Music
14 Canadian post-punk bands you should listen to
by Mark Teo
February 18, 2014
As a quote-unquote genre, post-punk has too many permutations to accurately define. And that’s why it’s hard to call the current crop of Canadian post-punk bands a movement—many of these bands draw inspiration from vastly different eras, geographies, and bands. We can, perhaps, attribute that to the chameleonic definition of post-punk: Many current bands flying the post-punk banner carry heavy kraut tendencies. Others paint with a palette of Siouxsie-owing goth, drum machines, and menacing deathrock. Others still take on a warbly lo-fi approach—if it wasn’t apparent, many of these bands don’t share a scene. This could’ve easily been two separate lists.
This list, in essence, was harder to nail down that our garage and shoegaze lists—but we love the ferocity and diversity of these bands. And we had a great time digging through countless Bandcamp and Soundcloud pages to find them.
Young Mother
Photo: Facebook.com
Remember the kraut-influenced post-punk we mentioned? Few bands pulled it off as excellently, or as frantically, as Young Mother, whose Telephone Explosion-released Future Classics LP unveiled the darkly claustrophic songs of Jesse James Laderoute. Laderoute’s dense, manic work often sounded like descending into insanity—and noisy jags of synth and saxophone sealed the deal. Young Mother’s album was released back in 2012, but according to their Facebook page, they’re two songs into a follow-up. We can’t wait.
Rhythm of Cruelty
Photo: Bandcamp.com
We’ve long loved Rhythm of Cruelty, the Edmonton two-piece post punk band that’s improving in front of our eyes. Though they’re named after a song by Howard Devoto’s post-Buzzcocks band, Magazine, they play an altogether different brand of post-punk. Indeed, their music feels less informed by British post-punk, instead taking nods from French cold wave: Alternating between menacing and gloomy, they play stripped-down songs powered by pedal-drenched bass, drum machines, and Brandi Strauss’s severe vocals.
Teledrome
Photo: Bandcamp.com
What’s in the water in Calgary? Teledrome are the first of three Cowtown bands that made it on this list, along with Un Blonde and Viet Cong (more on them later). The band announced their arrival with the HoZac-released Double Visions EP, and it was a stone-cold classic: Pairing ice-cold synths with a keen pop sensibility, the band pulled together Spits-esque cold wave with remarkable aplomb. Accordingly, anticipation runs high for their upcoming LP—released on Mammoth Cave, the label run by Fist City’s Evan Van Reekum and the Ketamines’ Paul Lawton, who were all over our garage and power pop list—and from the previews we’ve heard, it’s set to be a future-pop killer.
Mode Moderne
Mode Moderne’s Occult Delight was one of our favourite early releases of 2014, and for good reason: They write big, occasionally glossy songs that straddle the line between saccharine and dark. Their sound is best described as an amalgam of British influences—everyone from New Order to the Cure—but it’s driven home by massive choruses, soaring bridges, and a knack for melody that’d make most out-and-out pop bands jealous.
Viet Cong
Photo: ffwdweekly.com
Calgary’s Women were undoubtedly one of the most important Canadian bands in recent memory—and while preternaturally talented guitarist Chris Reimer tragically passed in 2012, its members continue on in acts like Porcelain Raft, Freak Heat Waves (more on them later), and Viet Cong. The latter, featuring ex-Women member Matt Flegel, sculpts their sound with a taut rhythm section, razor-sharp guitar shreds, and spaced-out synths. The driving, explosive “Unconscious Melody,” below, made us into believers.
Dekoder
Montreal-based Dekoder released Between the Waking and the Dying on punk imprint Chaos Rurale in 2011, and it introduced us to the band’s impressive blend of contradictions: They pair their brooding, dark post-punk with an ear for melody that, despite the music’s dour tone, managed to hit all the right pleasure points. And the band has no intention of relenting. Their recently released new single, “Pleasure,” might be one of their strongest tracks yet; building on icy atmopsheres, the Siousxie-indebted outfit delivers one of the most haunting, dark, and desperate post-punk tracks we’ve heard in recent memory.
Blue Cross
Photo: Facebook.com
After Dekoder, Ottawa’s Blue Cross are the second Chaos Rurale band on this list (though they’ve issued cassettes with Bruised Tongue, too). Unlike their Montreal counterparts, Blue Cross are blunt, occasionally chaotic, and undeniably haunting. Conspiracy, below, is their latest LP and it’s a collection of shearing guitars and brooding vocals. And, out of left field: It is, apparently, partially inspired by the X-Files. “The most recurring theme in Blue Cross is that of mistrust towards the bullshit we’re fed daily,” guitarist Jo told Maximumrocknroll. “Blue Cross is pure skepticism. It ties in with the X-Files as two to three songs deal with alien abduction and alien invasion conspiracies theories. Believe in it or don’t, the underlying message is to always question what we’re told.”
Freak Heat Waves
Photo: Facebook.com
Freak Heat Waves have been kicking around Western Canada for a number of years—and, like Viet Cong, feature a member of Women. Characterized by intricate guitar work, ambient passages, and kinetic drums, this Victoria-based trio trades in motorik magic; when the band locks into mechanical groove, like on “Submission,” it’s hard to pull yourself away. Their LP is currently sold out, but we’d love to get our hands on a copy.
Un Blonde
Photo: Facebook.com
How many times can we call Calgary’s Jean-Sebastian Audet a wunderkind? Audet is, undoubtedly, one of the most talented kids (because yes, he’s like, 18 going on 13) in Canada, whether he’s messing with the guitar explorations of Faux Fur, the feel-good pop of the You Are Minez, or the Tyler, the Creator-inspired rap of Zouk Fuck. But his latest project is Un Blonde, a musical mess of kraut and Talking Heads-leaning pop. It’s hard to believe a 17-year-old made music this accomplished—and while we’re amazed, Un Blonde also kind of makes us realize that we’re untalented hacks who should give up on music forever.
Peace
Vancouver’s deep and diverse punk scene is no secret anymore—thanks to breakout acts like White Lung (the band fronted by AUX contributor Mish Way), but one of their oft-overlooked gems is Peace, a band whose roots trace back to Edmonton. The World is Too Much With Us was released on Suicide Squeeze (the label also responsible for Nü Sensae’s wonderful 2012 LP, Sundowning), and it was completely underrated: All airy guitars, rich baritone vocals, and bouncing, angular pop melodies, The World was a jangled-out slice of perfection. Start with the undeniable “Your Hand in Mine.”
Spectres
Photo: Facebook.com
B.C.-based Deranged Records just released one of the most gripping post-punk—or arguably post-hardcore—records in recent memory with Criminal Code’s No Device, but one of their most underrated acts might be Spectres, a band that’s been playing darkened post-punk for ages. (And yes, we’ve given them props before.) Moody, gloomy, and grey, they’re the perfect musical representation of Vancouver’s damp, concrete underbelly.
Energetic Action
Photo: cbc.ca
Edmonton’s Energetic Action are shockingly good. And they’re the perfect embodiment of their name: Atop constantly squirming guitar and bass, they’re a kinetic, often experimental, permutation of post-punk that sounds nothing on this list. It’s frenetic, it’s in-your-face, and it’s completely unforgettable. Sadly, Becoming, their excellent, challenging 2013 effort, will be the band’s last: guitarist Dave Finkelman passed away earlier this year.
Cindy Lee
Photo: Bandcamp.com
Cindy Lee is the third Women-related act on this list. Influential much? HQed in Vancouver, it’s the gender-bending project of Pat Flegel, and though they’re not strictly post-punk—there’s experimentation in outsider folk, corrupted psych, tape-damaged noise, and even lo-fi crooning—they’re certainly worth your ears. No, it’s not the easiest listening, but that’s not why we’re here in the first place, right?
Mimico
Photo: Facebook.com
To the average Canadian, Mimico’s best known as the outer-Toronto town that produces heart-and-soul hockey players. (“Dave Bolland,” you might hear a certain senile CBC broadcaster say, fearing that a xenopohic barb would follow, “That’s a good Mimico boy.”) It’s why the title seems odd for this skygazing synthy Toronto outfit, who, while occasionally delving into darker post-something territories, is no stranger to spaced-out wanderings. It’d be hard to exclusively call Mimico a post-punk outfit, but on tracks like the hard-driving “Man From Japan,” it’s hard to deny the genre’s influence.
Tags: Music, Lists, News, Blue Cross, Cindy Lee, Dekoder, Young Mother
