Music

10 hidden gems from Halifax's perennially underrated music scene

by Mark Teo

For our money, Halifax may be—no, is—the most fascinating musical city in Canada. And that’s because the Nova Scotia city seems to be consistently batting above its weight class: For a relatively isolated city with a sub-400,000-person population, Halifax consistently churns out fascinating music, from ’90s classics like Sloan, to ’00s staples like North of America, to more recent all-timers like York Redoubt. Our latest obsession, though, is Monomyth, whose Mint Record-released debut, Saturnalia Regalia, was one of our favourite records of the summer. No small feat.

Dousing classic-rock riffage and addictively jangly guitars—which owe more to the dBs than the Smiths—with a dash of shoegaze-y pedal work, Saturnalia Regalia was an immensely accomplished debut. Not that it should come as a surprise. Because after all, Monomyth’s members are Halifax vets: Guitarists Seamus Dalton and Josh Salter also play with Craig Currie and Nap Eyes (who will reunite with OG contributor, and Each Other member, Brad Loughead at Pop Montreal). Salter, for his part, sings in Psychic Fair. And their touring drummer, Scott Grundy, also plays with AUX fave Heaven For Real.

Indeed, if there’s anyone who could provide us with a roadmap to Halifax’s ever-ebullient music scene, it’s Monomyth. Curious as we are, we asked Dalton—the man half-responsible for Monomyth’s addictive guitars—to share some of his favourite new Halifax acts.

Surveillance

After listening to the Stressed and Depressed demo—which earned Surveillance daps in alt-weekly The Coast‘s recent new music issue—it’s easy to hear their M.O.: They’re not-so-secretly channeling Maritime legends Eric’s Trip. But don’t pretend that’s a bad thing. “Surveillance are super super sweet,” says Dalton. “It’s like Eric’s Trip-py, Elevator-type stuff. They’re a three-piece, and Dave [Burns] and Rachel [Fry] do all the songwriting. It’s refreshing to see a band do really preposterously loud, really simple blown-out pop songs. You’d think, ‘Well, how much more can you do with that?’ But they’re really doing a lot more.”

Old and Weird

Old and Weird have been on our radar for a sec—we actually gave ’em a hat tip when we were compiling our favourite Canadian jangle pop bands. Since then, though, they’ve released their debut LP, What I Saw, which pushed them into significantly weirder terrains. Dalton, for his part, can’t even hide his love for the band. “Old and Weird just released a new album, and we’ve been jamming that in the van pretty consistently. They’re the best thing going, in my opinion. Their songs are insane, and when you hear their new songs like for the first time, you don’t know what world you’re in—everything is crazy. I can’t understand the music they make. That doesn’t happen when you listen to a lot of bands, where you’re listening to music and you just don’t know what’s happening. They’re the best band.”

Moon

Moon’s another band we love; at one point, we named them one of Canada’s best emerging acts. And the Andrew Neville-led act is only getting better: Their latest cassette, above, is a slice of motorik madness, and its spaced-out kraut-rock deserves acclaim on par with similar-minded acts such as, say, Calgary’s Viet Cong. They’ll pair with Old and Weird at Pop Montreal to form a Haligonian supergroup (which isn’t exactly a novel concept—Neville played in a Dirty Beaches-led group at the Halifax Pop Explosion last year).

“Andrew Neville has been making music kind of on his own and with other bands, but Moon is his grandest endeavour yet. They’re actually playing with Old and Weird at Pop Montreal as a super group. I don’t know what it’s going to sound like, but I’m sure it’ll be amazing.”

Rob Loveless

The next act Dalton names is Halifax experimental artist Rob Loveless, whose patchwork sound can shift between wobbly soul and guitar freakouts. “Our friend Rob Loveless makes some pretty amazing music. He was in Montreal for a while, but he’s back in Halifax now. He’s been at it for so long, but he keeps on getting better and better. One day, he’ll just perfect his sound and be, like, the perfect musician. That’s my hope.”

Craig Currie

If you’ve been paying attention to Halifax’s D.I.Y. scene, you’ll surely have encountered Craig Currie’s musical experimentations: For example, he’s recorded as delay-heavy Chief Thundercloud and with Scribbler . “Scribbler had been a band for like, 10 years, but now, he’s going with his own name. He just did a tour of Ontario and Quebec and the Maritimes, but he’s definitely been one of the best songwriters in Halifax for a long while. He’s been perfecting this one type of songwriting for so long, and he’s in his prime right now.”

Saffrons

With two releases on Bandcamp—When Patricia Was Out and a self-titled six-songer—Saffron have carved out their sonic niche: Namely, they trade in swirling, blown-out psychedelia. “They’re really shoegazey. They used to be a three-piece, but now they’re a four-piece, so they sound a lot fuller. It’s experimental, noisy shoegaze stuff, they’re the type of band that would play $Rockin’ 4 Dollars$, where you get 15 minutes to play, and they bring a giant pedal board. You know they mean business.”

Poncho Records

Next, Dalton decides to vouch for a label—namely, Justin Murphy’s Poncho Records, who on their first cassette compilation, curated some of Halifax’s best. Including Monomyth, of course. “Poncho Records [is worth mentioning. There’s Walrus, Harley Alexander, Sheepman, and Best Fiends.”

Wayne World

We couldn’t find any music from Wayne World, but Dalton’s description is more than enough: “Wayne World [are] post-punk bizzarro [stuff]. It’s a man in a box that sings. It’s even better than it sounds.” Until we can find Wayne World recordings, enjoy the clip from Wayne’s World above.

Psychic Fair

Psychic Fair is act associated with Monomyth—namely, guitarist Josh Salter plays with ’em. But you might also recognize other members—along with Salter, the band is made up of members of the Lodge (and Charles Austin has also played with countless Haligonian musicians). The band released Bees on Ice earlier this year, and it’s a slice of fuzzed-out, guitar-driven perfection.

Monomyth

Dalton, of course, didn’t lobby for Monomyth’s inclusion on this list—the decision to include them is all ours. We initially spotlighted them in our list of shoegaze acts (and once had Salter pick his favourite spots in Halifax), but they’re not strictly ‘gazers: They toss shreds of ’80s jangle, ’60s pop, and ’90s pedalwork into a blender, and the shimmering guitar pop Saturnalia Regalia is the result. The best part? They make it sound effortless—listen to “Something Else,” above, for the proof.