras in the 

future? 

Our May and June are packed with shows that end with Sled 

Island. We’re looking to show the East some love this summer, too. 

Festivals and musicians have been reaching out to us from Toronto, 

Montreal, and India, which we’re especially stoked on. Our first 

priority is our mixtape look for that this May. We’re going to tour 

and build videos on that. After that we’ll be gearing up for the LP 

we’re releasing towards the end of 2018. 

Our vision for Cartel Madras has always been to think big. We 

are rappers who can use our music to dabble in a trap banger on 

one hand and social commentary on the other. Beyond that, Cartel 

Madras exists in our stylistic choices, our political stance and 

wanting to put South India on the map. We love the way in which 

artists like Tyler the Creator, Gambino and RIhanna have pushed 

their music into fashion, television, film and activism. Cartel 

Madras would jump at the chance to move in those directions as 

well. Cartel Madras is an extension of everything that we are and 

want to see in the world, and we will push that as far as we can. 

Cartel Madras will be performing at the East Town Get Down with 

Transit22 and Snotty Nose Rez Kids on May 26, and will also be 

performing at Sled Island in June. Cartel Madras is also planning on 

releasing their debut mixtape later this May. 

ROCKPILE

A Get Down sampler 

photo: Michael Grondin 

BAZARABA 

What’s a music festival without some riff-heavy good ol’ fashioned 

rock n’ roll? With the help of their groovy beats and impressive vocal 

harmonization, Bazaraba has made a name for themselves in the 

Alberta rock scene by playing some of the most popular festivals of 

the past few years, including Siksika’s Moments Fest, Distortion Live 

Music Venue’s 420 Music and Arts Festival, and Vantopia. The Major 

Minor Music Project is proud to have Bazaraba on East Town Get 

Down’s expansive line-up and to have them bring heir special blend 

of head-banging goodness. 

KLUSTERFUNK 

When you think of a large punk band, do you think of four members? 

Maybe five? Well, Klusterfunk has 11, and they are going to 

bring the good times right to your face. Mixing ska, punk rock, hip 

hop, and a whole lot of energy, Klusterfunk is making a name for 

themselves as one of the most electrifying acts, not only in their 

hometown of Edmonton, but in Alberta as a whole. Klusterfunk tore 

up the stage at Punk Rock Bowling and is ready to light it up again at 

the East Town Get Down. 

SNOTTY NOSE REZ KIDS (SNRK) 

One of the most anticipated acts for the East Town Get Down 

comes in the form of the Snotty Nose Rez Kids. Based in Vancouver, 

BC, but hailing from “the Rez in Kitamaat Village” in Haisla Nation, 

the hip hop-duo brings forth their Indigenous heritage in their 

music, promoting and facilitating themes of identity, resistance, and 

politics in a brand new wave of rap that has been taking Canada by 

storm. SNRK is being brought to East Town Get Down as part of a 

hip-hop music showcase thanks to the help of IRIM (Indigenous 

Resilience in Music) and Drumbeat Productions, which will also 

feature acts like NDN, JPB, Nite Sun, and BLKFT. 

SHARK WEAK 

Imagine “Jaws” was not a movie 

for a second, and instead a 

hardcore punk rock band 

hailing from High River. In 

every sense, that is the recipe 

for Shark Weak, whose main 

aim is to take a bite out of your 

ear drums while mixing their 

own special blend of humour 

(any band that is able to make 

lots of noise and throw in an 

Austin Powers reference into 

their music is a-okay). Well 

engrained in the Alberta music 

scene, Shark Weak has shared 

the stage with some of the best 

talent in the province, including 

No More Moments, HighKicks, 

and Ghost Factory. 

HOLLY CLARK 

It’s no understatement to say that Holly Clark is one of the hardest 

working musicians in Calgary. Bringing her own special brand of 

grunge-era alt-rock flair to her singing and songwriting, she has 

been able to not only keep up with her own solo material but also 

front bands Raspberry Jam and Lashes. Her energy and talent has 

led her to some of the most popular venues in the city, including 

regular appearances at Rockin’ 4 Dollar$ at Broken City in all three 

of her acts. 


The places and faces of East Town 

the unique venues where the Get Down happens 

FUSE33 MAKERSPACE 

1720 Radisson Dr SE 

Just off of International Avenue on 17th Ave. 

and 33rd St. behind a Blaskin and Lane is 

Calgary’s largest makerspace for artists and craft 

workers, where the noise of people creating and 

learning can be heard on any given day. 

FUSE33 Makerspace is a large converted 

repair shop with high ceilings filled with everything 

a professional or amateur would need to 

bring their imagination to life. In one room a giant, 

purple hippo head made for Burning Man is 

in a corner of a wood working area where artists 

also build cutting boards and beautiful tables 

made from 100 year-old oak. Just a few steps 

over in another area sewing machines whizz and 

whirl away along side of sculptures made using 

3D printers. 

Formed in partnership with United Way and 

the Rotary Club to establish a community hub, 

FUSE33 is where artists and inventors can come 

hangout, connect, plan, create and host events. 

Max Schlagel, the facility’s Managing Director, 

takes care of the day to day operations while 

helping artists hon their skills and learn a little 

about basic accounting and business practices. 

In turn, he’s picked up a few new tips himself. 

“I’ve been learning a lot of things from people, 

I shadow and help run some of our classes 

like cutting boards. Which is why I can say now 

I know how to make a cutting board,” notes 

Schalgel happy about the skills he has gained 

thanks to the community the space fosters. 

The environment is focused on sharing 

ideas and collaborations, and gaining new 

experiences. It’s also designed for people to take 

their ideas in new and exciting directions. For 

instance, there’s the chainsaw sculptors who 

have a hard time finding studio space, and the 

oilfield welders who make metal jellyfish and 

axes for renaissance fairs. 

Currently renovations are taking place on 

the second floor constructing offices for small 

businesses to rent, as well as an open area to 

hold events where artists are able to showcase 

and sell their inventions. 

“This place is for creativity, at its core, so many 

individuals come through and with so many 

things happening,” says Schlagel proudly. 

• MIGUEL MORALES 

Clockwise fron the top: 

• Max Schalgel, Managing Director FUSE33 

• 3D paper sculpture 

• 3D printers 

• One of the open workshop areas 

all photos: Miguel Morales 


ROCKPILE

TG Juice: Fre Tekle 

Fassil Ethiopian Restaurant: Moges Aman (sitting) 

Salsa Restuarant and Bar: Andrea Hernandez and Giovanni Vazquez 

Ensira Ethiopian Restaurant: Merona Asfaw 

Border Crossing: Hurricane Felix and Wanda Shipman 


PETER & THE WOLVES 

today Vegas, tomorrow the road 


For the past 20 years Viva Las Vegas has been the world’s 

premier weekend rockabilly festival that fans of the ‘50s from 

all four corners of the earth make a bee line for to gather under 

the hot Nevada sun. Held in The Orlean’s Hotel and Casino, 

over 20,000 rock ‘n’ roll purists congregate inside the hotel’s air 

conditioned lounges, ballrooms and vendor showrooms indulging 

in rip-roarin’ surf, roots and rockabilly that has a lot twang, tattoos 

and tantalizing Bettie Page fashion bouquets. Outside peerless, 

flashy roadsters and gusty rat-rods strut their car show stuff in the 

parking lot by day, while the great all-stars of rockabilly take the 

stage at dusk – The Stray Cats, Jerry Lee Lewis and Duane Eddy 

were the headliners this past April. ¬ 

Tom Ingram, originally a promoter from the UK, is also the 

founder of Viva Las Vegas. In 2017 he spotted Peter and the 

Wolves playing the Red, Hot and Blue festival in Brockville, ON, 

introduced himself, bought a t-shirt from the band and posed for 

a photo op. Ingram knew talent when he saw it. Later that year, he 

signed Peter Cormier and his Wolves to a two record deal that tied 

in with a show at Viva Las Vegas in one of the lounges. 

The opportunity got better when a headliner scheduled to play 

in the ballroom on the Saturday closer night canceled, and the 

Wolves get the call taking over the 10:30 pm spotlight sweet spot 

on the mainstage. No doubt Howlin’ Pete Cormier and his band 

mates, Cody Voyer (drums) and Jason “Pedro” Lowe, we’re pleasantly 

astonished to be riding the rockabilly rocket in Vegas. 

“The day couldn’t have been better,” confides Cormier. “I waited 

six hours in the parking lot for Duane Eddy, Jerry Lee and the Stray 

Cats. And as soon they finished their encore, I hustled upstairs to 

play to full house of at least a 1000 people. It was a such a great 

rush, and so good to be welcomed amongst that crowd.” 


For Lowe and Voyer, the thrill was just as big. Lowe, who grew 

up on the Brian Setzer Orchestra, would have been “a happy 

man if he died tomorrow” after the experience. And Voyer, newly 

recruited to provide the back-beat and not yet immersed into 

rockabilly culture, was in a state of shock after being “thrust” 

on the mainstage and then absorbing the fanfare from certain 

admirers afterwards. 

And the ride has just begun. Cormier, Howlin’ Pete, is definitely 

a fresh face in genre that is obsessed with nostalgia. While he’s 

only 24 years of age, he’s not bothered whether or not the music 

is rooted in 1955. Sporting a wicked ducktail hairdo, a black 

leather jacket with his ’53 Pontiac parked outside and a swack 

of cool guitars, Cormier isn’t trying to relive anything. Rockabilly 

is here and now for him. “Yeah, I guess so,” he says chuckling. 

“Mostly, I just like the rhythms and the way it moves people to 

get out and dance.” 

Rhythm is number one on the first album he’s done for Ingram 

on VLV Records. Howlin’ and Prowlin’ not only showcases the 

band’s ability to swing, but it features Cormier’s burgeoning talent 

as pianist and songwriter. On the keys he easily roams from boogie-woogie 

to ragtime to barrelhouse to flat out pounding them 

like Jerry Lee. While subtle, there’s a lots of territory he covers. Although 

Cormier feels it mainly hinges 

on a couple of particular styles. 

“I love the way this album turned 

out. There’s no more instruments 

on it than you’ll see live. It’s just old 

fashioned rhythm and blues and rock 

and roll, and it sounds like some of my 

favourite records with Gene Vincent, 

Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Little 

Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino 

and Buddy Holly. But I’ve lately been 

listening to lots more good old 

country music, and I hope that shows 

in a couple of the tracks. I love to play 

country songs and all, but I just always 

end up getting carried away and it 

turns into more rock and roll.” 

With his songs Cormier is snappy 

and to the point penning clear, direct 

meaningful ditties that are often 

funny and a bit cheeky. While he’s 

a romantic, the girl topics or love 

objects, in his fictional literary life, are 

trouble-makers that he doesn’t mind 

sparring with. In the tune “Fakin It” he 

calls out one particular handful, “Who 

do you do you think you’re fooling/ 

Lying all the time/Run your mouth off 

like a child/Then blame it on a bottle 

of wine.” Where in “Fool For Her Eyes” 

the story unwinds with a flirty one and 

her come on look while maintaining a 

boyfriend on the side. 

Cormier says the song is “another 

one I just made up, although most 

folks probably know someone just like 

this chick. I probably had Little Richard 

in mind when I was first writing the 

melody.” 

Cody Voyer, Howlin’ Pete and Pedro. 

BY B. SIMM 

Simple, ordinary stuff, perhaps. But the case with Cormier is his 

authenticity bleeds over into the songs. He’s not faking it, and we 

mostly certainly all know some of the characters in his songs. 

What also makes a segue into his songs is the ‘53 Pontiac, 

definitely a real love in his life. Cormier reveals, “I always liked 

lyrics where some lines could either be about a car or a woman. 

Like, ‘Come on baby, let me turn you on. Come on baby 

and let’s get gone.’w” 

“Drive All Night” is the escape from bad love, however. “I’ve 

been a fool of a lover/And a lover of a fool/I’ve been a fooling so 

long I know exactly what I gotta do/I’m going to drive all night 

away from you/I got to drive all night to lose these blues.” 

“That song,” says Cormier, “is where I most like to pound those 

blues scales out on the guitar. It’s the kind of tune that often drifts 

into my head when I’m aching to hit the road.” 

And with the second record with Ingram soon to follow, 

Howlin’ Pete and the Wolves are probably looking to hit the road 

to California and maybe Europe for the next stage of their rockabilly 

rocket ride. 

Peter and the Wolves will be howlin’ and prowlin’ at the Nite Owl 

on Fri., May 25. 


ROCKPILE

STUYEDEYED 

with love from New York’s forgotten hood 

Bedford-Stuyvesant, commonly known as Bed-Stuy, is a 

neighbourhood located in Brooklyn, NY that’s predominately 

black and Hispanic. Nelson Hernandez-Espinal, singer-songwriter 

who fronts the band Stuyedeyed (pronounced 

tie-dyed with an S in front), was born, raised and still resides 

in Bed-Stuy which he refers to as “lower-class”. Living on the 

peripheral of New York’s affluent, Hernandez-Espinal and 

all the other member of the band, who are also Latinos, are 

driven by a punk ethos that embraces equality and opportunity 

for those on the lower end of the economic scale – the 

“disenfranchised” says Hernandez-Espinal. 

Their music is a fusion of 

garage, fuzz, furious rhythms 

and free-flowing feedback that 

subsides into trippy, ‘60s/70s 

melody and a Latino mood at 

times. It’s angry, forceful and 

political, but also soothing and 

seductive… Bed-Stuy raising its 

voice. 

Obviously, you’re not part of 

the cocktail sippin’ hipster 

scene. The goal isn’t to look 

pretty and play pretty. 

Stuyedeyed is a defiant statement. 

Where from Bed-Stuy 

does that stem from? 

People telling you “no” your 

entire life. Black, brown, and Indigenous 

people are often made to carry the weight of their people 

and fit this mold, these stereotypes are so toxic, more specifically 

in America. NYC is the #1 monument to decadence. We’re trying 

to sift through the noise and find a place to talk about this. That’s 

always an uphill battle and that’s where the intensity in our music 

and performance comes in. I’d say less angry, angst. Freak yourself 

out. Be uncomfortable. Music isn’t a fucking fashion show. 

You’re also very attached to Bed-Stuy. It’s your community 

you’re fighting for, not running away from. What’s great about 

it, what goes on there that makes you want to dig in? 

BY B.S IMM 

Bed-Stuy is always a home for me, but I’d say my connection is 

with resilient people. Bed-Stuy was a forgotten neighbourhood 

to NYC, in relationship to local government. Bed-Stuy is a very 

proud neighbourhood and extremely real. The people reflect 

that. There’s love in the hood, and while that has been exploited, 

there ain’t nothing like it. Community is powerful when you 

tend to your people. 

Fuzzed-out garage rock. Yes it is! It’s got teeth and some soul 

driving it. Where do you trace that back to? 

As for the fuzz, it’s definitely cliche for a reason, but Black Sabbath 

for sure. That’s definitely my first exposure to such ‘abrasive’ 

sounds like that... All local New York garage rock bands (and) I 

listen to a lot of soul, R&B, tropicalia, and Latin music. 

There’s also some really seductive riffs and sweet spot soloing, 

the notes very round and warm within this wall of chaos 

coming down. 

To put it simply, I think of the sounds we make as taking up a certain 

amount of space. Subtly highlighting parts and instruments 

with tone and dynamics in mind is what shapes the song. Chaos 

can be a really good base when you give it a voice and spotlight 

when needed. 

The vocal delivery. It roams from aggressive chanting to tender 

spoken word, definitely switches up garage! 

Not every story needs to be told screaming. Some perspectives 

need to be shared patiently, quietly, and with love. 

Stuyedyed is at the Palomino on Sat., May 26. 


EDM ONTON EXTR A 

DOUBLE LUNCH ANNIVERSARY 

DIY label adds a pal, remains the most fun 

Creating with fun friends. 

Even if you don’t personally know Craig Martel, you’ve likely 

heard his name or been to a show he’s put on. If you’re 

lucky enough to have him as an acquaintance, artist or friend, 

you’ll have heard a handful of stories only someone so intimately 

woven into the fabric of Edmonton’s music community 

would be able to share. 

A few years ago the Wunderbar closed down, giving Martel 

the opportunity to chase after a long time dream. The 

inception of Double Lunch Productions gave him an outlet 

to put on shows and still be part of the Edmonton community. 

Time passed and a few failures offered opportunities 

to fearlessly pursue the record label Martel had always 

dreamed of creating. 

“I always flirted with the idea of having a record label, and for 

a thousand reasons didn’t,” he explains over a casual breakfast at 

Friends & Neighbours, a beloved diner on Whyte Ave. 

“But in early May of 2016, I just decided I was going to do 

it. I had been discouraged by conversations with bands in 

the past, but after talking to Birds Bear Arms, I knew I had 

something to offer.” 

Two years later, Martel has put out tapes for a plethora of 

local artists in addition to fun re-releases from bands like Nipper! 

Wait, who? 

“In 1996 my only way of hearing new music was a magazine 

called CMJ (College Music Journal) which came with a 25 

song sampler pack of bands they reviewed in the magazine,” 

he says, reminiscing. 

“There was one song on one CD in particular that blew me 

away. It was on every mix tape my friend and I made for about 

six years. In 2003 or 2004 I bought the full CD for a penny on 

eBay and found the singer by messaging everyone with that 

name on Facebook to ask if they would consider playing Wunderbar. 

They hadn’t done music since that recording but were 


BY BRITTANY RUDYCK 

photo: Jen Jeffs 

flattered someone from Edmonton knew who Nipper! was,” he 

says, laughing. 

“Fast forward to the label. I messaged this guy again and asked 

if we could make a cassette copy of that album. He told me to 

do whatever I want, but wonders if anyone would care seeing 

as they only sold 100 copies of the original release. My reply was 

that at least 100 people would care and you can’t do worse than 

your first round. Over the years I’ve only known two other people 

who knew about Nipper! It was my friend who I made mix 

tapes with and the singer for Rural Alberta Advantage because 

he bought the same CMJ magazine in the ‘90s. That was a pretty 

awesome thing to release. I’m still thrilled about it.” 

Recently Double Lunch added Ella Coyes of Sister Ray to the 

mix, which has added a crucial element to Martel’s operation. 

“Number one: Ella is one of my best friends,” states Martel. 

“Number two: I find it hard to work with people and I don’t find 

it hard to work with Ella. She has these plans and ideas and I will 

never want to let her down.” 

Since the label’s inception, they’ve released tapes by Daydreaming, 

Sister Ray, CHAM, Vibes, Wares, Dead Fibres, and 

more. Their first foray into vinyl of the 7-inch variety is with 

Vancouver’s Sightlines; the power-punk band will be releasing 

their Love Ethic EP on May 11. 

As Martel explains, “We want to give everyone the best 

chance possible and have a blast doing it. You never know if a 

band is going to blow up, so we want to be as ready for that as 

possible. We’re trying to figure out how much of a family Double 

Lunch is going to be. For now, we’re having a lot of fun together.” 

Celebrate Double Lunch’s second anniversary May 15 at The 

Buckingham (Edmonton) with Blessed, Tunic and guests. Double 

Lunch will release Love Ethic by Sightlines on May 11. Order a 

copy at https://sightlines.bandcamp.com/. 

WHISPER SUITE 

melancholic dream pop debut 

Remember MySpace? 

It was the online stomping ground for many currently involved 

in a respective music scene. The website was home to quirky 

screen names, low-fi self produced music and a lot of emo kids. For 

some, it was their gateway to meeting their future spouse and band 

member, like Nathaniel and Guylaine Sutton. 

“Music has been part of our relationship for a long time,” Nathaniel 

explains. “We met through MySpace in 2006 after she contacted 

me about my solo project. Our relationship blossomed from there. 

Over time we started experimenting with music and eventually it 

turned into an album.” 

We have MySpace to thank for Whisper Suite, a deliciously sleepy 

synth duo born of their shared love of music and each other. 

“Guylaine has experience singing because I kind of brought it into 

her life,” he explains. “I got her to sing in a lot of my projects along 

the way. She was featured in a lot of my songs. But this is the first 

album we’ve produced together and can call our own.” 

Love Notes is a ten-song romantic synth album centered on the 

couple’s shared experience. Opening track “Ascend” offers emotional 

and triumphant ups and downs solely through instrumentals, 

making space in the listener’s heart for the following nine tunes. The 

entire record is a gracious helping of radio friendly synth pop tracks 

that don’t entirely lose their DIY feel. 

“From the music, the mastering to the music video for “Sun,” 

we did it entirely on our own,” says Nathaniel. “It’s a big jump from 

when I first started as a solo artist recording in my basement. We 

have so much available to us now when it comes to creating and 

recording. I think the sound is cleaner than I was able to record 

before and the production value is just better.” 

Love Notes is an intriguing offering that sparkles, offering melancholy 

and gorgeous simplicity. 

Whisper Suite perform July 8 at Weayaya Solar Powered Music 

Festival near Red Deer. Their album is available digitally on iTunes, 

Spotify and Google Play. 


MySpace takes credit for bringing Whisper Suite together. 

photo: Claire Bourgeois 

ROCKPILE

THE HEARTS 

slightly more sombre, slightly more fun 

You will catch feels listening to the Hearts new EP. 

photo: Adam Goudreau 

There’s a noticeable dampened quality on the making of the album. 

the Hearts’ new EP Sunshine. Not damp in “We happened to record this material during 

a sad way, but in an intensely cerebral, slowyou-down 

way. It’s a beautifully cleansing jolt points of transition in our personal lives,” says 

a time when a lot of us were going through 

to the heart. The five-song EP explores themes singer Jeff Stuart. “Recording this was an opportunity 

to counteract some of that and allow this 

of impermanence and change, which the sixpiece 

experienced in varying degrees during process to be less restrictive. It was a good outlet 

FIRE NEXT TIME 

sophisticated punk to the gut 

James Renton is one of Edmonton’s finest 

punk storytellers and as any good storyteller 

knows, the plot must progress. Fitting then, 

that his outfit Fire Next Time has refined their 

sonic onslaught on their gritty new LP, Knives. 

Within, you’ll hear an increasingly sophisticated 

sound pared with lyrics that communicate 

the band’s “salty, old bearded” age. 

If ‘sophisticated’ reads ‘commercial’ to you, 

pump the brakes; the record delivers punk rock 

from the gut. Knives is a different, advanced 

version of the FNT you know and love. 

And so, a more cohesive band emerges. If you 

pared away the folk elements (the banjo, the 

harmonica, the saw), the result is a straightforward 

punk record. The sections are distinct even 

when united. Take “Birch Wood,” where clean 

electric guitar and rhythm sections lead into 

imaginative, anthem like lyrics. Every single track 

is high-energy and appealing without losing 

FNT’s gutter-grown charm. 

“It’s our first record with our drummer Garrett 

(Kruger) and he’s very particular about his 

drum sound. It’s way more refined and there’s a 

lot more life experience in it,” explains Renton. 

“Nick Kouramenos used to play in This is A 

Stand Off and The Johnsons: he’s an incredible 

bass player, so people I think are going to notice 

that right off the top. The bass playing has 

Salty old punks lighten up. 

gotten much more technical and uh, just better. 

[Ryan] Mick and Kevin [Klemp] are just whizzes 

at guitar anyway, so I don’t know if much of that 

will change, their riffs will come off more complicated. 

And as for me, I’m the same old dog, I 

don’t do all that much for new tricks.” 

Despite Renton’s professed “salty old dog” 

for all of us.” 

Some changes in the line-up may have also 

cemented the change in the band’s approach to 

writing and recording, such as adding Alex Vissia 

and keeping drummer Bradford Trebble on as 

the full-time drummer. 

“I’d say three quarters of the tracks are first 

takes, the first crack at an idea or scratch takes,” 

explains keyboardist Dwayne Martineau. “What 

makes them good is that they aren’t perfect. 

We kept more of the imperfections and happy 

accidents that only happen when you’re not 

overthinking it.” 

Musically, the EP features delicate wisps of 

pedal steel and patient, slightly sleepy acoustic 

guitar parts on songs like “Swallowed by 

the Morning Sky.” The release leans slightly 

more toward folk and country than previous 

effort Equal Love (2014), which had more 

of an indie-pop feel. It’s almost refreshing to 

hear more melancholy squeezed out of the 

band, who beautifully balance a doleful tone 

with the correct amount of reassuring hope. 

Deeply evocative, you may need tissues at the 

release show. 

“I think we captured the kind of feel and 

energy from a live performance we were going 

photo: Matt Foster 

status, the inspiration for Knives comes from a 

fresh chapter in his life. 

“Me especially and a couple of the other 

guys are really into Dungeons & Dragons,” 

Renton says. 

“I had stumbled across this article this dude 

had written about how he writes his Dungeons 


for on the last album,” says Martineau. “This 

simply refines and focuses on those elements.” 

While Stuart and Martineau didn’t get into 

too much detail about the personal changes 

they faced during the making of Sunshine, they 

did share some insight about the album cover. 

“It’s a photo Dwayne took of my dog Arlo 

who I had to put down in January,” Stuart 

shares. “He ended up becoming the subject of 

the album artwork because the photo seemed 

to capture a lot of the sentiment behind the 

recording.” 

Whether by accident or on purpose, the 

Hearts have created a small body of work everyone 

needs to hear at some point in their life. 

Applying subtle philosophy to heartfelt, unhindered 

instrumentals do what music is supposed 

to do - make you feel something. 

“Dogs represent the idea of purity and remind 

us how to live in the moment,” concludes Stuart. 

“It’s easy to lose sight of that and rely on external 

validation rather than allowing it to arise from 

within.” 

The Hearts release Sunshine on May 26 at the 

Aviary (Edmonton). 

BY ELIZABETH EATON 

& Dragons campaigns, and he has something 

that he coined called ‘Knife Theory.’ When 

he is creating characters for his story or in his 

campaigns he has this thing called ‘knives.’ So, a 

knife can be something that you love, something 

that you hate, or something that your character 

completely depends on, so like, family and 

friends; or like addictions, drugs and alcohol, or 

aspirations like power. A good storyteller can 

take those knives and twist them at will to drive 

the story forward. We called [the album] Knives, 

thinking within the phrase ‘everybody has a 

knife to twist.’” 

Exploring topics like addiction, suicide and 

mental illness often gives FNT an intensely 

serious feel. While still being respectful of the 

subject matter (“I try not to romanticize it in any 

way,” says Renton) the D & D references certainly 

twist Knives in a lighter direction. 

“We’re hoping people can see the duality 

that is FNT.” 

Fire Next Time play Dickens on May 11 (Calgary) 

and Brixx on May 12 (Edmonton) as part of their 

Canadian tour with This is a Standoff. Their new 

album Knives is released on May 4 via Stomp 

Records. You can order it on vinyl or digitally at 

https://firenexttime.bandcamp.com/. 


NORTHWEST FEST 

real life doesn’t have to be depressing 

Canada’s longest running non-fiction film 

festival has completely rebranded. After 

a careful evaluation by festival and program 

director Guy Lavallee, the NorthwestFest 

team has worked hard to reach their goal of 

becoming Western Canada’s premiere non-fiction 

film and arts festival. Previously known 

as Global Visions Film Festival, the event aims 

to create an inclusive, educational and fun 

atmosphere. 

“We open our doors and minds to everyone,” 

explains Lavallee. 

“We try to program films that tackle a diverse 

array of topics and reach many interests of all 

types of people, groups, and communities.” 

Choosing to host the festival in May 

following important industry film festivals 

like Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW and HotDocs 

has been another big change in regards to the 

type of films Edmonton will be able to see on 

the big screen. 

Heavy hitters at the festival include Our 

New President, “The story of Donald Trump’s 

election told entirely through Russian propaganda”; 

On Her Shoulders, which follows 

Yazidi massacre survivor, Nadia Murad; and 

The Cleaners, the story of the people who 

have the dirty job of removing the worst 

images from the web. 

ARTISAN LOYALIST 

power pop meets complex ambience 

Third album marries stadium rock and electronic buoyancy. 

photo: Seth Hardle 

How can artists ever be blamed for their own natural evolution? 

It’s oddly selfish to impose upon somebody’s creativity and 

expect the same sound across several albums or different projects. 


Also playing are films like Kusama – Infinity, 

which focuses on the renowned Japanese artist; 

and Bad Reputation, a Joan Jett documentary, 

which is a huge grab for NWF as it has only 

screened at Sundance for its premiere. 

Though the team is excited about creating an 

opportunity for Edmontonians to see critically-acclaimed 

docs before they hit the general 

market, they say it’s the small independent films 

that make NorthwestFest feel complete. 

“Our program is made up of around 30-40 per 

cent submissions,” says Lavallee. 

“It’s really important as a film festival to give 

these small independent filmmakers exposure so 

they can go on to become veteran film makers. 

[Filmmakers] can go to distributors, broadcasters 

and funders and say, ‘Look, I made this movie 

on my own with a tiny budget. It’s played these 

festivals and won this award and this award.’ 

When you have that in your back pocket, it’s 

easier to keep making films.” 

“Screening these small independent films 

and watching them become successful makes 

everything worth it to us,” he adds. 

NorthwestFest may be primarily video, but 

in an effort to reach their goal of creating more 

of a fun atmosphere there will be community 

driven activities, partnerships with other local 

not-for-profits, hosting panels and the creation 

Adding fun to the documentary and non-fiction film genre. 

of a podcast series among other events during 

the festival. 

“Yes, we are doing documentaries that 

address serious topics, but it’s okay to entertain 

people as well,” asserts Lavallee. 

“You can have some films that may be done 

in a beautiful manner; entertaining doesn’t have 

to mean it was funny or that there was song and 

dance. You might find yourself enlightened and 

engaged but also entertained by the way the 

With Artisan Loyalist’s new album Caustics, there’s so much value 

gained in letting the artist create outside of such boundaries. 

If you’ve listened to either of Rob Batke’s previous offerings via 

Artisan Loyalist, it’s likely you’ve noticed structural growth. From 

the nearly formless synth and drone-like ambience of 2013’s You’re 

Glory to the subtly more upbeat jams à la ambient musician 

Tycho featured in 2015’s Lonely Ghost, his evolution is audible. 

Fitting then, that Caustics is a culmination of both styles, but as 

Batke points out, features more of a stadium rock feel. 

BeatRoute: What have you been up to since we last spoke? 

Rob Batke: A couple things! I was working on a Masters over 

the last few years and I finished that. And what I’ve been 

working on within that is proposing we allow kids to use 

music technology to create and compose; to be more music 

producers than consumers. I now teach a course based on 

that principle. And I finished the new album. It was a slow 

process for awhile. 

BR: Within all the work you’re doing in music theorizing, how 

does that feed into your own personal process? 

RB: Every project I’ve been involved with kind of speaks 

to the next one. What I’m realizing through my work as 

a teacher and artist are the things I struggled with when 

getting into electronic music after playing in bands for 

many years. I’ll always be creating and making something, 

but it’s in facilitating work with kids that I know I’m not the 

BY NICOLE BOYCHUK 

photo from When They Awake 

story is told.” 

“10 days of total depression is a bit much for 

anyone so we try and mix things up for people!” 

NorthwestFest Documentary and Media Arts 

Festival takes place May 3 - 13 at Garneau Theatre 

and The Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton). 

Tickets are available online at www.northwestfest.ca, 

at the door and passes available at TIX on 

The Square. 


authority in anything. I’m there to support their goals in 

creating music. 

BR: You briefly mentioned a struggle in transitioning from 

traditional rock music to electronic. Can you elaborate on 

what that looked like for you? 

RB: I bought a laptop in 2006 and I had no idea what I was doing. 

Which was a valuable struggle. I desired to make different sounds 

and felt kind of bored with the guitar. I didn’t want to get more 

athletic with it. A lot of those lines have blurred over the past few 

years and I find myself coming back to my guitar more and more. 

I think some of the sound on Caustics is heavily influenced by ‘80s 

stadium electronic rock like Tears for Fears. That’s something I’ve 

been trying to marry for the last few years. 

BR: How does that come out in the new record? 

RB: I tried to be more intentional about stripping things back 

for this record in the sense of having specific synth parts, specific 

guitar parts. Limit the layers and have a certain palette to work 

with. I wanted to get heavier into distortion because of my kind of 

infatuation with that stadium sound. The idea of Genesis and big 

power pop sounds. 

Artisan Loyalist releases Caustics at the second Tim Hecker show 

May 18 at 9910 (Edmonton). The album is now available on all 

major streaming services. 

ROCKPILE

MERCY FUNK 

just wants you to feel good 


Mercy Funk wanna share the love on new album. 

photo: Leanne Eyo 

Unlike the name suggests, Edmonton’s drummer, are really jelling lately. That being 

Mercy Funk are so much more than a funk said, this album is simply supposed to do as 

group. Their first full-length Feel Good has the title suggests, make you Feel Good. We 

elements of gospel, soul, pop and even hints wrote about love, loss and all the things you 

of twangy country. Mercy Funk’s lead vocalist go through in life, really. I think it has a really 

Crystal Eyo happily shared glimpses into the well rounded message. We just make the kind 

band’s philosophy and style. 

of music we want to make. 

BeatRoute: MF has been around for so many 

years in the Edmonton community. Was it a 

conscious thing to take your time releasing 

your first full-length? 

Crystal Eyo: Well we put out an EP in February 

2016 and we were nominated for an Edmonton 

Music Award for the song “Hey,” so that was 

pretty cool for our first thing out there. Last 

year we had a digital release. For this album we 

wanted to make something that encompasses 

our different personalities and influences. These 

10 songs reflect all the little corners of MF. We 

worked really hard on this. 

BR: With a band like yours that seems to 

be very mutable, it seems choosing a genre 

would pigeonhole the creative process. 

CE: Yeah! I’m biased obviously, but I really feel 

that our music sounds like Mercy Funk. I lot of 

times you can hear a few bands across a genre 

and a lot of them sound the same. I feel like we 

sound like ourselves. There aren’t many bands 

that sound like us, especially in Edmonton. 

BR: From an outsider perspective it seems 

like the band is more of… not just a band that 

puts out music and records, but a brand and 

entity that interacts with the community. 

CE: That is really nice of you to say! For me 

personally, I want to create that brand. Like with 

LoveFest, that’s something we want to do every 

year for people to look forward to. We want 

people to expect an experience at our shows. It’s 

never going to be perfect, but we do our best 

with what we have. This is my first band and 

sometimes it feels like I have no idea what I’m 

doing, but we keep going together and giving 

it our all. 

EYE ON EDMONTON 

the finger on the pulse of Dirt City 

Prance victoriously into spring with craft 

fairs, drag shows, live music and a fundraising 

gala for the Sexual Assault Centre of 

Edmonton. 

Even though Earth Day was technically 

last month, we can all do our part daily to 

work toward restoration of the planet. Case 

in point: the annual Mill Creek Clean Up on 

May 6. Meet at the stairs on 77 Ave rain or 

shine to tidy up our beloved river valley. Bags 

and gloves are provided so you can get down 

to business. Plus there’s a BBQ at noon to 

reward your hard work. Score. 

Evolution Wonderlounge is hosting the 

continuously fab Sunday Revue May 6. This 

installment celebrates drag kings like AJ 

McCleantime, Harvey Steele, Greg from 

Accounting and more. $5 at the door. 

The spring edition of the Royal Bison craft 

fair kicks off May 11 at 8426 Gateway Blvd. 

Pick up a Mother’s Day gift, shop for local art 

or simply wander around with a coffee. It’s 

three dollars to pop in and take a peek. 

If you miss out on the drag king show, 

check out HOMO-CIDAL’s takeover of the 

Buckingham May 13. Some of Edmonton’s 

favourite drag queens like Chelsea Horrendous, 

Lourdes the Merry Virgin, Science 

Fair and so many more! 

Cantoo is releasing a five song cassette 

on May 18 at the Aviary. This release party 

is more of a variety show, with friends like 

Jom Comyn and Baby Jey acting as support 

and playing songs with Aaron Parker 


of Cantoo. We’re also promised a secret 

guest, so this is one night of indie pop you 

won’t want to miss! 

Throw some damn toast at Metro Cinema’s 

bi-annual presentation of Rocky Horror 

Picture Show on May 19. This almost 

always sells out, so grab a ticket on Metro’s 

website, plan your costume and pick up 

props like noisemakers, toilet paper, rubber 

gloves and party hats. You’ll be amongst 

friends and sane persons at this wacky and 

super fun screening. 

Friends to all, the Wet Secrets are releasing 

their new album The Tyranny of Objects with 

Physical Copies at 9910 on May 20. Put your 

dancin’ pants on for this one. 

The fifth annual fundraiser gala for SACE 

(Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton) is May 

23 at Shaw Conference Centre featuring guest 

speaker Tarana Burke, the founder of the 

#metoo movement. Attend for inspiration, 

community and support. Tickets available on 

Eventbrite. 

If you didn’t get enough crafts & local art 

at the Royal Bison, check out the Zine Fair 

at the Old Strathcona Library May 26. It’s 

free and it’s for all ages. Go buy things and 

support local artists, of course! 

Start June on the right foot with a vinyl 

swap at Daravara on the third. They have a 

bangin’ brunch, so eat something and be the 

first to sift through bins at 3pm. Three hours 

of buying, swapping and chatting about 

records. Always a fun time. 

BR: Angela (Proulx) was quoted in another 

interview as saying this album isn’t necessarily 

funk. Can you speak a bit about the sound 

for Feel Good and how it reflects who you are 

now as a band? 

CE: It’s a definite misconception that we’re a 

funk band. I don’t think we’ve ever considered 

ourselves that. When I first met Angela she 

wanted to start a funk band, but I would say 

we have more of a pop influence. I like to 

think we have a really strong rhythm section; 

Angela takes her bass lines very seriously Mercy Funk release Feel Good with Carter & the 

and likes to be creative and innovative with Capitals June 2 at Ritchie Community League 

what she does. She and Kevin (Gaudet), our (Edmonton). 


JUCY 

THE CRYSTAL METHOD 

back to a ‘90s future 

BY JONATHAN CRANE 

This spring marks the first year of Scott 

They then set out finding lodging in the area put out a record in ’97, that was Vegas, and the “There’s radio stations that play nothing 

Kirkland reviving The Crystal Method, just outside of L.A. 

rest is history.” 

but ‘90s rock now. But for the electronic scene 

synonymous with the electronica boom of the “We found a little two bedroom house in La This early era, from the creation of The Bomb for the ‘90s, for people like you and I who got 

‘90s, now a solo act following co-founder Ken Crescenta, California, which is up in the foothills Shelter to the release of Vegas, is what Kirkland is into Prodigy, and Massive Attack, and Portishead, 

Jordan’s retirement. 

and it wasn’t much. It was the only that we hoping to recapture with TCM’s forthcoming release 

and Chemical Brothers, and Daft Punk, 

At the time of Jordan’s departure there were could afford. Actually, it was the only place that 

The Trip Home. He compares it to a painter and Leftfield, and Orbital, and The Orb, and 

no hostilities or tensions. He left Kirkland with would rent to us because we had such bad credit 

going back and rediscovering old methods that Crystal Method and all these different bands, 

words of empowerment, urging him to continue 

because we had sort of eaten into our savings they once used. 

there’s not really an outlet for us unless it’s on 

their quarter-century legacy that so far has come trying to be producers,” says Kirkland. 

“There’s certain [times] that you remember the internet.” 

to include five studio albums and original productions 

The place in question had a two car garage, how you did things. That to me was what I 

Although TCM’s DJ sets contain new music, 

for multiple games and film projects. and the pair set to work on drywalling it to turn wanted to get into, not remaking Vegas, but just being able to cater to this nostalgia is important 

“He basically said just keep going, you love it into a studio. 

remembering the ways that we made Vegas. to him. The aim isn’t to capitalize off a past era, 

it and I’m proud of you,” relays Kirkland. “So it’s “We put a little storage area between the And the way those early years were ours, and but rather to expand it into the present day. 

not like there’s any residual damage from some garage door and the wall that would have they were not anybody else’s,” says Kirkland. “I think there’s something magical about 

fallout, something that would weigh down been the studio wall, and we put all our junk As he explains, during that period they were being a part of a scene and then being able to 

my creativity or in any way sort of change the in there so the landlord wouldn’t know that able to make electronic music in the way that continue that scene forward,” says Kirkland. 

narrative. The narrative is still the same. I’m now we had converted the garage into a room they saw fit. 

As the conversation draws to a close Kirkland 

continuing on as The Crystal Method, proud of because she would have kicked us out probably,” 

“I like the idea of being able to go in and not reflects on how it’s not only TCM’s composition 

all the things that we’ve done and the albums 

says Kirkland. 

give a shit about what’s going on right now in that’s changed, but the fans as well. In recent 

that we’ve made.” 

They named the space The Bomb Shelter EDM. Not that I don’t find some of it really cool, years he’s noticed a second generation of fans 

To give an idea of how far the two came as a because there was an actual bomb shelter in the but there’s a perfection to some of the stuff that appearing that are just as eager for the music as 

group the conversation shifts to the late 1980s. front yard that had been installed during the I think it’s a little bit too surrealistic sometimes. I their ‘90’s predecessors. 

After meeting at a grocery store in Las Vegas and Cuban missile crisis. 

kind of like the idea of doing things a little bit of “There are kids that are showing up that have 

bonding over music, they moved to L.A. and Despite the group’s humble beginning in a different way,” says Kirkland. 

been turned on to the music either by siblings 

began exploring the emerging rave scene. their ramshackle studio the rest of the ‘90s was The fact that the forthcoming album is or cousins, or just the fact that the craziest thing 

“We were thinking we were going to be followed by a series of sequential milestones that driven in part by nostalgia for the Vegas era is their mom or dad said, ‘Hey, you like so and 

producing bands, so we started gathering gear catapulted them to the center of pop-culture. has also fueled Kirkland’s desire to return so. Maybe you’ll like the Crystal Method?” says 

and going to these raves and realizing that we “We released a 12-inch in ’94, Now Is The to the road and tour. As he explains, the Kirkland. 

didn’t need a singer, we didn’t have to work with Time. And then we did a version of “Keep Hope electronic music boom of the 1990s is one 

a rapper, we didn’t have to be the producers, we Alive” that came out in ’95, and then we got a of that decade’s cultural pockets currently The Crystal Method performs in Calgary on May 

could be the artists,” says Kirkland. 

deal signed in ’96,” says Kirkland, adding. “We lacking modern nostalgic outlets. 

12 at the Marquee. 

JUCY BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 43

PICTUREPLANE 

First discussion of new record ahead of Alberta debut 

It’s been a wild ride for gothstar Travis Egedy 

over the more than ten years he’s created 

music and art under the name Pictureplane. 

Originally from Santa Fe but germinated in 

Denver, the American Egedy’s journey had 

and has a serendipitous link to Canadian Alice 

Glass to this day. 

His first major exposure came from an officially 

sanctioned re-work of the song “Airwar” 

by Glass’ old band Crystal Castles, and the 

sonic chaos and paranoia shared by Egedy and 

Glass has come to define their music all the 

years since. 

Glass and Egedy recently spent time on the 

road with Marilyn Manson, only for the two 

to witness his horrific mangling at the mercy 

of his own performance. 

“A huge stage prop fell on him, we watched 

it happen. It’s crazy because it could have been 

way worse, he could have died,” recalls Egedy. 

But a working friendship spanning over a 

decade (the two met on, inevitably, Myspace 

in 2007) can’t be undone so easily. Glass, Zola 

Jesus and Pictureplane are touring a good 

deal of the U.S. and a small part of Canada 

this Spring, with Egedy debuting Pictureplane 

in Alberta with a side date at 9910 in 

Edmonton on May 25. 

Electronic darkchild Pictureplane heads to Edmonton with new material in tow. 

While Egedy is hesitant to discuss on record 

his absence from the Canadian touring market, 

he offers something wholly better: a first 

official comment on his forthcoming album 

Degenerate. 

“It’s going to be called Degenerate. That 

word is sort of famous. It was used in Nazi 

Germany to describe artists who were free 

thinkers and were making sort of bizarre, 

abstract stuff that Hitler found offensive. But 

it’s still in use today... for someone who’s undesirable 

or sort of an outcast of society.” 

This comes as a reaction to the onslaught 

of intolerance towards artists and art spaces 

BY COLIN GALLANT 

following the tragic deaths at the Ghost Ship 

space in Oakland, and the resultant closing 

of Egedy’s former home of Rhinoceropolis in 

Denver. 

“People just don’t understand really at all. 

What it means to be an artist or people who 

choose to create art, and need spaces to live 

in to create art… I’m more than happy to be a 

degenerate in these peoples’ eyes if that’s how 

they wanna see me for being an artist. 

Degenerate is expected later this summer 

either through Pictureplane’s current home 

at Anticon or perhaps via a new venture— 

Egedy’s own label. Considering his self-produced 

three records, track as a visual artist 

(with a recent residency at Austin’s Museum 

of Human Achievement) or entrepreneurship 

with the Alien Body (the name he’ll also give 

his label) streetwear enterprise, it’s no stretch 

to imagine Egedy manifesting Pictureplane’s 

next album as a fully independent release. The 

real question is: will you be among the ones 

who remember him from his pivotal between 

state when he takes the stage in Edmonton? 

Pictureplane performs at 9910 in Edmonton on 

May 25. Degenerate will be released later this 

summer. 


JUCY

LET’S GET JUCY 

Let’s just get this over with – inhale – IT’S 

GONNA BE MAAAAAAAAY! 

Bass Turtles Productions are bringing Moontricks 

to the The Still on May 5. One of the 

Kootenay’s definitive acts, Moontricks combines 

live banjo, harmonica, vocals with loop pedals 

and electronic elements into an amazing soulful 

blend that has fast tracked him to being a regular 

on the stages of Western Canada’s best festivals. 

Also on the fifth, over at The HiFi is London 

house-music tastemaker T. Wiliiams 

Molly Fi of Girls on Decks is bringing pals Isis 

Graham and D’Lazy Llama to the HUMPday 

House Party weekly at Nite Owl on May 9. 

The New Wave residency at HiFi carries forth 

with their tradition of illuminating exciting 

sounds with their feature this month on OB- 

SKUR:FOKUS, a techno label out of Vancouver. 

On the controls representing said label is 

Vancouver/Berlin artist Nomad Black. This goes 

down on May 17. 

One of the first interviews I did for this fine 

publication that I was brimming with excitement 

for was Gorgon City. In the years since then they 

have continued steadily on an upwards trajectory, 

not selling out their sound to align themselves 

with trends or flavours of the week. Instead 

they’ve continued to develop their live act, and 

put out consistently stellar music, including a 

new album this year. See some of London’s best 

at the Marquee on May 18. 

On the other end of the BPM scale and 

taking place at The Palace on the 18th as well, 

catch a back-to-back set with two of drum 

and bass’ heaviest hitters, DJ Hype and DJ 

Hazard. The two have decades of experience 

between them and are arguably the most incendiary 

DJs in the game. Definitely the D’N’B 

event of the month. 

One Tribe festival happens again at Camp 

Chief Hector in Kananaskis country from May 

19 to 21. This family friendly transformational 

festival features Govinda and the Celtic-infused 

downtempo beats of Drumspyder. 

Lots of really great house music happening 

this month it would seem! On May 20 at Habitat, 

the globetrotting Doc Martin brings his wealth 

of talent and experience collected over a career 

spanning many, many years. 

It MUST be spring because the YYC Bike 

Rave is happening! This year is the event’s sixth 

and is in conjunction with Crescent Heights 

Community Festival Village Days. Happening 

on May 26 it begins in Rotary Park, goes for 

about two hours, and at a pub in Crescent 

Heights. Have fun, be safe! 

And if you’re still feeling like raving after 

your invigorating cardiovascular rave activities 

on May 26, head over to The Palace 

for Skism, Gentlemens Club and Trolley 

Snatcha. Bro-step lives on! 

• Paul Rodgers 

Doc Martin brings all things house to Habitat on May 20. 

JUCY BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 45

ROOTS 

JILL BARBER 

her head and heart in the game 

t’s the story of my life!” exclaims Jill Barber 

“Iover the phone from the quiet nook of a 

Vancouver public library. This reaction came 

from discussing both the implications and 

liberties of not neatly fitting in any box. The 

singer-songwriter’s thoughts on the matter are 

dusted with the wisdom of someone who has 

unabashedly given their heart to their craft. 

“At the heart of it all, I am a singer-songwriter. 

I love to write songs. Across genres I am a 

sucker for a hook, a strong chorus, lyrics, an 

awesome bridge. I believe in the great three or 

four-minute song that takes you out of where 

you were before, and delivers you to a new 

place at the end of it. It stirs something in you, 

moves you, makes you want to dance or want 

to call somebody. I think songs are amazing 

vehicles for experiences. And much like my 

record collection, which is not any one genre, 

my body of work is reflective of different 

influences and styles. I go through different 

phases of exploring, but at the end of the day 

I’m just writing songs. Songs that hopefully 

can transcend genres.” 

Overcome with a burst of creativity, Barber 

injected her forthcoming album, Metaphora, 

with the newfound energy and excitement she 

felt pulsing through her veins. The record—to 

be released in June—takes an unlikely, but 

rousing turn into the realm of contemporary 

pop. Her eighth solo album under her belt, 

Barber continues to prove that there is no 

expiry date on creative growth. 

“The number one thing that was different 

for me with the process of making this record 

is that I worked with 100 percent new people. 

Everyone that contributed to this record, 

from the song writing to the production, is 

BY ALIX BRUCH 

someone that I’ve never worked with before. 

So the spirit of new and different collaboration 

was very much alive on this record. That made 

things really exciting for me.” 

One such collaboration was with Ryan 

Guldemond, from the popular Canadian indie 

band Mother, Mother. Those familiar with 

each respective artist, this isn’t an obvious 

pairing, but one that offered the excitement 

and fresh approach Barber was craving. 

“I really wanted to work with people that 

were outside of my musical milieu,” explains 

Barber. “In the last four years since my last 

record came out, I feel the desire to be more 

energetic in my music and I need it as an outlet 

more than ever before. I wanted to groove 

a little bit more, I wanted to dance, I wanted to 

throw my body into it.” 

As a result of dancing up a storm, the 

spirited songstress has brought us new material 

that is empowering, and well, downright 

catchy. Metaphora is a marriage of the 

head and the heart: a powerful combination 

of strength and vulnerability. Barber has felt 

a change in the winds, bringing into relief 

the state of the world as pertaining to politics, 

power, and sexuality. 

“Over the last four years I’ve realized 

there’s a lot that I want to say, and a lot of 

the nature of what I wanted to say needed a 

new musical vehicle. I wanted to get a little 

political for the first time as a writer. Matters 

of the heart have been my mainstay theme, 

and as a woman living in 2018 I felt the urge 

to start expressing myself and my beliefs in 

my music a little bit more. I think there’s a lot 

of good that can come of me just expressing 

how my heart feels, but I think my head is a 

little more in the game now.” 

Prior to this new venture, Barber was busy 

with a special project that saw her teaming 

up with her older brother and fellow musical 

comrade, Matthew Barber. The siblings released 

The Family Album in 2016; an endeavour 

that was always on the horizon and at long 

last came to fruition. 

“We are big fans of one another, and we 

have a lot of mutual respect for one another, 

so that was a good starting place. We had a lot 

of fun making this record and touring together, 

but I think we were also happy to return to 

our own original projects as well. We’re both 

creators, and at the end of the day we want to 

do things our own way.” 

Jill Barber performs at the Bragg Creek Community 

Centre, Sat., May 5. 

ROOTS BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 47

THE KENSINGTON SINFONIA 

collaborative quintet swings both ways 

Founded in 1988 by John Lowry, the 

associate concert master of the Calgary 

philharmonic orchestra (CPO), The Kensington 

Sinfonia (which uses the Italian term 

for symphony) has been around a while. The 

quintet captures a classical side of Calgary 

that displays a passionate, intimate environment 

under musical director, Donovan Seidle. 

Currently in its twenty-ninth season, the 

Kensington Sinfonia began as an opportunity 

to do something different. “It started as a 

chance for orchestral players to play with 

smaller groups. To be playing stuff that you 

never get to play in an orchestra because it is 

too reduced for any orchestra to program,” 

explains Laura Reid, a member of sinfonia. 

Reid, a violinist with the group, will be taking 

over for Seidle beginning next season that 

consists of three concerts per year. Reid is also 

the mastermind behind the Kensington Sinfonia: 

Village Sessions, which combines local 

folk music with the sinfonia’s string quartet 

led by Reid. The sessions create an intimate 

occasion between the artist, the ensemble 

and audience. 

“It is a reduced ensemble,” says Ried. “It 

ends up being a string quintet. Donovan has 

actually written for (folk and country artists) 

Kris Ellestad and Amy Nelson arrangements 

of their own songs that the ensemble can 

play with them. We are able to expand their 


BY ANDREW BARDSLEY 

sound, which is really cool!” 

The Village Sessions offers the audience 

a chance to engage with the Calgary folk 

music scene and the classical scene, two established 

music communities that are rarely 

viewed simultaneously. 

“We want an open door between both 

sides,” says Reid. “I am not interested in crossover, 

but I want these sessions to be a chance 

for each side to what they would do on their 

own. When I take over, what I really want to 

do is expand what people think of when they 

think of a classical ensemble. As a music fan 

in this city, I go to a lot of shows where I see 

an opportunity for fans to really enjoy an expanded 

view. I want to change how audiences 

are represented in this city.” 

Reid adds, “People in Calgary go to shows 

to support their friends, and those are the 

only shows you go to. I think it is a lack of 

awareness that maybe the concert goer 

would like something different.” 

As the sessions continue, Reid carefully 

selects who the sinfonia should collaborate 

with. “I want it to be a positive social interaction, 

but I also want to have someone who 

makes musical sense.” 

The Kensington Sinfonia’s upcoming show on Fri., 

May 31 is at Hope Lutheran Church featuring 

Darren Young. 

ROSIE & THE RIVETERS 

building up, breaking out 

Too often it’s been a “Man’s man’s man’s 

world,” but that doesn’t mean Rosie & 

the Riveters aren’t going to make their voices 

heard. Formed in 2011, the group sprang 

from Farideh Olsen’s desire to create a collaborative 

space for female singer-songwriters 

in a male-dominated industry. With this in 

mind, the group named themselves after 

feminist icon Rosie the Riveter, after finding 

that their voices blended in a vintage style 

reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters. 

“There are a lot of strong woman in each 

of our family histories,” says band member 

Allyson Reigh. “My grandmother repaired 

planes outside Shellbrook, Saskatchewan 

during WWII, and that’s a legacy I’m proud 

to represent.” 

In keeping with the vintage theme, all three 

band members present themselves in the 

ultra-feminine style of the 1940s, something 

that Reigh says is not contrived, but rather 

genuine self-expression. “It lets us express 

our personalities in a different way from our 

everyday lives.” 

Although they’ve been asked if their style 

is counter-productive to their message, Reigh 

doesn’t see the two as being mutually exclusive. 

“It’s not like we can have feminist-leaning 

songs or we can dress femininely. It’s a mix of 

both,” she emphasizes. “We see the message 

of feminism as being that you can decide your 

own destiny and how you express yourself.” 

Rosie & the Riveters are also firm in 

their conviction to put their money where 

their mouth is and support other people. 

Twenty per cent of the proceeds from their 

BY EMILIE CHARETTE 

merchandise sales are donated to fund 

the projects of women around the world 

through Kiva, a microfinance initiative. To 

date, the band has helped fund 200 projects, 

amounting to nearly $10,000. 

Guided by the belief in supporting others, 

the band secluded themselves in a cabin 

in Northern Saskatchewan to write the 

songs for their new album, Ms. Behave. The 

emphasis was on collaboration and splitting 

the work equally. 

“We took inspiration from the things going 

on around us,” states Reigh, citing the gender 

pay gap, “mansplaining” how society polices 

the behaviour of women and non-binary people, 

and sexual violence. “These are issues that 

are current, even though they’ve been going 

on for a long time.” 

The new album is both hilarious and 

heartbreaking, but above all, powerful. The last 

track, “I Believe You,” is a poignant message 

of support to survivors of sexual assault. Proceeds 

from digital sales and streaming of this 

track are donated to YWCAs across Canada 

to help survivors of sexual assault, one of the 

ways the band fulfills its goal of empowering 

and uplifting others. 

Reigh’s favourite track, however, is the CBC 

Radio hit “Let ’Em Talk.” 

“It’s really about letting people talk shit 

about you and not caring, because what does 

it matter? Don’t let them ruin your ambition 

or your dreams.” 

Rosie & the Riveters perform Sat., May 5 at the 

Ironwood Stage & Grill 

ROOTS

ASTRAL SWANS 

lifting the whole damn crowd up 

In the three years since releasing his debut as 

Astral Swans, Calgary’s Matthew Swann has 

been busy. Touring Canada twice following 

the release of 2015’s All My Favorite Singers 

Are Willie Nelson, once in support of Dan 

Mangan, and a second time playing a series 

of more intimate shows in alternative venues, 

from art galleries to microbreweries. 

He has since settled into completing a 

follow-up recording, Strange Prison, with co-production 

by Paul Chirka a recording engineer 

who’s worked with the Calgary Philharmonic 

Orchestra, Juno-winning Dan Mangan and Scott 

Munro of Preoccupations. 

“We spent a lot of tireless nights working 

after-hours in his studio space,” explains Swann. 

Along the way, Swann also enlisted various 

guests, including Rena Kozak (Child Actress) and 

Tigerwing. Production on two of the record’s 13 

tracks was handled by Mangan. 

The result is a more dynamic, more 

enthralling and more emotionally complex 

recording than its predecessor. It’s brimming 

with life, full of texture and character 

while maintaining a laid-back, atmospheric 

quality. Subtle details, such as the lacing of a 

Theremin throughout, make the record shine 

while ensuring that no two tracks are alike. 

That being said, the record is cohesive and 

masterfully arranged, with Swann’s vocals 

tying the project together. 

The stories presented are unconventional 

and at times morbid, seeking to dig to the core 

of the human experience and uncover beauty 

amongst misfortune. 

“The complexities of being human is really the 

message. The complex situations that inform our 

behaviours and our perceptions of the world,” 

explains Swann. For instance, the song Controls 

finds him recalling a plane crash he read about 

as a child. 

“I remember reading all the awful details 

of the commercial airline flight, with people 

being stuck in this very confined state. And 

they’re forced to deal with the complete 

absence of control, and submission to this 

horrible set of conditions. 

“It really haunted me, maybe because it was 

the first time I really became aware of the horrible 

realities that can happen to human beings.” 

Swann uses the ideas of confinement and loss of 

BY GARETH JONES 

control as a metaphor for trauma in his family 

life. He finds that music serves as a vessel to 

overcome difficult experiences. 

“Songwriting is a way of dealing with those 

things, and finding ways to overcome the shittiness 

of life, and the world, and the mind.” Music, 

says Swann, provides a means of self-expression 

that he wouldn’t have had otherwise. “It’s a way 

for me to communicate ideas in a different and 

more complete way of expressing concepts, 

ideas, and parts of myself, emotions and psychological 

states.” 

Comparisons have been made between the 

work of Astral Swans and the likes of Nick Drake 

and Daniel Johnston, and it’s easy to see why. 

Intimate, often hushed instrumentals paired 

with Swann’s ability to pull from and examine 

the human condition creates a clear parallel. Despite 

the morbid tone his lyrics may take, Swann 

strives to find the good. 

“It’s really about trying to use beauty as a 

means to overcome the limitations of joy in 

the world.” 

Strange Prison will be released on May 18. Astral 

Swans will perform at Massy Book on Sat., June 9 

in Vancouver. 

ROOTS BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 49

SHRAPNEL 

BRUJERIA 

legendary shock-metal act galvanized by politics 

“It’s like you’re watching a bad comedy about a fascist dictator.” 

photo: Rodrigo Fredes 

Juan Brujo, the infamous frontman-bandleader of the 

Popularly known as “Mextremists,” Brujeria immediately baited 

extreme-metal legends Brujeria, is more than happy to talk. the wrath of square-ass mainstream critics with the shocking 

After all, the current political climate is what triggered his long cover artwork of their 1993 debut album Matando Güeros, which 

dormant death/grind band back into action. 

depicts someone standing out of camera-shot triumphantly 

“Trump getting elected sparked us off into finally pushing out a holding up a bloody severed human head (said to be a drug 

new album,” begins Brujo, referring to the band’s 2016 full-length dealer). With their song lyrics dealing in narcotics, drug smuggling, 

Pocho Aztlan. 

Satanism, armed uprisings, murder, revenge, illegal immigration, 

“There’s a LOT of stuff about him on there. Everything was and general chaos, Brujeria have also released Raza odiada (1995) 

going great in the United States, as far as I could see, and then and Brujerizmo (2000). The band maintained a steady touring 

all of a sudden HE comes onto the political scene and now he’s schedule, although they did enter an especially long recording 

turned the social clock back 40, 50 years! It’s, er, ‘interesting’ how hiatus due to the band members’ ongoing commitments to 

he’s managed to separate and divide everybody so fast. He’s really their main projects. The band finally returned to fine form with 

good at that. Somebody once asked me: what would you do if Pocho Aztlan (2016), which was pre-dated by their arguably most 

you met Donald Trump alone in a windowless room? I’d say: ‘hey, nerve-striking sociopolitical single, “Viva Presidente Trump!” The 

you’re really good at tearing the social fabric of the country wide 7-inch features Trump’s bleeding face, a machete through his skull, 

open! Congratulations!’” 

and the phrase “fuck you puto.” 

The history of Brujeria reads like some weird rock/horror story “We do get insulted on Facebook by Klansman wanna-bes, 

by David J. Schow, but they are very real, very loud, and very dangerous. 

Formed in Tijuana in 1989, Brujeria (Spanish for “Witch- 

presidental election. 

for sure,” says Brujo regarding the aftermath of the 2016 

craft”) gave the turn-of-the-90s underground metal scene a sharp “We get stuff like: ‘You guys are haters,’ and blah blah blah...I 

backhand whack across the face. They’ve delivered continuous mean, really? KLANSMEN calling us haters? We’ve gotten a lot 

sonic piledrivers ever since. Clad in serapes, bandanas, and balaclavas. 

waving bloody machetes around their heads, screaming all been any official-type backlash from government agencies or the 

more of that. But it hasn’t actually been that bad. There hasn’t 

their lyrics in guttural Spanish, projecting an effectively unsettling authorities or anything, which is sorta weird.” 

stage image of crazed Satanic drug-lords on the rock-and-roll 

He adds, “We never thought he would make President! But 

rampage... Brujeria are brutally real in their presentation. Featuring he did...” 

no less than eight musicians (often including THREE bassists; thus Brujo delves deeper. 

the crushing low-end pummeling), most of Brujeria’s bandmembers 

are a confusing revolving-door whirlwind of in-and-out the Trump character getting whacked in the Oval Office by the 

“If you listen to the song through to the end, where you hear 

anonymous moonlighters hailing from Faith No More, the Dead cholo-vigilante character with the machete... I mean, anyone with 

Kennedys, Cradle of Filth, Carcass, Napalm Death, Fear Factory, a brain knows what we’re really talking about. We’re just shocked 

Terrorizer, At The Gates, and Christ knows wherever else. 

that he actually WON the election!” 

BY FERDY BELLAND 

Brujo reflects on the history of politically charged music and 

how the band has responded to turmoil. 

“You look back on antagonistic, politically-charged lyrics 

from punk bands and metal bands from years ago, like back 

when Ronald Reagan was President... and in the 1980s, everyone 

was thinking, ‘Jeez, it can’t get any worse than this - can 

it?’ I mean, Reagan was a model Republican. A classic. But even 

worse, to us, was California Governor Pete Wilson. He ran for 

President once, but he didn’t win. I met him once, face to face. 

It was at this big open-air event, tons of people. He was moving 

through the crowd, and I recognized him, and I thought: hey, 

it’s the Governor of California! Whaddaya know! I pushed my 

friends back a bit and made some room for him to walk by, 

and he sneers at me and turns around and covers his wife - like, 

protecting her - and all of a sudden the Secret Service guys 

swarmed up and grabbed me, yelling, ‘You’re on your way out!’ 

Huh? What just happened? It’s as if I was the only Mexican 

in the entire crowd. I was respecting him! And his wife! I was 

trying to make room! And three months after that incident, 

he comes out with all these anti-Mexican Immigrant laws that 

were so horrible that the Supreme Court overturned them. But 

when he tried pushing those laws, it was glaringly obvious that 

this wasn’t some uptight suit who was trying to save the state 

of California some money - he was persecuting and detaining 

Mexicans! And that was the inspiration for Brujeria’s second 

album.” 

Wilson advocated for California Proposition 187, a state-run 

citizenship screening system that intended to prevent illegal 

immigrants from utilizing social services. He vetoed a bill written 

to prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual 

orientation, advocated for cuts to welfare, and advocated 

reinstating the death penalty. 

“But Trump? He’s so much more way out there… He’s been in 

power for less than 18 months and already all his bullshit’s starting 

to come true. It’s like you’re watching a bad comedy about a 

fascist dictator. Mobilizing the National Guard to beef up security 

along the Mexican border? That’s a real high-voltage thing. You 

know how many Latinos serve in the U.S. Armed Forces? What’s 

going to happen if a Hispanic-American soldier refuses to shoot at 

unarmed Mexicans scaling a fence?” 

Brujo is reminded of the apocryphal saying, “May You Live In 

Interesting Times.” 

He laughs. 

“The modern situation in the U.S. has just galvanized Brujeria 

again,” he says. 

“It made us feel as if we’re needed to push the word out. There 

was a long period of time, like almost 15 years, where it seemed 

there was nothing to sing about. And then along comes Donald 

Trump, and he single-handedly destroyed the last four decades 

of positive social change in just over one year. All the good stuff, 

gone. So with this new album, we have some stuff to say.” 

Juan is informed that Canadians are frothing at the mouth to 

see the band, and that the upcoming gigs will be intense. 

“Well, we’ll see, gringo. Bring it on!” 

Brujeria perform at Dickens Pub on June 8 (Calgary), the Starlite 

Room on June 9 (Edmonton), the Exchange on June 10 (Regina), 

and the Park Theatre on June 11 (Winnipeg). 

SHRAPNEL BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 51

HAMMERFALL 

architects of the metal age 

BY MATTY HUME 


Power metal and power bombs. 

As long as time passes, metal will 

endure — a thought proven by the 

decades-long success of now-legendary 

champions of melodic power metal, 

HammerFall. Forged in the hostile fires of a 

popular demand for alternative rock in the 

primeval days of old (1993) by guitarist Oscar 

Dronjak, HammerFall quickly proved to 

an unsure Gothenburg, Sweden, that heavy 

metal is the past, present, and future. 

“That’s when I started fiddling around 

with the idea of forming a heavy metal 

band, and in 1993 heavy metal was out of 

date and unappreciated by people,” Dronjak 

says, laughing. “I just wanted to play the 

music that I loved to listen to because 

nobody else was doing it.” 

Initially, vocal duties fell to a teenage Mikael 

Stanne, now of Dark Tranquility fame. 

Despite his talent, HammerFall became 

mighty when current vocalist Joacim Cans 

took control of the mic in 1996, giving them 

a vocalist with a soaring dynamic range 

reminiscent of metal’s high-note bards of 

the ‘80s. 

“When Joacim came into the picture it 

was like the whole world opened up for 

me,” Dronjak says. “Most people didn’t want 

to admit it or really just didn’t like heavy 

metal anymore, but we were on the same 

page right away.” 

Undeterred by early shows where 

audience disrespect for melodic metal 

ran rampant, HammerFall persevered and 

received a record deal after footage surfaced 

of the band’s 15-minute set at a battle of 

the bands in Gothenburg — and our heroes 

have been gloriously triumphant ever since. 

“Somebody filmed one-and-a-half songs 

of our performance on video. In ‘96 you 

couldn’t just pull up your phone, it was very 

difficult,” Dronjak chuckles. “You had to like 

rent a nuclear power plant to carry around 

on your shoulder.” 

Captured in the footage was a distillation 

of Dronjak’s original plan for HammerFall’s 

sonics, which hold true today. Across their 

discography, HammerFall blends the more 

extended symphonic style of heavy metal 

with the uplifting optimism of modern power 

metal. Quick guitar licks repeat with speed 

behind Cans’ stadium-worthy high octaves, 

adding further grandeur to clear, almost 

theatrical choruses backed by Dronjak.. 

HammerFall continued to bring the best 

of heavy metal this side of 2000 by developing 

their famed mascot, Hector. He’s much 

like Iron Maiden’s Eddie, but with a massive 

hammer and a knack for slaying dragons. 

Featured on most of HammerFall’s discography, 

Hector has been illustrated by longtime 

Blizzard Entertainment artist Samwise 

Didier since 2002’s Crimson Thunder. 

“His first game [for Blizzard] is one of 

my favourite games of all time, The Lost 

Vikings. He just wrote us mail and said ‘I’m 

listening to your guys’ music when I create 

my stuff and I really love it.’ We were like, 

photo: Tallee Savage 

‘Let’s try having him do the next album 

cover.’ It was brilliant,” booms an excited 

Dronjak. 

“He’s a very down to earth cool guy who’s 

been with us for a long time. Our plan is for 

him to do the cover for the next album as 

well.” 

While a release date is yet to be locked 

down, Dronjak says HammerFall’s next 

album may land by the end of summer 

2019. Until then, the band is excited to keep 

touring and bring their power to every fan 

possible. 

“We had a vision for what you could 

expect when you saw HammerFall live. We 

kept true to that since day one. It’s supposed 

to be special to go on stage,” Dronjak 

says proudly. “If you like heavy metal performed 

with an infinite amount of love for 

the music, and a show where we give you 

a hundred percent, we’ll have a great time 

together.” 

For Dronjak, Calgary is an extra special 

stop thanks to power metal’s cousin, the 

power bomb. 

“I always feel great being in Calgary 

because I’m a big wrestling fan. It’s hallowed 

ground basically, so it’s always fun just to be 

in the city.” 

See HammerFall perform on June 7 at Dickens 

Pub (Calgary), on June 8 at the Starlite Room 

(Edmonton) and on June 9 at the the Rickshaw 

Theatre (Vancouver). 

SHRAPNEL

This Month 

In METAL 

The quantity of shows is amping up, and 

the weather is no longer trying to kill us! 

Let’s celebrate. 

On Friday, May 11, head to Distortion 

(Calgary) for a fundraising show for Decimate 

Metalfest. Toledo deathcore band the Convalescence 

will perform, alongside Embers 

of Empires, Quietus, Becomes Astral, and 

SYRYN. 

The next day, get up early and head out for 

MomentsFest IV in Pow Wow Arbor (Siksika). 

Kicking off at noon, the annual one day event 

features performances by No More Moments, 

Plaguebringer, Black Mastiff, Protosequence, 

Traer, Paroxysm, and numerous 

more. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at 

the door; ready Matty Hume’s piece in Rock- 

Pile to learn more. 

Head to the Aviary on May 17 (Edmonton) 

for Storm Of Sedition, a pummeling crust act 

featuring members of Iskra, Mechanical Seperration, 

and Leper. They’ll be performing with 

Messiahlator, Paroxysm, and Feeding. 

Another excellent crust show is going down 

on Saturday, May 19 at 9910 (Edmonton). Featuring 

the return of Vancouver crust legends 

Massgrave, the gig also features performances 

by Dour, Languid, Falsehood, Paroxysm, and 

Gorgos. Tickets are $15 at the door. 

The following weekend on May 19 sees 

Slayer perform with Lamb of God, Anthrax, 

Behemoth and Testament at the Big Four 

Building (Calgary). The same tour hits the 

Shaw Conference Centre on may 20 (Edmonton) 

and the Bell MTS Place on May 22 (Winnipeg). 

Go for your “last chance” to see Slayer 

before another last chance presents itself. 

On May 18, head to the Vat Pub (Red 

Deer) for a gig featuring Vancouver’s own 

progressive death metal outfit Neck of the 

Woods, alongside Planet Eater and TMHM, 

The bill performs at the Starlite Room on 

Neck of the Woods is on tour in Alberta in May. 

May 19 (Edmonton) and on May 20 at Broken 

City (Calgary). 

In his widely shared feature on Neck of 

the Woods, Johnny Papan gave everyone the 

scoop on the band, which released their sophomore 

album The Passenger in September 

2017. The release was deeply affected by both 

personal and artistic struggle. 

“Lyrically I tend to speak of personal 

struggles and development,” explains lead 

vocalist Jeff Radomsky. “In The Passenger, 

the bulk of the lyrics are directed towards 

extending support to my sister who suffers 

from brain cancer. A good chunk of the lyrics 

were written in the waiting room during 

her craniotomy.” 

You can read the remainder of the compelling 

feature at bit.ly/BeatRouteNeck. 

Early June is predictably crammed full of 

events. First up, head to the 2018 Calgary 

Beer Core Awards on June 2 (Calgary) and 

give thanks for everything that group does 

for the metal, punk, and hardcore scene in 

Alberta. 

Decimate Metalfest starts on June 7 and 

runs until June 10 at Distortion (Calgary). 

The first evening features performances by 

Ninjaspy, Widow’s Peak, Nylithia, Blackwater 

Burial, For a Life Unburdened, and 

ChaosBeing. The second night features 

performances by Citizen Rage, Insurrection, 

Hazzerd, Sludgehammer, Gatekeeper, and 

Accostal. The third night features performances 

by The Order of Chaos, Benevolent Like 

Quietus, ODINFIST, Tessitura, Illyrian, and 

SYRYN. The fourth and final day features sets 

by Filth, From the Wolves, Insvrgence, World 

Class White Trash, Loser, and Detherous. 

Daily tickets or a weekend pass are available at 

https://www.showpass.com/decimate-metalfest-2018/. 

• Sarah Kitteringham 

photo: Simon Karmel 

POWER TRIP 

intolerant of those who are intolerant 

BY SARAH KITTERINGHAM 

“I did fire off a large electronic confetti cannon.” photo: Kevin Estrada 

Evoking the feel and energy of classic hesher One such call to action is found in the 

thrash emerging from the Bay Area at the rollicking “Waiting Around to Die.” Anchored 

by chugging riffs and gurgling howls, 

advent of the ‘80s, Power Trip has surged in 

notoriety since their second full-length Nightmare 

Logic (2017) was released. Damn near Townes Van Zandt track of the same name. 

the song is a counterpoint to the defeatist 

universally acclaimed, the 32-minute rager It’s a ‘fuck off’ to laziness and entitlement; 

merges thrash, death metal, and hardcore, a call to arms, to change your life and your 

garnering deserved comparisons to Morbid world. 

Saint, Cro Mags, and Exodus. 

“It’s frustrating to watch, what I perceive 

In direct contrast to numerous recent to be, a large part of humanity giving up on 

thrash acts who revel in a pizza n’ partying humanity - giving up on ourselves, or trying to 

vibe with triggered production, Power Trip is make the world better,” elaborates Gale. 

raw, ferocious, and politically charged with “Embracing the downward spiral. Our 

deliberate messaging. 

political situation is a hugely complex thing, so 

“I think we’re pretty clear on the point of the I wouldn’t know where to begin, but I definitely 

band,” begins vocalist and frontman Riley Gale. draw from all things current in songwriting. I 

“We’re intolerant of those who are intolerant. 

That certainly sounds hypocritical, but imagery may reference the past, or is my view of 

am always writing about the present, even if the 

when it comes to things like racism, sexism, a very near future; they’re always anchored in the 

homophobia, xenophobia, etc., these divisions present.” 

we give ourselves to create ‘us’ versus ‘them’ Although the band messaging offers a serious 

situations are trivial to us. We don’t have time critique of our shared sociopolitical universe, 

for people whose ideologies have some form Power Trip is enjoying the ride. After all, their 

of exclusion involved.” 

huge surge in popularity means sharing the stage 

Gale is responding to our questions over with some of the biggest names in metal and 

e-mail somewhere in Germany (or maybe travelling the world. 

France?) thanks to the band’s endless touring 

schedule. 

secret,” offers Gale. “What happens on tour 

“The most ridiculous moments will remain 

“Every human life is equal and important, stays on tour. But, I did fire off a large electronic 

we aren’t getting off this rock any time soon, confetti cannon in the streets of London, only for 

so we should learn how to take care of it, Code Orange to be blamed for the mischief.” 

and take care of each other,” he continues. 

“Perspective is everything, if everyone were Power Trip perform with Sheer Mag at the Park 

being able to truly empathize – understand Theatre on May 21 (Winnipeg), at Louis’ on 

viewpoints outside of their own personal May 23 (Saskatoon), at the Starlite Room on 

experiences, it would change the world for the May 24 (Edmonton), and at Dicken’s on May 25 

better almost immediately.” 

(Calgary). 

SHRAPNEL BEATROUTE • MAY 2018 | 53

musicreviews 

Courtney Barnett 

Tell Me How You Really Feel 

Mom + Pop/ Marathon Artists/ Milk! 

Tell Me How You Really Feel is an open 

invitation from Courtney Barnett as she gains 

momentum with her sophomore release. Following 

her 2015 debut full-length, Sometimes 

I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, and 

fresh off the heels from touring with her musical 

twin Kurt Vile on the collaboration Lotta 

Sea Lice in late 2017, Barnett has come up with 

a refreshing and edited version of herself. This 

trajectory of maturity rounds out any uneasy 

feelings one might have about her style of 

reserved monotone melodies, lyrical ramblings 

and run-on strumming that made it on her 

first album. 

It seems Barnett may have had similar 

uneasy feelings while writing this record. The 

track "Crippling Self Doubt and a General Lack 

of Self-Confidence" is used as a blunt cathartic 

stamp of words saying just that. In her pursuit 

of being forthright with these feelings, she 

has noticeably stirred up some inner anger. In 

the song "Nameless, Faceless" she uses a loose 

quote from Margaret Atwood: "Men are afraid 

that women will laugh at them/women are 

afraid that men will kill them," and then goes 

on to say "I walk with my keys between my 

fingers," woven into an otherwise pop-centric, 

grunge tune. It’s unclear if she’s directly speaking 

to the present feminist climate or possibly 

just the haters online, but the sharper edge 

suits the already cheeky attitude in her lyrics. 

Again, in the track "I'm Not Your Mother, I'm 

Not Your Bitch" she releases a pointed tone to 

whatever she perceives to be that opposition 

with the snarky "I hear you mutter under your 

breath/Put up or shut up it's all the same/ 

Never change, never change." Whether Barnett 

is letting off steam or not, she’s a benevolent 

artist and the catharsis is personal yet easily 

relatable. Better out than in. 


In spite of her crippling doubt, Barnett’s 

vocal range on this record has progressed 

into sounding more seasoned, both sweet 

and savoury. Her time writing and touring the 

album with Kurt Vile seems to have refined 

her melodies and guitar fills relieving some 

pressure from putting out a substantial second 

release after the fast success of the first. In 

"Need a Little Time" she presents her quiet 

pretty singing voice with catchy 'eeeeees’ 

and 'ooooos’ that really lift her listenability in 

contrast to the steady rap-like talking from 

the 2015 release. It is a standout single and a 

self-care anthem perfect for the shower or car 

sing-alongs. 

There are guitar sounds on this record that 

also brings out the feels. She is known to play 

guitars like a Harmony or a Telecaster, which 

lends her a basic, yet rootsy-tough sound 

that she manages to spread evenly over the 

ten songs. There is a tempo breakdown in 

the jangly Velvet Underground inspired "City 

Looks Pretty" that showcases what a soulful 

rock guitarist with deep pop sensibilities she 

is, and only getting better. Then, going back 

to "I'm Not Your Mother..." Barnett rides the 

line between grunge and punk riffs. Knowing 

she executes this simple but perfectly rhythmic 

guitar hammering all the while playing 

lefty, with no pick, gives off the feelings of 

authenticity and solid musicianship. Hearing 

more of that guitar flare filling space in the 

songs and less words, proves she is showcasing 

her natural talent more confidently and it 

also makes for a more light-hearted listen. 

When you have as many feelings as Courtney 

Barnett, it’s hard to sum it all up without 

some redundancies and repeats. But for now 

her modesty and self-awareness has been 

keeping her relevant and a trusted Melbourne 

musical export. 

• Shauna Sheppard 

illustration: Carole Mathys

Arctic Monkeys 

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino 

Domino 

“I used to want to be one of the Strokes, now 

look at the mess you made me make” are the 

opening lines of the almost pseudo-Sinatra 

like, piano-laden lounge tune entitled “Star 

Treatment.” The song immediately sets the 

tone of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, jolting 

you into a land of blissful unexpectation. 

The album is just as much an experience as 

it is a musical portrait, a dream-like offering 

far different from anything Arctic Monkeys 

have released prior, building upon the group’s 

tendency to continually evolve with each cut. 

Lyrically, the album explores themes of politics, 

religion, and perspectives of the future 

under the suave songwriting style of frontman 

Alex Turner. In many ways, Tranquility Base 

Hotel & Casino feels like a series of diary entries. 

This is especially apparent in the record’s 

title track, which opens with a line about 

seeing Jesus at the spa. There are also references 

to reflections of the past, remembering 

old friends, and dancing around alone in your 

underpants. “She Looks Like Fun” tells the tale 

of someone living their wildest fantasies in the 

digital world of virtual reality. 

It’s clear that the indie-punk days of Whatever 

People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not are 

over. For the last decade Arctic Monkeys have 

been perusing their own creative path, one far 

greater than what they may have imagined in 

their early days. This is a wonderful thing. The 

band has grown to become one of the most 

original and thought-provoking groups of 

the modern era. If anything, Tranquility Base 

Hotel & Casino may share some subtleties 

with 2009’s Humbug, and perhaps 2011’s Suck 

It and See, but even those presumptions are a 

bit of a stretch. 

As a whole, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino 

takes musical influence from the past and 

mixes it with soundscapes and composition 

techniques of the future, also discussing subjects 

of the present and where it’s headed. It’s 

a heavy album to ingest, but like a fine wine, 

you must savour every sip. Pay attention to 

every flavour, only then will you understand 

its richness in quality. 

• Johnny Papan 

Cardi B 

Invasion of Privacy 

Atlantic Records 

Cardi B finally releases her long-awaited first 

studio album Invasion of Privacy and does not 

disappoint. With an all-star cast of features 

from Migos, to Chance the Rapper and 21 

Savage, Cardi does a great job of showing she 

isn’t a one trick pony. With perfectly curated 

productions, the record can be played from 

start to finish. With the success of singles like 

“Bodak Yellow” and “Bartier Cardi,” following 

up with a full-length album that reflected the 

chart smashing impact of those tracks seemed 

like a tough task for the industry rookie. 

Yet, the Bronx’s favourite former stripper-turned-rapper 

proved that she is much 

more than a few hit singles. Cardi B shows 

versatility through the entire project. Jumping 

on beats of all kinds, experimenting with her 

vocal range on tracks like “Thru Your Phone” 

all the while staying true to the rugged and 

ratchet Cardi B we have all come to know and 

love. 

• Jordan Stricker 

Black Moth Super Rainbow 

Panic Blooms 

Rad Cult 

Cardi B 

Black Moth Super Rainbow blasts into light, 

kaleidoscope clouds of synth-pop, indie-electronica, 

and psychedelic vibrations with the 

release of the 16-song album, Panic Blooms. 


While the album is much more spacey and 

simple than upbeat albums such as Cobra 

Juicey and Dandelion Gum, there is a certain 

familiarity that lingers while listening. A 

definite sense of nostalgia that lays within the 

charming and lighthearted synth melodies, 

vocals dripping with distortion, and catchy 

bass-lines, like on lead single “Mr No One.” 

From a direction of tone, Panic Blooms is 

much more polished, stripped in complexity, 

and lacks the lo-fi warmth and grit of EP’s like 

SeaFu Lilac. There are no guitars, and these 

songs are less vocally driven, vearing far from 

any previous tones of psychedelic rock. 

Members of the band have been working 

on a wide array of musical side-projects, 

which could be to blame for the simplicity 

– should you feel like you are missing 

something. To some, the simplicity and 

melancholic melodies could be enough to fill 

their hearts with emotion, after a nearly six 

year wait, for a full-length album. In this case, 

there is a beauty to be seen in sonic spaces 

and simplicity. 

• Jamila Pomeroy 

Mariel Buckley 

Driving In The Dark 

Independent 

Mariel Buckley’s sophomore full-length, Driving 

In The Dark, is a bold step forward in the 

Calgary singer-songwriter’s sound. While still 

drawing from the classic country themes of 

nostalgia, heartache, and the stark and honest 

admissions inherent to the style, Buckley has 

expanded her sound and writing style since 

2014’s Motorhome. With the aid of producer 

Leeroy Stagger and a stellar crew of Alberta 

musicians, Buckley has fleshed out a full and 

lush roots rock sound that hits on a number 

of familiar touchstones, all tied together by 

her laid back and conversational vocal tone 

and her strengths as a songwriter. 

“Wait” kicks off the record with the whole 

band dropping in on big shots that lay back 

just in time to give Buckley’s voice a nice 

landing spot on a bed of Michael Ayotte’s 

Hammond organ. Buckley’s devotion to 

country music is evident from the first line, 

“I shouldn’t call when I’ve had this much to 

drink,” while the choruses point the finger 

inward, at the one most often responsible for 

most any person’s deepest struggles. 

Buckley’s been compared to a lot of 

high-level singer-songwriters, and for good 

reason. While comparisons to Lucinda Williams 

and k.d. Lang are appropriate given the 

style of Buckley’s writing, there’s a case to be 

made that her ability to shift styles shows a 

deep understanding and influence of Gram 

Parsons. Her voice isn’t the big jailbreaker, it’s 

subtle and her ability to evoke tough feelings 

with subtlety is commendable. Buckley and 

Stagger checked nearly every box creating an 

excellent roots rock record. 

Driving In The Dark catches a listener’s attention, 

and Mariel Buckley’s ability as a writer 

alone, whether self-accompanied or with a full 

complement of instrumentation, puts her in 

some rare air around here. 

• Mike Dunn 

The Damned 

Evil Spirits 

Search and Destroy / Spinefarm Records 

Letting loose to danceable rock à la Franz 

Ferdinand and Bloc Party has come and gone 

as a trend in the last decade, but The Damned 

governed the genre before those bands could 

crawl. Often credited with being the first U.K. 

band ever to release a punk rock single (“New 

Rose”) in 1976, the London quintet is back 

with Evil Spirits, their first kick at the can in 

ten years. 

From the opening haunting chords of 

“Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow,” to 

the sardonic lyrics of “Procrastination,” The 

Damned keep the pace crisp, light, and tight, 

largely using clean guitars to ride a wave of 

catchy melodies. Sonically, there’s enough 

variation here to keep your attention, with 

high-energy tracks like “Devil In Disguise” 

balanced by mid-tempo jams like “Look Left.” 

Evil Spirits is a little more Spinal Tap than 

Sepultura, but The Damned manage to avoid 

all-out wankery and instead provide us with 

a memorable batch of tongue-in-cheek rock 

tunes. 

• Trevor Morelli 

Fire Next Time 

Knives 

Stomp Records 

If 2015’s Cold Hands proved what Fire Next 

Time could do with more lavish, epic production, 

their latest full-length Knives reveals a 

band comfortable to let loose and rip. There’s 

a ‘90s punk feel that feels built for crushing 

decks and beers at the skate park, though 

with their trademark attention to lyricism 

and moody cuts. On Knives, the Edmonton 

band has put together their most concise set 

to date. 

Kicking off at a breakneck tempo on 

“Wanderlust,” the energy is immediate, with 

a classic-sounding melodic line setting up the 

second verse. The lead single, “Party Foul,” is 

exactly what you’d expect in a skate video, 

unison palm-muted riffs and a huge singalong 

chorus hanging on the line, “You sucked 

the life out of the party,” proving that even in 

some darkness, there’s a laugh to be had. “Collars” 

is a standout, and closed the first third of 

the record with the same driving energy. 

Showing an ability to seamlessly blend 



the forms of classic folk to punk rock, “Old 

Scratch” tags its choruses, while James Renton’s 

lyrics are close to the bone, like Townes 

Van Zandt in Chuck Taylors on lines like, “betray 

our names, betray our trust, then return 

us to the dust.” 

Renton’s voice, Ryan Mick’s guitar, and 

Kevin Klemp’s multi-instrumentation have 

always defined Fire Next Time’s sound, 

but on Knives, Garrett Krueger and Nick 

Kouremenos have solidified a driving and 

energetic rhythm section. If Cold Hands was 

a defining artistic moment for the band a 

few years ago, Knives shows an ass-kicking, 

non-stop punk rock Fire Next Time that 

hasn’t forgotten the key elements of the 

sound they built. 

• Mike Dunn 

Jon Hopkins 

Singularity 

Domino 

Jon Hopkins blurs the lines between nature 

and technology in his meditative, abstract 

fifth LP, Singularity. Dense, artificial beats 

and echoing soundscapes intertwine with 

moments of quiet, solitary piano to deliver an 

entirely refreshing record. 

Singularity is, funnily enough, split into 

two parts. The album opens with abstract 

single note soundscapes that give way to 

bouncing synthesizer arpeggios, combined 

with dance-like drum beats, that do all that 

they can to encourage the involuntary bobbing 

along of one’s head. Each track blurs 

into the next and culminates in “Everything 

Connected,” which marks Singularity’s halfway 

point and a distinctive shift in gear. The 

second half of the album opts for quieter, 

more naturalistic piano moments that draw 

the listener’s ear into a more intimate space. 

The shift in sound on the second half of the 

album perhaps reflects Hopkins’ own musings 

on the role of technology in the natural 

world, and vice versa. 

The philosophical implications of Hopkins’ 

own aesthetic choices on Singularity will 

probably always be up for debate. However, 

underneath those interpretations lies a 

beautiful, cohesive record that will delight 

fans of Hopkins’ blend of expansive electronic 

elements and intimate sensibilities. 

• Alex Harrison 

Iceage 

Beyondless 

Matador Records 

Having once been hailed by Iggy Pop as 

“the only current punk band I can think of 

that sounds really dangerous,” meant as a 

compliment of the highest order, Denmark’s 

Iceage have somehow managed to retain that 

knife’s edge feeling of danger and excitement 

that has defined their records and live shows 

while still crafting their most approachable 

record yet. 

Beyondless is the Copenhagen-based postpunk 

(post-post punk? Iceage continually 

defy the catchall genre categorization) band’s 

first release since 2014’s excellent Plowing 

Into the Field of Love, and their third with 

Matador and producer Nis Bysted. Wellpaced, 

with arrangements and production 

that at times seem worlds away from their 

hardcore-leaning debut New Brigade, 

Beyondless takes the best of Love’s Americana-tinged, 

punk-blues experimentation, 

setting it against a lush, gothic backdrop, 

complete with buoyant strings and horns 

throughout. 

Making for an enigmatic combination of 

Ian Curtis, a snarling Leonard Cohen, and Mick 

Jagger fronting the New York Dolls, Singer 

and frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt is at 

his dour, poetic best on Beyondless. While 

still covering the requisite darker themes and 

imagery found on previous releases, Rønnenfelt 

and co. have crafted what is essentially a 

hopeful, occasionally joyous sounding record. 

Experimenting heavily, without compromising 

what made them unique, and highly 

buzzed-about years ago, Beyondless is another 

step forward for Iceage that further cements 

their position as one of the most consistent, 

ambitious, and thought-provoking modern 

punk bands. 

• Willem Thomas 

Kississippi 

Sunset Blush 

SideOneDummy 

Frontwoman Zoe Reynolds of Philadelphia’s 

indie pop band Kississippi, makes her album 

debut since splitting with Colin James Kupson 

in 2016 with Sunset Blush. 

The record stars the bold-yet-gooey singles 

“Cut Yr Teeth” and “Easier to Love,” perfectly 

encapsulating Kississippi’s serene vibe with a 

hint of divergence. It’s the perfect amount of 

contrast between Reynold’s airy voice and the 

mixture of electronic-rock that’s so perfectly 

displayed in “Red Light” and “Adrift.” 

Through her soft but powerful voice, Kississippi 

croons on the end of relationships and 

the hurt and loss that comes with it on Sunset 

Blush in such an elegant way. The beautiful 

lyrics “I could be better / You could be worse 

/ We both said forever / But who said it first” 

from “Who Said it First” prove how poetic her 

writing is. 

In some cases female voices can tend to 

sound very similar, especially in the alternative 

scene, but Reynolds has a fresh twist to her 

music as each songs glides with ease from one 

to another. 

Song by song you realize the similarities 

that keep Sunset Blush a cohesive work of art, 

as well as the differences in tempo, tone or 

beat that keep it interesting and new. 

• Mackenzie Mason 

Mark Kozelek 

Mark Kozelek 

Caledo Verde Records 

The ever-prolific Mark Kozelek returns with 

a beautiful self-titled album that maintains 

his signature quotidian lyricism, sparse instrumentation 

and reflective warmth. Mark 

Kozelek is sure to satisfy longtime fans, 

but may alienate newcomers to Kozelek’s 

particularly dense songwriting style, with 

tracks that stretch out beyond the 10-minute 

mark. 

From the first track, we are lulled into the 

hypnotic, reflective ramblings of Kozelek’s 

lyrics; his ability to craft what seem like his 

journal entries into a consistent lyricism is 

astonishing. Kozelek writes about everything 

from his relationships, to world 

events, to what he had for lunch. Part of the 

attraction with Kozelek’s lyrics is traversing 

not only the physical spaces that Kozelek 

writes about whilst on tour but also his 

mental timeline, drifting through his memories 

and finding moments loaded with profound 

lessons in everyday empathy. These 

reflections are all undercut with sparse, 

gorgeous guitar melodies, and bouncing 

backing vocals that are all tied together 

with some superb, delicate production. 

All of the above will be familiar to longtime 

listeners, but the extensive lengths 

of some tracks may alienate newcomers. 

However, if one sticks around, they’re sure 

to find some beautiful moments in Mark 

Kozelek. 

• Alex Harrison 

Parquet Courts 

Wide Awake! 

Rough Trade Records 

Parquet Courts have managed to top themselves 

with every release since their first studio 

album, Light Up Gold, and they continue to 

keep their compelling art rock/post punk 

sound fresh with every release. Their brand 

new album, Wide Awake! is certainly no 

exception. The band strays from their usual 

garage rock sound as they have teamed up 

with the prevalent producer Danger Mouse 

to create a masterpiece of funk/punk fusion 

that keeps the listener engaged through its 13 

tracks. 

Following 2016’s ballad-heavy album 

Human Performance, Parquet Courts come 

through with a punchy and exhilarated record 

full of “joy, rage silliness and anger,” according 

to the band’s frontman A. Savage. The opening 

track “Total Football,” makes reference 

to football players choice to kneel during

the national anthem as a protest to police 

brutality and systemic racism. “Total Football,” 

along with tracks like “Violence,” “Almost Had 

to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience,” and 

“NYC Observation” are fast paced, fun, defiant 

punk rock songs that will keep you coming 

back time and again. 

• Darren Wright 

Michael Rault 

It’s a New Day Tonight 

Wick Records 

Michael Rault is a Toronto based singer, songwriter 

and multi-instrumentalist. His 

intricate glam/psych rock sound manages 

to stand out from the numerous throwback 

rock bands of the present day. Rault’s brand 

new album, It’s a New Day Tonight, carries 

a noticeably different sound than his 2015 

album Living Daylight. It’s a New Day Tonight 

explores themes of night time, sleeping and 

dreaming, and those themes are clearly reflected 

in the dreamy guitar riffs and smooth 

vocals. 

In a time where music and pop culture 

is dominated by mostly forgettable ‘80s 

and ‘90s nostalgia, Rault stands out from 

his peers through intricate instrumentals, 

interesting songwriting and a mostly unique 

style. On the almost title track “New Day 

Tonight,” Rault opens with the lyrics “Start 

to feel alright just after midnight” which 

sets the tone for the rest of the album 

which is full of references to sleeping and 

dreaming. According to Rault, he was 

“Looking for an escape from a lot of frustrating 

and dissatisfying conditions in [his] 

day to day life.” Although It’s a New Day Tonight 

stays interesting through its intricacy, 

Rault’s influences are very clear and at times 

overpowering. Most songs on the album 

wouldn’t feel out of place on a Beatles or 

Bob Dylan record, which makes it hard not 

to want something more to give the album 

more of a distinct sound. 

• Darren Wright 

Jack Stauber 

HiLo 

Independent 

Musical fads have come and gone as long as 

the art form has existed, along with a plethora 

of new bands formed in the name of the fad. 

Punk, pop, and lofi are all hugely popular 

genres this decade, so what makes HiLo worth 

your time? It’s Jack Stauber’s playfulness with 

not only the oversaturated genres of the 

current times, but those of the ‘90s, ‘80s, ‘70s, 

etc. as well. 

Coming hot off of his last release, Pop 

Food, released in 2017, in which Stauber 

brewed an easy-listening reflection of bandcamp-pop 

artists as a whole, he decided to 

go further into looking at what is popular 

and how we treat pop-culture music in 

general. 

Album highlight, and longest track on the 

record “Leopard,” opens up like any other 

song of Stauber’s. A steady drum sample and 

DeMarco-core guitar anchor the intro, but 

quickly shift into a ‘60s swing number with a 

synth-pop twist, before suddenly transforming 

into a completely different electronic-rock 

song. Just picture tuning from station-to-station 

on your radio, listening to 30 seconds of 

each song before restlessly turning the dial 

once again. 

That’s what listening to this record is like, 

curious, open minded, but comforting in the 

idea that the musical art form is essentially 

open-ended, with the usual clashes of era-toera 

and genre-to-genre coming together in a 

smooth harmony. 

• Keeghan Rouleau 

The Voidz 

Virtue 

Cult/RCA Records 

The outfit formerly known as Julian Casablancas 

& the Voidz returns with a new record 

that feels more streamlined and cohesive than 

their last, without losing the experimental 

edge that makes them compelling. 

2014’s Tyranny was a massive undertaking, 

blending punk with synthpop, industrial 

noise with Caribbean rhythms. While Tyranny 

felt messy at times, one could not shake the 

feeling that the band was on to something. 

That something is expanded in their latest 

effort, which trades the most alienating, noisy 

moments of Tyranny for infectious hooks and 

a clearer, listener-friendly sound. 

Opening track “Leave It In My Dreams” lies 

in the uncanny valley, sounding something 

akin to Casablancas’ main band The Strokes, 

yet distancing itself through off-kilter instrumentation 

and a warped vocal performance 

from Casablancas. 

The second track, “QYURRYUS,” sees the 

band diverting into Eurobeat while Casablancas’ 

vocals are run through autotune 

à la Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreak. 

“Pyramid of Bones” flirts with the sounds of 

nu-metal while the acoustic “Think Before 

You Drink” serves to handily cut the record 

in two. 

Like Tyranny before it, Virtue is densely 

political; the record’s 15 tracks see Casablancas 

croon about propaganda, government 

deception and historical wrongdoings. 

Virtue sees The Voidz’ everything-and-thekitchen-sink 

approach take a more concrete 

form, resulting in an album that feels more 

complete while allowing the band the leeway 

to experiment. 

• Gareth Jones 


livereviews 

King Woman, Russian Circles 

Dickens Pub (Calgary) 

April 4 

Rolling into town (just two days after Chelsea Wolfe and Ministry 

held court at The Palace), Bay Area black swans King Woman took 

over the Dickens stage and served up profound cocktail of brains and 

brawn. Draped in a red silk kimono, onyx-tressed chanteuse Kristina 

Esfandiari launched into a battery of heart-wrenching tunes that 

wandered a rocky path between pleasing and painful. Conjuring evil 

spirits and primal emotions with a black-booted foot up on the monitor 

and a turgid mic firmly in her grasp, Esfandiari used her voice as 

a blunt weapon; her beefy wails overriding a frenetic fray of stroking 

strings and striking sticks. Afterall, as their album title declares, like 

human existence — this empathetic dark wave narrative was Created 

in the Image of Suffering. 

Flipping the script, Russian Circles glided into place with a slick 

proficiency that’s come to define their mute yet highly-technical 

style. Named for the hockey drill guitarist Mike Sullivan and 

drummer Dave Turncrantz practiced as children, Russian Circles 

immediately settled in and began building their sonic towers. Percussionist 

Brian Cook, who has performed as a member of Botch, 

These Arms Are Snakes and Sumac, was feeling the wind in his hair 

and beneath his wings as the Chicago-based trio opened with two 

tracks that share the names of their respective albums, “Station” 

and “Geneva,” before moving into “Afrika” from their most recent 

album, Guidance (2016 Sargent House). Another offering from that 

LP, “Vorel,” popped up a few songs later. Spreading their six album 

back catalogue of mathy metal across the evening in equal portions, 

the instrumental three-piece presented the capacity crowd 

with a blistering display of post-hardcore musical geometry that 

was as captivating as it was convoluted. 

• Christine Leonard 

photo: Mario Montes 

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, DRI 

HIEV, Ghostkeeper 

The Palomino Smokehouse and 

Social Club (Calgary) 

April 6, 2018 

On March 23 ears were gifted with the 

official release of the third full-length LP 

from Canada’s premiere experimental rock 

band, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. Having said 

that, “experimental” is certainly too simplistic 

a descriptor for the band’s sound, which 

exists somewhere between the worlds 

of anime soundtrack epics, noh-wave 

psychedelia and power-metal operas. The 

melange known as Dirt (Paper Bag Records) 

follows two albums from YT // ST that both 

secured positions on the Polaris Music Prize 

shortlist for their creative genius, and this 

latest offering is no exception. 

The Palomino has a celebrated ability to 

pair local talent with the best from beyond 

the city’s limits and this evening was no 

exception. DRI HIEV and Ghostkeeper 

did an admirable job of setting the tone 

prior to the headliner’s grand barrage. DRI 

HIEV incited a heavy-as-lead dance party 


through industrial noise and beats. Likewise, 

Ghostkeeper had the whole room swaying 

their hips and headbang in unison with 

speed-varied licks. 

This live performance was undoubtedly 

a treat for those who have consumed YT 

// ST’s Dirt in all its celestial glory as the 

ensemble moved through the majority of 

the album in chronological order. Joint 

vocalists, Ange Loft and Joanna Delos 

Reyes, captivated the crowd with their 

awe-inspiring range. The powerful Alaska 

B drove the metal epic forward with full 

control of the drum kit; Brendan Swanson 

delivered synth-solos from the stars while 

dystopian warriors, Brandon Lim and Hiroki 

Tanaka, passionately shredded away 

on their electric strings. 

By the end of the night, it took genuine 

effort to realize you were still in downtown 

Calgary’s most rockin’ basement, and not 

fighting the good fight in an astral apocalypse. 

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan is welcome 

to transport Calgary to another dimension 

any time. 

• Matty Hume 

photo: Michael Grondin

PRVIS, Slenderbodies 

The Palace (Calgary) 

April 26 

A provocative light show at The Palace in Calgary was the perfect 

pairing to monochrome goth pop band PVRIS, who performed to an 

intimate crowd on April 26. They were accompanied by L.A.-based 

indie pop duo Slenderbodies and local Calgary collection, The Path Less 

Travelled. 

PVRIS’ metalcore roots were on full display throughout the set 

as lead vocalist Lynn Gunn belted out hits from their most recent 

record drop, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell. The band’s 

precise genre is a bit difficult to place, but their downplayed aesthetic 

performance and haunting lyricism harkens to the likes of women-led 

acts like Evanescence and Flyleaf. PVRIS’ strength come in their intimate 

connection with fans, coupled with an accessible sound that conveys a 

lot of depth, neatly packaged together in a performance that could best 

be described as goth pop. 

The all-ages show featured the expected teenage crowd, but a 

surprising collection of university-age attendees, couples and hip Dads 

could also be seen bobbing along to PVRIS’ singles. The diversity of the 

band’s fanbase is impressive considering their first record was released 

just four years ago. Since then, Gunn has been a vocal advocate for the 

LGBTQ+ community and her awareness for social activism is evident in 

the band’s universal lyricism. 

After hovering on older hits like White Noise’s “St Patrick,” Gunn 

took to the drum kit for “Walk Alone.” Gunn’s musical talent was on 

display as she seamlessly transitioned between instruments, moving 

from the kit to lead vocals, and later taking up guitar and keyboards. 

The band opted for 2014’s My House to close out the set, but cries 

for more from the dedicated crowd coaxed them back to the stage for 

one final song. Gunn got the crowd to clap along as she growled to 

drum-heavy “No Mercy” from All We Know of Heaven… The energy 

from the crowd swelled as Gunn held out her hands to fans and drummer 

Justin Nance tossed his sticks to the audience. 

Their final song left the crowd begging for more, and after seeing 

the quality of this comparatively new band on stage, it’s clear that they 

won’t be the only ones waiting to see what PVRIS has in store. 

• Emilie Medland-Marchen 

photo: jedmund 

The Wrecks, The Maine, The Technicolors 

The Den (Calgary) 

April 10 

The anticipation for The Maine course to hit the stage was high 

last week at The Den when The Wrecks of Los Angeles stepped 

into the fluorescent blue lighting. Uniformly clad in denim and 

leather, the five boys eagerly grabbed their instruments and let 

it fly. Thanks to their efforts, the packed show was anything 

but a freeway pile-up, as they began bouncing around the 

crowded stage full of passion and energy, inciting the crowd to 

join in a school’s out end-of-semester shakedown. 

Lead singer Nick Anderson leapt from the stage for an 

impromptu mid-pit performance of “Turn It Up.” This was 

much to the delight of the few members of the Robot Army 

(a.k.a. The Wrecks’ legion of followers) in attendance. One 

described the moment as different and unique as compared 

to other band’s sets, “It made the experience more intimate.” 

The show turned into a karaoke session when Anderson 

started waving a tambourine to play their cover of Jet’s “Are 

You Gonna Be My Girl,” encouraging the audience follow 

along. 

Dragging the reluctant spirit of springtime into the spotlight, 

The Wrecks filled the room with their stage presence 

and magnetic personality while priming concertgoers for a 

taste of headliner The Maine’s Arizonian alt-rock musicality. 

Not only did the L.A. outfit make a point of interacting with 

the crowd, but also their connection with one another as 

bandmates was on full display for all to witness. Just goes to 

prove that, if you mix some anthemic and catchy rock music 

with five good looking and talented dudes, you have the recipe 

for a great Tuesday night to get away from the mid-week 

slump. 

• review and photo: Mackenzie Mason 


SAVAGE LOVE 

quickies 

I wish I had a better question, but this is all I have: My friends and 

I were discussing the nuances of a straight orgy (a roughly equal 

number of male and female participants) versus a gang bang (one 

woman, many men), and we observed that there is no proper name 

for a one man, many women situation. The internet tells me it’s just 

a “reverse gang bang,” which is a very disappointing name. Can we 

please establish a new one? 

–Curious Nonparticipant 

How does “pussy riot” grab you? And while we’re on the subject of 

flipping gendered expressions: A number of years ago, I was asked 

to come up with a female version of “sausage fest.” Sticking with 

the food theme, I proposed “clam bake.” Still mystified as to why it 

didn’t catch on. 

Married from 28 to 36, single the last three years, and celibate most of 

the last couple years. The last two years of my marriage were sexless, 

and I saw professionals until I was priced out. I could probably earn 

twice what I’m making now if I moved away, but my current job gives 

me the flexibility to spend afternoons with my young kids. Last year, 

I had a brief relationship (that included the best sex of my life), but I 

ended it because I needed more me time. So I lack the willingness or 

the confidence to be in a relationship, and I don’t have the cash to see 

pros. I’m not fussed by this. Should I be concerned about my celibacy? 

–Absolutely Not Getting Sex Today 

Seeing as your celibacy is intermittent and by your own choice 

(you walked away from the best sex of your life for me time? What 

kind of mid-’90s Oprah bullshit is that?), ANGST, you’re unlikely to 

wind up hanging out on an “incel” forum filled with angry, violent, 

socially maladapted men who blame the fact that they can’t get laid 

on women and feminism. So long as you continue to take personal 

responsibility for all the sex you’re not having, there’s nothing to be 

concerned about. 

My boyfriend and I have been together for two years. When we first 

got together, we had sex every day. Then it dwindled. We had major 

problems along the way and separated this winter. During that time, 

he went to another state. We got back together long-distance, and I 

received many letters from him saying how much he wanted to have 

sex with me. He moved back two weeks ago, and we’ve had sex only 

twice. He used to say he wanted me to make the first move. But if he 

really wanted me, wouldn’t he make a move? I feel so neglected, yet he 

claims he loves me. Please give me some insight. 

–No Sex For Weeks 

He says he wants sex (with you), but he doesn’t make a move. You 

say you want sex (with him), but you don’t make a move. So how 

about this: The next few times you want sex, NSFW, make a move. 

If he fucks you two out of three times, maybe he was telling you the 

truth when he said he’d like you to make the first move. If he rebuffs 

you every time, then he doesn’t want to have sex with you—and 

you’ll have to make a move to end this relationship. 

I’m a youngish man who’s been in a loving relationship with an older 

woman for a year. The only area where the age difference comes into 

play is largely unspoken between us—she wants kids. All of her friends 

are having kids, and she’s nearing the end of her childbearing years. 

I’m nowhere near ready, and I sometimes question whether I want to 

be monogamous to any one person for life. We never discuss it, but 

I can tell how deeply this bothers her and that in her ideal world, I’d 

be ready to start planning a future with her. I’m racked with guilt at 

the possibility that by the time I’m ready for that level of commitment 

(or, worse, by the time I realize I never will be), she’ll be biologically 

incapable of having kids, which is really important to her. This is all 

complicated by the fact that this is easily the most loving, trusting, 

respectful relationship I’ve ever been in. 

–Bond Afflicted By Years 

Speak, BABY: “Look, you want kids. I’m not ready, and I’m not sure I’ll 

ever be ready. Also, I’m not sure about lifelong monogamy. If we need 

to part ways so you can find someone who wants the same things 

you do and wants them now, I’ll be devastated but I’ll understand.” 

I’m a 22-year-old woman living in Central Asia doing development 

work. There are 14 other expats within an hour or two of me, but eight 

of them are in relationships. I’ve always been the “single friend,” and 

normally I don’t mind. But being surrounded by couples right now 

has been a tax on my mental health. I know I’m young and should be 

focusing on this amazing opportunity and my career, but I can’t help 

but feel lonely at times, especially since I can’t speak the local language 

well and these 14 other people are the only ones near me who speak 

English. What should I do? 

–Single Anonymous Dame 

BY DAN SAVAGE 

Math. Eight of the 14 nearby English-speaking expats are in relationships. 

That means six nearby expats are single like you, SAD. It’s not 

a lot of people to choose from in real numbers, I realize, but as a 

percentage—40 percent of nearby expats are single—it’s statistically 

significant, as the social scientists say. Focus on this opportunity, focus 

on your career, and focus on that statistically significant number 

of nearby singles. 

My husband and I listen to your podcast, and we’ve become a little 

more open about our wants and needs as a result. Anyway, on two 

recent occasions, he shaved his pubes. Both times, I told him it was a 

turnoff. Like, I literally dried up when I saw it. He said he understood, 

yet now he’s about to take a trip with friends and he’s done it again. 

Chest too this time. Assuming he’s telling the truth and this manscaping 

effort is not about other women (eye roll), is it fair to me? Can I 

ask him to stop? Shouldn’t he want to stop if it’s a turnoff for me? Do I 

have to be GGG on this too? 

–Not Into Bald Balls 

I feel your pain—but it’s not hair removal that’s an issue in my 

relationship, but hair growth. My husband would like to have a 

mustache. It’s his face (those are your husband’s balls), and he can 

do what he wants with his face (your husband can do what he 

wants with his balls). But I can do what I want with my face, and 

my face doesn’t touch his when there’s a mustache on it. Similarly, 

NIBB, you’re not obligated to touch your husband and/or his junk 

when he’s pubeless. When I’m out of town, my husband will grow 

a mustache, and I don’t complain or temporarily unfollow him on 

Instagram. So long as your husband’s balls/crotch/chest are smooth 

only when they’re far from you, it shouldn’t be an issue in your marriage—unlike 

the fact that you think he might be fucking another 

woman (maybe one who’s into bald balls?) or thinking about fucking 

other women. That’s an issue you’re going to want to address. 

On the Lovecast—Finally! 

Porn that makes consent SEXY: savagelovecast.com. 

mail@savagelove.net 

@fakedansavage on Twitter 

ITMFA.org 

62 | MAY 2018 • BEATROUTE

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