Music

20 more past and present Calgary bands you should know

by Jesse Locke

After reading Mark Teo’s article 20 past and present Calgary bands you should know, I decided my personal list would look pretty different. I can’t claim to be the all-knowing scholar of the 403 scene (that title can be bestowed on the obsessive grippers and rippers behind the incredible CCPS), but I did call Calgary home for my formative years, and felt there were some crucial names overlooked. So, following a surprisingly quick Twitter convo with AUX editor Nicole Villeneuve, here we are!*

*Obviously lists like this are inherently incomplete. These are simply Calgary bands/artists that mean/have meant a lot to me at one point or another, and that I felt deserved a nod.

49^th Parallel

The Stampeders are probably the best-known Calgary band from the ’60s—and don’t get me wrong, “Sweet City Woman” is a stone-cold JAM—but they’ve got nothing on 49^th Parallel. Early singles like “Laborer,” “Blue Bonnie Blue” and especially “Citizen Freak” are fantastic, but in my opinion nothing beats the psyched-out b-side “Close the Barn Door.” Calgary’s answer to Nuggets?

The Primrods

The Primrods are THE Calgary band that local lifers and other members of Calgary bands are most likely to mention in reverent tones. And guess what—they rule! As the story goes, these guys were signed to Geffen in the post-grunge feeding frenzy of the ’90s, then tragically dropped, only to have their third full-length—the uniformly excellent Untitled—go unreleased. Read more and *cough* listen here.

Ohama

Tona Walt Ohama is truly one of a kind. Raised on a potato farm in rural Alberta, he channeled his feelings of isolation into shiver-inducing synth-pop stunners. Following years of self-releasing vinyl via his own Midnite News Music label, Ohama has now developed a cult following after catching the ear of the great Minimal Wave Records. He’s still active as well, with recent projects including an entirely electronic re-imagining of Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick!

Lewis

Details are perpetually sketchy on this mystery man, but thanks to some in-depth digging, there are signs pointing to the fact that Lewis could be from Calgary. Regardless, his private press LP L’Amour is the musical equivalent of mumblecore, with some of the softest, saddest love songs ever laid to tape.

The Sturgeons

Mark’s list mentioned the Hot Nasties, but any feature on first-wave Calgary punk without the Sturgeons is a head-scratcher. The band’s debut 7-inch has been known to fetch upwards of $150, and there’s a reason: “Punk Rock Virgins” is timeless. Follow the rabbit hole through Riot .303, Color Me Psycho and the Von Zippers for more of this killer lineage. Listen to them here.

The Fake Cops

When I was coming up in the Calgary all-ages scene, this band was cooler than cool. Relistening to their recordings today, the stop-start rhythms, snarling vocals and Drive Like Jehu-style razor-wire guitars still sound totally badass. Drummer Ian Russell would also go on to found Flemish Eye (home to Chad VanGaalen, Women, Braids, etc.), so yeah, that’s a pretty big deal too.

The Cryptomaniacs

It doesn’t get much better than this. These groovy ghoulie garage-punks may have only released a single 7-inch in their brief lifetime, but left a Frankenstein-sized footprint in their wake. Turn on your eyeballs, eyeballs, eyeballs!

Thee Thems

The Cryptomaniacs family tree includes the White Wires, Funfuns/Zebrassieres and Teledrome (see below) amongst its off-branches, but one band that doesn’t get mentioned nearly enough is this hip-twisting instrumental combo.  If you can get your greasy mitts on the Pizza Records Party Pack 7-inch, don’t hesitate the grip.

Teledrome

Depending who you ask, the new wave of Calgary will be led by Ryan Sadler. This sci-fi synth-pop band’s debut release landed on Chicago’s HoZac Records, and will hopefully be followed up soon with another collection of stadium-sized HITS.

Azeda Booth

Around the same time Calgary’s Women were starting to take over the world, this idiosyncratic glitch-pop band was quietly melting brains as well. At one point a five-piece featuring Women’s Mike Wallace, the late Chris Reimer and underground overlord Myke Atkinson, Azeda Booth eventually stripped down to a trio featuring the hyper-talented Morgan Greenwood, Marc Rimmer and the one-and-only Jordon Hossack’s cracked falsetto. Their 2008 album In Flesh Tones (released by Absolute Kosher) stands the test of time as one of the best releases in Calgary history.

Sharp Ends

These guys still give me goosebumps. The stacked line-up of stacked line-ups included guitar shredder Danny Christ, Dan LaPlante on Peter Hook-y bass propulsion, Mike “The Nuder” Bressanuti on the traps (drift further back in time and check out his band the El Caminos) and the one and only Chris Zajko on lead vox/unhinged antics. Years from now, Sharp Ends records will be rediscovered as priceless artifacts.

The Pants Situation

Before Sharp Ends, before the Mandates, and before we all got old and grizzled, the Pants Situation were the fresh-faced whiz kids writing pitch-perfect pop songs that may or may not have been inspired by “Hotel California.”

Kris Ellestad

It’s fairly safe to say that Kris is the most underrated artist in Calgary. Though he’s been blowing minds for years with his honey-smooth croon, fingerpicked guitars and subtle arrangements, 2011’s No Man Is Land is his masterpiece to date. We might have to wait a few more moons for another full-length, but it’ll be worth it.

Lucid 44

Actually, scratch that: Lucid 44 is the most underrated for real. Sad bastard belter Markus Overland has been cranking away below the radar for years, and continues to deliver the goosepimpling goods. Grab his latest cassette Sweep/Sweep from Vancouver’s eternally cool Isolated Now Waves before it’s gone (50 copies!).

Puberty

More MySpace-era madness. This unbelievably awesome trio sent a shockwave through Calgary with their supercharged post-punk jangle. Singer-drummer Jen Clement and bassist Sydney Koke now make up 2/3 of the equally crucial Courtneys, while Nicole Brunel has gone on to play with Friendo, the Shrapnelles, Topless Mongos and now Chlorinator. Weird punk is alive and well.

The Gooeys

Craig Storm is another Calgary character in a universe all his own, transmogrifying cartoon bands like The Archies and Ohio Express into a warped garage rock vision. The Gooeys are bubblegum pop at its most twisted.

Cold Water

Kevin Stebner is a superhero. The mustachioed main man’s CV includes the great Bart Records/Revolution Winter labels (cassettes and vinyl, respectively), a litany of post-hardcore bands most recently capped off with Stalwart Sons, the founding of the Ghost Throats festival, and a surprisingly agro solo project called GreyScreen based around his collection of GameBoys. Despite all this, Stebner’s country-rock project Cold Water might be the most natural fit for a voice that sounds eerily close to Sam Elliot.

Lab Coast

I could write an entire article about Chris Dadge and his tireless efforts bringing experimental music to Calgary via his Bug Incision CD-R label/show series, or work as a sideman in a laundry list of local bands, but it’s Lab Coast that truly can’t be passed over. With effortless aplomb, the band’s off-kilter pop songs are as easy on the ears as they are sophisticated. Their new disc on Mammoth Cave can’t come recommended highly enough.

Burro

Whitney Ota is yet another unstoppable force in the Calgary experimental scene, with his own label USSR issuing a vast range of sounds, drifting into kosmische territory with his solo project Yankee Yankee, or turning up the afterburners with the scorched earth trio Burro. For a similar fix, check out drummer Andrew Hume’s two-piece face-melters Seizure Salad as well.

Viet Cong

This band is the future. With yet another superstar line-up of Matt Flegel and Mike Wallace from Women, Scott Monroe from Lab Coast, and Danny Christ of Sharp Ends absolutely SLAYING on guitar, they’re undoubtedly the ones to watch. Viet Cong’s live shows are intense, and their upcoming recordings are pretty much guaranteed to be the greatest thing to happen to Calgary since Naheed Nenshi.

Jesse Locke is the managing editor of Weird Canada and once played drums in a band called Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome.