Punk rock New Years' in Vancouver!

Nothing says New Years like Two Dogs Fucking, eh?

Well. Lotta cool punk rock shows to choose from on New Years. Funkys has the biggest - the Dayglo Abortions and five other bands (The Keg Killers, the Fuck You Pigs, the Gnarcoleptics, Brady's Problem, and the Blistering Barnacles). Starts at 8 and - the Facebook page says it runs til 4am; can that be right? I rejected the Dayglo's bad taste and politically incorrect lyrics for years, but "Release the Hostages" was playing as I typed this; I'm glad to have finally realized how great a Canadian band they are (and man, do people ever like my Two Dogs Fucking t-shirt. Some coffee vendor on the West Coast Express actually took a photo of it once - made me stand up straight and stretch it out)...

If you've seen the Dayglos a bunch lately, The Rebel Spell, my favourite Vancouver punk band under 50, play Iron Road Studios (383 Raymur) with the Living Deadbeats, Motorama, and - ooh - the reincarnaton of Ron Reyes' Piggy, with a new lead vocalist (Alexa Bardach was havin' some issues - it's too bad, because she's a compelling performer). I was struck watching the Rebel Spell sing the other week how much the pleasure of this band lies in the quality of impassioned speech; Todd Serious is one of the best political lyricists/ speechifyin'-songwriters since Phil Ochs, punk or otherwise, and even if you can't make out every word, you'll appreciate the passion of the delivery...

That's not the only other option, either: for people who like their punk with a twist, the B-Lines and Shearing Pinx play at Pat's Pub with openers Screaming Queens and Italian Husbands (that's two bands, there, not one with a fairly long name). If there are other punk gigs tomorrow night, I'm unaware of them - they must be bands I don't know (yet!).
Happy New Years!