The Last Pogo DVD 2008

includes 25 minute special feature

The Scenics filmed live in a TV Studio

 

 

 

"Wow! I’ve been hearing about this 25-minute movie for 29 years, and it’s amazing to view it now! What a window to a time that was rarely documented: the pre-hardcore,  original punk era when it was astonishingly fresh, creative, rule-busting, and shot full of newborn energy/excitement. It’s Toronto,  December 3, 1978, a three camera, good-sounding film (not video) of seven bands (one song each) playing at the farewell  concert of premier punk club, The Horseshoe Tavern. The stars are Teenage Head and The Viletones, known from collectible singles—but not footage. Lesser known 

openers prove equally supercharged, fascinating, and varied. The Scenics open like a  Canadian Velvet Underground; Cardboard Brains are more The Weirdos vein; The  Secrets add a taste of R&B/Skulls/Vibrators/U.K. Subs groove; The Ugly ripsnort  through a Dead Boys/Ramones dirty shockwave; and The Mods are Jam clones to a t 

(or a suit and skinny tie!), but they’re excellent, fierce, and tight; Nazi Dog’s Viletones make magically menacing three-chord rock, and, in the one song they were allowed before cops stopped the show and punters rioted, Teenage Head cooks a classic rock 

‘n’ roll infested chaos. Beyond that, is how vivid this film is, of a scene and underground moment it captures. It’s not just the dancing and pogoing creatively dressed, jazzed, skinny people—no idiot slam dancing and sneers—or the notorious sweaty buzz the crowd gets from seven wired, wiry bands, or the pleasant sight of punk’s front row ringed with women—led by impossibly cute punkette co-host 

Margarita Passion. It’s that this was an art-meets-music lightning flash the likes of which has never been replicated. Short but absolutely essential history comes alive!"

 

 Jack Rabid in "The Big Takeover" issue #63.  

 

 

 

 The beauty of The Last Pogo is that it is Everypunk’s story. Skinny ties, nerdy lead singers, angry young men, short songs with sharp chords.” Austin (Tex) Chronicle 

 

                                          

 

 

 “A killer set of tunes in a TV studio by The Scenics... spewing out a Beefheart/Voidoid/Velvets- like barrage of trebly guitar and enigmatic lyrical angst” Rick Trembles, Montreal Mirror. 

 

 

 MAXIMUM ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, USA:  ““Wondering what was happening in Toronto, Canada in 1978?  THE LAST POGO documents the last night of punk rock at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern on December 1, 1978…great film.” 

 

 

 

 SUBURBAN VOICE, BOSTON: “This was the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to see live footage of these bands and it definitely whets the appetite for more.  ... there’s also a full recorded-in-the-studio set from the Scenics that showcases their taut approach.” ???

 TORONTO STAR, TORONTO:  “Punker than you’ll ever be.”

DANNY FIELDS: “It’s great!”

 

 

 

 

Dead Man Walks Down Bayview

New Studio Recordings, 2012

LP, CD, Digital

 

 Top  24 of the year/ Daggerzine (Mary O’Leary)

#67, Top 100 of 2012 Jack Rabid/Big Takeover.

Top 12 of 2012 Revolution Rock. 

" The Scenic's new album "Dead Man Walks Down Bayview" is a great album. It should almost be a crime for an album to be this good. It's dangerous! If the general public ever gets a hold of this album in large quantities there could be car accidents from people staring at their radios, people will miss their bus and train stops because they'll be transfixed by their earbuds, and offices will be empty as workers will forget to leave home because they're stunned by how freaking awesome these guys are. 

There's also a fascinating back story to the band. Listening to The Scenics is like peering through a time window at one moment and like looking into the mirror of right now at others. It's a gorgeous, passionate, slightly off tune collection of pure genius. Rooted in the soil of vintage alternative, you can name half a dozen bands they sound like, but you can't name a single band quite like them...

'Dead Man Walks Down Bayview' is actually the first studio album that The Scenics have recorded since the 1970's and was produced by original band members, Ken Badger, Andy Meyers and Mark Perkell and mixed and mastered by celebrated producer Joby Baker at Baker Studios in Victoria, BC.  The result is an intricate yet powerful twin-guitar sound that suggests, without imitating, the power drone of the Velvet Underground and the heavenly jangle of the Byrds, with the sage, aged vocal presence of Tom Waits. The material here was written over a span of several decades, but it sounds like it all came together in one madly inspired session. 

"Dead Man Walks Down Bayview" is an album of musical genius and wisdom. Like a fine wine aged to perfection, The Scenics defy the notion that the time of punk has passed. The vibrance that once raged out of control still smolders as hot embers that only need a fresh breath to reignite in light and beauty. Essential."  Rustzine.com 

 

 

 

"Dead Man Walk Down Bayview, the Scenics’ first studio affair since the ‘70s, is one of the best new-album-by-older-rockers I’ve heard in years. The band’s simple, lo-fi sound has the essence of everything sweet, innocent, and daring that inspired or came out under the New Wave umbrella (the Modern Lovers, early V.U., early Talking Heads, Human Switchboard).

While the word is that the Velvet Underground’s influence on the Scenics is relatively minimal, it’s impossible not to hear the similarities. Indeed, the Scenics’ last release was How Does It Feel to be Loved: The Scenics Play the Velvet Underground (live recordings from ‘77-’81). This is not, in any way, a bad thing. On tracks such as “A Fox, Her Fur, and Where She Parks It,” the Scenics have the fresh feel of the Loaded-era VU in a way that Lou Reed hasn’t, for decades – whether he’s said he wants to or not. The Scenics’ inspired guitar weavings, crisp trap beats, and vocals intuitively mixing dissonance with melody to deliver from-the-heart songs are, quite simply, a joy."    Mary Leary  Punk Globe

 

 

 

 

 

"The Scenics re-form and offer new material for the first time in ages.

Reunions are always a tricky thing to deal with; more than often they offer the rockiest of terrains for those involved. The Scenics seem to have navigated theirs with relative ease and have emerged with new material after releasing a Velvet Underground tribute record. Dead Man Walks Down Bayview sees them restoring their creative powers and ending a 33-year drought of no original material. Thirty three years is a lot of time to pick up new tricks and filter new influences, which are very evident and make the band better. This is some of their strongest material in terms of composition, but it does lack some of the vitality and immediacy of their earlier work. In short: today’s Scenics are a different band than yesterday’s Scenics. This is a band that deserves to be heard."   ?Steven Spoerl Popmatters Nov 2012

 

 

 

" Interesting story here; The Scenics’ history stretches back to 1979, but this is the band’s first fully original product since 1982. A lot has changed over the years (gas averaged around $1.30 a gallon and that was during a rough economy), but original members Ken Badger, Andy Meyers, and Marc Perkell reconvened for a record that is both rooted in the band’s past but also sounds uniquely contemporary. Tracks like the opening “Dark Cave” and “No Sleep” are bouncy odes to the basic foundations of rock that transcend any generation or trends. The band also displays a penchant for winding, intricately played nuggets, such as the folksy “A Fox, Her Fur, and Where She Parks It” and the guitar showcase that is the sprawling “Miami”.

 

Despite their history in the Canadian punk scene, do not expect much in the way of slash and burn fury; rather, the boys have certainly matured into more soft-spoken men on “When You Come Around” and “I Can’t Be Careful”. The dreamy, genteel closer, “The Farmer” encapsulates what The Scenics are now far more than what they once were. It is always a risk to see a band reemerge after such a long hiatus, but the Scenics handle the challenge extraordinarily well. The songs on Dead Man Walks Down Bayview are pop-flavored, guitar-rich anthems deftly delivered by skilled veterans."    Jerseybeat.com  Rich Quinlan 

 

 

The nice thing about not having released a new album in over three decades is that there are few expectations.  The Scenics can do anything they want, and do on this new album.  There's lots of everything but normal here, lots of interesting and experimental sounds that place them in their late-70's Toronto punk scene roots, but expand that with lots more inventive approaches.

 

From sweet and soft to loud and snotty, The Scenics run the gamut of the real alternative music.  No Sleep is original punk, a crazed cross between a lost rockabilly classic and a car crash, Meyers and co-guitarist Ken Badger doing very nasty things on six strings.  They sound like that guitar solo Marty McFly tried in Back To The Future.  But Growing Pains is has a gentle touch, a crooning vocal yet ragged edges.  It's a hymn for the street underdog.  The two guitarists play a mix of skewed and beautiful sounds throughout, often one noisy and the other jangly, and it's oddly comforting mix, a controlled out-of-control sound if you get my drift.

 

Occasional pop moments spring up in the songs, little bits of harmonies or nice changes, but never enough to let a song become easily digested.  I mean that in a good way of course, as following the deviant plot points is a big part of the fun here.  So is the somewhat surrealistic poetry in most of the songs, strange trips to somewhere, like in Miami, where "This city is the biggest thrill/I don't understand you."  Obviously, this is going to appeal to those fans of The Velvets and Television, but luckily for The Scenics, there are a lot more of them around now then there were back in the late 70's. Bob Mersereau the top 100 canadian singles blog  Wednesday, November 7, 2012

 

 

"The more I listened to this recording, the more amazed I became at the quality of sound they were able to produce using only the standard rock and roll set up of bass, drums, and guitars. Normally you think "loud" when you think "full" for that kind of band. However, The Scenics manage to fill space with their music without necessarily being loud. It has a richness and a melody that gives it substance you don't normally find in a rock combo's music.

dead man walks down bayview is not an attempt to recapture the lost glory of youth by a bunch of middle-aged wannabes. What you have is a collection of songs both musically interesting and lyrically intriguing. Maybe this time around no one is going to mislabel them and lump then into some category they don't belong. This is a band that deserves to be recognized for who they are and what they are capable of producing."  Richard Marcus blogcritics.org

 

"The cuts on Dead Man Walks Down Bayview were recorded simply using only the basic ingredients. The band's music is reminiscent of underground bands from the past like The Velvet Underground and The Feelies. This ten track album has a nice cool vibe...and the songs are instantly contagious and effective. Our favorite tracks include "Dark Cave," "When You Come Around," "Growing Pains," and "The Farmer." A cool captivating spin."  Babysue

 

 

Interview with Andy and Ken,  circa "Dead Man", from UK magazine Paraphilia:

 http://www.paraphiliamagazine.com/periodical/between-sunshine-world-and-a-dark-cave-walking-down-bayview-with-the-scenics/ 

 

                                                                       

 

Scattered Bodies 2014

Texts by Brian Brett, set to samples from the Scenics

tape vault, and songs written by Susheela Dawne.

 

 “Excellently  ominous  and  highly creative.. it's  a  skin-crawling,  subtly menacing mash" Jack Rabid, Big Takeover

"An Extremely enticing mix that recalls the Doors-ie side of Television. A rhythmic, eccentric, and almost jazz-like adventure."  T Broun, Stupefaction

 

"An album that's as fearlessly outre as it is vibrantly soulful, and you can't get much more post-punk than that. SEM score 91%"   Dave Cantrell,  Stereo Embers

 

“So here's an odd thing. The founding member of a Toronto art-punk group (Andy Meyers of The Scenics) gathers deconstructed fragments of his band's late 70s material, together with looped drums and samples, and uses it to soundtrack gravelly-voiced spoken word (of Vancouver poet and author Brian Brett) and smoky female vocals (Susheela Dawne) performing Brett's poetry. The result, Talking Songs, combines modern beat poetry, proto- and post-punk, trip-hop, hip-hop, whacked-out blues, and sultry jazz – scattered bodies indeed – without ever sounding too much like any of those elements.

Brett, as familiar as he is with the material, performs it with the range and conviction of a virtuoso lead actor. But then, he isn't really acting...And then there's Dawne, whose smoky, purring renditions of Brett's misfit romanticism give the impression – completely appropriate – that she's playing to a musty, gin-soaked cocktail bar, to dancing guests in threadbare dresses and grubby tuxedos torn open at the seams.

  Make no mistake, Talking Songs is... an often unsettling meld of orphan sounds and menacing undercurrents, and an offbeat celebration of those old staples: love, experience, sex and death."      Paul Tucker, The Quietus 

 

 

 

LP, CD, Digital

In Europe thru Rave Up

In the USA thru Light in the Attic

 

 “It wasn't so much that The Scenics were ahead of their time in 1977, it's more that almost everybody else didn't even know what time it was. New York had Talking Heads, & England was blessed with XTC, but here was their equal in Toronto & they never got the necessary push & support. It's fabulous we finally have the evidence, it's a drag we haven't been able to enjoy it the past 30 years.” Bob Mersereau, author "the Top 100 Canadian Albums" 

 

 

 REISSUE PICK of the Week:  A-  The Scenics, In the Summer (Studio Recordings 1977-1978) (Dream Tower) Highly worthwhile collection of Toronto-based punk-friendly melodic-rock that’s intermittently injected with an era-appropriate nervousness nearer to Ubu than The Feelies. A lot of these late ’70s punkish reissues present bands best suited as local openers for out-of-town headliners, and that’s cool. However, The Scenics were strong enough that had circumstances been different they could’ve toured the continent’s clubs. This album came out in 2015, but it’s getting a fresh push through Light in the Attic.  The Vinyl District 

 

#17, Observer top 25 reissues of 2016   "For those who’ve always felt that Canada in the ’70s was only about Rush, Triumph and SCTV, introduce yourselves to The Scenics.

Here is a group who were making a dynamic punk noise up in Toronto while the rest of the world was perseverating on London and the New York City Bowery, recording a collection of razor-sharp cuts that were never officially released until this year.

 In The Summer, a 12-song set spanning the years 1977 and 1978, bursts at the seams with post-punk angularity and power pop fury that refuses to play by the house rules of conventional punk rock. "

 

‘I don’t know much about this Canadian New Wave band that made these brilliant recordings in ’77 & ’78. Why they aren’t legends is hard to say.’ Roctober (Chicago) 

“Largely unappreciated when they originally existed between 1976-81, these underground icons merged Television’s guitar work, Big Star’s pop prowess, Pere Ubu’s dementia, & the Ramones’ urgency.” Jonathon Cummins, Montreal Mirror 

“If a band makes an album & nobody hears it, does it still rock? This long- lost batch of wiry Television guitars & black Velvets art-rock sure does” Daryl Sterdan, Winnipeg Sun 

 

"The band's angular, jagged guitars, lashed with strangled vocals of the Hell-Verlaine variety, are tempered by Big Star harmonies, early Talking Heads obliqueness and even Alex Chilton psychosis on One Comes Closer but the Scenics are most gripping when fertilizing their own weird hoodoo on the psychedelic waltz of So Fine. Long buried documents are always welcome but this one is quite special. 4 Stars" Kris Needs, Record Collector #457

 

 

 

"Straight out of the 70s Canada came the Scenics, a punkish trio who would probably be much better known had they emerged from CBGB's instead of Toronto... Straddling punk, post-punk and new wave, the band come on like a willfully wonky cousin to such NY stalwards as Talking Heads, Television and the Velvet Underground, with a sprinkling of Cleveland's finest, Pere Ubu. The songs are all angular guitars and yelping vocals.... but lest you're turned off by oddball pop, at times the band even hit sweet Tom Petty and Alex Chiltonish spots, making this a nice rediscovery. 4 Stars," Shindig #57 

 

" At first I thought that these guys were some hip, new, young UK band but man, I was way off. The Scenics were a Canadian band who existed in the late 70’s  and made a real mark on the Toronto scene with their unique mix of guitars and angst (think Velvet Underground, Television, etc.). This twelve song record includes recordings from the years 1977-’78 The band had two distinct songwriters, Ken Badger and Andy Meyers (both on vocals and guitar and they each split bass playing duties as well) while the drum work was split almost equally by  Brad Cooper and Mark French. The band existed until the early eighties then called it a day and these specific recordings had not ever seen the light of day until now, but stellar cuts like opener “O Boy,” “Do the Wait,” “Wild Trout” and I’m Hurt” all demand repeated listens with their mix of squirrelly guitar work and inventive rhythyms (I like both vocalists, too). The picture on the cover has these guys adopting a bit of a Big Star look (probably unintentionally but I do hear a bit of B.S. in The Scenics’s music). More old stuff that’s brand new to me and this is definitely worth cheering about even if the recordings are nearly 40 years young ." Daggerzine

 

"Formed in Toronto in the summer of 1976, The Scenics were experimental and exhilarating and this 12 track collection is finally getting a proper release to celebrate the band's return to the live circuits. The fizz and energy of the likes of "O Boy", upbeat "Do The Wait", and the rousing "I Killed Marx" show why it's so exciting they're back. With the strangeness of Pere Ubu and the energy of the Ramones evident at various points, it's strange they didn't have more success. An underground band for six years, they were known for their thrilling live shows and here's hoping The Scenics will make it over to the UK, and Europe soon too." Vive Le Rock

 

 

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 “ONE CHORD LIVE is on point, in the pocket— The Scenics enjoying the hell out of playing live as a trio for the first time since 1979... all their prime cuts from yesteryear, wiry classics such as “O Boy,” played with belligerence...as original singers/guitarists/bassists Ken Badger and Andy Meyers wrap their jowls and fingers around the stinging material.”    Big Takeover

 

 

"The band offer up a concise, punching, live account of that journey... This, my friends, is proto-punk timelessness, defined."            Dave Cantrell, Stereo Embers.