Music

Toronto's cassette tribute to In Utero will be released on Record Store Day

by Mark Teo

Remember when the Wooden Sky, Greys, Teenanger, Absolutely Free, and handfuls of other bands got together to record a tribute to Nirvana’s In Utero? That was the best—and in case you missed the news, AUX’s Tyler Munro wrote all about the compilation, dubbed Milking It, right here.

Today, we received even better news—Handdrawn Dracula has announced that the album is getting a physical release, complete with a release party at Toronto West End watering hole Unlovable (who may have the most underrated jukebox in the city).

Shehzaad Jiwani—whose band, Greys, helped curate the compilation—has announced that the cassette will be available at select record store on November 29—in other words, on Record Store Day. However, the tape will be free for everyone who attends its release at Unlovable (1415 Dundas St. W).

“Admission and tapes are free while supplies last,” he said, in an email. “Come pick one up, have a drink and enjoy some tunes courtesy of HDD, plus the comp’s co-curators, Greys and The Wooden Sky.”

The compilation features 21 bands, all whom are active participants in Toronto’s music scene; the comp has contributions from Telephone Explosion, Buzz, Daps, Optical Sounds, Reel CodYou’ve Changed, , and Mike Haliechuk’s One Big Silence. As Hand Drawn Dracula states, many of Toronto’s dominant bands owe heavily to In Utero.

“This recurring conversation about how the iconic anti-heroes could inspire so many young people to play such different kinds music, and yet still appeal to these same musicians two decades later, became more and more fascinating,” the label wrote in a statement. “How could folk-based rockers and atonal punks call the same band a direct influence on their respective sounds? This extended to more discussions about both Nirvana’s breadth of influence as well as Toronto’s current crop of stylistically disparate bands. How interesting, then, would it be to collect a handful of local acts – all within the same age bracket, and all of whom grew up listening to Nirvana – to cover songs off their last record, just in time for its 20th anniversary?”

Interesting, indeed. If you can’t wait until Record Store Day to grab a copy, listen to the comp below.