Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Chapter Twenty-Two: Are You Ready for the Cow-Punk?


“There’s no such thing as cow-punk.” Did I say that? Yes, though in my defense I was sixteen, standing in the basement of Wellington’s (a sleazeball bar) after having just witnessed a spectacular set by Soul Asylum and it was 1985. Now Soul Asylum had just finished refusing to play anything from their first e.p. (Say What You Will) and had focussed exclusively on the less thrashy (and perhaps a touch more country) material from the stunning Made to be Broken album. Some earnest fellow-traveler claimed that Soul Asylum and this “this band from Edmonton called Jr. Gone Wild are cow-punk”. I begged to differ since back in the 80’s I, as narrow-minded music fans always have, disavowed all country music.

By this time the roots-rock sound (one of the more flagrantly critic-created genres) was in full swing. When faced with an enemy as ugly as the soulless and gutless synth-pop a million bands (often older punks) went back in time. Eighties bands exhumed garage rock, folk-rock and psychedelia with glee. Then of course there was country-rock, which almost every single recording artists of the 60’s is credited with having invented (by the way it’s all about Buck Owens, the death-deifying Mr. Parsons aside). The less commercial bands (Jason and the Scorchers etc.) got called cow-punk and the ones who made beer commercials (Del Fuegos etc.) got labeled roots-rock. But they all loved Gram, Bolo ties and that twang and they all got wiped out as the 80‘s bled into the 90’s. However by then Uncle Tupelo managed to steal every ounce of credit leaving Jason and the Scorchers et al cruelly empty-handed.

And there in the midst of the action was Mike McDonald, criminally neglected also-ran and linchpin of Jr. Gone Wild. “They've been called "the Sex Pistols meet Hank Williams." Lead singer and songwriter Mike McDonald once joked that the band had progressed: they were now a cross between the Clash and George Jones” says an article on their excellent (and ten-year old!) web site. The first album Less Art, More Pop has an R.E.M. angle (though they claimed in old interviews that BYO Records made them wear the twee-hippy gear) then they added some Neil Young, maybe a bit of Bob and (if Mike is to be believed) gallons of alcohol. They moved to Canadian indie (and “rootsy”) label Stony Plain for their excellent second album Too Dumb To Quit (nice Ramones reference). Mike sobered up for what may be their strongest album Simple Little Wish (which like it’s predecessor Pull the Goalie is still available from Stony Plain Records). Mike and JGW wrote empathetic, intelligent and ringing songs, such as “Slept all Afternoon" and “In Contempt of Me" which must be heard. Enjoy it, even if cow-punk was just a dumb label.

P.S. C-60 Low Noise has lots of what passed for cow-punk (and especially the thundering Jason and the Scorchers! Maybe more on them later.)


Less Art, More Pop



Too Dumb to Quit

In Canada, almost like some sorta Watchmen parallel universe, roots-rock flourished and became mainstream. In the late 80’s Steve Earle filled stadium in north and bands like The Tragically Hip and Blue Rodeo became staples of Canadian rock and even, to a degree, country radio. Of course under the radar flew the breathtakingly beautiful Lost Durangos and the achingly melodic Skydiggers.

I first heard the Skydiggers (Andy Maize, Josh Finlayson, Peter Cash, Wayne Stokes and Ron Macey) on the floor at a Vancouver record store named A + B Sound. In the early 1990’s mainstream record store employees were not yet anachronisms-waiting-to-happen but we suffered a strict dress and sound code, no loud hair or loud guitars. So before Nirvana gave the hammer blow to those regulations folkish-rock was a Great Escape from the enforced blandness. In that context the second Skydiggers album, Restless, pealed like a great bell: with those sad harmonies and chiming guitars meshing just so. True you can hear that Byrds via R.E.M. sound in songs like Accusation but the aching lyrics of This Old Town has the lope of gut-bucket country plus a perfect accapella break-it down part. Just Listen; there's much to hear.

As per usual, research has revealed that only the current Skydiggers album to be in print. So we will try to salve that injustice with these mp3’s, which will only be available temporarily in the hopes that soon the real thing will come along.


Skydiggers - Debut


Skydiggers - Restless

15 comments:

  1. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have mada my day, heck no - my year! I have been waiting in vain for a CD reissue of this great album and now I finally have it in the digital form. It brings back memories of long hours of driving on the highway at night when this album kept me awake. It is perfect - infectious melodies, tons of hooks, raw energy and excitement in every song. I always wondered why this album wasn't as well known as some similar albums from mid-80s; I guess the fact that this band was from Edmonton and not Athens, GA may partially be the cause. I later bought all their CDs and, althgough all of them are pretty good, the first album is still my favourite - excellent music and it still sounds as fresh as it did when I heard it first. Thanks again!

    Marian

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are utterly welcome.

    This is one of my favourites of theirs as well, though Simple Little Wish is more consistently original.

    ReplyDelete
  3. beautiful, thank you so much! any chance of upping simple little wish?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cool. Looks like this is the Canadian release with the US tracks tacked on at the end, no? I always preferred the Canadian version.

    (FWIW, three of the albums can be bought legally at emusic, mp3s without DRM, but this album disappeared when BYO left emusic and didn't reappear when they came back. And it was the BYO US version instead of the BYC version anyway.)

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is the last anonymous again... I just noticed that that band photo is actually one of the promo pix of one of the lineups of the post-JGW Mike McDonald Band. That's Sherry-Lee Heschel, Mike, and Paul (Duke Bronfman) Paetz (who was in Junior for a time).

    ReplyDelete
  6. I’ve added your blog the Pop category of the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll as requested. It’s not necessary, but if you would like to link back I would appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yup, put you on (under blogs)a while back.


    Thanks for the add.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I remember catching Soul Asylum on that same tour, at the Savoy in Van w/the Fastbacks. I agree that they were SPECTACULAR!!

    Wouldn't the Dil's "Made In Canada" 45 be considered one of the defining "cowpunk" records?

    ReplyDelete
  9. That Dils single - the one with Sound of the Rain - is another of the pivotal cow-punk records

    Good call

    (I saw the Fastback open for Fugazi in Van around '91 - truthfully they were better than the headliners.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks very much for "Less Art".

    Jr. Gone Wild was the first concert I ever saw, opening of 54-40 in Calgary. We got in even though we were underage, had to walk home four hours after the show. Bought this album the week after and practically wore it out. I've been wanting to hear this again for years.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ah the first sneak-in. My first one (the Asexuals) failed utterly but after S.N.F.U (more Alberta-ness!) no one ever asked again.

    Glad you enjoyed the post.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great stuff!!
    Have been looking for Restless for YEARS, but have never been able to buy it.
    Thank you
    pisspuck

    ReplyDelete
  13. pisspuck

    Restless, much to the band's disappointment, has been out of print for years.

    Sadly, it's their best work.

    ReplyDelete
  14. who are the trio in the 1st picture?

    ReplyDelete
  15. "This is the last anonymous again... I just noticed that that band photo is actually one of the promo pix of one of the lineups of the post-JGW Mike McDonald Band. That's Sherry-Lee Heschel, Mike, and Paul (Duke Bronfman) Paetz (who was in Junior for a time)."

    Thanks to the anon blogger above.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for clicking the COMMENTS link.
Now that you're here,I should mentions that
without reader feedback blogs slowly wither and die