Vicious Cycle "Pale Blue Dot" CD

This was Vicious Cycle's only full length and it came out on Deranged Records. The band was inspired by Carl Sagan hence the name of the CD, the song "For Carl", and the stars on the cover. The band went into a big studio and as a result the production values are bigger sounding. Some think this is a good thing. I felt it killed some of the energy heard on previous releases. The songs on here are:

1. No Escape
2. Blur
3. The Waiting

4. Black Dot
5. In Tranquility
6. Death
7. Vertigo
8. Gamma Ray
9. Heaven or Hell
10. For Carl
11. Pale Blue Dot
12. Rebirth
13. Farewell

Flyer - Tuesday December 29, 2009

Sunday December 27, 2009

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BUNNY SKULLS - Nuke Portland / 83 Again (Punks Before Profit$)

Stephe's Top 10 - Newbie 7"s

ASPIRIN - Buchiyabure (Schizophrenic)

RATIONAL ANIMALS - Tasting Blood (Feral Kid)

PAHAA VERTA - Myo Ollaan Huoria (Roku)

OMAISUUS VAHINKO - Arvet (Ratbite / Roku)

CIVIL VICTIM - Problem (Loud Blaring Punk)

MAD WORLD - Persona (Even Worse / Kangaroo)

SPG - Rhetoric (American Waste / Give Praise)

DISCO ASSAULT - Work to Survive (Schizophrenic)

BORED STRAIGHT - Drink Beer L.L.C. (Data Control)

HARDA TIDER - Fuck Snuten (Not Enough)

Rob's Top 10 Acquisitions for 2009

DEVO - Turn Around (Warner)

SMITH WESTERNS - Tonight (Huzac)

NO BUNNY - Chuck Berry Holiday (Bubbledumb)

KING KHAN AND BBQ SHOW - Animal Party (In The Red)

REIGNING SOUND - Stick Up for Me (In The Red)

JAY REATARD - I'm Watching You (Matador)

ATTENTION - Stop or My Job Will Shoot (Self-Released)

YOUNG LIONS - Things Are Gonna Change (Schizophrenic)

KOWLOON WALLED CITY - Bone Loss (Perpetual Motion Machine)

NIRVANA - School (Sub Pop)

Ed's Top 10

BLACKLISTED - I Am Extraordinary (Deathwish)

RAH - It Won't Last (Labelled)

SOUL CONTROL - Pursuing Ghosts (Bridge 9)

I REFUSE - Your Sight Today is Piercing (FWYS)

ROMAN LINE - Jimmy (Merman / Monster Zero)

TITLE FIGHT - Loud and Clear (Run for Cover)

TRAPPED UNDER ICE - Against the Wall (Reaper)

REIGN SUPREME - And Come What May (Deathwish)

HOSTAGE LIFE - Con Man's Guide to Quantum Mechanics (Juice Box)

PROPAGANDHI - Last Will and Testament (G7 Welcoming Committee)

Treat Me Like Dirt

Liz Worth interviewed as many first wave Toronto punks as she could find. She organized their story telling into chapters based around event and ways to describe the scene. The result is an anecdotal story telling by the characters that made up that scene. It is brilliant because punk is an oral history and Liz uses their quotes to retell their stories. She doesn't re-write or paraphrase or even use rock journalism techniques. Instead she gathers quotes by the folks involved in the incidents and has them tell the story. There is always more than one story teller so they go back and forth and you get a perspective on the folk lore and legends of Toronto. Gary Topp, Colin Brunton, Steve Leckie, members of Teenage Head, members of the Diodes, members of the Ugly, and loads of other unsung bands that made up the scene. She hads done an incredible job here of bringing the stories back to life. And Gary Pig Gold of the Pig Paper assists in the editting and Ralph Alfonso publishes this on Bongo Beat Records so this has more than gone through the first wave filter of fact checking. You can be assured that the stories in here are accurate.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

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STOMPIN’ TOM – Merry Christmas Everybody (Dominion)

SIZE 14 – Mrs. Claus (Drive-Thru)
LE BISTHAN JAKE – Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Drive-Thru)
THE DARYLS – I Want More for Christmas This Year (Bruce Monkey)
THE SHITBIRDS – Christmas is Coming (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
THE JIMMIES – Santa Please bring My baby back to me (Bruce Monkey)

TRIGGER HAPPY – Seasonal Excuse (Essential Noise)
POISON IDEA – Santa Claus is Back in Town (Tim Kerr)
BLOOD SAUSAGE – Fuck Christmas, Fuck Santa, Fuck You (Essential Noise)
FLAPS DOWN – Hey Santa (Rhino)

THE DICKIES – Silent Night (Rhino)
THE YOBS – Oy Santa (Captain Oi!)
JOEY RAMONE – Christmas (Sanctuary)
BILLY IDOL – Yellin’ at the Christmas Tree (Arista)

SLOPPY SECONDS – Lonely Christmas (Taang)
VANDALS – Hang Myself by the Christmas Tree (Kung Fu)
MUFFS – nothing for Christmas (S.F.T.R.I.)
SPECTRUM – Santa Claus (S.F.T.R.I.)

4-SKINS – Merry Christmas Everybody (Dojo)
THE GREEDIES – Merry Jingle (Rhino)
DENNIS LEARY – Merry Fuckin’ Christmas (Comedy Central)
SHANE MACGOWAN – Christmas Lullabye (ZTT)

NAKED AND THE DEAD – Ornament (En Guard)
CLIT COPS – Fast X-Mess (Intensive)
NATIONAL SPEEDBALL LEAGUE – Money in the Manger (Nepone)
THE HALFLINGS – A Kiss for Christmas (Second Thought)
THE CREEPSHOW - Merry Christmas, I Don’t Wanna Fight (Stereo Dynamic)

FUCKED UP – Do They Know it’s Christmas Time (Self-Released)
CRUCIAL YULE – X-mas Time for the SkinsFEAR – Fuck Christmas (Slash)
MR. T EXPERIENCE – Merry Fucking Christmas (Munster)
GREAT WHITE LYIN’ SNAKE - Last Christmas (Highly Collectible)
SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN – Merry Christmas, I Fucked Your Snowman (Tario)

CRASS – Merry Crassmas (Crass)

Flyer - Wednesday December 16, 2009

Flyer - Monday, December 14th, 2009

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Click to download the show

THE VIBRATORS - Oil (Captain Oi)

SLICK 46 – City Bye Night (Longshot)
RIOT99 – Destroy the City (Longshot)
THE LURKERS – Come and Reminesce (Captain Oi!)
GERM ATTAK - Burn the City (MCR Company)
DECEIVING SOCIETY - Nothing (MCR Company)

DEMICS – New York City (Ready)
NIRVANA – Molly’s Lips (Geffen)
POISON IDEA – Punish Me (Taang)
JOY DIVISION – Transmission (Rhino / WEA)
GERMS – Richie Dagger’s Crime (Rhino / WEA)
HICKEY – Treadle of the Loom (123 Go)
HUGH DILLON AND SWAMP BABY – Who the Hell Do You Think You Are? (Velvel)

HOUSE OF COMMONS - Live for Today (Artcore)
IMPEDERS OF PROGRESS - What Will Define U (Self-Released)
DARGE - Meu Desepero (MCR Company)
LEGION666 - Witchcraft (Yellowdog)

FUGAZI – Stacks (Dischord)
YOUTH OF TODAY – Wake Up and Live (Revelation)
LOOK BACK AND LAUGH – Sinkin’ Ship (Lengua Armada)
DISOBEY – Twenty two (Spastic Fantastic)
ZEROPTION – Reign of Terror

ATTENTION – fries with Spice and a Coffee please (Self-Released)
KING KHAN AND THE BBQ SHOW – Invisible Girl (In The Red)
NEGATIVE GAIN – Situation All Fucked Up (Self-Released)
VILETONES – I Don’t Care (Other Peoples Music)
MSI – Back in Control (B.Y.O.B.)

ZLODZIEJE ROWEROW – Kazay inny wszscy rowni (Refuse)
DEAD STOOL PIDGEON - Adrift (Crucial Response)
SPES EREPTA – Horizonty prachu na cestach strachu (Refuse)
THESE HANDS ARE FISTS – Better Die on Your Feet (Refuse)
MAINSTRIKE - It Won't Last (Crucial Response)

Demo Feature
THE LOVE BELOW - Nothing is Private (Self-Released)
THE LOVE BELOW - Video Nasty (Self-Released)
THE LOVE BELOW - All's well that Ends Well (Self-Released)
THE LOVE BELOW - It's Not a Tumor (Self-Released)

Flyer - Sunday, December 13, 2009

Flyer - Saturday December 12, 2010

School Jerks tour flyer

Death Sentence CD

In 2009 this label named Lazy B digitized “Not a Pretty Sight” and “Stop Killing Me” into a CD format. This is the Vancouver band and not the Australian name doppelganger. The band always had a DOA likeness to their sound, but those comparisons were largely because the singer, Pete Cleaver, sounded so much like Joey Shithead. It is uncanny. DEATH SENTENCE had a little heavier particularly on “Stop Killing Me”, but that material came out two years later after the band worked at getting bigger production.. As a result that material sounds like shit. But “Not a Pretty Sight” is incredible. We heard that record because Fringe licensed it in Toronto and as a result there were lots of copies around. As a result of this release I learned that it had originally come out on the band’s own label Undergrowth, which was the name of the band’s first demo. The opening track “Live to Die” reminds me of the BLACK DONNELLYS with the unrelenting build ups that just keep driving the song. And if I were to compare DEATH SENTENCE to anybody it would be DOA from the vocals, BLACK DONNELLYS from the pace and maybe some BAD BRAINS or GBH from a musical standpoint. One of Canada’s lesser known gems. Up there with bands like YYY and DIRECT ACTION. (Lazy B Records - #1, 650 West 6th Avenue / Vancouver B.C. / V5Z 1A5 / Canada)

Flyer - Friday December 11, 2009

Zine - EXD, Volume 9, Issue 5

Click to download a copy of the zine

Issue 5 features an interview with Haz Was from Mississauga. Mad skaters that play hardcore like back in the day. There is an old interview I did with Nomind back in 1987. And there are a couple of photos of Youth Youth Youth from their reunion show.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

click here for a MP3 version

We spoke with Andrew Cash, the guitarist and lead singer from L'Etranger. He spoke to us about their beginnings in Scarborough, namely through Neil McNeil school. He spoke to us about how the Mods and the Young Lions were local influences and bands like the Clash who were hugely important, which I think is obvious when you watch videos of Andrew play his guitar. He embodies Mick Jones and L'Etranger embody the sound and call to action through the bands lyrics and practises. We tried to fill in a history of the band through shows and releases and talked briefly about lyrics, tours, and how they funded "Innocent Hands". It was so great to hear someone begin to tell the story of L'Etranger, a band that I so admire. You can download an MP3 file of the show and below is a track listing for what was played during the show.

L'ETRANGER - Trail of Tears (Ground Zero)
Interview with Andrew Cash from L’Etranger
the CLASH - White Man in Hammersmith Palais (CBS )
Interview with Andrew Cash from L’Etranger
THE YOUNG LIONS - Things are Gonna Change (Schizophrenic)
Interview with Andrew Cash from L’Etranger
L'ETRANGER - Barricades (Ground Zero)
Interview with Andrew Cash from L’Etranger
L'ETRANGER – Today’s Papers (Ground Zero)
Interview with Andrew Cash from L’Etranger
L'ETRANGER - Wrestling with the nice stuff (Ground Zero)

Flyer - Saturday December 5, 2009