Sandwiches - Sandwiches (1980)

This is amazing. Not as if finding the complete Sturgeons demo was good enough, we've now been passed a copy of the Sandwiches demo (huge thanks to Allen Baekeland for this!). This is the best Christmas present ever! Well, except for the time Gene's dad bought him a copy of J.G. Ballard's Crash, thinking it was a cautionary tale about the dangers of speeding. Boy, did that ever backfire on him (both Gene and his dad, as it turned out).

The Sandwiches were a very shortly-lived band, featuring Doug Smith on guitar and vocals, Tim Campbell on lead guitar, Kim Solar on bass and Bill Betzler on drums. What we're posting today is a selection of their songs, hand-picked by Campbell. And they're amazing. This is great, lean punk rock that sits very nicely alongside the Sturgeons as forming an important part of our city's musical history.

Considering that members of this band went on play with Animal Kingdom, the Golden Calgarians, and Sacred Heart of Elvis, we're thinking that last summer's ffwd article about the early days of the Calgary scene missed something really important. Seriously, what did Kinsella go on to do? Share the stage with a mechanical bull, apparently (and, no, we're not talking about Chrétien).

Also: in your face, Golden Rock! We know this was on GR's most-wanted list for years, but since they haven't posted in a while... IN YOUR FACE!!! Actually, we're heading to Golden Rock's HQ next week to make them an offer they can't refuse. We think they'll be impressed by the offer. Okay, not impressed, what's the word we're looking for... maybe scared poopless is closer? Anyways, there is an offer to be made. And likely not refused, given the way it will be proposed.

But back to the Sandwiches (we had a bit too much eggnog last night (okay, not too much eggnog - too much rum) and are having trouble focusing). Turning Allen's CD into mp3s turned out to be more difficult than we ever expected, and we ended up getting to know the waveforms of these songs better than those of any band previously featured on the CCPS. But again, it's been totally worth it. So put an extra glug of rum in your eggnog, grab this amazing collection of songs and toast the season. Cheers!

Smash L.A. - Smash L.A. (1990)

We're embracing our inner Jett Thunders with today's tape, which comes to us via - of all people - Airship One's Chris Zimmel. 

Smash LA (i.e. Smash Law N Authority - not Smash Lawn Authority, as we initially thought, although we're now considering getting Steve Elaschuk drunk and changing his landscaping company name to the latter) was Calgary's answer to early 90's glam metal icons like Poison and, well, Guns N Roses. This a highly-underrepresented genre here at the CCPS, most because the Live Wire was in the deep south of the city and we still have a rule that prohibits us from attending rock shows south of 17th Ave SW. What interests us about this band is not the power ballads, but the involvement of future-Zuckerbabby guitarist Reed Shimozawa. We also note that three of the folks from Lanigan, SK's Age of Electric contribute backing vocals, including future-New Pornographer drummer Kurt Dahle. We also also note that several of members of both bands continue to be involved in modern versions of hair metal, proving once again that hairspray does have long-lasting effects.It looks like these guys did quite well in their time, though. This one independent tape spawned three music videos, which have been lovingly posted to the youtubes. Here's our favourite, featuring Shimozawa in a Slash-style top hat:  This is the most time that all of at the CCPS have spent seriously (well, okay, not really seriously) looking at hair metal, collectively, in our lives (like, totally, no way! Dude!). So we'll just direct you and your big hair to the download.

Grift - The Grift (1993)

We at the CCPS are creatures of habit. That habit being, if we spot a pile of tapes in a retail environment, we can't help but scan through for anything local. This habit usually doesn't yield much (other than copies of Billy Joel's The Nylon Curtain), so we usually don't set our hopes to high.

So when we started picking through a small pile of used tapes at Hot Wax (where we're used to going to pick up new cassette releases), we almost abandoned the search when we found a copy of ABC's The Lexicon of Love. But the tell-tale low-budget spine of this independent release jumped out at us. And so, here it is.

The Grift feels like, in many ways, an extension of the Burners, although a bit more glossy. The band features the Burners' Mike Stack as well as Sean Maher from Joe 90/the Nex'd. Someone on Ye Olde Youtube has been so goode as to post a video of the band, from shortly before this tape was released:

So there you have it: our compulsive behaviours related to digging through strange piles of tapes have once again been rewarded.

Banood - Mind That Parcel... (1986)

We've learned serval important things in our many years of digging through the tapes at Recordland. First, we've already found all the good stuff. Second, you should always bring a package of wet wipes and hand sanitizer. And, third, sometimes digging and perseverance does yield something you're not expecting to find.Like this, the second tape from Banood. We don't have much to add from when we posted their first tape, having already cited the fact that their drummer was at one point married to Sarah McLachlan. So, seeing as we're obviously trying to pad out a post here, we'll also include this lovely video from the youtubes: Unlike digging through Recordland, sometimes youtube just yields plain garbage.So grab the tape here.

Kathryn Rushent - Bodycheck (1987)

This is the second Kathryn Rushent tape we got from Grant Hutchinson. Grant tells us he assisted with the video that is referenced in the liner notes of our last post.It appears that Rushent is still active as an artist in the Airdrie area, while producer David Strattford is actively putting out CDs to combat migraines without drugs, among other things. Get Bodychecked.

Kathryn Rushent - The Mist

This is bit of a surprise - a tape featuring Aleister Hex that isn't garage rock. In fact, this skews far closer towards Jane Siberry than Blue Oyster Cult. Actually, that Jane Siberry comparison may not be completely accurate. But certainly the distance from BOC seems correct.As usual, we're kind of grasping at straws here.

Lockwood-Clark - Coincident Dissolution

In among the tapes from Grant Hutchinson was this one, which stands as a unique recording in our collection to date. We're familiar with Frank Lockwood as the engineer and producer behind recordings from CosmaNat and Tau Ceti. But rather than the new wave stylings of those bands, this tape (which is made up of two tracks, each of which clocks in at over 25 minutes apiece) is more Eno-esque in its soundscapes and themes.Lockwood is in Toronto now, and still recording - although his focus is on acoustic and classical music.Get Lockwood-Clark here.

CosmaNat - CosmaNatomy (1988)

We were - at one point, anyways - very good at cross-posting/stealing tapes from our friends at Golden Rock. But we have no idea how we missed this one, which Grant Hutchinson has now also slid our way.Golden Rock originally got a copy via recording engineer and CosmaNat co-conspirator Frank Lockwood. Frank says:

"The cassette-only EP CosmaNatomy was probably our most ambitious project. 'Level this Ground' featured a lot of guitar power chords from Brenda with a complex, multi-part vocal from Pat. 'Pillow Talk' was done by first recording the original Doris Day song onto our multi-track tape, and using it as a guide. None of the original recording appears in the finished song, except for a slowed down 'There must!' from Doris Day that begins the song. The piano part proved to be too complex for either Pat or Brenda's capabilities, so we simply slowed the tape down to the point where it could be played more easily; this accounts for the somewhat "honky-tonk" quality of the result. For the final choruses there is a group of male backup singers which featured my own questionable ability, plus a rare vocal appearance from Brenda. 'What's it Like' is essentially two songs mashed together, a driving 4/4 rock song for the verses, with a very slow, spacey chorus with a lot of reverb. These two contrasting styles are at odds with each other throughout the song until it all crashes to a thundering finale of guitar feedback and noise. 'Total Recall' is the song where I probably had the most input, treating Brenda's violin with a long tape echo, burying Pat's vocal in deep reverberation, and playing some bell-like sounds from an Akai sampler. A middle section follows with a simple keyboard melody underlying Pat's whispered reading, with a lot of violin skitters. The finish recalls the opening section with a return to the heavily processed ambiance gradually overtaken by ever more complex roars of undifferentiated sound and the underwater tolling of some synthetic bell."

Thanks once again to Frank for sending in the tracks, and for Pat and Brenda for giving Golden Rock the green light to post it.

Funeral Factory - Four Song Demo

The Funeral Factory is a favourite among the downloads here at the CCPS, so when Grant Hutchinson offered up a copy of this, we couldn't say no. Grant did a fair amount of photography, design and video work for bands including the Funeral Factory and Tau Ceti, so it's not surprising that he had a small, but high quality cache of tapes to offer us.We're not sure of the year of this tape - but the recordings (with the exception of "Cold War") appear to be from the same as those from their 1990 tape (which Grant has provided us with an alternate j-card for - apparently the one we had wasn't the one that went to stores?). This perhaps serves as a nice distillation of the band. We're eager to get our hands any Funeral Factory-related clippings or info. If you have anything you can lend us, drop us a line.In the meantime, grab the demo here.

Sissys - Sissys Talk (2011)

We've been quite impressed by Bart Records' commitment to the cassette format, but our impressedness is doubled after seeing the amazing packaging of this new tape from former Grown-Up Darrell Hartsook. You'll forgive us for focusing on the packaging of this for a moment - because it's amazing. This thing is wrapped in a cardboard sleeve kind like the old cassette single (or "cassingle") format of the early 90's. But this takes that format to the next level by varnishing the black paper with the band name (which has confounded the CCPS office scanner). This is a sexy, sexy tape.Not to trivialize the music on here - Hartsook and his cohort (we're told this is a two-piece band, but aren't sure who #2 is - all we've been told is that we are #6) delivers the goods with pummelling drums and guitars. And the amazing "Sweater Weather," a fave here in the CCPS office.You can download this for free from Sissys bandcamp, or buy it from Bart Records. 

Barflies - Live at Dawn and Paul's (1995)

We can't get enough of "Darby," especially since we ate that weird chocolate that one of our co-workers left in their desk drawer. So we're pleased to bring you another blast of Barflies action.

This is from the same basement show as the earlier Bob Keelaghan set. We're told, by sources who claim to have been there, that this party was a going away of sorts for Paul and Dawn, who ditched their jobs in Calgary to travel the world. The night also included set by Teens For Decency, the Parkades, Gasp and Elmo's Dream. Which makes it a night of super-obscure indie rock, even for us at the CCPS.

But we've never been ones to shy away from the trivial.

Barflies - 4-Track Recordings

A few years back (literally - we're digging back over three years for this one! Time flies when you're farting around!) we had a request for some Barflies. The best we could do at the time was post the audio from a video recording we had somehow come in possession of. Until now!

Thanks to the tapes from Dawn and 4-track from Paul, we've managed to reassemble a collection of their recordings. It looks like "Darby," the track that got them a fair amount of airplay on CJSW, was the only recording they really worked up with the full treatment, as they say. So what we've gathered together are pile of the more reasonable sounding recordings of their basement practices, bringing you forgotten gems like "Poferia," "Supersad" and "Infomercial Queen." And, don't worry, there's some "Darby" action (perhaps an unfortunate turn of phrase) on here as well.

Because we certainly do indeed like Darby.

Bob Keelaghan - Live at Paul and Dawn's (1995)

We've had an interesting past week of re-aquainting ourselves with 4-track recorders. A ways back, Dawn Loucks gave us a pile of tapes, and among them were a bunch that had been recorded to 4-track. Thanks now to Paul Poutannen, we have the original machine these were recorded on, and will be presenting the highlights from some of those tapes.

We're going to start - since we just had a Bob posting - with another Bob. The one who we've only recently become comfortable conversing with. Bob Keelaghan is a pretty amazing guy, and we've long been fans of his work - which is why this recording of a too-short solo performance from a show in Paul and Dawn's basement is so special. Part poetry, part guitar godliness, all "what the hell is he doing?" Sadly, there's a drop out in the middle of the sing-along "Guano."

Since this performance is so short, we're going to point you to a few more Keelaghan-related goodies. First, Bob appears to have a youtube channel for his Spam Avenger project. Here's the great track he did for the much-overlooked Stompin' Tom tribute that Saved By Radio but together about ten years ago:



In among the tapes we're sorting through, we also found a promo for... maybe a radio show that Bob used to do? We can't remember what it was from, but we swear we've heard it before (and, yes, we know the original source).

But you came here to hear Bob Keelaghan play guitar, and like the bastards we are, we've made you wait all the way down to this very, very, very last word of the post.

Bobby McAlister and the Telstars - Band of Gold (1998)

We've been fairly unashamed of hiding how much we like the Film Extras tracks from the Oooh, I'm So Pretty compilation, which we now know was a Bobby McAlister project. Thanks to Aaron Booth and his secret stash of tapes, we're now in possession of a post-Film Extras McAlister band.

Aaron tells us that the Film Extras were shortly-lived, and went on to become the Accommodations (with Derek Hannah), who were also shortly lived. They then morphed into Bobby McAlister and the Telstars in 1997, and were, well, shortly-lived. The Telstars were Booth on bass, Aaron McCullogh on guitar and Calvin Becker on drums.

Bobby himself got in touch with us to fill in massive amounts of detail on all of the tracks here:


"Modern Man", "Sing Whatever You Know" - Artist:  The Accommodations
Vocals: Derek Hannah
Bass & Guitar & Vocals:  Bobby McAlister
Drums & Keyboard:  Cal Becker
Guitar:  Brooker Buckingham
Engineered:  Bobby McAlister, Band of Gold
Recorded:  1996

"Amelia", "This Life"  (actually named "Waking Up Someday") - Artist:  Bobby McAlister and the Telstars
Vocals, Bass & Guitar:  Bobby McAlister
Drums:  Cal Becker
Guitar:  Aaron McCullough
Keyboard:  Dylan Haveron
Engineered:  Rob Smith, Rocky Mountain
Recorded:  1997

"Brother, That's All There Is", "Rain Won't Get Near Me"  - Artist:  Bobby McAlister and the Telstars
Vocals & Bass & Guitar & Keyboard:  Bobby McAlister
Drums & Keyboards:  Cal Becker
Guitar & Vocals:  Aaron McCullough
Engineered:  Bobby McAlister, 4-track
Recorded:  1997

"Love Stings", "Sing Whatever You Know", "Do You Wanna Break Up?" - Artist:  Bobby McAlister and the Telstars
Vocals & Guitar:  Bobby McAlister
Drums:  Cal Becker
Bass & Vocals:  Aaron Booth
Guitar & Vocals:  Aaron McCullough
Engineered:  Bobby McAlister, 4-track
Recorded:  1997

"Something In Your Heart", "Sunshine In The Middle Of The Night", "Rain Won't Get Near Me" - Artist:  Bobby McAlister and the Telstars
Vocals, Keyboards & Guitar :  Bobby McAlister
Drums:  Paul Robertson
Bass:  Aaron Booth
Engineered:  Bobby McAlister, Sundae Sound, 8-track
Recorded:  1998

"Unit 22" - Artist:  Bobby McAlister and the Telstars
Vocals & Guitar :  Bobby McAlister
Drums & Keyboard:  Cal Becker
Bass:  Aaron Booth
Engineered:  Bobby McAlister, Sundae Sound, 8-track
Recorded:  1998

"Speed Of Light" - Artist:  Bobby McAlister
All instruments:  Bobby McAlister
Engineered:  Bobby McAlister, Sundae Sound, 8-track
Recorded:  1998


This is pretty great, 70's influenced pop - beard rock, 90's style. Naturally, traces of Paul McCartney abound. We're told that after the recordings were mostly completed - and then shelved - the band imploded, but became the Hardtime Brothers for a short period.

There's some debate raging in the CCPS office about the right car to cruise around listening to this tape in. The usual CCPS chariot, our 80's BMW, is out of the question - right now, we're leaning towards a late 70's Lincoln Continental like this one:



Because Bobby also has his standards.

Sturgeons - Yellow Sea Eel Hunt (1979)

The other batch of songs on the CDR from Girls from Tahiti was a set of demos from the Sturgeons. We didn't actually know this existed - and we're still somewhat questioning its authenticity. Does the Franklin Mint provide certificates of authenticity for tapes like this?

That weird French blog seemingly corroborates the existence of an early Sturgeons demo from 1979. We believe this is the same tape, but we have our doubts. While we're big fans of the Forward Disorder/Punk Rock Virgins single, this demo is a lot ballsier, brasher and... maybe even better?

We know we could ask Al about this, but instead we're going to close our eyes, picture this and keep on listening to this alleged Sturgeons demo.

Update! We've had this tape authenticated by Someone Who Was There, as well the tape and song titles confirmed:


01 Attack of the Fetus People/It's A Jock's World
02 Noise For Youth
03 Support First Strike
04 I Was A Teenage Housewife
05 Danger Zone
06 Girls on the Bus
07 Belt Up
08 A.B.U.S.I.V.E. Attitudes
10 Here Come The Injuries
09 Suburban Evacuation
11 I Wanna Die
12 Cash Factor
13 I Know, I Know
14 U of C Gestapo
15 Punk Rock Virgins
16 Forward Disorder

We're pleased that a few of our titles were reasonable close. Okay, maybe only one. Thanks to the same unnamed individual (who may or may not have saved a certain radio station we love) for passing us the cover of the original tape!

Suburban Slag - Demo

This is a tape we put a call out for a while ago, and we received it last month from an unexpected source - fellow blogmeisters Girls From Tahiti. The proprietor of said blog had received a CDR with these tracks along with another Calgary band (whose tracks we'll post shortly) - and got in touch with us for more info.

Well, we don't know too much about Suburban Slag other than they included Jeff Burns on guitar, Doug Bolland on bass and future DOA/Subhumans/Personality Crisis/SNFU/who knows who else drummer Jon Card. Who's on vocals? We don't know. This demo is from either 1980 or 1981, and is a great slice of early 80's punk. There's a bit more info this weird French blog, but most of it is actually mis-information.

Which, again, is what we at the CCPS usually strive to provide.

Edit: thanks to our favourite Punk Rock Librarian for filling us in on the vocalist! It was apparently Jim Hanlon

Fricks - Hundred Jeers

We're a bit embarrassed to have been sitting on this track for a few months. It seems that our summer intern, who was supposed to be in charge of the seemingly always-overflowing CCPS email inbox (write to us at hamfisted@gmail.com! We're standing by! Because, in reality, we don't get that much email, except for notifications of lottery winnings and offers for penis enlargements) turned out to be actually preparing a painstakingly detailed catalogue of craft beers of the Pacific Northwest. For the record, the preparation of said catalogue wasn't the reason for his being fired, it was the lack of sharing of samples of said beers.

So, getting things back on track, we're pleased to now present a lost track from one of our surprise favourites from the past couple of years, the quite fantastic Fricks. "Hundred Jeers" pulls all the elements that caught our attention in the first place. Doug Bolland's melodic bass lines, guitars that remind us just enough of NiCon and some meaty hooks. Andy McLachlan tells us that this track was submitted for consideration on the Play compilation, but the "producers" went with the other submitted track instead, leaving this track to languish, unreleased.

But you can give it a home by grabbing it here.

Quitters - Do You Know (1992)

Back in September, we were thrilled to reconnect with one of our favourite guys from the 90's, Mr. joe McCaffery. Playing for a one-off Now Feeling reunion, we were reminded how amazing of a guitarist he is - while Lorrie Matheson reminded us about how crappy our mp3s of the Quitters' Fuzzball EP is.

Well, Joe tells us that a remastered version of that tape might be in the works, which should keep Lorrie slightly less grumpy than usual (certainly not happy, though). But more importantly, Joe unearthed a track that was recorded during the Fuzzball session but - for reasons that escape us, hearing it almost 20 years later - left off the tape. "Do You Know" fits perfectly with tracks like "Good Thing". Which is in itself a, er, good thing.

Grab this unreleased garage pop nugget here.

Beyond Possession - Demo (1989)

As promised, here's the second Beyond Possession demo tape we liberated. These four songs were apparently recorded during the band's final days. 

We're a bit fuzzy on the band's membership at this point - we think John Hiebert had gone on to form Never a Dull Moment... maybe? What we do know is that this band was hugely influential on a lot of other bands (and skaters) in this city and beyond. Heck, we even saw someone in a (somewhat tattered) Beyond Possession t-shirt this past summer.The four tracks on this final demo are also included on the Repossessed compilation CD, but we offer them here as they were originally intended. 

Beyond Possession - Demo (1985)

We went looking for something scratch a friend's Beyond Possession itch this afternoon, and by happy accident stumbled across a pair of tapes we didn't know existed. And, thanks to the international cachet of this seminal hardcore band, finding and liberating mp3s of said tapes has been a pretty easy thing.

We're not going to re-hash the history of Beyond Possession, partly because the excellent Repossessed compilation does a great job of telling their story (blah blah Riot .303 blah blah White Noise blah blah Bootsauce etc), but mostly because we've got a Halloween party to get to, and our costumes this year happen to involve wearing dresses, which is making us all a little nervous. Instead, we're going to present this great video clip from the Youtubes:



We love the idea of someone standing at the back of the hall with a giant, 80's style video camera, hoping that no one smashes into them and wrecks their dad's gear.

Grab Beyond Possession's early 3-song demo here.

Ryan Bourne - Resonate (1998)

Former Sky Suspended lad Aaron Booth recently got in touch with us about a batch of tapes he re-discovered in preparations for a move (unlike the rest of us, who wonder where the hell we jettisoned that missing box of tapes to each time we move). He's teasing us a bit by sending us a couple of tapes at a time (we prefer the proven Safeway bag of tapes in a parking lot - at least then we know what we're dealing with). Anyways, we at the CCPS are beggars and not choosers (maybe?), so we're pleased to present the first tape from Aaron's collection. Which, had we known it was coming, we would have posted immediately after last week's Interstellar Root Cellar tape. So much for weaving a well-crafted narrative. So, pretend the last two posts didn't happen. Except they did, and they're both (especially the Stellazine) totally worth checking out.This tape finds Ryan Bourne trying to find his singer-songwriter voice post-IRC (that is the correct acronym, isn't it?). It feels a bit bossa nova, especially compared to his full-length CD, which is more of a VanGaalen-esque low fi pop experience. But then, we hear VanGaalen in everything these days. I guess it just resonates with us. Get it?

Stelazine - Stelazine (6 Songs)

We (along with a bunch of our pals) we saddened by the news of Colin Allin's death earlier this year. So we're extra grateful to Mark Jordan for passing this gem along (for extra points, he managed to enlist the services of Jett Thunders as courier!). There's been a lot of reminiscing about Allin's talents over the past few months, and this tape furthers the evidence of those talents. This is a great set of six songs that sit nicely along the Skin Barn tapes. We're going to go out on a limb and suggest this is the full session they did that resulted in the two-song tape that we posted earlier this year, based on a comment (from Colin?) on that post.Sigh.We suggest grabbing a bottle of Garrison Imperial IPA, downloading these six songs and toasting Colin's memory. 

Wet Pinky Swears - Dripping Wrists of Girlschool Promises (2011)

We're big fans of local Garage Rock revivalists (wait, Garage Rock never died, it just drank itself into a coma!) the Gooeys, so we're pleased to have in our possession a tape from their demented side project, the Wet Pinky Swears. From what we remember, this is front guy Craig Storm, drummer Darrell Hartsook and someone else on bass. These are short blasts of garage noise that provide a, well, sharp contrast to the bubblegum of the Gooeys. The band has (perhaps in error?) made mp3s of this available for free via bandcamp. We should caution you, since it's Saturday morning - this isn't exactly good music for if you have a hangover. We found this out the hard way.

Interstellar Root Cellar - CD Rough Mixes

Gord Adam slid us this tape when we last met up with him. He tells us he was behind the boards for the recording of Interstellar Root Cellar's CD, and one night he made a batch of rough mixes which he thinks ended up being superior to the final CD. We haven't actually heard their CD, so we can't really comment - except for saying that the sunny vibes from this tape are almost making us forget that the days are growing shorter and colder.Almost.

Buddy System - REM Time/All Wrong

We've got another tape from Duane Froslev and Gord Adam. This one appears to be a one-off session with a few local folks - Froslev, Joni Allen, Buddy Rick Valleau and Sandy Switzer. It's pretty fun stuff, and, uh, we don't know what else to say. Maybe it's from the mid-90's? We don't know and we're kind of tapped out right now.

So just grab the download.

Sacred Heart of Elvis - Sacred Heart of Elvis

We're a bit embarrassed to be posting a tape from Sacred Heart of Elvis so late in the game here. Our pals at Golden Rock have posted several bits and pieces from the band, but this is the first of their tapes that we've had in our hands.Sacred Heart of Elvis was, at its core, Ali Riley, Rodney Brent and Tim Campbell. We haven't taken our time here at the CCPS to pay out respects to Tim, who passed away this past May - not because of a lack of respect, but because we were never fortunate enough to meet the man. We'll let this obituary from ffwd stand as our second-hand tribute to Campbell's talents and contributions to Calgary's scene.The Golden Rock posts indicate how much of a revolving door the rhythm sections of the band was - this tape finds the Mules' Duane Froslev and Rob Hayter rounding out the band (a side note: we were very lucky to catch the Sacred Heart of Elvis' reunion show at the CJSW 20th Anniversary thing six years ago - for that show, former Puritan Stephen Nykolyn filled in on drums).This is a great tape, highly recommended. We're not sure, though, if it's the same tape referenced in the article above. The recording of "Wheezing Dog on a Leash" on here sounds remarkably close to the one on the documentation-free 90.9 With a Bullet compilation, which could mean just about anything.Get it here.

Mules - The Mules 666 (1986)

We're pleased to have a second tape from the Mules. This is again a mix of studio tracks and a live show, both from 1986. We've got another recording of "True Love" (making this the third version we've heard - this, as well as the version from the last tape, sound different from the Calgary Compelation track) - which is more than okay in our books. The more we hear that track, the more we can't get it out of our heads.Which isn't to say the rest of this tape isn't as good. They lean heavily on the songs of Johnny Cash in their set - which is okay by today's standards, but you have to remember that this was recorded back when Cash hit a low point and had leant his name and likeness to a bank's ATMs.That said, Gene Poole would like to announce that he is more than welcome to lend his name (although not likeness) to anything that will bring the CCPS more cash. Or beer. 

Mules - Studio and Live!

We were super excited when Duane Froslev sent this tape our way. We had only ever heard one Mules track, tucked away on the Calgary Compelation that Golden Rock posted a few years back. "True Love" is pretty great track, and we've been itching to hear more - and now that itch has been more than scratched.The Mules were Frozlev on bass, Rob Hayter on drums and vocals and Brad Paffe on guitar and vocals. Paffe went on to be part of the Daggers in the 90's (among others), as well as the very amazing Remones. Of course, they didn't use their real names in Calgary magazine's 1986 tribute to the scene.

This tape has five studio tracks (two of which we don't know the title to), and another 13 live tracks. This is great country rock, influenced by the more olde time end of the spectrum (as evidenced by the reverse side of the tape cover, above). The covers pull heavily from Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and even Buddy Holly.

We're usually not big on two stepping, but it seems more than appropriate here.

Random Scrapings - Live at the Calgarian/National (1980)

Duane Froslev passed us a few tapes a week or so ago (via Gord Adam), and they're a pretty amazing slice of early Calgariana. This tape is two (?) sets of fun from Random Scrapings, who were Grant Sim, Duane Froslev and Rob Hayter. This tape also has a set from Veiled Threats who - although we can't actually see what's happening on stage - we suspect were actually Random Scrapings playing goofy funk rock (with someone playing what sounds like a duck). There's an important link to Punk Rock History here - Duane Froslev would find his way to Winnipeg, change his last name and become Duane Eddie of the legendary Personality Crisis. The only tracks on here we can ID are the band's covers of Devo's "Freedom of Choice" and Gang of Four's "Anthrax," the latter of which features a feedback guitar onslaught that give the original a run for its money.Hear it here.

Coughin' Nails - A Bad Case of Nerves (1988)

We were super happy when the defunct-like-a-certain-recently-fallen-to-earth-satellite Golden Rock forwarded us an email last week. Bob Firmston - brother of Bill E. Stew - was offering up a copy of his band's tape, which Golden Rock had been searching for. Bob's request was simple: help him convert the tape so his son could hear it. We're always happy to oblige in these situations.

While we're big fans of Bill's work, Bob's own band is nothing to sneeze at - this is more garage rock goodness, which Bob tells us was so powerful it almost got them a show in Regina. Most notable in the band is Case Caulfield, who was also doing time with Big Bang Theory at the time. 

There's also a live show from the Coughin' Nails over at Golden Rock, and we've just refreshed the link. 

CCPS: We digitize so you don't have to.

Cat Ranch - National Hotel May 5, 1988 (1988)

Ever since the good (and sadly MIA) folks at Golden Rock tipped us to its existence, we've been trying (like them) to track down a copy of Cat Ranch's Song For Calgary entry.

The Song for Calgary contest was tied to the 1988 Winter Olympics (a bit of digging tells us that the national contest actually ran in 1986), and several local bands put forward their own ideas. We've already heard the Unsightly's version, but Cat Ranch's is somewhat legendary - and elusive. So when Gord told us that he had a copy of a live Cat Ranch show, we were super excited.

Cat Ranch was the house band at the National Hotel for five years, originally playing Wednesday nights and then switching to Thursdays. The four-piece - with Gord on bass, Grant Sim on vocals and guitar, Sandy Switzer on lead guitar and Ian Grant on drums - clearly enjoyed the role, if this tape is any indication. They work their way through a cover of Hendrix's "Stone Free," some Guess Who, a cover of Hendrix's "Fire," a Doors track and a cover of Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic"... but no "Song for Calgary."

Well.

It's a bit disappointing, but this tape isn't without historical value: about two thirds of the way through the set, they formally mark Gord's birthday, which would be why he had held onto a copy of this. There is, however, a quick mention of the song in the stage banter. That's as close as we get.

This is turning out to be an ongoing search. For now, we're going to have to content ourselves with listening to the real winner of the Song for Calgary contest, "Neighbours of the World":

Good lord, no. No one should ever have to listen to that dreck. So grab this Cat Ranch show instead.

Nex'd - In Living Colour (1985)

We're continuing our journey through the 80s with this second Nex'd tape from Gord Adams. Gord tells us this tape was recorded at CFCN, though we're not certain if there was video as well as audio involved in this session. We recently found a series of videos from the Unusuals from sometime in the early 80s that raises our hopes that this might be a possibility.

We could probably ask Gord to confirm this, but we're too excited about tomorrow's post. So grab today's tape, before it's yesterday.

Nex'd - Demo (1984)

We were pretty excited when Gord Adam got ahold of us a few weeks back. Being more familiar with the Calgary scene from 1990 onwards, we know Gord as the lead guitarist from the first incarnation of Lorrie Matheson's excellent National Dust. And because we associate him with the rock side of the scene, we missed the fact that he played with early-80s new wavers The Nex'd, whose 2-song 12" our pals at Golden Rock had previously posted.

This is the demo tape is the complete 11-song session that yielded their vinyl release. We here at the CCPS are big fans of the New Wave movement, so we're really enjoying this tape. A bit too much, it appears. Gene has managed to dig out the suit he wore to his grade 12 grad, which is a nightmarish pastel blue. He insists on not wearing socks with his shoes (a well-aged pair of topsiders), which, combined with the fact that he no longer really fits the same size as when he was in grade 12 is making all of us in the CCPS office feel a bit uncomfortable.

So, while we recommend grabbing this tape, we don't suggest you follow Gene's fashion sense.

Parkades - Life is a Series of Crushing Disappointments (1995)

This is the final installation of the Parkades story. We're conscious of our previous contraventions of CCPS policy and would like to apologize to our readers for not being able to tell the full and complete story of this band. Gene Poole runs a tight ship here, and while we recognize the importance of history, we also - like the Fox News Network - believe in fair and balanced coverage of the facts.

Listening through these tapes, it's clear the band went through an odd evolution, expanding here to a five-piece (with their third drummer in three tapes!). With bassist Andrew Henry moving to second guitar, the band picked up a second Elmo's Dreamer with Mark Rudd on bass. Rounding out the lineup, Ian Doig tells us that the band grabbed another friend of the band, Stephen Nykolyn of the Barf Lies. We had heard the band's tribute to Japanese garage rock, "(You Ain't Heard) the 5-6-7-8's" on the Australian On Guard for Thee compilation, and this tape is much the same "garage pop," and Ian calls it - with, we can't help but notice, an increased focus on themes of frustration.

It makes sense. Ian tells us that despite having Nardwuar and Al Charlton as fans, the Parkades still could never get any respect in Calgary and packed it in, with members of the band going on to play with Teens for Decency, the Mants, Falconhawk, Name Redacted and Shoutin' Abner Pim and the Puritans.

A series of crushing disappointments, indeed.

Parkades - Water Breathing Man (1995)

We're picking up the story of the Parkades - and still working carefully within the bounds of the CCPS Conflict of Interest Policy - with tape number two, which, as Ian Doig points out, somewhat out of sequence. This tape of what Ian refers to as "juvenilia" was from a lengthy set of sessions with Jeff Burns that also yielded the songs off of their "Attack Me" 7" single and their contribution to the Play compilation (and the Suburbanators soundtrack).

[Content removed due to violation of CCPS Conflict of Interest Policy]

But these songs sound... well, weird compared to "Attack Me,"certainly more ramshackle. Kind of like the illustration on the cover of this tape.

Parkades - Is This What Rock Has Become? (1994)

At last weekend's CCPS AGM, the membership debated our Society's long-standing Conflict of Interest Policy. The impetus for this was the discovery of three tapes in the box which Ian Doig had lent us. We previously had these tapes in the CCPS collection, but were unable to post them due to the above-mentioned policy. But, as a result of a lively (read: bloody and ferocious) debate and the subsequent discovery of a little-know sub clause of the policy which, had we known about it earlier, could have saved us from at least two broken fingers and a bloody nose.

Anyways, process talk aside, we're now very pleased to present the first of three tapes from the Parkades. Please note that, although this text was prepared by an unbiased third party in accordance with CCPS policy, Gene Poole has - as Founding Member, Chair and El Presidente for Life - final editing rights on all CCPS posts and may choose to exercise his rights as established in the CCPS Founding Charter. Apparently we weren't finished with the process talk - we believe we are now.

Ian Doig tells us that the Parkades played their first show in 1993 with an original lineup consisting of himself on vocals, Andrew Henry on bass, Name Redacted on guitar and Dave Neufeld on drums. Ian's assertion that the band's first show - headlining on a Tuesday night at the Republik, with an already-established Chixdiggit "opening," resulting in the band playing to a quickly emptying room - set the course for the rest of their time on the scene. That bitterness comes across nice and strong in this gem from the CCPS office's stash of old VOX magazines:

We're surprised to hear that the Parkades were highly-unloved during their time, which strikes us as odd due to their inclusion as the inaugural Rotoflex single. Ian notes that, although this was recorded by Young Dave Alcock in the basement of a house in Cliff Bungalow and released in 1994, it actually followed recording of the much-heralded Rotoflex single. As a fluke of timing, the band put this tape out first after Dave Neufeld left the band and was replaced by Alcock.

[Content removed due to violation of CCPS Conflict of Interest Policy]

And if you believe that, you can the Parkades' four-song tape here.

Elmo's Dream - Elmo's Dream

We were a bit surprised to find another Elmo's Dream tape in Ian Doig's collection, but we're nonetheless pleased. We always likes these kids, even when they stopped being kids - which we suppose is when this tape is from. There's no year on the minimalist j-card, but the inclusion of "Astro-Girl" (one of the stand-out tracks from the Play compilation) makes us think this is from 1995. Also, the boys seem to have graduated purely from 4-track bedroom recordings to some hybrid of 4-track bedroom recordings and others likely recorded (or re-recorded, as they appear on earlier Elmo's Dream tapes) in Jeff Burns' basement. That treatment doesn't make this any less Sebadoh-y in its goodness, though.

Grab it here.

Curse of Horseflesh - Bad Day at Black Rock

We recently received a long-awaited box of tapes from Ian Doig, who we know as one of the masterminds behind the late, lamented VOX magazine. We're going to kick of a series of posts from the aforementioned box with this, what appears to be a rough version the b-side of Curse of Horseflesh colourfully-titled Sloth/Ship and Anchor 7".

Always ahead of/behind the times, Al Charlton's four-piece pulled together psychobilly, garage rock and country well before Calgary was ready for it, but this reverb-drenched instrumental serves as the blueprint for folks like the Ramblin' Ambassadors. Plus, a stand up drummer!

And if that weren't enough, this was dubbed over top of some form of demonstration tape, so this track blends nearly seamlessly into this strange free-form jazz. The juxtaposition is highly entertaining at first, but doesn't hold up to repeated listens.

So we'll just give you the one Curse of Horseflesh song on its own.

Sturgeons - Forward Disorder/Punk Rock Virgins (1980)

Yesterday's ffwd cover story about the start of the Calgary punk scene has got us feeling super nostalgic (even more than normal for us, which is kind of scary), so we're going to post a gleefully stolen rip of this classic single.

The first thing we want you to do is click this link. Done? Good. After seeing this, we believe Al has a time machine and a wig. This is, in case you didn't bother to read the article above, is one of our city's first punk bands. And we really believe this holds up today - "Punk Rock Virgins" is honestly timeless. We're still hazy on the full membership of the band - we know Igglesden was in on the action here, but not sure who else.

We suspect this rip may have actually come from the first Smash the State compilation - but you know what? We don't care. We're just happy to have this to listen to.

Shiver - Shiver

To be honest, we didn't know what to expect when we popped this tape into the CCPS Digitimization-Machine. We had actually heard more disdain for this band than we'd actually heard their music. It's kind of easy to see why - their various interviews still scattered around the interweb show a pretty significant amount of ego.

And makeup. We're not sure what year this tape was made, but the above article is from 1998, and we're fairly certain that this was not okay by the standards of the day. Maybe it was lead singer Matthew Currie's way of easing into the acting career he eventually became known for. We're a bit surprised, as Jon Pynn and Joel Tobman went on to a stint as the rhythm section for the quite excellent (and mascara-less) Heat-Ray.

Once you've done your makeup as above, you can grab this three-song tape here. But only after you've done your makeup.

Aqua-Sinjels - The Aqua-Sinjels

We're not sure when this second tape from the Aqua-Sinjels is from, whether it was recorded before or after the first we featured here. We want to say after - we don't really have any evidence for this, other than this seems more polished and leaning more towards Britpop (which is likely why John Drinkwater had it in his collection). Which isn't to say that all bands go Britpop with age...

Grab it here.

Next in Line - Step in Time (1990)

Here's another piece of the Red Autumn Fall story, thanks again to John Drinkwater.

John tells us that, prior to joining Red Autumn Fall, guitarist Richard Ragany's band Next In Line played shows with Simeon's band. Perhaps it was their musical tastes that brought them together - although John insinuates that it may have been their fashion sense, with both Richard and Simeon showing up at one fateful show with near-identical haircuts and clothing. Again, similar to Simeon's rapping, we'd be highly interested in visual evidence of this.

But we'll have to content ourselves with the band photo on the cover of this tape.

Red Autumn Fall - My Friend Deceiver (1994)

When donor John Drinkwater handed us this tape, we thought it was one we already had. The cover art on this tape is nearly identical to that of a tape we - of all things - bought on ebay last year. However, this tape has a slightly different cover (an image very similar to the one on their first CD) and a mostly different track listing.

Until chatting with John, we forgot that sometime in the late 90's, Red Autumn Fall decided to move to Toronto to try to make it big. This led to a bit of a challenge: name a Calgary band that established itself here and then moved to Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver/Wherever and made it big. We couldn't come up with anyone - other than maybe Sara and Teegan (shudder).

Here's a Red Autumn Fall video, just because our new Marketing Consultants keep saying, "the kids like the media-rich posts, like the Facebook and the Tweetter and the Youtube."

Get more RAF here.

Crow Eater - Grave Wax (2011)

Here's another new release from the good folks at Bart Records. Crow Eater is straight-up hardcore, with former members of the Sharp Ends, Corta Vita and Chupacabra. The four songs on this tape - which boasts one of the most ambitious tape covers we've seen in the past 15 years (which we realize may not be saying much) - clock in at just over five minutes. Which actually gives this tape one of the highest ratios of production value to recording length that we've ever seen.

Get the tape from Hot Wax or download from Crow Eater's myspace.

Update: Myspace? Sheesh! How about bandcamp instead?

tion - tion (1991)

Along with the Gravity Thugs tape we featured yesterday, Ben Docktor gave us this three-song tape when we visited him.

This pre-dates Ben's more well-known work with Drench, and also features future Glider drummer Rene Chayer. We note two things about this tape: first, the j-card is backwards, perhaps tying into the Arabic-themed artwork. Second, Ben's a pretty fine guitarist.

Get it here.

Gravity Thugs - Gravity Thugs

Shortly before Sled Island, we got an email from Ben Docktor telling us he had unearthed a copy of one of our Holy Grails, along with a few warnings: it was a dubbed copy, he didn't have a proper j-card, and someone had accidentally punched record in the middle of one of the tracks (apparently someone was a bit excited about recording some AC/DC for Ben).

Obviously, we didn't have to think twice. We did, however, have to get off our lazy asses and make time to ride the complex system of busses, C-Trains and sidewalks between the CCPS offices and Ben's secret hideout. After the three-hour round trip (thank you, Calgary Transit), we finally have this in our library.

Despite the lack of a j-card (update: we got it! Thanks to Daaren Boreham!) and the missing second towards the end of "Shotgun Love," this is a must-have. "Take You Down" has always been a favourite of ours, and the other three tracks on here are just as good. We assume this is from the recording referenced in the above VOX article, which would peg this as an artifact from 1989.

Honestly, we're just happy to hear more of Brent Cooper's amazing guitar work.