Uncut

Young Pioneers

2011-09-26T08:56:00.001-04:00

Here's Young Pioneers, give it a listen: Young Pioneers by uncut

New Release: Split 7"

2011-08-09T10:01:00.006-04:00

Wow, it has been a while since we've released anything! We've been working on recording our new album for ages and it is coming, but in the meantime we've decided to release a new single on a split 7-inch with our friends Few and Far Between from Detroit/Brooklyn. Elkion Records is being kind enough to press up the vinyl and put the record out. The artwork was created by renowned artist & designer Mark Penxa, you can check out his work here.

Anyone who has seen us in one of our rare appearances over the last couple of years has probably heard this song, it's called Young Pioneers. If you'd like to purchase the limited edition vinyl release you can order it here. The record is now on available on iTunes and can be purchased at the link below.

Talk to you soon!

Shocking News

2010-06-19T11:19:00.004-04:00

We're playing a show. Weird, right? Anyhow, it's tonight, it's at Sneaky Dee's and we're on at 9pm. Ben Rayner over at The Star previewed us as such: "Perpetual underdogs but also perpetually awesome on the live front. The new stuff takes their coiled post-punk menace to pleasingly heavy and aggressive places. Where the hell is that third album?"

Them Bones

2010-02-11T17:28:00.004-05:00

We played a show at a west-end Toronto loft in support of our buddies Dinosaur Bones a couple of weeks ago. It was a total blast. In addition to the pictures (see all of them here) there's a little bit of us in this video, which you might enjoy watching.

In the Studio

2010-02-09T19:54:00.003-05:00

The Silver Screen

2009-12-02T20:36:00.006-05:00

Guess what? We're going to be in a movie. We filmed the scene -- a battle of the bands -- yesterday.

Saturday Night Special

2009-07-10T15:44:00.005-04:00

Just a reminder that Bishop Morocco (a band that I play guitar in) will be playing its very first show on Saturday night at Whippersnapper Gallery.

Josh Reichmann will be opening up; Jaime Sin and Mikey Apples will be DJing throughout the night. The live music starts at about 11. Short sets, so don't be late.

Also, there's a nice little blurb about the band in Now -- read it here.

Bishop Morocco

2009-06-25T15:38:00.003-04:00

Since I seem to love talking about myself so much on here, I thought I might as well tell you kids about the band Bishop Morocco. My friends Jake Fairley (ex-Uncut and current techno superstar) and James Sayce (who was in The Deadly Snakes and Tangiers) decided to live in Gronigen and make a record. Said record is really good and will be coming out on Hand Drawn Dracula sometime in the near future.

They asked me to (or maybe I forced them to let me) play some guitar in the live version of the band, which is now the three of us and a big dancehall style soundsystem in lieu of a drummer.

We're playing for the first time on July 11 at Whipper Snapper in Toronto. Although I'm quite nervous about it, I still want you to come out and see us play.

Mondays

2009-06-22T16:44:00.004-04:00

I used to have a regular Tuesday night with my friend Greg where we played records and drank beers at Sweaty Betty. Lots of people seemed to like it and it was fun to do. Well, we're doing the same thing again, except this time it's on Monday nights and it's at Red Light.

You should come out sometime.

Japan Footage

2009-05-21T11:34:00.005-04:00

I recently found some footage of our trip to Japan and decided to edit it together. Sadly, nothing of us actually playing. You can't have everything though, now can you?

Watch it here. Sorry, but it's too wide to fit into the blog.

Live at Trash Palace

2009-05-04T18:04:00.002-04:00

Here's us playing "All Hands" live at Trash Palace in Toronto.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

2009-04-17T12:25:00.001-04:00

As you might possibly be aware (because I like to relentlessly flog the fact on this blog) we're playing tonight at The Boat as part of Pop Noir. If you don't already know, The Boat is in Kensington Market, on Augusta, just north of Dundas. It looks sort of like a boat inside.

We're planning on delivering our rock stylings to your ears at 10:30 pm. We'll be mixing up the set with a variety of very new, kind of new, old and really old songs. For this pleasure, you are only asked to "pay what you can" (PWYC, as it were). After we're done, people will play records (or CDs, or mp3s, or whatever ... although records would be better) and you can dance if the mood so strikes you.

Hope to see you tonight!

Your Uncut Urban Planner

2009-04-16T13:26:00.003-04:00

Friday April 17: We're playing at The Boat (in Kensington Market) at 10:30 pm. It's PWYC ... we're hoping that you can pay $1,000, but we'll settle for $5.

Saturday April 18: It's Record Store Day! Head on over to your favourite record store (in Toronto I suggest Frantic City or Rotate This, but that's just me) and buy some stuff. If you live in the UK you should go buy the Darkhorse EP on sweet 7" vinyl (actually, you should buy five copies and mail four of them to us).

Recording Update

2009-04-14T14:48:00.004-04:00

So, we managed to finish three songs last week and will be heading in to do another three in the very near future. Hopefully we'll figure out what we're going to do about releasing them soon.

Can't wait that long to hear them? Come see us play some of them live this Friday at The Boat!

Gone Recordin'

2009-04-09T10:56:00.002-04:00

We're in the studio right now, working on some new songs. More details to follow. Exciting!

Poppin'

2009-04-06T17:55:00.001-04:00

No, this isn't about Chris Brown. Although, for the record, we don't like him. We just thought you might be interested to hear that we're playing a show in Toronto this month at an event called Pop Noir. It's at The Boat on April 17, it's $5, we're on at 10:30pm and people will play records after we're done. Sounds fun, right?

From the Archives - Volume Seven

2009-03-30T23:06:00.010-04:00

A few years back we went on tour with Bob Mould (of Hüsker Dü / Sugar fame). To make the deal even sweeter, Brendan Canty (you might know him from a little band called Fugazi) was playing drums. Obviously, it was pretty freaking sweet. Here's some pictures.

From the Archives - Volume Six

2009-03-22T17:14:00.007-04:00

Studio photos from the sessions for Modern Currencies, including such exciting things as cables, buttons, knobs ...

Nice People Say Nice Things

2009-03-18T14:12:00.008-04:00

Brazeau's Blog had some kind words about the show on Saturday:

Uncut reminded me why I like them so much: speedy guitar riffs, cynical yet inspiring punk lyrics and a solid rhythm section holding everything together. Their set ended with "Darkhorse" from their last album Modern Currencies and the song continues to grow on me each day. I can't wait for their new album as it is definitely going to be one I will pick up as soon as its released.

Read the full review here.

Thanks Jon!

Blistering Hardcore

2009-03-16T12:28:00.006-04:00

Wow -- the show at Trash Palace was super fun. I literally think that it might be literally the best place in Toronto, literally. Hot dogs, Pop Tarts, popcorn, custom screened drink cozies, Argento's Demons ... what's not to love?

Some other folks had nice things to say about the show as well.

From AOL Music:

Then we abandoned CMW/F altogether to hit up a semi-secret show in Toronto's hippest venue, The Trash Palace (which deserved to be more packed than it was). Usually a cult-pop cinema -- as evidenced by the b-movie posters, popcorn machine and early 80s arcade game -- this no-stage spot (and home to the Toronto pillow-fighting league) has the feel of a Vice mag photo shoot, but less contrived.

So we stuffed napkins in our ears and downed cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and watched Vancouver two-piece Japandroids tear through their fast, loud and distortion-laced catalogue, howling in harmony, while a 30 minute clock counted down and the best 70s Japanese monster movie I've ever seen screened in the background. It was fierce and exciting and far better than that over-hyped other noise duo No Age. They could soon be as big as the late, lamented Death From Above 1979.

Japandroids were followed-up by an equally intense set by perennially under-appreciated Toronto rockers Uncut, whose new tunes revealed an apparent hardcore change of heart.

Read full article here.

From The Star:

Japandroids and Uncut: Trash Palace, Saturday. Not a CMW show, but I had it on good authority from two friends who'd seen Japandroids at the Gladstone the previous night that this was a must-see. Quite correctly. The Vancouver duo raises a jubilant guitar-and-drums racket (earplugs recommended). Endlessly, but rightly, compared to No Age, Brian King and David Prowse sweeten the noise-pop with smiley-faced melodies that would have made peak-period Cheap Trick green with envy. Local lads Uncut chose to unveil a good chunk of what should be a blistering next record.

Read full article here.

Thanks again to Trash Palace, Japandroids and everyone else who helped make it a fun show.

Tonight!

2009-03-14T14:02:00.005-04:00

Just a reminder (as if you need any more of them) that we're playing tonight at Trash Palace. The address is 89-B Niagara St, which is one block south of Wellington, between Tecumseth and Bathurst. It's an early show -- doors are at 8 pm and the whole thing is over at 11 pm.

See you there!

Ps See how rad this picture is ... that's how rad the show is going to be.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

2009-03-12T16:10:00.003-04:00

Great review of the Japandroids record Post-Nothing in today's Now -- four Ns -- along with a plug for the show on Saturday (although they call it a day show ... it's not).

Well done chaps!

They Live

2009-03-09T10:58:00.002-04:00

Just a reminder:

Saturday March 14
Trash Palace (89-B Niagara St)
8pm Doors
9pm Japandroids
10pm Uncut
$5

Keep in mind that it's an early show ... the whole thing is over at 11pm.

Stay Gold Pony Boy

2009-03-04T16:55:00.007-05:00

To you, the casual observer, it may seem as though we haven't been up to all that much in the past little while. Well you know what? In your face. You're totally wrong ... and stop being so negative.

We have, in fact, been writing new material like crazy. We even went so far as to demo a couple of the songs that we've been working on. We thought that they turned out pretty well, so we decided to go even further and post them here. You could even say that we were taking things to the limit. But then we would tell you that you had gone too far.

So, with no further ado ... new music!

All Hands

Stay Gold

We'll be playing these, along with a few more new ones, at our show with Japandroids on March 14th at Trash Palace. Stay tuned for more details about that.

Physical Evidence

2009-03-02T14:07:00.007-05:00

You may remember that back in November I made a post about our record being available in the UK and also made mention that there was a 7" for Darkhorse. At the time, I wasn't entirely sure that it actually existed.

Well, I now have come to think that it might. I found an image online that appears to be an actual photograph of the sleeve, rather than just a digital mock up. That's good news! Unless, of course, the conspiracy to make us believe that it exists has simply redoubled its efforts ...

History Lesson -- Jake Fairley 101

2009-02-25T14:01:00.005-05:00

When Uncut first started out, it was just me on bass and my friend Jake Fairley playing guitar and singing. We were using a collection of samplers, drum machines and computers at various points to provide drums and some keyboard parts, trying to come up with a mix of minimal techno and post-punk in the Joy Division vein. (As a small point of pride, this was before both "House of Jealous Lovers" and Interpol. Just saying is all.)

We put out a couple of 12"s in Germany (see pics below) that I think might have been well received (but I don't speak German, so I'm just going to go ahead and assume that people liked them) and had plans to release our first full length on Paper Bag ... but this would never be. You see, this whole time Jake was making techno records on his own and had started living on-and-off in Berlin while he was touring Europe. He eventually decided to not move back to Toronto, so we broke up, but only in the band sense, not in the friend sense.

Since then, Uncut has obviously been a different thing entirely.

So, what is Jake up to these days, you may find yourself asking ... he's still making the techno (doing quite well at it in fact) and living in Amsterdam. I've included some clips for your listening/viewing pleasure. You can also listen to more on his Myspace page.

Huh?

2009-02-13T16:56:00.005-05:00

Oh YouTube, you so crazy.

Someone decided to take part of the German version of the movie Girl Interrupted and put "Understanding the New Violence" under it, to what purpose I am unsure.

But hey, thanks for thinking of us.

Japandroids

2009-02-13T14:37:00.011-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know that we're playing with an awesome band (I really mean it ... they're super good) from Vancouver called Japandroids on March 14 at the awesome venue Trash Palace. That spells out all kinds of awesomeness.

Japandroids just announced that their debut album is coming out on Unfamiliar (hi Greg) and Pitchfork seem to be happy about it.

More details to come soon.

As an aside, I'll be DJing at the Wavelength anniversary show tomorrow night with Greg, the Unfamiliar records guy and notorious cosplay fanatic. You should come out, because I have a feeling that Brides are going to be amazing.

Happy New Year

2008-12-30T11:53:00.001-05:00

2-4-1

2008-12-23T18:05:00.006-05:00

I just noticed that you can now buy both our records, Modern Currencies and Those Who Were Hung Hang Here, as a combo for $18 through the Paper Bag Records store. That seems like a pretty sweet deal to me, in these dark recessionary times.

Click here to purchase.

Quantum of Rockage

2008-11-25T13:29:00.005-05:00

Did you know that our music is available for purchase in England? Well, 'tis, thanks to the chaps at Cheap Date Records. You should check out this micro-site (it's like a website, but much smaller) they did when they put out the Darkhorse 7".

That's right ... Uncut vinyl exists. I haven't seen it myself, but it seems far too elaborate an enterprise to be a hoax.

Reminder: Hamilton Show on Saturday

2008-11-20T15:03:00.003-05:00

As previously mentioned, we're playing at at Club Absinthe in Hamilton (aka "The Hammer") this Saturday. The rest of the bands are sweet: The Marble Index, The Disraelis and In Silent Code.

From the Archives - Volume Five

2008-11-18T11:57:00.006-05:00

The gig poster edition.

Yes We Can!

2008-11-13T14:54:00.004-05:00

I know it sounds kind of crazy, but it's true; the folks over at the Obama campaign used our song "Kiss Me" in one of their videos. The level of surreal I experienced while listening to him speak, with our song in the background, is pretty hard to describe.

Obviously, we feel honoured.

The Hammer Party

2008-11-12T15:03:00.004-05:00

We're playing at Club Absinthe in Hamilton on the 22nd of November with The Marble Index, The Disraelis and In Silent Code.

Last time we were at Absinthe we had a blast, and this bill is pretty sweet, so you should probably come to this show. Just saying is all.

Halloween

2008-11-06T14:40:00.004-05:00

If I don't say so myself, Derek and I really killed it ...

An Overwhelming Feeling of Relief

2008-11-05T10:39:00.003-05:00

Thursday Night Surprise

2008-10-20T17:06:00.002-04:00

We just found out that on Thursday October 23rd we're going to be opening for Danko Jones at Lee's Palace. Get there early (just after 9 pm) and you can catch the stylings in hilarity of comedian Nick Flanagan.

I Dig Music

2008-10-16T16:54:00.002-04:00

Just a reminder that we're playing at The Drake on Saturday Night as part of Lipstick, Cherry. I feel like this will be fun times. We're on at 11 pm and it's $5 at the door.

We're also playing on November 22 in Hamilton at Club Absinthe, where we're joined by The Marble Index, The Disraelis and In Silent Code.

Cravefest Redux

2008-10-14T15:36:00.002-04:00

As you may remember, we attended the Cravefest Awards a little while back. I just found this awesome photo on Shark vs Bear from the event and thought I would share it with you.

That said, apparently the lovely young man responsible for the site had a horrible time at Wrongbar a couple of weeks ago, resulting in a smashed camera. Here's hoping his fundraiser went well.

Rock + October = Roctober

2008-10-08T13:19:00.002-04:00

Our friend Pamm has a night called Lipstick, Cherry and has graciously asked us to play it. We, in turn, were also gracious and said that we would love to. So we are.

It's at the Drake on Saturday October 18. It's $5 at the door. It will be good times.

Tonight!

2008-10-03T13:15:00.004-04:00

As mentioned before, we're playing tonight at the Radius & Helena CD release. See the post below for more details.

The reason for the post is so I can show you all the video promo they made for the show. It's totally fucked, but also totally awesome. Enjoy!

Ps We'll be playing again in October. Details are forthcoming.

Public Demonstration

2008-09-19T12:33:00.003-04:00

As much satisfaction as writing on a blog brings me, I also think that one of the fun parts about being in a band is playing live shows. Luckily, we're going to be doing that on October third, so I guess I will be having my cake and eating it too.

We're playing Radius & Helena's CD release show at Massey Hall ... sort of. To be more specific, Massey Hall's Centuries Lounge, which is, thankfully, quite a bit smaller than the main hall ... but whatever, we still get to be on the marquee.

You can get tickets at Rotate and Soundscapes. They're $12. (Edit: The tickets are $12 in advance, but $15 at the door.)

Yay for M. Woodley

2008-09-10T17:19:00.007-04:00

Although we don't really know her (we don't even know her first name), we're pretty sure that M. Woodley is radical. How do we know that? She took a bunch of pictures of us, in a non-digital fashion (with a little something called film), and then posted them on Flickr, in a totally digital fashion (with a little something called the internet). You never know what M. is going to do!

Anyhow, regardez some of our pics below, then check out her Flickr Photostream for more, featuring all kinds of Toronto bands.

Verge Awards - Denied

2008-09-10T14:20:00.003-04:00

This is as baffling to us as it must be to you, but we did not make the shortlist for The Verge Awards. Click here to see who robbed us of what we were due.

I know you're upset, but try and hold yourselves together. There's always next year.

Speaking of Videos

2008-08-27T11:00:00.001-04:00

This is our video for the song "Darkhorse". We had nothing to do with it (Kris Lefcoe directed it), so I'm allowed to say that it's totally amazing. We actually have the little versions of ourselves and our tiny instruments, so my dream of being made into an action figure has basically come true already.

From the Archives - Volume Four

2008-08-25T10:38:00.001-04:00

Way back in 2004 we did our first music video. It's for the song "Understanding the New Violence". Derrick Beckles, of Street Carnage fame, made it for us in the apartment he and I used to share.

From the Archives - Volume Three

2008-08-21T10:41:00.001-04:00

I unearthed a few demos that we've done. This is the first time that anyone outside of the band will have heard them. Enjoy!

This first one is of "Buried With Friends", from Those Who Were Hung Hang Here, our first record. We recorded it live in our jam space in early 2004. It's one of the very first recordings of us playing together (I think we demoed three or four songs that night).

The second is a demo of "Hideaway" from Modern Currencies. All in all, it's pretty similar to the final version, but a bit faster, less layered and missing Melissa Auf Der Maur's awesome backup vocals.

Cravefest Video Awards - Post Mortem

2008-08-20T17:29:00.008-04:00

I mentioned a couple of days ago that we were presenting at the Cravefest Video Awards. Well, we did.

It was a fine experience all around -- lots of booze drinks that we didn’t have to pay for and really nice people running the show -- but I did spend a lot of time being confused about what was going on. It was sort of how I imagine presenting an award for MTV Bulgaria would feel. Everyone else seemed to be in on it, but I didn’t speak the language.

Anyhow, I meant to bring my camera, but didn’t, so I only took a couple of photos backstage (which I dubbed the Dave Navarro Lounge) with my phone. They served Rockstar Energy Drink, obviously.

From the Archives - Volume Two

2008-08-20T10:39:00.002-04:00

This is a video of us playing "Understanding the New Violence" live at the Mod Club when we opened for Metric back in 2005. As you can tell, we were still all about playing in almost total darkness. Jeff Harris filmed it. Thanks Jeff!

From the Archives - Volume One

2008-08-18T09:12:00.003-04:00

I've recently realized that there is a shit-ton of Uncut stuff -- pictures, demos, videos and more -- from the past five years (?!?!) that's never seen the light of day (technically, the light of someone else's monitor).

So here is From the Archives - Volume One, for your viewing pleasure. I'll be doing a bunch more of these in the future.

Cravefest Awards

2008-08-15T10:11:00.009-04:00

Although we're not up for an award, we're going to present one to someone else at the Cravefest Video Awards, Sunday night at Bolgia 10 of the Eighth Circle of Hell, aka Tattoo Rock Parlour.

Speaking of Cravefest, we did an interview with them once and they had Jon chop a keyboard in half with a samurai sword. Jon gets all clever with a Highlander quote. Watch the footage below.

Japan - Leftover Photos

2008-08-14T13:00:00.001-04:00

These are just a bunch of photos that I liked, but didn't get used in the tour diary. Enjoy!

Japan - Day Eight

2008-08-14T10:00:00.001-04:00

Our last day in Japan. We were pretty bummed out. We decided to visit the Sensoji temple in Asakusa for our final dose of sightseeing. You’ll probably recognize the giant lantern at the outer gate (Kaminarimon).

Our last meal was a return visit to Mos Burger. This is a fast food chain that needs to open in Toronto ASAP.

After that, we went back to the hotel, packed up, said our final goodbyes to Kenji and Ricky, and then we were in the air, on our way home. We were immediately counting the days until our next trip to Japan.

Japan - Day Seven

2008-08-13T11:15:00.001-04:00

We decided to get out Tokyo for a bit and see something a bit less urban. We hopped on a train and went out to Kamakura, which used to be the capital of Japan.

Kamakura is mostly known for its temples, shrines and the beach. It’s a popular daytrip for Japanese folks. We went and saw Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, which is considered the most important shrine in Kamakura (by our English guide books, so take that for what you will). It was quite beautiful, and a nice relaxing break from the madness of Tokyo.

We walked down the road to smaller shrine, stopping in a little café (which was basically a woman’s house) along the way.

Chris and I decided to go see the Daibutsu, which is basically a giant statue of Buddha. It was awe-inspiring. You can actually go inside the statue, which inspired my awe even more.

Derek and Jon went to the beach. While they were there they found a pretty hilarious sand sculpture.

After a day in the country, we were excited to go see our label-mates Lillies and Remains play at Shibuya Plug. Another awesome venue, and the band was rad too.

We met a nice young woman (who was carrying around a stuffed animal) at the show who liked our band, but had missed us at O-Nest. Our fan base includes plushies I guess.

As was becoming tradition, we went for a late night meal with Ricky. Again, the food was great.

Japan - Day Six

2008-08-11T10:45:00.002-04:00

We’re not just a noisy rock band, we’re also lovers of culture and stuff. Se we decided to head out to Roppongi Hills in the morning. Roppongi Hills is one developer’s vision of utopia. While I wouldn’t call it utopia, it’s really nice there.

We had lunch at a great open air café. It’s hard to have a bad meal in Japan.

After that, it was up to the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower. 360 degrees of windows with a great view of Tokyo.

From there we went up a floor to the Mori Museum of Modern Art. The exhibit was amazing. It was a retrospective of the Turner Prize. Pretty much every piece that’s won the prize, ever. It was a dream come true for me. The Damian Hirst cows are as upsetting as you imagine.

After that, we went out to roof for more impressive cityscapes. Chris and I were happy to find the Lovers' Sanctuary!

Having had our fill of culture (and stuff), we decided to act like true North American Scum and buy lots of things, so it was back to Harajuku (and the infamous, not to mention hilariously named, Takeshita Alley) and Shibuya. We experienced the madness that is Tokyu Hands all over again (they sell everything from lumber to bicycles to costumes to luggage to camping supplies to lab equipment ... and more) and tried out Mos Burgers’ main competition, Freshness Burger. It sucked.

After a quick recharge at the hotel, we decided to do what we do best ... drink at a bar. We’d been hearing about how awesome Garage Land was, so decided to check it out. On our way upstairs to the bar, we could hear The Only Ones and started to get excited. That excitement tapered a bit when we realized that there was only one other paying customer in there and that the place was about twenty square feet. Our waitress was really nice though and put on some Sonic Youth in our honour. We behaved with dignity.

Japan - Day Five

2008-08-11T10:20:00.001-04:00

Now that we were done playing shows, we could get down to business and act like tourists. We started out in Shinjuku, which was a little too Yorkville meets Yonge Street for our tastes (although Chris did manage to spend another wad of cash in Disk Union). We saw a lot of nice bikes that were, for the most part, unlocked or free locked. It blew my mind that in a city of 13 million you don't have to worry about having your bike stolen.

After Shinjuku lost its allure, we hopped on the train and went to Harajuku and Shibuya, which was way more our speed. Chris bought his dog a kimono. Sick!

We went back to the hotel after not being able to get a seat at any of the bars in the Golden Gai (which was a disappointment, but predictable -– it’s a row of tiny bars that hold between four and twelve people each) and grabbed some beers on the way. They come in all sizes!

Then, after a quick recoup, we went to a darts bar in Naka Meguru (where our hotel was). This might sound lame, but it was awesome. Electronic darts games, amazing bar food (nachos where the chips were made from fried cheese, plates of chorizo and so much more) and drunken salarymen. The part where Jon kept winning all the games (and our money) sucked though. I can’t believe we didn’t take any photos while we were there.

Speaking of things we didn’t take photos of, we went and got some tacos after from a tiny little Mexican place. They were awesome, which was a pretty great surprise.

Chris and I went to bed, but Jon and Derek decided to go to a bar that was basically in someone’s apartment. It held maybe fifteen people. I think it was called Sex Gorilla, but I’m not sure. Guess what they forgot to take pictures of?

All the upcoming posts will feature lots of photos, I swear. We learned our lesson.

Japan - Day Four

2008-08-08T11:35:00.002-04:00

Chris and I woke up early and went out to Shibuya to check out some record stores and had our first encounter with Disk Union (the first of many for Chris). Holy shit! It’s floors and floors in multiple buildings of awesome records, all organized by someone with severe OCD. And this was just the Shibuya location ... there’s another in Shinjuku.

We also tried out the teriyaki burger at McDonalds. Wow, it’s gross. The melon soda was pretty good though. After that, we went to a few guitar shops, which made us wish we were rich. 1960 Jazzmaster in mint condition? Sure, I would love one.

We got back to the hotel, grabbed our gear and took the train out to Kashiwa. It’s sort of like York Region.

Drunkard’s Stadium is a great venue ... it was designed by a recording engineer and features doors that look like they were taken from a submarine. Weirdly, the sound guy lived in Toronto for a while and used to work at the Reverb from time to time. After soundcheck we went for some noodles and gyoza, which like almost everything else that we put in our mouths in Japan, were really good.

Back at the venue we had a small bowing in ceremony between all the bands. It was a nice way to meet and pay your respects to everyone else on the bill. We also met some of our new best friends, a band called Wicked. They were, in fact, wicked guys.

The show itself was fun times. It sounded amazing on stage and Derek tackled Jon at the end of the set. Afterwards, we took the subway back to the hotel. Gross.

Japan - Day Three

2008-08-07T12:53:00.029-04:00

We left for Tokyo at seven in the morning, which sucked, but what ruled is that a bunch of people from the show were waiting outside to say goodbye to us. How nice is that?

The five hour drive from Niigata to Tokyo wasn't the best hangover remedy that I've ever come across, but on the way we did discover the amazing fast food chain Mos Burger, which, despite the name, is one tasty place. I will happily trade all of the McDonalds in Toronto for just a couple Mos Burgers.

We got to Toyko, dropped our stuff off at the hotel, did soundcheck, then wandered around Shibuya for a bit. It was like sensory overload after the relative quiet of Niigata. Chris made a new friend, with a new face, at a place called Baby Doll (it's totally not the same thing as the one in Toronto).

After some really good Thai food, we hung out at the hotel then went back to O-Nest for an interview with Crossbeat. Things were weird for a bit when then asked us about Toronto bands that we like. I think when we said Fucked Up, it made them feel fucked up. I guess they thought that was a bit too punk rock for us, and the interview focused on that for a while. Overall, it was a good interview and very thorough.

O-Nest is a really great venue. There’s a bar with floor to ceiling windows where you hang out, then you walk down an outdoor staircase to get to the venue, which is plain old fantastic. Good sound, lighting, decent band rooms and great staff all seem standard in Japan, even in smaller venues.

We took some photos with a pretty rad guy named Jun. We were feeling pretty scrapey from jet lag and no sleep at this point, so I’m not sure how well they’ll turn out.

Anyhow, we watched some of the other bands on the bill, who were all really good, then we played a rock show really loudly and then we drank with some nice Australian folks we met. They’re everywhere, no joke.

We capped off the night with some late food at a place that looked really mobbed out to me. It was delicious. It also featured a vertigo inducing glass elevator that smelled like pee pee. On the way home, Jon found his namesake restaurant.

We're Nominees

2008-08-05T16:48:00.006-04:00

Along with 5,000 other Canadian bands, we've been nominated in The Verge Music Awards. Long story short, vote for us so we can get $25,000.

Click here to make us rich!

Advance Copy

2008-08-01T10:46:00.008-04:00

I did an interview with a swell chap by the name of Kenyon for the blog Advance Copy, and they posted it today.

Click here to read it

The interview was a total pleasure to do, so much so that I sent this message along with my answers (which Kenyon was too modest to post):

This is literally the best set of questions I have ever been asked in an interview. It's almost as though you've interviewed bands before, acquired a sense of humour, got smart, learned to enjoy music, listened to our record, did research, then tried to think of original questions, specific to us.

That said, he did edit out one of my more "charming" moments in the last question (the line about Burger king):

For serious, before you play a show what are you thinking about? Do you ever think, "oh man I am totally gonna rock the hell out tonight"?

It depends on the show. Sometimes I'm thinking "oh god, I hope I don't fuck up," sometimes I'm thinking "we're going to crush these people with volume," sometimes I'm thinking "fuck this place, I want to destroy it," and sometimes I'm thinking "I wish I didn't eat that double stacker from Burger King, I'm going to barf."

Ps Look for "Japan - Day 3" early next week.

Japan - Day Two

2008-07-30T12:00:00.003-04:00

Our first real day in Japan was to start with a little history lesson. After grabbing some Onigiri and a couple cans of Suntory Boss from the store, Hiromi and his crew (the guy really does seem to run things in Niigata) took us out to a five hundred year old castle. It made me feel embarrassed about Casa Loma.

Later that day came the real reason we were here: to rock out and stuff. The show was beyond description, compared to what we're used to in Canada. As soon as we walked in the joint kids actually got excited, blurted out our names, giggled and ran away. I felt like I was in Boys 2 Men. Hiromi DJed a super eclectic set of music (like, Refused would be right next to Ride) and the kids danced to all of it.

While we were playing the energy in the room was amazing. Kids were all singing along, even to the songs I don't really know the words to. One of my all time favourite shows.

After we played was pretty mind blowing as well. Some of the kids brought us gifts, like bottles of sake, just to thank us for coming. I would like this custom to start in Canada as soon as possible, possibly with cold hard cash. We also signed a billion CDs and took a trillion photos with people. Gosh!

Luckily Rashomon was there to take us down a few notches. They play traditional Japanese instruments but end up sounding like the most intense doom metal (no matter how I try to describe it, it sounds cheesy ... but trust me, it's not in the least). It was incredible. Totally rad guys too. We hung out and talked about hardcore records after they played.

After the show was over, backstage was a sweet party that I didn't want to end -- drinking booze drinks, making new friends, learning some new words -- but we were leaving the next morning at seven. In the morning. In the a.m. Oh boy.

Japan - Day One

2008-07-22T14:21:00.020-04:00

Leaving for the airport in the morning was all about nerves. I don't think any of us were all that happy with the idea of a twelve hour flight, not to mention the initial detour to Chicago. At least O'Hare was pretty neat looking.

After about 19 hours of travel (leaving us both feeling and looking pretty ragged) we arrived at Narita airport in Japan. We couldn't have been happier to see the faces of Ricky and Kenji (you'll hear a lot more about them later), but were kinda sad that we still had a five hour drive ahead of us to Niigata.

One thing that did help the drive, however, is that fact that you can drink in a vehicle in Japan as long as you aren't the driver. I'm not saying that I want that to become the case in Toronto or anything (I ride a bike here and almost get killed enough times on a daily basis as it is), but a nice tall Sapporo made things a whole bunch smoother for us.

We got to Niigata and met up with Hiromi, the kind man who put our show together at Junkbox Mini. We loaded in, took some photos, bought some beer, checked into our hotel, watched a little Japanese TV and went out for dinner.

Ricky and Kenji fed us rad foods and even radder sake, which made us feel like a million yen (about ten thousand Canadian bucks). Then Derek got all crunky on us. After that, it was bed time for the tired Canadian lads.

Free Shit

2008-07-03T18:00:00.013-04:00

If you're so inclined, you can enter to win a free copy of the Japanese pressing of our record Modern Currencies from the dudes over at Paper Bag Records. While this likely means that someone in the band is going to end up without a copy, we would still like to encourage you to enter.

Give me free stuff!

Things that the Japanese pressing offers, that you will not find on the regular pressing:

Two unreleased tracks
A piece of paper along the spine with Japanese writing on it
An additional booklet with the lyrics translated into Japanese (I really want to learn how to say "let's just kill all the living" in Japanese)

Japan Tour

2008-07-02T13:09:00.002-04:00

We leave Sunday for the Land of the Rising Sun to play three shows. Come and check us out. Huge thanks to 51 Records and On The One for bringing us out. We promise to behave.

July 8 - Junkbox Mini - Niigata
July 9 - O-Nest - Tokyo
July 10 - Drunkard's Stadium - Kashiwa

Here's some stuff people said about us in Japan, which we don't understand, but like to imagine is really flattering:

p.s. If anyone has any tips, advice, warnings or anything like that, let us know.

Swervedriver

2008-06-27T15:08:00.010-04:00

We opened for Swervedriver at Lee's Palace during North by Northeast. It was our first show in months, which led to some pre-show jitters. Luckily, they were serving this thing called beer at the show, which fixed us right up.

Anyhow, even though he doesn't like us, the lovely chap at the excellently named Chromewaves posted some pictures of us rocking out. Click the one below (of me breaking my knee) to see the whole set.

Chart Attack also reviewed us as part of their report card system. We got an 82, which doesn't suck. Next year we hope to improve our marks for footwear.

Anyhow, Aisha said this about us:

This was obnoxiously loud indie rock with no reservations or pretension. Three chords, no solos, and everybody shreds like it's the last song they'll ever play.

Weird. We have guitar solos in almost every song.

First Post, Upcoming Show

2008-06-24T15:29:00.017-04:00

This is the first post on our brand new blog. Our old fashioned website kept getting horribly out of date, so we offer this, like a phoenix rising from digital ashes. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we can re-direct the old URL to here.

That said, why don't you come see us play at the Silver Dollar on Friday June 27. It will rule, because we're playing with Metz, who we officially have a band crush on, as well as Ten Kens and Ancestors, who we don't know yet, but trust we'll get romantic feelings for.

The cover is five bucks, so don't ask for guestlist.

For more entertaining banter about the show, you should check out the thread on Stillepost. Dan Burke really goes for it near the end.