Rusty’s first album was anything but a Fluke.

Perhaps the most important Canadian alt-rockers never to land a spot on Big Shiny Tunes, Rusty were an enigma. A band that somehow got less embarrassing as the years went on, theirs was a sound that was decidedly more punk than the grunge rock ashes it danced upon. At a time when a lot of Canadian music wasn’t, Rusty were decidedly cool; “Groovy Dead” was a fuzzed out stoner smash, while “Misogyny,” their biggest hit, featured a video directed by queer porn icon Bruce LaBruce.

They carried on until 2000, toying with their sound until breaking up after Out of Their Heads.

In 2011, though, the band got back together. And as we now know, their NXNE reunion was more than a quick nostalgia play — over the next few years, they’d play sets at the El Mocambo, Horseshoe Tavern and, later this week, the Bovine Sex Club. Oh, and they’re hard at work on their new album, their first in sixteen years. Its working title: Oops.

“We got bored with having to play only old stuff,” guitarist Scott McCullough us over the phone. “We decided ‘let’s write some new stuff so we’re not boring the piss out of ourselves doing this.’”

We interrupted McCullough’s Scarborough gardening session to talk about what’s next for the band, and it became abundantly clear that for this one, Rusty is going back to basics.

“It’s more punk, if anything. It’s straight ahead, bang-bang stuff. It’s not as atmospheric or noisy as Fluke and it’s not as period piece as Out of Their Heads,” said McCullough. “There’s not a slow one in there, yet.”

McCullough says Rusty have about ten songs demoed now, but aren’t rushing things. If anything, they’ve fallen a bit behind schedule, which is new for the band.

“We were hoping to have it out by now,” says McCullough, adding that the band is paying out of pocket for their new stuff while they navigate the trenches of Canadian funding. At this point, Rusty fans can expect the album, if we’re lucky, early next spring.

“We’re not very ambitious,” he says, laughing.

Rusty used to make records very quickly. “Go in, knock ’em out,” says McCullough, who notes that their second album, 1997’s Sophmoric, took the longest.

They were in and out of the studio in three weeks.

Still, he sounds hopeful about Rusty’s new album opening a few doors that might have closed with their long break away from the industry. Maybe it will get them a few festival gigs; at the very least, it will get them back on the stage, in front of an audience that’s been asking them for new music for a decade-plus.

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Rusty are headlining a a 25th anniversary bash at the Bovine Sex Club tomorrow, September 16th. Tickets are only $15, and with a 4am last call, this one’s sure to be a blast fill with old favourites and more than a few tastes of new music. See you there?