Interstellar Root Cellar - Interstellar Root Cellar (1997)

Almost six years ago, we posted a tape of alternate mixes of this, Interstellar Root Cellar's first CD. Good things come to those who wait - we've got the actual CD now!

And, as is becoming de rigueur, a VOX article from December 1997!

And, as (almost) always, a download link!

Curse of Horseflesh - Burning Up the Jade (1997)

We were listening to thee fantastic (yet, terrifying!) sounds of Baron Mark Von Frankenstine and his exceptional Radio Free Transylvania on CJSW a couple of weeks ago, and couldn't quite place a very familiar song. Was it Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet? The Ramblin' Ambassadors? The Sadies? Nope, it was the one and only Curse of Horseflesh.

In its lifetime, Roto-Flex put out two CDs. We already posted Nothing Beats a Royal Flush, and considering our love of all things Al Charlton, it's weird that we didn't post this as well.

Hey, would you believe we have a VOX article to go with this post? From March 1997, even!

Yeeha! Or something.

Puritans - Marquee Themes (1997)

We might as well hop from a soundtrack to a band whose members have recently gone on to making soundtracks of their own. Yeah, we're grasping at straws for some sort of narrative continuity here, but earlier this year Bob Keelaghan put out a set of tracks from his score to the films Intersection and Inside the Ku Klux Klan.

We've talked about the Puritans (formerly Shoutin' Abner Pim and the Puritans) a lot here at the CCPS (most recently on what is probably the final installment of our Unspooled podcast), so we'll hand things over to the September 1997 issue of VOX:

We're skipping the usual download link for this one, since you can still get this via the Shoutin' Abner Pim website and CDBaby.

New 1-2 - Infully Visible (1997)

Oh boy! An excuse for us to invoke the name of the Primrods! The double-guitar attack-ack-ack-ack of the New 1-2 was a pretty special thing. Especially when the lead track gleefully steals lyrics from Public Enemy (for no apparent reason).



That said, we're still puzzled by the final track and its electronic loops.

It should be noted that this was released in an era when VOX had not only dropped down to the smaller format that would ultimately lead to its ruin transforming into the Calgary Straight, but also when the paper doubled down on including both a cover story AND a lead record review from local bands:

Not that we're complaining, though.

Knucklehead - Another Neurotic Episode (1997)

We're going to stick with Melodiya CDs for a bit, since there were a few that came out in 1997. We sometimes forget how many releases the guys from Knucklehead put out in their time.

We hoped to pad this post out with an article from our VOX archives, but VOX had a bit of a blind eye to stuff from the all ages scene, being run by a group of 80-year-old alcoholics.

Edit: we found a Knucklehead article from the Sept 97 issue of  VOX. It was across the page from an article on the Puritans, so, uh, we missed it. Like VOX, the CCPS sometimes has a bit of a blind eye to stuff from the all ages scene, being run by a group of 80-year-old alcoholics.

Still, just grab the download.

Beyond Possession - Repossessed (1996)

While we're into CDs, it seems like a good time to revisit some others that were released over 20 years ago, and therefore (according to CCPS rules) okay for posting.

We'll start with this compilation of Beyond Possession's recordings. It includes their LP, single, and some demos from 1989, released to coincide with the series of reunion shows the band did in 1996. Yup, we've posted all of the material on this at one point or another. But we love the chase of completion.

Don't you?

Nerbus Rex - Nerbus Rex (1995)

In the box we got from Frank Slide was this CD from Metanoia Records - which was surprising, since we had no idea that Metanoia had put out CDs. Huh. We learned something!

Nerbus Rex play a big rock and roll that somehow sidestepped grunge, with a sense of humour in some places.

Get Rex'd.

Rogue Pope - Rogue Pope

Well, hot damn! Sometimes you give up on ever finding a tape, and then it lands in your lap, completely unexpectedly. This Rogue Pope tape has been on our increasingly small list of holy grails for a while, so we were overjoyed when a rip of it showed up in a box of tapes and CDs from the legendary Frank Slide/Shane Connelly. We've wondered if this thing really existed - we only have a CD and an index card with notes, but we'll take it (the photo of Cal is stolen from Lorrie Matheson's facebook, and may or may not be part of the original j-card).

The only Rogue Pope we had heard prior to this was "Castles in Spain" from the Play compilation - these songs maybe have a little less of the psych influence of that track, leaning more towards the big, two-guitar rock of the Daggers, the band Brad Paffe would start shortly after this. We like how much Gregg Baekeland's vocals remind us of Djewel Davidson in places.

Go Rogue!