Clay Holmes on Eargoggles, Digression and the Cobalt "re-enactment" at the WISE Hall

Digression band photo; that's Clay, second from the left

I am going to state at the outset: I likely won't be at the Cobalt thing at the WISE Hall (sorry, Clay!), unless the show that I am going to ends early enough that I can catch some of Digression's set. It seems unlikely. I've simply got to go to Red Gate, as I'm totally taken with H.Ä.L.T., whom I have never seen before, and who describe themselves as a "traditional goth/post-punk band" on their Bandcamp, who, further, remind me of a Gothier variant of early Lords of the New Church, especially in their basslines.  Plus I have grown to utterly love the night's headliners the Tranzmitors in the last few years. But I gotta be clear about that at the outset, because otherwise, it would seem very weird for me to turn up at Red Gate having NOT GIVEN ANY PRESS AT ALL to that show, while in fact having given press to a different one. Like, what kinda hypocrisy would THAT be? This paragraph lets me off the hook for that accusation, though it may put me on the hook for others. Sorry! 

But people wanting a blast of Vancouver punk and metal that will give you a taste of how great "Vancouver's hardcore bar" the Cobalt was, in its initial incarnation -- or who want to see a stacked bill of bands that regularly played that venue, at an insanely low price ($10 advance, maybe a bit more at the door!) should hit the WISE Hall instead, especially if you've never seen the Golers (a savage thrash band with a sense of evil, confrontational, pitch-dark "humour" in their lyrics) or Mr. Plow (who writes very rude, funny acoustic originals like "Let's Get Fat Together", the studio version of which features Mr. Chi Pig. And how can you not love someone who titles an album Apocalypse Plow?). 

By the by, Dave Plow lives out of town now, so he doesn't perform here very often! 

And speaking of rude humour, the Gnar Gnars will no doubt do their songs about fucking vacuum cleaners and their cat (their cover of the Kinks "Lola" is kind of legendary, too). Have seen all three of these acts multiple times and its kinda genius to put them all together on a Cobalt-themed bill (which, I gather, Dan Scum of former Cobes regulars Powerclown will also be joining, though I am unclear what he will be doing). The whole thing is the brainchild of the WISE Hall's Clayton Holmes, who (besides headlining with his band Digression) shot tons of video of shows at the Cobalt back in the day, circa 2005-2010, which he put out both on EarGoggles anthology DVDs (complete with satirical advertisements and other pop cultural references between songs); and as standalone discs of complete shows (including a Subhumans show I missed because I was neck deep in moving from an apartment that had a bedbug problem, trying to make sure I didn't bring the fuckers with me... that was a tough night, and it hurt to miss that show, though it wasn't really the last one at the Cobalt -- Eugene Chadbourne played a Fake Jazz the next Wednesday, which I did make, and which Clay also shot. Anyhow, cool to have a whole Subhumans performance on DVD!). 

Interview commences about Friday's show! 

Clay Holmes, left, with Johnny Matter of Matterhorn records

Allan (in italics): So what was the first show you saw at the Cobalt, what was the first show you shot footage of at the Cobalt, and what are your high points, either of the venue in general or re: the bands on the bill?

Clay (not in italics!): I can’t remember the first show I saw at the Cobalt but I definitely remember walking through the door for the first time in the early 2000s and realizing that I had found my place. I asked Wendy for a job right away and she just shook her head. I managed to win her over in 2006 which led to me documenting the place with EarGoggles. Her oversight of the place is really what made it special. For certain types of weirdo fringe artists there was nowhere better to do whatever the fuck you wantedG

Will you be doing an old-school Eargoggles video document of the coming night? I still have all my EarGoggles DVDs... will you have any on the merch tables? (besides the compilations, I only have two complete shows you shot, the Rebel Spell and the Subhumans; were there others?)

EarGoggles was made before cellphones had filming capabilities and its lost most of its necessity since then so I don’t really film bands anymore. I think I did a Dayglo DVD at some point but if I did, they’re long gone. I do have a smattering of full length sets (including a full day of sets at Neptoon Records during Record Store Day) at https://www.youtube.com/@clayholmes4561/videos

I gave the last of my EarGoggles away to Johnny at Matterhorn Records when he opened because he’s a good guy.

(my own personal Eargoggles collection; how many am I missing? Also note, I have a feature film by Clay -- which he gave me 15 years ago or so. Guess I should watch it!)

Is the Digression album going to be available at the show? What format?

Digression has never made any physical media and probably never will. It would be nice but I’ve never really cared too much about holding an album in my hands before listening to it.

Who is in Digression, playing what? What's the band's history? Is this going to be a serious, ongoing project (I have your "Clay" album with the And No One Else Wanted to Play spoof on the cover, and that seemed like a one off). By the way, Digression from what?

Digression is myself on guitar, Adrian Marsden on another guitar to make up for my guitar, Ry Somerton on bass and Rodney Riot on drums. It’s been going for about eight years now through various lineups but the lineup right now is peak Digression. The first two albums are actually mostly songs from that old CLAY album. I finally found people to play with me!

 
I’m a pretty sarcastic guy and just thought Digression was a funny name for a punk band because it sounds like Aggression but just means to go off topic for a moment. It would have been even funnier with death metal lettering but Richard Katynski designed us a road sign logo and I love it so we’ve been rolling with that ever since.

Is there an overaching theme to the album? The beginning of the end of what conversation? (Why the end?).

It’s the beginning of the end of conversation in general. People don’t have the patience for meaningful dialogue anymore. It’s far trendier to plug your ears, dig in your heels, and belittle anyone who disagrees with you. I think that’s one of the main reasons why the world is so fucked up right now.
It’s mostly represented in two songs: "The Beginning" and "The End."  "The Beginning" focuses on a conspiracy theorist type who cuts himself off from society completely in favour of an AI bot that perpetually agrees with him. "The End" deals with a more somber character who decides to end a toxic relationship after years of reflection.

About other songs on the album -- who are the "Beautiful Castaways" in "filthy lingerie"?

 
"Beautiful Castaways" is about suicide and the title characters are at the bottom of the ocean.

I think my favourite song on the album is "Hollow" -- I can think of a few businesses I used to frequent that have been replaced with perpetual For Lease signs, but was it written about a specific building or situation, or just the general state of development in Vancouver?

I can’t believe that we have a housing crisis in this city when there are so many empty spaces. What a waste! The fat cats who own them should be forced to lower their asking price or convert them to DIY art spaces.  

Re: "Stop Having Kids", have you actually had a vasectomy, or...?

I have not but I also don’t have any kids. Fun fact: my wife, along with a mother and son combo, sang “no more children” on the chorus.

When was Dave Plow's last show in town? What's your favourite Mr. Plow song? (I am partial to the one about getting fat together...). Do you have favourite Golers or Gnar Gnars songs? Who is going to get the proceeds from this gig, when the door is so cheap?

Plow hasn’t played here for ten years so a lot of people are very excited to see him again. I really hope he plays "Crackhead Momma" which is my favourite Plow song. The Golers are pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to live thrash and the Gnar Gnars are hilarious. I thought it was important to have island representation because the Victoria punk scene was very important to the Cobalt.

 
The bands will get the proceeds from the door if there are any proceeds. I work at the Wise and get a good deal on the rental so I figured it would be nice to do old school punk pricing.

The Cobalt has been kinda rehabilitated as a punk venue, but you're choosing to have this show at the WISE; I realize you have long associations with that venue, but are you happy the Cobalt is up and running as a punk club again?

I would be happier if it burnt to the ground! I know this makes me an asshole because every extra music venue is a good music venue but I can never go back out of respect to Wendy and apparently this means that I have to miss all the First Attack shows. That aside, I know a few of the current Cobalters and wish them well.

Yeah, they're good people, and I think Wendy herself is accepting of them. But I respect your loyalty. Curious, is anything being done to pay respects to Mr. Chi Pig? He really should be busing the tables.

You know, I sent out a mass Facebook invite for the show and had to spend an hour amending it because so many of the people I invited are dead. I’m a pretty emotional person and, when it comes to death, I’m also a bit of a coward so I tend to avoid acknowledging it unless it’s small personal gesture (I will be wearing my Grow Up shirt). Like many people, I loved Chi and I hope he and Jon Card will be heckling us from punk rock heaven.

By the way, I realize it's not on the album, but I like the "All Generaliztions Are Bullshit" idea. But when Noelle did her All Cats Are Beautiful t-shirt, I thought for awhile that she had riffed on an idea of MINE (because I'd come up with that "joke" myself in a Facebook post, or thought I had), then realized when I talked to her that it's been around for awhile, predating even my comment. So is AGAB unique to you, as a riff on ACAB? (I've had very few problems with cops, myself, but I've never been a street punk or tried to run a punk club or such).

I coined AGAB when I realized that some punks actually took ACAB seriously. I guess I’ve always thought that punks were better at seeing through the bullshit than most, so it was disappointing to see how vulnerable some of them were to sloganeering. Kind of like discovering that a large percentage of your scene is made up of anti vaxxers or Trump supporters. I’ve actively criticized cops in videos like "50,000 Volts" and understand that a lot of them are assholes who abuse their power but it’s lazy, bordering on delusional, to say that they’re all bad people. I actually thought that some ACAB punks would say hey, maybe it is more important to reject stereotypes than it is to validate my own personal animosity. But instead, they raked me over the social media coals. I tried to explain that I had no cop connections and that cops weren’t even the point, just a potent example of a generalization. But it’s kinda difficult to defend yourself when you’re getting called a bootlicking fascist.

Sidenote, I actually did meet one of my detractors in person one day and he was surprisingly apologetic about his online behaviour. We even chatted amicably for a while so maybe there is hope after all. We never came to agree on the ACAB thing or whatever but that’s ok because how boring would it be if we all just agreed with each other? And how lame would it be if we agreed with each other just for the sake of it?

By the way, attached are some photos, and the only one that might not speak for itself is the Halloween costume where I dressed up as a cop and changed my nametag to All Clays Are Bastards. Now that I’m looking at it, the name tag is way too small so probably not useable but, hey maybe you’ll get a kick out of it.

All Clays Are Bastards

 
Any comments on Noelle as a punk organizer/ community force? (Only accepting positive ones!).

Re: Noelle, she’s as pure and positive a force as I’ve ever met in the punk scene. We recently had a good laugh about one of her posters for Trooper Fest where a band called Clay is playing. 

[Note: people who have followed the Trooper Fest saga here and on the Straight should note that Trooper passed earlier this year, after the fundraiser for his meds was organized; this year's festival, taking place next weekend, will raise money for other punk cats in need and maybe go towards establishing a fund for them? Not 100% clear, but more to come].

Ha. In fact, when I saw the Clay on the poster, I asked her if that was you! Is there anything else I should say about the gig or the bands?

Ya Dan Scum is on the bill now so come throw some sushi at him!

Event deets here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/dollar10-punk-show

Note: BUY ADVANCE TICKETS, because it will cost more at the door

Deadcats Friday! Plus Mick Tupelo, Mike Dennis, the Bill of Rights and some cool vintage photos by Adam Kates

Adam Kates and I found out the same way, on the same night, that Deadcats guitarist/ bassist/ vocalist Mick Tupelo (in the right rear of the top photo) had passed: we were at LanaLou's, a few years ago, for a show that involved Tequila Bats, one of Orchard Pinkish's many humourous country projects, with another former Deadcat on guitar (Chopper, in the left foreground below). Adam told Chopper that he had some photographs of the Deadcats from 20-odd years back -- which you see below; Kates thinks they were taken at the Pic, maybe circa 2002. That was when we found out that Mick Tupelo had died in 2019. 

Deadcats early 2000s at the Picadilly Pub, by Adam Kates, not to be reused without permission

Left-to-right Chopper, drummer Rob (but not Miner), Scooter, Mick

I had seen the Deadcats at least twice. One, in passing, at the Niagara, which used to be a live music venue with a super-cool neon sign (destroyed by Ramada, but immortalized, if memory serves, in Hard Core Logo). I was going in there for some other reason, and the band were playing, and I stopped and checked them out and was most impressed, particularly remembering Scooter (on the washtub bass above) having a fun, tinted hairstyle that night -- a look that stuck, as did their overall style and vibe. The next time I caught them was at the Rickshaw some years later, in a bill with Swank and the Nervous Fellas in 2009. I covered the story for the Skinny magazine and was a bit of a bitch about it (which I would hear about from Butch of the Fellas later, giving him my mea culpla: I coulda been more respectful! I had more attitude in my writing in those days). 

So based on Chopper's news, it sounded like we'd never see the Deadcats again, which both Adam and I were bummed about, because Look Like Hell!, their final album, from 2009, is actually really fun. It's the disc of theirs you're most likely to find around town, though it isn't plentiful these days (sadly, Gord "Gorehound" Smithers of the band reports that Mick had been the merch guy, so there won't be any vintage merch at the show on Friday).  

Fact is, I didn't really know much about the band: and certainly not that I had seen Mick Tupelo, under his real name, Mike Dennis, had performed at the first-ever punk show I attended, as the founding member of the Bill of Rights. All that same up when researching the Straight feature I wrote about the band's second-ever reunion gig since Tupelo passed, happening this Friday at LanaLou's. I did know that Bev Davies had been an item with Rick Knott of the Bill of Rights, and that she had a photo of them onstage with me in it, back in October of 1984, since I'd previously posted it here.

Anyhow, those details worked their way into the article. I should clarify that Gord Smithers, the Deadcat that I ended up interviewing was only on the band's first and last albums, since that detail gets a bit fudged in my press to one-up John Lucas. 

Also note -- the gig poster says the Petty Larceneers will play, but they had to drop off the bill; Smithers tells me that Alberta band Run the Plank (featuring Kermit Von Munster and Aaron Rose, doing double-duty that night as the Deadcats' rhythm section) will be the only opener (we believe Evil Norton Niels will just be singing with the Deadcats?). Happy to have a chance to see the band again, and to show the world Adam's photos (I interviewed Kates about his punk rock history, and showed a few other of his photos, here). Thanks go to Jess Templeton for pointing me at PhotoScape (freeware that is a bit tricky to download, since every page you find has malware links on them, but the Photoscape X one worked). The photos cleaned up pretty darn good, I thought! 

Also note that Smithers also said (but it didn't make the cut) that if the band continues without Kermit, they'll be doing so under a different name. 

So there's a gig to be at on Friday! More info here...  

Les Goodman Saves Canada (Again) and SKÁLD: shows this week

Photo by Gord McCaw

I have seen a few different projects with Dennis Mills, but I have only ever seen Les Goodman co-hosting an event at the Rickshaw with Tony Lee; have never done the Canada Day show. I am changing that! Apparently one should wear red, or red and white, even, for the photo (I guess I have the perfect use for my new Asian Persuasion All Stars shirt). Is Secret Asian Man doing something? I am not sure--they were doing something somewhere for Canada Day,  and I believe Tony Lee is co-hosting this as well. I am keen. If you have Wednesday afternoon off, the event runs from 3-7, tickets here. 

Also, French Viking folk (-metal?) band SKÁLD is at the Rickshaw on Saturday. They are not the Belgian metal band Skald, so don't be fooled; the right bandcamp is here. But they also have a video on their main webpage, and another on the Rickshaw event page. Didn't know them until yesterday, popped on a video just to see and was immediately interested. Why are the doors at 6? Tickets here, unclear why it is starting so early (doors at 6). 

The Ex live in Vancouver: review and photos, June 26 2026

Terrie and Kat by Allan MacInnis

That was great... my favourite reviews of last night were from Ed Hurrell and Nick Mitchum... Nick came to see Gord but hadn't heard of the Ex... Ed was blown away... "Now that's a band!" I pointed my phone and said, "Give'm a thumbs up, guys!" Their faces say more than I will...

Happy campers after the show

In fact, a few friends came, some directly on  my invite, and maybe my Straight article actually helped with this one... hope so... venue wasn't full but with competion from FIFA and Ak'Chamel it was all right! I woulda done more if I coulda.. run through the streets of the city like Kevin McCarthy at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers... "They're here! You must listen! You must go to this show!"

The band were very patient with my excesses and signed everything... except Terrie I think missed my Brass Unbound album... and I left the cover of my Kurdistan 7" in my bag (oops). Thought I'd lost it, even! They sold all their merch, including the Zea albums Arnold said he'd bring (they sold in Montreal)... no t-shirts... no setlists to steal, either, since they just played the songs in order off the album (I think), and one encore...  

Openers Grdina and Lillinger smoked it up but I realize that I'm a vulgarian, the oud is interesting and beautiful but I liked hearing Gord ROCK OUT most, which he did plenty of... Lillinger was so expressive (with his face as much as his drumming!) that he almost looked like someone (Bill Paxton, maybe?) playing a drummer in a 1983 movie about a punk band... they weren't a punk band but played with the intensity of a punk band... Grdina was like a hyper-intense John McLaughlin, jacked on steroids and stimulants circa Love Devotion Surrender (I don't know if John McLaughlin was ever jacked on steroids and stimulants and I doubt Gord was either but he PLAYED like he was, dig?)... laid down a few hooky loops, essentially basslines, and then built sheets of building intensity on top of them, pushing you upwards towards the ecstacy, like he wanted to make your brain ejaculate its contents onto the ceiling... I haven't seen him enough this year...

(Bob will have this from another angle, not sure what Terrie was doing, was part of the chorus of one song later in the night, Terrie doing this "tellya a secret" thing as he joined in...)

And The Ex was amazing, everything I'd hoped for... It's just as well I don't live in Europe, I'd see them every show, I would just go see the Ex and the New Model Army every gig and never see or do anything else... I did note, though, that the sound was better from the right side of the stage, at least up front: Terrie's monitor made his guitar anarchy too dominant on the left! I liked the rhythm a bit more dominant in my mix, so I eventually moved over, but Terrie's a real character... smiled through the night, goofed around with the audience, poking and prodding them and even deliberately (playfully) knocking over someone's beer that they had put on the stage; he even played his guitar on the edge of the stage (or with some sort of lid-like circular thing -- maybe part of a drum -- or with a metal camping cup, or with a drumstick or sometimes with the fingers of his right hand, but not in anything like a conventional fingerpicking way... almost more like a bassist... fascinating to watch)... earlier he giggled when I told him that if you watch the Youtube video of his last show in Vancouver, when he played here with Han Bennink and Brodie West, there's a fat man seated up front with a really terrible hairdo: "That's me!"

You were left wondering if Terrie is always this happy onstage... he bounced from foot to foot all night, smiling even when he had a guitar pick in his teeth... his guitar looked like it survived a war or three... I wonder how long he's had it? Had almost as much character as he does!

There were a couple of real characters in the audience, too, including a slightly aggro (but still jubilant) dude in a beret who had seen them in Seattle... he yells that at the band at the start of this clip... Kat is like "uh, okay, thanks"... but his enthusiasm was sincere and palpable... he woulda moshed if there'd been a moshpit... I was glad there wasn't (moshpits aren't rhyhmic enough for this kind of music) but I was happy there were people dancing besides me...! 

Shot another clip too, one of Arnold's songs... I think it's "Spider & Fly" but Bob is snoring on the couch here (he's crashing) as I type this... so I can't easily check... it was the song after "The Evidence."

They traded up their encore... my Straight article is wrong, they didn't do "Soon All Cities", they did "The Heart Conductor" off 27 Passports. Which is also great. The other error in the article is that Andy doesn't really play "bass", he plays guitar, but he is often doing bass parts ON his guitar, if that makes sense... I must investigate... I will investigate... Bob's photos are better than mine but we'll save'm for a magazine... I sure hope I get to see this band again...

Amazing night. At their current rate of performance in Vancouver, we can expect them again in 2061... hope they come back sooner than that! 

The Ex on Apocalyptic Floods, Cow Poop Deodorant (?) and NoMeansNo

The Ex by Susana Martens

Note: The following is an adjunct to the big feature in the Straight on The Ex last week, which you should read first! This is just "what I did with the outtakes" (but they are fun ones). 

(Added after the gig: I did do a couple of vids... here's "Wheel"... I'll let you find "Spider & Fly")

Songs by the Ex can sometimes take the form of impassioned, rhythmic, poetic rants. This is true both for the GW Sok years and the Arnold de Boer ones. In the case of Sok, take "Walt's Dizzyland", off 2001's Dizzy Spells. It takes on "quicksand Hollywood" and "slow-match fast food" (a slow match is like a cannon fuse, burning slowly and steadily, implying that fast food kills you cumulatively instead of all at once). The lyrics rail against falsification of reality forged by Disney and its effects on our minds, a phenomenon that, elsewhere on the album, is likened to the acts of a "money vulture... turning bullshit into culture." A sample lyric:

Everyone be seated, tell you a little story
"Once upon a time" it starts, then it chews the facts
With Mickey, Walt & Donald
Goofy cousin Ronald
They wanna swallow all your souls, as if they've inked a pact

Are we fucked, are we nice, are we ducks, are we mice, are we men, are we mean, are we living
Living in the dream-machine

Past lyricist/ vocalist of the Ex, G.W. Sok, when I asked about this song, re-read the words and observed: "it seems like this is sort of happening right now, also, but much worse than I expected. Disneyfication to the bone, but then the most dark version of it. Greedy scum in the White House, lying and cheating ALL the time, working their way towards the death of democracy. But still, I'm writing this with fingers crossed, hoping that somehow something good shall emerge soon. The world is pretty fucked up right now and we the people deserve so much better. much, much better."

Similar in passion, but slghtly more cryptic in its phrasing, "In the Rain"  is the "most in-your-face song" on the band's newest album, according to present vocalist/ lyricist/ guitarist Arnold de Boer. It sounds like Fugazi, if Fugazi included a free-associating Dutchman pouring out a stream of invective in a two-and-a-half minute word-flood. It's a challenge to follow along, especally since the lyrics are not given on their bandcamp; you have to go to the album's back cover to read them. In part, the lyrics go:

In the rain, I saw sheep gathering on a hill
Lining up, forming letters, letters then words
That say: You Are Not the World

In the rain, I saw the blurbs, blubber-burbs
Puffed-faced, back-laced Camel-smoking bubbles
Scream against sunscreen
That the burning is a healing
Swallow bleach to tune in with the leader

In the rain, them flapping their lungs out
Driving their bloody bottom golf cart, escape
To the plastic gardens of Roundup glyphosate
In the rain, rubbing tons of cowshit
Into their armpits to keep their right arms straight
In the rain, carrying farmer millionaires on a fishing boat
Blocking the ferries that try to save the school kids
For a better future
Their future.

The lyric is inspired by a poem by Joost Oomen, "Dieren en Dingen in de Regen" ("Animals and Things in the Rain"), which you can track down online in the original Dutch and translate, but it won't help unpack the specific images in the song. For instance, what's this about rubbing cowshit into your armpits, to help keep your right arm straight? We assume that last is a reference to a fascist salute, which leads us briefly down a Google rabbithole, trying to see if Elon Musk--the most famous (apparent) Sieg Heiler in recent memory--had, say, any ventures involving cow manure bath products. I mean, one never knows. It was entertaining, but bore no relevant fruit, though we did find an Instagram video involving cowshit shampoo, which is apparently a thing somewhere. 

De Boer has been too busy with the band's tour of Canada to elaborate further, but he does note that "The Loss", https://theex.bandcamp.com/track/the-loss another apocalyptic song on the album, is about "jumping on the last boat when you're about to lose everything"--another image, as with "Monday Song" discussed last week, of a world that has been apocalyptically flooded due to climate change. Some of the lyrics:

What did the sinking start
I'm getting dressed, sackcloth and ash
The people all ask me who died
And I say it is you who are dead
It's time to rebuild the ark
So we'll never need to use it in the end

The song ends on de Boer chanting "loss loss loss' over and over again--a grim catharsis, but a powerful one.

The idea of loss is also evoked by the remarkable cover painting for If Your Mirror Breaks, by "Woeloem" Hessels, the pen name of Wim Hessels, a Dutch painter whose work also graced the cover of the Ex's 1990 EP Dead Fish; he appears to have been the father of Terrie Hessels, AKA Terrie Ex, the sole founding member of the band to be playing Friday's show (though Andy Moor and Katharina Bornefeld have both been in the band since the 1980s). The image on the cover shows, with considerable abstraction, someone howling in grief as they embrace a fallen loved one.

As noted last week, to prepare for the show, If Your Mirror Breaks is really the only album (and maybe a bit of 27 Passports) that needs knowing; the Ex will not be delving into their back catalogue, which is just as well, since trying to play catchup on their 45-year back catalogue would be a daunting thing.

In fact, the last time they were in town was a 1991 two-night stand in Vancouver, headlining at the Cruel Elephant and then sharing a Commodore bill with Nomeansno, whom the Ex remain enthusiastic about. On the topic of the legendary local punk band, who retired in 2015, drummer Katherina Bornefeld tells the Straight, "we became good friends, because both the members of Nomeansno and their crew were incredibly kind and generous people with a great sense of humour. And their audience loved us too! We had a brilliant time together. It was our first time in Canada and it was a fantastic experience".

Since that time, the Ex and Nomeansno played 30 gigs together, also including shows in Europe, Bornefeld says. Sadly--and somewhat ironically--Nomeansno co-founder (and current Dead Bob bandleader) John Wright, who turned me onto the Ex over 20 years ago, will not be able to be at the Friday show; he has noted on social media that he wishes he could be there, but he is bringing Dead Bob to Europe this week and will be playing a Fusion Festival in Germany when the Ex is at the Hollywood in Vancouver.

In fact, Dutch Nomeansno fans who are reading this should take heed: Dead Bob, Wright's new band, who do a sizeable number of Nomeansno covers during their set, will be touring through the Netherlands in late September of this year.

Has Bornefeld managed to check out Dead Bob yet? Nope! "I didn’t know anything about John’s recent project, but I’m glad to hear he’s still active. He's a great drummer!"

The Ex plays tonight at the Hollywood Theatre. https://www.coastaljazz.ca/event/the-ex-with-grdina-lillinger/ There is some uncertainty about start times but I would suggest arriving before 7, to be sure to catch openers Grdina/ Lillinger. 

The Ex in the Straight -- DO NOT MISS THIS BAND!!!

Photo by Geert Vandepoele, 2025

So my interview with former vocalist for The Ex, GW Sok, current vocalist for the Ex Arnold de Boer, and drummer (and only occasional vocalist) Katherina Bornefeld is NOW LIVE. If you love this band like I do, this is a shareable link. They haven't played here since 1991, I don't think...? It's a big deal that they are coming back!!!! 

 https://shrlnk.ca/s/Fiw94h5U  

Maybe more to come...?

Asian Persuasion All Stars in Montecristo Magazine, plus a note on my still not being Stephen Hamm

(rehearsal space shot by Allan MacInnis: L to R: Brooke, Melissa, Jose, back-of-Tamlah's head, Tim, and Tony)

So my Asian Persuasion All Stars piece went live today! 

The band members have been very appreciative. I didn't get to include a history of every member, and left out various details simply to meet my word count (which I did not end up doing, but there's always a question of how much over you'll be allowed to go).

Unmentioned by me, Ron Yamauchi had what the band described as a country song, "Take the Train Away", but having peered at the lyrics over Tamla's shoulder, I could make neither heads or tails of them: which train? To be honest, my mind went to Japanese Canadians being shipped out by train to internment camps in the interior of the province in the early 1940s, which would fit with the idea of writing on anti-racist themes, except Ron's not nowhere old enough for that to have been a childhood memory of his; if he were indeed writing about such a politically charged moment in Canadian history, he was doing so very obliquely. Which complicated matters: if I mentioned the song, I would have had to ask him to explain it, and then to explain it myself: a threat to the word count! 

I also made little mention, in the version that saw print, of Brooke Fujiyama's "Petrichor", which seemed clearly the least political song of the night, but my strongest impression relating to that song, was how walking to their studio, all I could smell was the East Van chicken rendering plant, whereas emerging, I was treated to that very rain-on-pavement smell that gives that song that title. It only lasted a block before the stench of chicken carcasses took over, but it was a very welcome aroma!

An early draft did have a paragraph about that song, but it got almost entirely axed (hadda chop something). 

And of course, I didn't really do justice at all to Norine Braun. She wasn't present at the one rehearsal I was able to attend, but the issue was again more one of word count: she's an accomplished singer songwriter in her own right, but her own work deserves more space than I would have been able to give, and including something more about her would have meant trimming something else out, which I did not want to have to do...  

If it's any consolation, there was someone even dearer to my heart who did not make the article: myself. Because at one point, I considered getting into an entertaining, longtime grievance I have had about being mistaken for Stephen Hamm, which actually made a "long draft". It had come up quite organically in the interviews, and seemed at least possibly relevant! But as you see, I am not in there, Hamm is not in there. If I'd been blogging it, it would have been!

The initial draft (over double the requested word count) took the time to set it up: both Tony Lee and Ron Yamauchi, I took pains to explain, were at the notorious Slow show at Expo 1986, the one that led to both singer Tom Anselmi and bassist Stephen Hamm dropping trou in disrespect of unpopular Socred Premier Bill Bennett, which caused the Expo peeps to panic and pull the plug, and further led to the remainder of the showcase getting cancelled (Tony recalled that Art Bergmann was scheduled to go on after Slow, but didn't). Yamauchi relates that  he had a press pass from the Peak at SFU, so he knows he was there, but he wasn't up front, chanting "Expo sucks" with rest of the crowd. By contrast, Soreheads singer Rob Elliott, now based in Toronto, got arrested, Lee told me. "It was supposed to be a whole two-week Expo, a local independent showcase, and then it got wacky, the whole thing got cancelled, and everyone was upset. Rob was sort of crazed and yelling, though he's kind of harmless. But they took him away, and when he was taking him away, his best friend Steve Bentley yelled out, 'Do you want me to tell your Mom?' So that was really fun!"

Telling that story (which I didn't end up doing, as you see) allowed me to at least set up the Hamm reference when we got to the bit about members of Asian Persuasion All Stars being mistaken for each other, because I got to explain that I was frequently mistaken for Hamm, and occasionally also taken for other men of onetime girth, including Ty Strangelhold, Alex Varty, Geoff Barton and the former guitarist from Aging Youth Gang. I don't think I look anything like any of these men; we belong to, maybe, the same rough category (large white males of a certain age), but that's not a matter of racism, I opined to Tim, but rather a tendency to file people of similar appearance into broad categories, which means occasionally reaching into the file for one person and pulling out another. I mean, sure, Eric and Tony don't look much alike either: 

But Hamm and I, at least in my mind, also are pretty easy to tell apart. He's about a foot taller than I am, for one thing. He has a moustache, which I don't. Tim Chan actually observed that Hamm and I do share more physical attributes than he and Eric and Tony, in part of the interview that did not get used, but in the end, I couldn't justify using any of this. Not even this charming photo:

Actually, the more I look at the thing, Tim's got a point: we do look a little alike. More than he and his bandmates do, anyhow. I still think there's something to it, really, this idea that we file people in categories, which sometimes means imperfectly identifying who is who; Eric and Tony are both drummers in independent local bands of Asian background, roughly of the same body type, so people getting them confused with each other at least COULD be some feature of categorical perception, of the same type that leads people to try to talk Theremins with me...? 

Actually, it seemed more plainly racist (as well as a much more severe failure of perception) that Tim would be mistaken for Tony or Eric, mind you, since he REALLY looks nothing like those two (and plays a different instrument, to boot). But it just wasn't worth taking up the wordcount. I decided it would suffice to represent Tim and Tony on the issue, and leave my own grievances out of it. 

So Ron, Brooke, Norine, that's my defense: yes, I wrote less about you than I might have, but I also cut MYSELF out of the story! (And a perfectly charming Slow/ Expo 86 anecdote to boot, which people would have enjoyed -- Tony sure got a chuckle out of telling me the "Do you want me to tell your Mom?" thing).

Hope people dig it anyhow!

See y'all Friday at the Fox! (Tickets here, Skaboom! video here). 

Oh, and China Syndrome plays Victoria the next night, at the Mint, by the by!

Gig tip: See The Ex (the homework is easy): one of my top five bucket list bands, playing Vancouver this month!

So I will have something upcoming on The Ex, playing the Hollywood July 26th -- yes, the same night as Ak'Chamel, which is unfortunate, since these are two bands that will have overlapping fanbases, but I gather the Hollywood set is going to be an early show, and that Ak'Chamel will start late, so there is, in fact, time to do both gigs, maybe? Just a bit of a commute between them! 

For my money, if I have to pick between one of the two, I'd pick The Ex; they haven't played Vancouver, I think, since their May of 1991 show with Nomeansno at the Commodore. Ak'Chamel will be back sooner than The Ex! 

And the homework on this is easy: check out If Your Mirror Breaks -- especially the global-warming themed "Monday Song," for starters. If it sinks, just buy a ticket and trust me. (Gord Grdina is opening, too, with Christian Lillinger, so that's another good reason to go). That album will make up 90% or so of their setlist, so that's really all you need to go on. 

If you need more words, however, I can offer a few: friends on social media were likening the songs by The Ex that I posted to The Fall and late-phase Captain Beefheart, and I can hear what they mean, and don't mind using the names of those bands as touchstones for people who don't know what to expect or why they should investigate. But the differences are more significant than the similarities. I actually know The Ex quite a bit better than I do The Fall, admire them more, care more, and find that besides some superficial sonic similarities -- think the Beefheart comparison in particular is misguided, if you really get down to it. Like,  sure, you could put "Listen to the Painters" on a playlist with "Run Paint Run Run" and it would be amazing. But Beefheart was never as democratic with his poetry as The Ex, had, god bless'im, elitist and obscurantist tendencies (which maybe could be said of Mark E. Smith too?). Beefheart and Smith set out to create a cult mystique around themselves, to draw you into their influence and command your attention; I don't think either artist would ever be as heart-on-sleeve topical as The Ex get on "Monday Song", for instance. Sure, The Ex has poetry and artfulness and so forth in abundance, they also just want to be understood, want to be responsible world citizens, want to work "for the people" rather than for their own cult status, which (bless'em, y'know, but still) is more than one could say for Beefheart or Mark E. Smith... I like and listen to The Fall and love some Beefheart and wholeheartedly agree that a squid eating dough in a polyetheline bag is fast and bulbous, and I can drop that into conversation at random and sometimes do, but on the other hand, that's just a nonsense phrase for Beefheart cultists to use to signify their elite status and/ or maybe entertain themselves and or bond in their status with other people who get the joke, which ultimately is kind of... not that interesting, you know? You don't want to go away and contemplate the speed or bulbousness of that squid. There is nothing to learn from it, no deeper emotional level to access. It's just entertaining bullshit -- VERY entertaining bullshit, GREAT entertaining bullshit, and I have nothing AGAINST entertaining bullshit, some of my best friends (musically speaking) are entertaining bullshit... 80% of my record collection is entertaining bullshit...

...but The Ex is much more than that. They write in a way that resonates with me morally, intellectually, and aesthetically in a way the more exclusionary, culty, individualistic tendencies of The Fall, or Beefheart do. There, I said it. ">", you know? 

Still, it's not a bad "sounds like" comparison point, if you are a noob to their music and want something to go on as a starting point. Sonic Youth might get mentioned (believe they recorded with them, tho' I don't recall liking that EP much -- a Fishtank thing). More relevant are Ethiopian jazz (they recorded with Getatchew Mekuria) and European free jazz (they've played with Han Bennink, say). Maybe Crass for the early stuff (but they are less direct). Hell, let's even mention Nomeansno, who they shared bills with? They have a bit more in common "morally" with Nomeansno, I guess... but sonically not so much... 

Really, The Ex sounds like The Ex. 

And The Ex, I am told, is not a band that delves into their back catalogue for the purposes of live shows, so as wonderful as some of their old songs are, you don't have to go back to 1979 to master their upcoming setlist; you can basically just focus on their current album, and maybe "Soon All Cities" and/ or "The Heart Conductor" off 27 Passports. Those two songs have been on recent setlists, as well, so we might expect them here. Much as I'd love to hear, I dunno, "The Prism Song" or "Town of Stone" or "Blueprints for a Blackout" or... I have a dozen songs from their back catalogue I'm deeply attached to, but the band DOES NOT DO THOSE SONGS, they don't have hits that they wheel out from past decades (they've been around since 1979!!!). So basically there are two albums you need to know (you could also throw in Catch My Shoe, if you like, which was their first LP with Arnold as lead vocalist, back in 2010. I doubt they will reach even that far back...!). 

...though if you do WANT an old release of theirs to explore, bearing in mind that it's not going to matter to the show, maybe start with (I think) their first with Steve Albini, Turn. That's a marvelous album, one I think anyone who likes artful prosocial punk should know, but it's not, like, homework or anything. 

And if you want another song they will play in Vancouver, note that I'm really excited to hear off If Your Mirror Breaks, "Wheel" is my other favourite; I always love the songs Katherina sings. 

Tickets here!  

Shfestival Weekend with Balkan Shmalkan and Friends

Did anyone do anything with the press release for this show? Truth is, I'm tired as hell of writing about bands, especially for no pay, no offense to anyone; hell, I'm even missing shows by fave local bands, I'm so burnt out: like, the Tranzmitors and Night Court were the opening acts for the Clorox Girls tonight, and *I was not there*. 

But if you're looking for something SUPER FUN to do this weekend, here's the press release for the Balkan Shmalkan Shfestival (I somehow would prefer that as Shmestival but it makes no sense). I might even catch some of this myself! Note that the first night, Like Whatever, who we much enjoyed opening for the Young Fresh Fellows, are playing... I haven't caught anyone else on the bill, I don't think!

Here is a clip from a recent Balkan Shmalkan show! (Does the choral vocal remind anyone else, weirdly, of spaghetti westerns?).

Commence press release... 

East Vancouver - Balkan Shmalkan has been a fan favourite in the traditional, punk, and funk music scenes for over ten years, and while Vancouver gears up to host the world this summer, SHFESTIVAL is here to prove that the beautiful game isn't the only thing worth showing up for. This 3-day event offers something for everyone, and in the spirit of the band's new album title, ensures there is "No Trumpet Left Behind".

June 12 Funk and Punk Night, Sub in your cleats for dancing shoes. A raucous party with notorious funky punk acts Shakter, Babyface Brass, Mooshy Face, Like Whatever, and an unhinged set of tuba bangers by Balkan Shmalkan.

Grandview Legion, 2205 Commercial Drive, 7pm–midnight, $30 for the night or $50 weekend pass.

June 13 Balkan Night, A different kind of beautiful game. Featuring local dancer legends Nada and Mihajlo from Gradina Dancers, virtuoso Balalaika player Denys Kinchev, Sindikat Sina Roza (Seattle), Bučan Bučan (Victoria), and a feisty set of Balkan Shmalkan's traditional repertoire. Grandview Legion, 2205 Commercial Drive, 7:00PM–midnight, $30 for the night or $50 weekend pass.

June 14 Daytime Park Hang, The cooldown lap. Come bask in the afterglow, nurse headaches, and toss around ideas for next year. Trout Lake, North End Dock, 3360 Victoria Drive, 1:00 - 3:00PM, FREE.

Tickets: simpletix.com/e/shfestival-tickets-268075 

Performer Information

Balkan Shmalkan’s funky brass dance beats are rooted in the aural traditions of the Roma and Klezmorim of Eastern Europe and blended with a mixture of pop, funk, and jazz. They are a spectacle unlike any other; a colourful, vibrant and celebrative group that sings in 5 languages including Serbian, Romani, and Italian. https://shmalkan.bandcamp.com

Babyface Brass is a Vancouver-based street jazz and party band known for high-energy busking, blending jazz, New Orleans second line, funk, and hip-hop. Active for over 14 years, the ensemble features horns, drums, and tap dancers ("From the Soul"). https://babyfacebrass.com

Mooshy Face is a punk band from Vancouver, Canada. Focusing on being mooshy, alcohol, aliens, and alcohol, Mooshy Face strives to be one of the bands singing about these things. The three-piece band, encourages their friends and fans to come together and be frans instead. https://mooshyface.bandcamp.com

Like Whatever brings a crushing and infectious pop-punk/rock experience with saxophone inspired by The Cure, Wet Leg, Prince, David Bowie, Paramore, and Avril Lavigne. Like Whatever creates and produces all of its own video content, having released their first single and bombastic original music video ‘Hater Blockers’ during Summer 2024. https://www.likewhateverband.com/

Shakter - Premiere performance of Live PA "dance party, dance party, dance party... sorta cerebral." https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568983553197

Denys Kinchev is a Ukrainian virtuoso balalaika artist, composer, and arranger known for modernizing the instrument by blending folk, classical, and jazz. His "Balalaika Acoustic Show" uses advanced techniques like tapping, slapping, and finger-style to create a unique, energetic sound. https://denyskinchev.com

Bučan Bučan (Victoria, BC) combines traditional Eastern European Balkan Brass songs with a high-energy dance party. They find their sound from Romania, Serbia, Romani, Turkey, old Macedonia and surrounding areas. With a cadre of brass instruments, clarinet and violin, they add bass and drums to create a modern old-world sound. https://bucanbucan.com

Balkan Traditional Dance Lesson with Nada & Mihajlo from Gradina Dance Club. Nada and Mihajlo are core members of the Gradina Serbian/Balkan dance group in Vancouver. Mihajlo, from Ruski Krstur, is recognized as an expert of Serbian and Balkan folk dances. He has toured and performed throughout Europe and is always excited to share the magic of this captivating dance form with newcomers.

Sindikat Sina Roza is Seattle’s only dedicated Balkan brass band, founded in 2024 to bring high-energy, participatory folk music to the Pacific Northwest. The band plays raucous, soulful, and dance-focused music inspired by Balkan Romani traditions, with a commitment to anti-fascist, anti-capitalist values and cultural respect. https://sinarozabrass.band/home

Not Without Hope review: a massive continuity error, plus sharks and sandwiches and hypothermia

Joe Carnahan has made a few great films, especially The Grey. If you forgive that film taking liberties with the behaviour of wolves, it's gripping, thematically dense, and rich in character detail; if you're partial to outdoor ordeal films (as I am), it's kind of essential viewing. It's the only movie of his I've loved, but I've liked enough of his films that I did a "top Joe Carnahan movies" post awhile back, taking in my five favourite films of his, and sticking The Rip in the #6 slot. 

Probably The Rip has fallen in my estimation, based on subsequent reflection and a few somewhat scathing reviews I read after I wrote that piece, but the top 5 (The Grey, The A-Team, Wheelman -- which he didn't actually direct -- Boss Level and Narc) still remain up there in my estimation as some of the best genre exercises of recent years.  

I'm not going to try to assign a slot to Not Without Hope, however. It's mostly quite well made, has some gripping visuals, and is engaging (a punnier writer would say "immersive") while it lasts, but it's also sorely lacking the writerly flair, rich human detail, and thematic punch that make The Grey so re-watchable. It really and truly is about a group of men who go fishing, get caught in a storm, endure a nautical disaster, and have to fight for survival, all of which is interesting enough on its own, I suppose...

...But that's also exactly all you get. There is one -- count'em one -- moment that achieves something beyond telling its meat-and-potatoes survival-at-sea story, where the surviving men witness a cache of their sandwiches float from under their capsized boat to the surface, bobbing just out of reach in the waves, just as a few sharks start to circle the boat. The men's hunger resonates off the sharks' hunger and made me briefly laugh aloud; it's the most poetic and maybe profound moment in the film. 

Was there anything else to take away from this movie? I guess I didn't realize that being an athlete could be a liability in the face of hypothermia, but I am, shall we say, marked safe from the dangers of having an athletic build. So I'm not sure the information is useful; in fact, based on the behaviour of the men in the film, I feel like I have, generally, a better understanding of hypothermia than they did. Surely these four men should have spent every moment they could in a group hug, to share and preserve body warmth. Didn't they see Shoot to Kill? 

Otherwise, Not Without Hope achieves very little beyond relaying what happens. Maybe this is because it is based on a true story -- people were hampered in taking liberties, out of respect for the families and such? Maybe there was a faith that the story would be gripping enough without much need for artistic license...? I dunno. 

But the one thing that makes me wonder whether the filmmakers really cared about the movie is a glaring continuity error. We see the men through the first night that they are lost at sea, when visibility at night (in a storm) is made much of; we take in the second day (which is when the shark scene takes place -- clearly in daylight); we have a cut to a night shot of men on a boat looking for them, again remarking on poor visibility, and another night shot involving the men's family's, suggesting that we are now into the second night of their being lost at sea. Then we are back to daylight stuff, with both dialogue and intertitles confirming that this is 24 hours after the accident, not the 36+ that the second nigbt scene suggests. Eventually we *do* get to a second night in the water, but the earlier, out-of-sequence night shots are never explained or excused; they're just a massive continuity error in the middle of the film, glaring and undeniable (we hit rewind to review that we hadn't missed anything; we had not). 

How an error like that actually survives not just a theatrical run but a home video release is beyond me. It's akin to the endless legs Godzilla must have had to wade out over a bottomless trench in that otherwise remarkable recent Japanese Godzilla film, whatever the hell it was called (Godzilla Minus One?). It lessens whatever respect I may have had for the film; I can't even say, with a mistake like that so glaringly obvious, that "at least it was well made." 

Mostly well-made, I guess. 

Ah well. I guess I no longer have much interest in following the films of Joe Carnahan.    

RIP Exu Nazares

I'd been Facebook friends with Exu Nazares for a couple of years by the time I actually got to know him a bit. Not sure how we connected on Facebook, but some of the best stories in my Godspeed You! Black Emperor story came from him, related to his time in the Ashe Gallery. It was kind of insane that I'd spent decades wondering about that space, only to discover that two of the people who ran it had, when I wrote that story, been known to me for years.

The Straight story I wrote about him came next. And a crazy number of t-shirt orders. Which I hope were actually helpful -- they're delightful shirts, but I hope the money from them was meaningful? (Because of course now I'm second-guessing whether they distracted him from completing his graphic novel; the last couple of shirt designs I was going to buy, I told him not to even worry about -- I paid for the shirts but said he should just focus on his book). 

No idea what the state of his graphic memoir is. I believe there are completed chunks, but is there enough to salvage a book? In our last exchanges, he was sending me morbid promotional one-pagers for it, gruesome and hilarious stuff modeled off the advertisements in the back of horror comic books. Here's one he posted publicly back in April:

And now he's passed (either Thursday night or Friday morning, not clear technically which). I didn't get to know him very well, but enough to know that he was a neat cat. Condolences to his partner and surviving family. 

Gonna wear one of his t-shirts today...