V.A. Last Call: Vancouver Independant Music 1977-1988

Hey! Please come check out the ten great videos of the early Vancouver   scene over at The Big Takeover!

While Last Call suffers a bit from vaulting ambition - forty-eight songs is a tall order -  this 1991 musical history of Vancouver music, punk and beyond, from Zulu Records (ZULU 5-2) is stellar document of a place and time. As a historical document, however, it is stunning. Note how the compilers cover so many of the different facets of the Vancouver Underground (punk, art-noise, garage-rock, alternative, power-pop, cow-punk and even CanCon radio stars 54-40! So while it's not the sort of collection most people will listen to straight through, the pickings here are rich and you will be rewarded with something new and shining each time you comb through it.





I've noted where further music is available elsewhere (including other blogs). If I cold ask for some crowd-sourcing here it would be to ask if you have any rips and scans of out-of-print releases by other bands here that you'd like to contribute let us know in the COMMENTS section. Alternately, if you know where any out-of-print releases by the bands herein are avaialble on other blogs also tell us that in the COMMENTS.

1.01     Furies–     What Do You Want Me To Be        
1.02     Skulls –     Fucked Up Baby        
1.03     D.O.A. –     Disco Sucks       (More HERE)
1.04     Stiffs –     Fuck You        
1.05     Generators  –     I Wanna Be A Girl        
1.06     Dishrags –     I Don't Love You        (more to come?)
1.07     Active Dog –    Nothing Holding You  (more HERE)  
1.08     Biz –     I Don't Give A Shit        
1.09     Shades –     New Clientele        
1.10     Pointed Sticks –     Real Thing    (more to come)       
1.11     Private School –     Science Fiction        
1.12     Subhumans –     Slave To My Dick  (much more to come)         
1.13     Young Canadians –     Hawaii
1.14     Female Hands –     Divided By Three        
1.15     UJ3RK5 –     Eisenhower And The Hippies        
1.16     Modernettes –     Barbra        
1.17     Insex –     Off The Deep End        
1.18     AKA –     634 Dog        
1.19     Secret V's –     Waiting For The Drugs To Take Hold        
1.20     Tim Ray –     Seen A Fight        
1.21     Corsage –     Shame I Feel        
1.22     Popular Front –     Synchronized Swimming        
1.23     54-40 –     Yank        
1.24     Scissors  –     Mystery Movie        
1.25     Los Popularos –     Can't Come Back    (more to come)    
1.26     Moral Lepers –     Music Is Your Body        
1.27     Enigmas –     Teenage Barnacle         (more HERE)
1.28     Actionauts –     Party Dog        
2.01     Family Plot –     The Crush        
2.02     Nomeansno –     Self Pity         (more HERE)
2.03     Work Party–     Work Song        
2.04     Bolero Lava –     Inevitable        
2.05     I, Braineater –     Edge        
2.06     Go Four 3 –     Just Another Day     (more HERE)   
2.07     Animal Slaves –     Learning To Live        
2.08     Brilliant Orange –     Happy Man         (more HERE)
2.09     Slow –     Have Not Been The Same    (more HERE)    
2.10     Shanghai Dog –     American Desert        
2.11     No Fun –     Be Like Us         (more to come)
2.12     Cannon Heath Down –     Bone Of Contention        
2.13     Lost Durangos –     Evil Town         (more HERE)
2.14     Herald Nix –     Dirty Ol' Town        
2.15     Poisoned –     To Tell The Truth         (more HERE)
2.16     Bob's Your Uncle –     Talk To The Birds        
2.17     Rhythm Mission –     King Blood        
2.18     Scramblers –     Solitary Man        
2.19     Oversoul Seven –     1 + 1 Is 3     (more HERE)   
2.20     Hip Type –     Darker Than This

To get the exhaustive liner notes go HERE

Let us know what you think of these diverse Vancouver bands in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the linkS for Last Call).

The Enigmas: S/T EP (1983)

The Enigmas' (more HERE) first EP from 1983  has a batch of garage-rockin' numbers like, "Teenage Barnacle".





(And now for something completely live:





Though I own this EP, this rip came from a Longy way away, as the cover photo may indicate.

So give us you take on the early Enigmas in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find  the S/T EP link).

Real McKenzies Homepage

The Enigmas: Strangely Wild (1985)

 

The Enigmas were a post-punk garage-rock band that puzzled Vancouver throughout much of the eighties.





Led by a saxophone-wielding Iggy-worshiper named Paul McKenzie (Future leader of Fat Wreck-Chords folk-punk band, The Real McKenzies), The Enigmas pushed an idiosyncratic retro-punk sound that would carry throughout Canada and help, in its own way, expand the Og Records empire.

The band unleashed their Seeds-Iggy-Bowie-Damned Frankensound Monster on the world via two 12" EP"S and a slew of compilation appearances including It Came From the Pit and the aforementioned Og Records', It Came From Canada Volume One.

Owing possibly to it being my introduction to the band, I'd argue that Strangely Wild is the band's best work. With ripping tracks like the Nuggets-y "A Bit Too Far", the snarlin' but folk-rockin'  "The Flying Dutchmen" and the Cramps-ish "Monster's in the Basement", the band's failure to find a wild cult following remains a riddle, wrapped in a mystery...

A1		Flying Dutchman
A2		Windshield Wiper
A3		Monsters In The Basement
B1		A Bit Too Far
B2		Strangely Wild
B3		Rush Hour In Russia

 

So give us you take on the Enigmas in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find  the Strangely Wild link).

Real McKenzies Homepage