It's as clear as broad daylight that, in this irreversible condition of the communicative global village – where information manages to reverberate on the creation of reality itself, not just on its perception – the concepts of centre and periphery, especially in the musical field, take on an almost entirely relative value. Although the United States still constitutes the privileged space of "musical novelty", the place where things simply "happen", the nodes of the network multiply uncontrollably, branching out and feeding off each other through increasingly detailed, specialized and interconnected rhizomatic structures.

This is by way of explaining a step back that aims to describe a contemporary reality. In 2008 we were talking about weird garage and shitgaze, bearing witness to a genre (or rather a trend) that found its greatest media exposure thanks to the breakthrough of three or four bands capable of piercing the protective hymen of the indie market and reaching the doors of Pitchfork and other trendsetting magazines. In the same period, the air in Vancouver was thick with the scent of something new: Vancouver, the rebirth, weird garage, punk (a love that never faded). Well, if between 2006 and 2008 Times New Viking and Blank Dogs made tangible the results of a mutant approach steeped in vintage flavour, Vancouver was watching the same bad seed sprout – and indeed grow – into one of the most electrifying weird garage scenes around. In 2010 the spotlight is finally switching on, thanks above all to the release of a series of highly interesting albums, and pulled along by a couple of bands who have stirred up waters well beyond the border. One in particular: Shearing Pinx.

Between the late Seventies and early Eighties, Vancouver could boast one of the most exciting scenes of the era. The restlessness and nihilistic rot of punk and hardcore found fertile ground thanks to the activity of radical bands like Subhumans and D.O.A. Add to that the power-pop of Pointed Sticks, the fact that No Means No moved between Vancouver and Victoria, and, moreover, that the city's alternative life was stirred by the deviant circle of Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly. Bit by bit that ferment faded away or turned into something else. The scene was stolen by alternative rock. Barney Bentall and Age Of Electric paved the way for the rise of people like Destroyer and New Pornographers in the Nineties, who in turn would set the stage for the explosion of Canadian indie-pop in the new millennium (Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, etc.), right up to the international success of Montreal's Arcade Fire. If the progression towards an existentialist, sweetly melodic sound proved unstoppable, and in some ways dictated by the times, in recent years Vancouver has seen a new era of sonic wreckage brewing beneath the blankets of indie-pop mannerism. Gloomy, rainy, steeped in a negative, oppressive atmosphere, Vancouver's Eastside – hence nicknamed "No Fun City" – has provided the backdrop, shaping the mood of the kids downtown, who on the other side of town seem to have reacted to it through music. The violence of these garage-punk bands is fuelled by the city's boring life, says Keith Wecker of Sex Negatives. Before the scene exploded, the city lacked initiative, suitable venues for shows, and promoters. There was nothing to do but find other people with the same attitude, shut yourselves away somewhere and make noise with guitars. As if to say, history repeats itself once again.

Bands like Shearing Pinx, Mutators and Vapid have driven a counter-cultural rebirth, shaping a scene that presents itself as an ideal continuation of the first wave of punk from the late Seventies and early Eighties. Unlike many phenomena born of the web's osmotic processes, Vancouver's weird-punk scene can genuinely be called a scene in every sense of the word. Proof of this lies in the music and the production processes – with a clear DIY imprint – the sharing of spaces and shows and, despite the inevitable differences, the identifying traits of a sound that feels like sandpaper. What's more, the mutual recognisability lies precisely in the mutant approach shared by many of these bands, capable of hybridizing typically garage-punk sounds with destabilizing elements drawn from noise, no-wave and hardcore.

We mentioned spaces: if the lack of suitable venues had, for a while, stifled the ambitions of Vancouver's kids, from the first half of 2007 the scene coalesced around the Emergency Room. The Emergency Room is the focal point of the entire alternative community in the city. Located in the Eastside, in an area infested with rats and frequented by junkies and hookers, the venue serves as a meeting place for bands, artists, labels and promoters. Bands play shows under the motto "Dance Or Die", but on top of that, its walls host performances, installations, and everything connected to street art. A member of Twin Crystal, Jordan Koop works as a sound engineer at the Emergency Room. Jordan says the venue has proved vital to the whole scene because it offers the chance to record music – with a "mid-fi" recording quality – on the cheap. According to Jordan, his presence and that of other garage and punk enthusiasts creates a familiar atmosphere: bands can play without rushing, even receiving advice from people who believe in that music and aren't working purely for financial gain. The compilation "Emergency Room Vol. 1" testifies not only to the musicians' attachment to the venue, but stands as the single most important document of the entire scene. Released by Nominal Records in 2008, the record features tracks by Defektors, Petroleum By-Products, Vapid, White Lung, Mutators, Twin Crystals, Nu Sensae and Sick Buildings.

The scene's explosion, fostered by the Emergency Room's activity, fuelled a growing need for shows, music and gathering opportunities in general. Conceived in September 2006, Fake Jazz Wednesdays rode the renewed enthusiasm sweeping through the city, and helped to fuel it further. Held in a kind of street punk bar called Cobalt, Fake Jazz Wednesdays were nights entirely devoted to noise, weird punk and visual experimentation, drawing in even people not strictly connected to the scene. After a hiatus caused by the closure of Cobalt, the nights resumed this past March at the Lick Club, with performances from Shearing Pinx, Ahna and Stamina Mantis.

As with any self-respecting local scene, independent labels capable of giving the phenomenon real substance were bound to appear. Grotesque Modern, Nominal, Hockey Dad and Broadway To Boundary Records have championed the most important bands of the Vancouver scene. All of this is celebrated in "No Fun City", a documentary about Vancouver's underground, which tells the story of "life behind the scene".

The documentary reviews footage of the places that have shaped the phenomenon's evolution. The musicians recount their own musical history, of taking part in impromptu – or even unauthorized – events inside parking lots and other rather unlikely venues. More specifically, "No Fun City" traces a continuity, reconstructing the dynamism of today's scene against the backdrop of Vancouver's counter-cultural humus, hinged on the contribution of bands (Subhumans, D.O.A., Front Line Assembly, Skinny Puppy, Japandroids) that are, all things considered, tangential to the traits, methods and timing of the weird-punk bands of recent years. Let's take a look at the most interesting of them.

Shearing Pinx

The diversity of Vancouver's weird-punk scene is proven by the very existence of Shearing Pinx. Formed in 2005 by Nic Hughes (vocals/guitar) and Jeremy Van Wyck (drums), Shearing Pinx can be considered the figureheads of the whole discourse, both for their notoriety and, above all, for the quality of their output. Their sound is pure sandpaper rubbed against skin, a swarm of metal spikes drilling into your temples, the screech of Freddy Krueger's claws or something along those lines. In their twisted, contorted songs the garage-punk element is barely sketched in, mostly detectable in the way the structures unravel and in the acidic aggression of the guitars. Though smothered by a feral guitar style that's at times hard to digest, an arty streak emerges instead, recalling the now-wave bands of the Skin Graft school. Further confirming that lineage is the release of a split with Silver Daggers, another band with clear now-wave roots.

Mutators

Shame. Mutators no longer exist, and it's a real pity in light of the excellent "Secret Life" from 2008. Like Shearing Pinx, Mutators produced a mutant sound permanently teetering on the edge of nervous collapse. The singer's agoraphobic screams – a kind of cross between Lydia Lunch and a Kat Bjelland with a noose around her neck – struggled to rise above razor-sharp lashings of guitar, which, backed by relentless, irregular drumming, give rise to a disjointed, deviant, involuted tangle, here too tied firmly to now-wave dictates. If, in the internet era, it still makes any sense to talk about a band destined for future cult status, this would be it: Mutators.

Defektors

Unlike Mutators and Shearing Pinx, Defektors are the architects of a rounder sound, acidic as it may be, in which the power-pop component looms large, built on essentially garage dynamics. This translates into catchy, driving songs, free of any particular arty leanings. The influence of Wipers is strong, reflected in their ability to combine rawness with melody. Their full-length debut – "The Bottom Of the City" – is a good one, containing at least two anthemic-calibre tracks like "Black Hole" and "Don't Like Anything". Overall, the songwriting stays at a solid level throughout the record, and it wouldn't be surprising if one day they broke through in the indie market.

Modern Creatures

Modern Creatures could be described as a hypothetical Nuns tribute act with Siouxie on vocals. Their self-titled 2009 album is pleasant but a bit lightweight, though a legendary track like "Thick Thick Black" would make the currently rather unfocused Blank Dogs die of envy.

Twin Crystals

The nice thing about some of these Canadian bands is that they play as if punk had never happened. They wield the six-string like it's the last day before the end of the world, tearing into songs that are screams into the void and, when they pull it off, true last-ditch anthems. That's exactly the case with Twin Crystals, who nail a compelling "Children" on their self-titled debut album, released in 2009 on Nominal. The rest of the tracks hold up well too, delivering an aggressive, hypnotic synth-punk with a decent melodic sense and sharp interplay between guitars and synths.

Vapid

And further proof of the communicative urgency of Vancouver bands comes from Vapid, purveyors of a fairly ordinary punk-rock, but raucous and melodic in just the right measure. They too manage to nail the one song that's worth a lifetime: "Sex Stain" – from their 2009 debut "Practically Dead" – is a statement of intent in the old-school fashion. A rock-solid riff, screams on the verge of an epileptic fit, and a density of sound, coupled with sheer speed of execution, that brings Babes In Toyland to mind. Vapid also prove to have solid songwriting chops, as shown by a couple of other tracks with anthemic ambitions like "Septic" and "So Far Gone". The sound could use more care, but the adrenaline rush is guaranteed.

White Lung

White Lung operate along much the same lines as Vapid. Compared to their peers, they play slightly faster and are just as tight, while also showing a greater tendency to incorporate post-punk elements.

B-Lines

Formed by former members of Fuck Me Dead, B-Lines play a lightning-fast, dirty, miniaturized and extremist brand of punk, clearly influenced by bands like Descendants and Angry Samoans. Their self-titled EP, released by Nominal in 2007, is a total blast.

Sex Church

With Sex Church things get seriously grim again. Theirs is a particularly raw garage sound, soiled with noise debris and built on square, rigid rhythms – clearly the offspring of krautrock repetitiveness – that give the sound a paranoid edge. It's no coincidence the band cites Neu! as an influence. Dated 2010, their debut is titled "Songs By Sex Church" and is a concentrate of dirty feedback and heavy, gothic-leaning moods, wrapped in a psychedelic sheen that recalls Black Lips.

Nü Sensae

Nü Sensae represent the latest prototype of the Vancouver scene in terms of hybridization. Their sound rests simply on the vocals-bass-drums trio, yet it turns out to be among the most aggressive and deviant of all the bands examined so far. Theirs is a heavy, oppressive post-punk, thunderous and "full", despite the near-total absence of guitars. The singer sounds like a Lydia Lunch pumped up with injections of Diamanda Galas-style aggression, while the rhythms pound away obsessively. "TV, Death And The Devil", released this year also on Nominal, is a record of savage power that recalls Skin Graft releases, in the sense that its arty, mutant approach doesn't blunt the rawness of the sound. If anything, it amplifies its stunning effect.

(07/11/2010)