VOLUME #3
Welcome to where music goes to die, yes it’s the 20scene commentary section! I, pen name Peanut Butter, will guide you through the world of Toronto underground music one zine at a time. This was a hell of a good time, some gnarly bands decided to rock the Hard Luck Bar and ya boy just could not resist. I am all about how there was over 60 years of punk packed in one bar to do what is the essence of the culture, fucking timeless.
Filthy Radicals are so sick. Some good ol’ Toronto ska punk for your system with tons of music in their repertoire, lots of fun here. Those plastic horns I went off about sounded pretty fuckin’ dope, they were covered in stickers too which was cool AF. This band is more than decent; catch them if you can, they’re always touring.
The World Famous Tallboys are one of my favorite bands. I love how they make songs yelling about how they hate stuff and go off about exactly why dolphins are jerks; more than that, their frontman(whom I spotted humbly buying his kraft dinner at the dollar store once) insisted on a wall of death in the middle of Hard Luck. This band is the epitome of butt rock, their album Low Quality Punk Rock literally pushes the genre to new heights(lows?). Would definitely catch another set by these guys, they’re fuckin’ wild.
Ripcordz. De facto the best Montreal band in my opinion. All the way from the 80’s, this band is a force of kick ass that does not quit. They write songs about riots and girls in pit, plenty to enjoy here. During their set the pit opened up nicely, all I remember was repeatedly bashing myself in the head with a hardcover book that kept falling out of my pocket and getting pushed around in circles. Ripcordz is nuts live; people go crazy for them, enough said.
Random Killing, the Toronto Maple Leafs of punk rock. Super underappreciated, yet loved by many(yes I’m a leafs fan); Random Killing deserves the Stanley Cup of wicked awesome bands, and for all intents and purposes has already won it. Another 80’s band that absolutely slays, I mean they were featured on sesame street for cripes sake. The set they played was great, shoot me dead if you can find a bad track by this band. Hogtown represent.
Koffin Kats all the way from motor city Detroit with over 15 years playing as a band, these cats know what they’re doing. I had such an awesome time checking them out, I mean the vocalist kick flips his freaking cello(which by the way is metal clad on the bottom). At one point the guy put the cello on his neck and played it behind his back, so entertaining. Holy Fuck. They have this throwback revival feel that gets pulled off seamlessly; I watched their set like it was the Jay Leno show. Good times.
That’s it, here’s some links: