Tales of the Salty Bag

Winnipeg is starting to develop a fairly solid pop punk/beard punk/orgcore (whatever you want to call it) scene. Every once in a while the bands brave the shitty highway for a couple hundred kilometres and play Brandon. This doesn't happen often (and when it does I usually don't hear about the show until it's too late). This past January I saw a poster that billed both Dangercat and Elder Abuse (2 bands that in my opinion slay). I didn't recognize any of the other bands on the bill but just seeing those 2 names on the poster made me want to brave the frigid early January temperatures (it ended up being around -30°C that night). I convinced a few other people to come with me and made sure that I arrived reasonably early so that I didn't miss any of the Winnipeg bands. The first 2 bands happened, didn't leave much of an impression on me. Next up was a band that goes by the name of Mobina Galore. Mobina Galore consists of 2 people; 1 plays guitar and sings lead whi

The great thing about independent record labels is that they're run by music lovers..and generally don't have very many cooks in the kitchen.The result from this is that the owner usually curates a specific sound or ethos, not because it sells a nutload of units or is popular but because it's what they dig (within reason). When you find a label that jives with your musical taste it's a glorious day. For me one of these labels is It's Alive Records. It's Alive has released some of my favorite albums from the past 10 years (if you want any recommendations hit me up) and hasn't released a single dud. I will purchase anything that they release without even hearing a note, let alone a song. It is because of their track record that this past September I ordered The Capitalist Kids - at a loss. With the name of the band I was expecting something with skatepunk/crusty leanings..nope. The Capitalist Kids, surprisingly, have a mid to late 90's sound somewhere betw

I like pop punk. Ramonescore..Lookout, Recess, Red Scare, It's Alive records; you know, that ilk. Majority of what I'm exposed to (or expose myself to) is either American or based out of GTA/Ottawa areas. For some reason, it's rare for me to get a record and find out that the band is from the prairies or western Canada. This is not to say that there aren't killer pop punk bands in these regions, it just takes more digging to find them. (I know, you're angry and yelling Chixdiggit! at the screen right now. There's always exceptions). One of these amazing Canadian pop punk bands is based out of Vancouver and go by the name of The Hextalls. I had heard their name before but never really gave them a listen until last January (2014) when I got their LP "Rock You to Sleep". Shit is fantastic. Catchy, cheeky without turning themselves into a joke; straight forward pop punk. With heavy nods to the bruddas, I would be more than surprised if at least a few of th

Raised Fist was coming to Brandon....again. Every music scene has an ebb and flow to it. From what I am told, Brandon had a huge punk..that turned somewhat metal..scene in the mid to late 90's. I can't attest to that. I can however attest to a punk/metalcore scene in the early to mid 2000's that was anchored by 1 band from Winnipeg (that consisted of a few Brandonites), Volition. I was lucky in high school that there was a local all ages scene for me to take part in and learn from. I can't remember the frequency of shows but I do remember that whenever I heard of a Volition show there was bound to be a packed house. Crowd surfing, a respectably sized pit (more often that not void of those dick swinging, spin kicking, windmilling, slam dance douchebags) and electricity in the air. Park Community Centre (primarily, along with other community centres around Brandon) was alive with youthful indiscretion. It was after a Volition show in 2003 that myself, along with my frie