The Tossers, while not Canadian, formed in ‘93 in Chicago--not too terribly far from Canada! Their first record dropped in ‘94, which predates Dropkick and Flogging. To me their sound is the missing link between The Pogues and bands that came later. Also, I think Greenland Whalefishers came along around this time, ‘94 maybe. This is in the timeline for second wave, though I feel like both bands tend to lean toward the first wave sound more, so maybe this is irrelevant to your point. Are there other notable Canadian folk punk bands you’d recommend? It seems like the Canadian folk punk scene has a lot to offer that I’m interested to dive into.
And the only Canadian bands I know of are old-school; The Peelers, The Mahones, etc. The newer scene appears to just be that third-wave "two guys with a guitar and a banjo singing about their most recent breakup" kind of thing...
I’m familiar with The Mahones but I haven’t heard The Peelers, I’ll check them out, thanks! I’m with you about the sad bastard, emo folk-punk. Not my thing.
You're absolutely right, the Tossers are a kind of "bridge" band (their "Mad Riot" was a huge influence on me). But the one thing that puts them in the first-wave category for me (along with GWF) is the lack of distorted electric guitar. Bands like that are sorta just faster Pogues. Same with the Mahones. But I could have been clearer about this in the post! Maybe they are like their own "wave".
Oh, your post didn’t lack clarity at all, I was just throwing that in there for the sake of timeline. I’ve been listening to your music for a long time--since Welfare State--and it was only recently that it occurred to me that the majority of the album (if not all of it) was on acoustic guitar instead of electric. It’s amazing how much power and energy is achieved this way. I started looking into the other Celtic punk/folk punk bands I loved and realized that I had began to gravitate towards bands that were direct descendants of the Pogues influence as I got older instead of bands like Dropkick that sucked me into the genre when I was a kid.
Oh shit, I never knew that was a cover! Now I definitely need to hear them! I’ve discovered some great bands through you, i.e. Surfin’ Turnips, The Wurzles, and Polkacide!
The Tossers, while not Canadian, formed in ‘93 in Chicago--not too terribly far from Canada! Their first record dropped in ‘94, which predates Dropkick and Flogging. To me their sound is the missing link between The Pogues and bands that came later. Also, I think Greenland Whalefishers came along around this time, ‘94 maybe. This is in the timeline for second wave, though I feel like both bands tend to lean toward the first wave sound more, so maybe this is irrelevant to your point. Are there other notable Canadian folk punk bands you’d recommend? It seems like the Canadian folk punk scene has a lot to offer that I’m interested to dive into.
And the only Canadian bands I know of are old-school; The Peelers, The Mahones, etc. The newer scene appears to just be that third-wave "two guys with a guitar and a banjo singing about their most recent breakup" kind of thing...
I just checked out The Peelers today and really like them. Thanks for mentioning them!
I’m familiar with The Mahones but I haven’t heard The Peelers, I’ll check them out, thanks! I’m with you about the sad bastard, emo folk-punk. Not my thing.
You're absolutely right, the Tossers are a kind of "bridge" band (their "Mad Riot" was a huge influence on me). But the one thing that puts them in the first-wave category for me (along with GWF) is the lack of distorted electric guitar. Bands like that are sorta just faster Pogues. Same with the Mahones. But I could have been clearer about this in the post! Maybe they are like their own "wave".
Oh, your post didn’t lack clarity at all, I was just throwing that in there for the sake of timeline. I’ve been listening to your music for a long time--since Welfare State--and it was only recently that it occurred to me that the majority of the album (if not all of it) was on acoustic guitar instead of electric. It’s amazing how much power and energy is achieved this way. I started looking into the other Celtic punk/folk punk bands I loved and realized that I had began to gravitate towards bands that were direct descendants of the Pogues influence as I got older instead of bands like Dropkick that sucked me into the genre when I was a kid.
BTW The Peelers wrote "Katie Bar the Door"!
Oh shit, I never knew that was a cover! Now I definitely need to hear them! I’ve discovered some great bands through you, i.e. Surfin’ Turnips, The Wurzles, and Polkacide!
No addition to the list. Lost the point of the conversation while listening to old folk punk. Let ya know when I find my way back.