Victoria comes alive!

Things are looking up in Victoria...my biggest complaint about the music scene since I moved here has always been the lack in variety in bands and the lack of new bands popping up. Well...things are looking up, as there a couple new bands just getting going in town.

Keep your eyes out for a new all-girl punk band, tentative

ly called Open Relationship. They are only a couple practices in, but I'm told they have 3 solid songs, and should be ready to start playing out this fall.

The other band that's just getting going is tentatively called The Deviated Septums....members of Victim's Choice and Edmonton's Thrashtic Fibrosis, who supposedly sound like early Bones Brigade. I'm expecting high energy, (just) pre-crossover, 80's hardcore...and I'm really looking forward to this bands debut. I know these guys already have a handful of songs worked up...expect a first show in September.

Monster Party!

I want to take a moment to talk about one of the coolest things I've seen in Victoria since I've lived here. When I took over the Talk's Cheap space from Regalia, there was a poster on the poster board for something called Monster Party...the photocopied, hand colored poster with a drawing of a monster head advertising Toys, Animation and Oddities caught my attention, so I folded the poster up and stuck it in my pocket. The poster ended up sitting in the office at home, where I looked at it every day for a week or so, vowing every day to go check this place out. Did I check it out? Nope. I kept meaning to, but never made it the three or 4 blocks from my store to the Monster Party gallery at 1322 Broad St. So a few days after opening the doors at the store, this guy comes in asking if he can leave some flyers and poster for his gallery...Monster Party. We get talking...he tells me about the stuff he's got over there, and how people just aren't coming up to see his stuff. I tell him that if he wants, he can bring some stuff by thestore for people to check out and that I'll try to send people over. He asks if he can bring some over..right now. A few minutes later he's back with some of his stuff. A plant pot in the shape of a Monster Head, a severed finger fridge magnet, a Mummy magnet, rubber monster face puppets...all with hand painted packaging. This shit is Amazing...and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I spent the following week telling customers to check out the Monster Party gallery...while still having never actually been over there myself. Well, finally made it over there yesterday after closing up the shop. Holy shit. Just go check it out for yourself. The gallery itself is like Pee Wee's playhouse meets a carnival house of horrors. Sculptures, paintings, puppets, animations, masks, a fiji mermaid...seriously cool stuff. I dunno if I just grew up with the right stuff...but having my young mind warped by stuff like the Hillarious House of Frightenstein, cheap used 70's Horror mags, Rankin/Bass animation, Pee Wee's Playhouse, etc...has me completely wired for exactly the kinda stuff found at Monster Party.

Don't be scared off by the fact that you've gotta ring the buzzer and climb a maze of stairs to the third floor of an old building to a musty studio space above a nightclub...I don't think anybody will be dissapointed by what they find at Monster Party. Bring your friends...bring your kids! Just check out Monster Party...and tell Phil that Talk's Cheap sent you...

Monster Party

1322 Broad St

Studio D (Buzzer #23)

Open 1Pm till 6PM every day...look for the Sandwich board.

Catching Up!

I've been busy getting a buncha stuff off the ground, and just neglected to post here. What have I been doing?

Well, most importantly, I was working on opening the TALK'S CHEAP store (556 B Pandora in Victoria...in the old Regalia space, besidee Bliss, Mole and Habit). I opened the doors a couple weeks ago, and so far, it's been a success. Thanks to everyone who's dropped by and bought some records or a book or a T-Shirt. The I'll have a lot more stuff coming in over the next couple weeks and hope to have the upstairs "gallery" room open sometime next week. Drop by and check it out...it's still a bit of a work in progress, but it's starting to look pretty cool.

Lotsa punk-rock/new wave/ garage/ powerpop, etc records, vintage movie posters, books, CD's, T-Shirts and misc. art. Bring in your old records and Cd's for trade...and come hang out Friday nights from 7PM 9PM for different DJ's spinning stuff from their collections. If you wanna come down and spin some records one week, drop me a line at mail@teenagedepression.ca

Ok...so that's the store. What else has been happening. Well...a buncha decent bands came through town over the last month and a half. Montreal's Sonic Avenues dropped by Logan's and did a killer set on a weeknight to a relatively small but appreciative crowd. Totally fun set, lotsa dancing...killer punked up power-pop...if you missed it, you missed out. Do yourself a favor and pick up their album on Going Gaga records...come get one at Talk's Cheap, I've still got a couple copies.

http://www.sonicavenues.com/
http://www.myspace.com/sonicavenues
http://www.myspace.com/goinggagarecords

I also put together the Earthquake Shake (http://www.earthquakeshake.com/) over the second weekend in June. What was supposed to be a two day fest, got shortened to one night...but was tsill the best show to hit Victoria this years (and probably in the 3 years I've lived here). The Throwaways, Electric Kisses, Manipulators, Vicious Cycles and Tranzmitors all turned in amazing sets. Once again...if you missed it, what were you thinking. Come down to Talk's Cheap immediately and I'll sell you copies of records from all the bands who played! Pictures and a full run down to come soon...

Oh Yeah...the Split-Ups (from Vancouver) are playing Logan's on July 23rd...and the following night White Lung (Vancouver) is hitting town again to support their new LP on Deranged. They'll be playing with Radians from Lethbridge...who's new 7" on Mammoth Cave is really good. Busy weekend...more info soon...

T. Depression

Return To Harpo's???

OK...so I've seen a buncha ads around Victoria for a blues gig tonight at the Upstairs Cabaret, billed as "Return To Harpo's"...and it got me thinking about the state of venues in Victoria right now. Of course, the Upstairs Cabaret, home of the weekend party in Bastion Square...wasn't always the go-to place for twenty-somethings looking to get drunk, listen to crap music and pick-up...from 1974 to 1995, it was known as Harpo's, and was Victoria's premier live music venue. I never saw a show at Harpo's (the first time I visited Victoria was a year or two after it closed...and I didn't move here until 10 years after that), but I had heard about the legendary venue from tons of people who'd played there in it's heyday. Harpo's was part of the bar circuit for bands touring Canada throughout the 80's and first half of the 90's, and played host to pretty much every Seattle band (known and unknown) during that period (ever wonder why so many Heats and Allies records turn up on the South Island?). Punk, Indie, Blues, Reggae, etc...it all went down at Harpo's over the years.

There's a Facebook Group for Harpo's where you can read people's memories of that bar, the shows, and the bands that played there...check it out.

OK...so an obnoxious bar that caters to drunk college kids and tourists, tries to cash in on it's former glory as one of this cities most beloved music venues for one night, to promote some blues show. It just gets me thinking of how much this city could benefit from a venue like Harpo's right now. As is, Victoria has one venue that doesn't rely on club nights and big drawing bands to pay the bills, and that supports live music pretty much every day of the week. I think we could use another. Band's like Young Fresh Fellows, Fastbacks, Monomen, Headcoats, Phantom Surfers, the Mummies, Flop, Nomads, Cynics, Night Kings, Girl Trouble, etc...played Victoria over the years. I don't know how many of those bands would have ended up playing here if faced with the current musical landscape in Victoria. I mean...when was the last time you saw a no-name band from Seattle on stage at a bar in Victoria?

Next time you're taking a walk down Wharf or through Bastion square...imagine The Mummies playing the space now occupied by the Upsatirs Cabaret. The Mummies played Harpo's 3 times in 1990/1991...and those were probably 3 of the top 10 punk shows to hit Victoria in the past 20 years. Here's some pics...

More Movies?

So...some folks in Vancouver have been working on a movie about the early punk scene there, called "Bloodied But Unbowed". I first heard about a while back, but I guess the filmmakers hit some snags with finances, backing, etc...and things were kinda on hold with the film for the past little while. Well, looks like things are up and going again...as far as I know, the movie is complete, and there working on a couple different cuts for varying usage. The website went live last week...there's already alot of cool content up here:
http://www.thepunkmovie.com/

Lemme just say...this thing was put together by people who were involved in the scene as it happened...all the right people were interviewed, and all the footage I've seen looks great. Can't wait for this one.

Movie Time....

Thanks to the magic of the internet, I've been watching a couple decent music documentaries over th last couple days...

First Up, a documentary on the Akron Ohio Music scene of the mid-late 70's called It's Everything and Then It's Gone. I've been facinated with band's like the Rubber City Rebels, The Bizzaros and Tin Huey, since I picked up that Akron comp with the scratch and sniff cover(on Stiff Records), years ago....now you can take a look into the scene that spawned all the bands I mentioned above (and Devo!) in this 55 minute movie....

Check it out here: http://westernreservepublicmedia.org/vodshows/everythv.htm

Next up is a full length BBC doc on Rough Trade records called DIY - The Story of Rough Trade. If you love punk-rock...chances are that you own at least a few records that were distributed or put out buy Roucgh Trade in the 70's and 80's. Well, this movie follows Rough Trade from there begginings as a small used record shop, to the height of their success, when they were moving hendred of thousands of independent records. Well worth a watch for sure...and it's all here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2978000173478312519&ei=J0upSpbvMpLW-Aafnrwn&q=rough#

Upcoming Shows!

Lotsa shows hitting Victoria over the next little while...I'll make a point of reminding you about them here. Here's a run down on a few things you should check out...


- COSMETICS /// MODE MODERNE /// TWO CABINS at Logan's Pub on Friday March 26th. Facebook Event


- TALK'S CHEAP #5...our monthly DJ night at Logan's Pub. Hundreds of punk-rock, garage, pop, etc records, with cheap beer, etc. Facebook Event

- PETROLEUM BY-PRODUCT /// ANIMAL BODIES /// NEW KRIME at Logan's Pub on Friday April 23rd.

- NOBUNNY /// SLAM DUNK /// MYELIN SHEATHS at Logan's Pub on Wednesday May 5th.

- SONIC AVENUES at Logan's Pub on Wednesday June 2nd.

- EARTHQUAKE SHAKE festival...a shitload of killer bands...June 11/12th. Stay Tuned for more info...