Cryptomaniacs - The Cryptomaniacs (2007)

Someday, someone will ask us, "what band is the closest to the Mummies to ever come out of Calgary?" They'll probably be expecting us to answer with the Mants, or maybe even the Von Zippers. But we won't hesitate: we'll look 'em in the eye and say, "THE CRYPTOMANIACS." This four-song 7" is all the band officially left us with (there used to be a couple of digital compilations of other recorded materials floating around on the interweb - but we're slightly too lazy to find them right now). This is majestic, shambling garage rock of the kind that makes us more than a bit giddy. And all four members of this band went on to further greatness in bands like the White Wires, Century Palm, Teledrome, and Thee Thems. 

Eyeballs!! Eyeballs!!

Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome/The Incandescence - Split (2006)

We thought about bundling this in with yesterday's 7", but we wanted to draw out the SIDS-related content a bit more. Can you blame us? This one pairs the garage rockers with the noisier/more experimental Incandescence. For us, its SIDS' "Zombie Song" which is the killer track on here. 

Oh, here's a video of that song from SIDS' final show upstairs at the Legion - you might be able to see the back of our head at the bottom right of frame in parts of this:

Sigh. SIDS. Get this one here.

Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome - Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome (2006)

If there's one band we keeping hoping to see a reunion show, it's this one. We found Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome way too late in life (theirs and ours), and only saw a handful of their shows. But we've got this single, which we cherish and fills some of the void they left behind. If you missed them, SIDS were an amazing, snotty, young powerhouse of garage rock. Everyone in this band was - and is - absolute gold. Sheesh, we're getting all misty-eyed here...

If you want to relive some of those great shows, here's a clip of the band playing this 7"'s "Olivia Neutron Bomb" at their final all-ages show:

Get SIDS' self-titled record here.

Chupacabra - Tired Of Talking To Shadows... (1999)

We posted an earlier tape from Chupacabra a few years back, and this 7" contains more of their heavy, heavy hardcore. We failed to note that vocalist Shira Blustein is now in Vancouver, running a vegan restaurant - through which she's carried what she learned in our city's punk scene.

Get Chupacabra's 7" here.

The Browns/John Q. Public - Lady, Stay Dead (1999)

Well, here are the Browns (featuring Charlie Brown/Jeff Caissie) and a split single (with John Q. Public - we can't remember where exactly they were from, in our memory they were an American band?) that came out around the same time as their Greatest Hits CD. Which is probably why this single features the first track off that disc along with a cover of the Misfits' "Bullet." 

We got lazy and didn't digitize the John Q. Public side of this record - so you just get the Browns.

Rum Runner/Blotto Boys - A Tribute To The Pogues/The Boys From Hoserville (2003); Rum Runner - Dead Men Are Heavier Than Broken Hearts (2005), Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! (2011)

Well, it kind of makes sense to follow up Knucklehead with this trio of singles from Rum Runner. Well, two and half singles - the first is a split with The Blotto Boys, who we think was a one-off band featuring Dan Izzo (among others, obvs). That split single's four Pogues covers characterize Rum Runner's sound - over their time they served up a blend of Knucklehead-like punk tinged with a Celtic folk influence. And lyrics that carried a subtle complexity - Al Drinkle's songwriting has a great literate sensibility.

Get the singles here.

Knucklehead - Knucklehead (1998), Cosmetic Youth (2004), Hearts On Fire (2008), Cold Civil War (2012)

We're going to head back into the CCPS 7" archive - but we're going to focus on a few gems from the past 25 years that hearken back to the original content of this project. We've noticed that a few singles aren't available in digital format and/or the bands have no online presence - so we're going to rectify that.

As a starting point, here are four singles from local legends Knucklehead, spanning almost 15 years. We forgot how long these guys were active - and even though they have a selection of their releases up on their bandcamp (including the last of these singles), but the first three seem lost to the sands of time. Or at least we're going to pretend they are and post 'em anyways. It's pretty fun to listen to these in order and hear how Knucklehead honed its sonic attack while retaining its original sing-along spirit, capturing the raw energy of their amazing live shows. 

Get the three earlier singles here, and get Cold Civil War from Knucklehead's bandcamp.