NECK OF THE WOODS

No Bush League Here

Call it a Craigslist miracle! It’s not as if Vancouver metal band Neck Of The Woods came together easy, but it came together nicely. Searching for prospective band members via the musicians-wanted classifieds is always a daunting task for any band. Drunks, addicts, flakes, ex-cons, too-good-for-this, and useless-at-that can make it a torturous process. Managing to avoid all that – Neck of the Woods arrived on the local metal scene in 2012.


Neck Of The Wood’s guitarist Dave Carr has been in various projects over the years. The frustration of short-lived bands had set in so he proceeded to find players for something new. Ads were placed and many answered.

OFF!

Showing the kids how to get OFF!

Try to imagine John Lennon fronting the Beatles and the Stones, and, then, a few years later starting a band with Mick Ronson, Dennis Thompson and Dee Dee Ramone – just because he felt like it.  Put the CV of Keith Morris in perspective here for just a second and connect the punk rock dots a bit to see that the man has had, and is having, a pretty good run as a driving force in some of the most all-time relevant A-List West Coast Punk Rock Combos.  As a founding member of both Black Flag & the Circle Jerks, he's hit the highest highs of the rock and roll life and it's excesses, then almost kicked more bucket than ass before his resurgence as a pissed off force/freak of nature sporting even more mojo in his mid-50's than he had as a trailblazing hyperactive twenty-something.

REBEL SPELL

 photo by John Marshall @ The Grosvenor in London

Getting Serious with Todd Serious from the Rebel Spell

Getting to interview Todd Serious from Vancouver’s most political punk band The Rebel Spell is rare these days but so are their shows in Vancouver now. “It's hard. I miss Vancouver a lot but then it's so much more awesome when I get here. It's constantly changing, definitely moved out of the pseudo-commercial venues it was in.”

February 2003 was their first show ever, so they just passed 11 years as a band. Asking Todd about his latest concerns, he responds with, “Honestly, I'm working hard to resist falling in to a nihilistic mental state. I feel really overwhelmed with the trajectory of society. And I'm sure a lot of people feel that. But I think it's super important to maintain a positive outlook. Remember that even though the big picture is really bleak, individuals like you and I, and everyone, can make a difference day to day in just keeping things a little bit better. And really, that's what's within our power so we should strive for that. And I'm striving to keep it positive in an overwhelmingly negative context. My friends go that way, I go that way. Support each other, because that's all we've really got.”

WALL OF SOUND - APRIL

Local music news and gig listing 

The Flintettes are here - and they'll be giving you Goosebumps after the Honeymoon!  A new arrival in Vancouver is this trio which is made up of CC on drums (Vancougar)  Marissa on bass (Dizzy Eyes) and Michael, guitar (The Tranzmitors).  Vocals are shared between them in this six month old pop blending combo. They have a single coming out in in April on La Ti Da records, with the final piece of music recorded at the now closed Hive Studio.

They will be appearing April 12th with The Isotopes at the Electric Owl. Check them out!  http://www.latidarecords.com/tag/the-flintettes

BISON

Old name becomes new again for seasoned headbanger

For most heavy bands, being dropped by a major metal label might be a detrimental situation, but, when Metal Blade Records chose to release them about a year ago, the band Bison b.c. took it all in stride. After seven years and a three-album output the two camps have gone their separate ways. “They got to run a business and we aren’t making any money for anybody. So we had to go. That’s it. No hard feelings,” guitarist/vocalist Dan And deadpans. And if this seems like a step backwards these guys will have nothing of it. “We know enough people who put out records,” And says. “We don’t need some big label down in the states or whatever.” The mighty Bison does not slow easily and rumbles on.

GRASS CITY

Triumphant Glory Blues Rock 

Grass City is back! And back with a glorious reprisal. They have emerged once again with the release of their epic new album, Through Harvest There’s Hope.

“It’s a personal vendetta,” as vocalist/guitarist Kurtis Dernisky likes to put it. “The title is so fitting to what we just went through in the last four years. It was like harvesting our own baby. We just nurtured this shit and just love it, just like a child.”

It has been four years since we’ve heard a peep from this crew but after one listen to the new album it’s quite apparent that it was well worth the wait. Four years of soul searching, personal tragedies, and nose-to-the-grindstone writing sessions are most often the perfect ingredients to cook up a nerve chilling musical slab of legendary proportions. And that has been the underlying story of what Grass City has done.

WALL OF SOUND - FEBRUARY

Gigs, news and venues too!

On Saturday, Feb. 1 at the Railway Club are a few heavy hitters that you don’t wanna miss: Blacked Out, Cliffjumper, Legion Of Goons & Spree Killers. Probably the punkest show that is closest to the downtown core that night.

SUBCULTURE FEBRUARY

As yet again I rush to write this column I wonder if I’m repeating myself ... I figured I’d just scribble down a bunch of musings at work as I’m listening to extremely loud death metal... Hey, it actually ripped me away from twiddling with my phone for a couple of hours...

I had an interesting conversation with a cab driver the other night... As I was checking the NHL app on my phone for the hockey scores, he chimed in about how the world is changing people’s attention spans with technology...

DISWORSHIP

Brains, speed and volume

“We like our doomy sludge yet are compelled to grind, grind, grind,” says vocalist, Mark Skwarok, on the topic of influences such as Eyehategod, Phobia, Insect Warfare and Noothgrush.

Disworship evolved from the ashes of Cathar with Freya Giles on drums and vocals, (Nun Un, Cathar), Greg Dinardo on guitar (Strain, Write Off), Scott Bartlett on guitar (Nun Un, Destroy All) and Kavan Cronin on bass (Memorial, Night Terrors, Brains). “We went through some member changes and our music began to change,” says Skwarok. With that, came a new name.

WHO GOT TOONED?

Look no further this January, here we have the anomaly of Paul MacKenzie! 

This front man has been chasing the road for a few generations. Be it a salute to Detroit Rock n Roll, revving up the engine for the Enigmas, or hitting the highways with The Real MacKenzies! This gent is back in the ring this January with the elusive Enigmas.  With their high energy, psychedelic garage rock, geared up in tight stripes ready to coax your shoes and the winter blues outta those cement blocks.  But that’s not all; the Real MacKenzies’ got some surprises up their kilts! Woops!

Illustrator Dan Harbord takes his skills to the page to get you tooned up for a series of stellar performances. Ready, set, GO!

WITCH OF THE WASTE

An Island In the Flood

There are many challenges facing a young band trying to break through Vancouver’s surging heavy music scene — a scene that is awash with many specific sub genres and pigeon hole traps. It is important for a band to stand out by having a distinct sound and unique identity, otherwise, how can a band fit into and yet separate themselves from this overflowing landscape?
That is not an easy thing to do without alienating the often fickle metal crowd that trudges out every weekend to witness what can be a one-dimensional four-band bill.

ANI KYD

Branches Out

Artist, vocalist Ani Kyd’s newly wrought energy turns its attention to her new album Entangle. Out on Alternate Tentacles, a label known for heavier or more provocative material, this release broadens with a new set of roots and branches. On Entangle, Kyd collaborated with four different composers across six songs, giving each song a distinct sound and feel.

SPREE KILLERS

Spree Killers - Selftitled - Independent

If the Spree Killers were required to submit urine samples to test for performance enhancing drugs, not only would it come up positive, but traces of vinegar would also be found. In particular, vocalist Fanni Adams’ screeching diesel style defines the piss and vinegar attitude. An explosive and snotty over the top delivery like hers will either send people heading for the hills or cause seizures of reckless destruction. She rants and raves like a vile hawk at feeding time. Underneath it all is a thick pulse-driving punk rock drubbing of the senses provided by tasty guitar slides and three-chord raucousness. With song subjects that include such themes as necrophilia, inappropriate beer-spillage and not giving a rat’s ass.

THE WALL OF SOUND - JANUARY

Gigs and gossip 

If you got it, send it over to Tanya Van and Rene Milord at our email: skinnywallofsound@gmail.com

Goth rockers MODE MODERNE’s record release for their new album, 'Occult Delight,' is on FRIDAY, JANUARY 3RD at the Biltmore with Cosmetics. Eight-band line-up – you can’t go wrong!

SUBCULTURE JANUARY

As we enter another calendar year of giveths and taketh aways, I face one of my greatest challenges... Working in a bar sober... As you may have heard, I was recently hospitalized for a pickled liver and its manifestation of an absurdly huge buildup of fluid in my body... After some fluid shedding meds, I feel like I was a balloon that was popped finally... Sadly, this development in my overall health has caused my permanent breakup with Jagermeister... It was a long exclusive run... I'll miss you!