Reviews
1980, Bomb Records LP. Out of Print.
From Shades Magaizine:
CD/digital 2008
“ONLY A MADMAN WOULD DARE TO START PICKING HIS TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2008 IN THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY,
BUT THIS IS ONE RECORD THAT’S GOT ME GNAWING ON MY STRAITJACKET. Recorded live in a number of trashy Toronto punk dives between 1977 and 1981, it's the first album of Velvet Underground covers I've ever heard that actually manages to evoke the VU's classic cacophony of studio sound ....
doesn't seek to duplicate the Velvets' sound so much as it uses that primal distortion as a jumping off point to differentiate themselves from the masters while remaining true to the source.
And the fact that all 10 numbers were recorded, in true live Velvets tradition, on a buncha crappy cassette tapes doesn't tarnish the Scenics' sonic patina — it only enhances their chances of making this the best VU tribute album ever...
they also mine the less-obvious depths of Unca Lou's songbook to essay what are arguably some of his greatest songs.... Finally, it all culminates literally live in a basement with a twisted 10-minute Metal Machine Music-meets-Television version of "Sister Ray" that even John Cale never envisioned in his wildest nightmares.
The Scenics don't ape the Velvets, they enhance them...” Jeffrey Morgan’s sizzling platter of the week, Detroit Metro Times January 2/2008. (Jeffrey was also a favorite writer with CREEM magazine.)
”Stunning in the same way that the Byrds playing Bob Dylan was so stellar. The Scenics used Lou Reed’s songs merely as a jumping-off point and quickly make them their own. This is a must for completist fans of Simply Saucer and other Canadian psych-punkers. 8/10” (Johnson Cummins) The Montreal Mirror
"The Scenics, How Does It Feel to Be Loved: The Scenics Play the Velvet Underground : Speaking of noise, there‚s plenty more in which to delight on this archival curio collecting four years‚ worth of live Velvet Underground covers performed by first-wave Toronto punk band the Scenics between 1977 and 1981. The recordings – captured about town in such scenester haunts past as the Edge, Larry‚s Hideaway, the Cabana Room and the venerable Horseshoe Tavern – aren't exactly pristine, but the Scenics‚ irreverent, slightly woozy way with a Lou Reed tune, and gift for shrieking twin-guitar meltdowns, comes through just fine. Constant chatter in the background of some tunes contributes to the overall feeling of psychedelic dislocation the band brought to songs like “Here She Comes Now” and its take-no-prisoners assault on “Sister Ray”. A dandy little history lesson." Ben Rayner Toronto Star. Jan 13, 2008
"Like Simply Saucer, The Scenics are a legendary Canadian band barely known in their own country, let alone elsewhere. Both bands built off of the abrasive drone of the Velvets, warping it into their own menacing hypnotic genius. "how does it feel to be loved" makes that debt explicit, but is more than just a set of Velvet Underground covers: it is also a reminder of and an introduction to the beast that was The Scenics.
Recorded in the late 1970‚s, these covers were taken from various live gigs around Ontario, and show the band inspired and cheeky. While the highlight is a ten-minute plus eviscerating of "Sister Ray," what the band does with songs like " I‚m Beginning to see the Light "and" Here She Comes Now" is what is remarkable. They manage to inject warmth into dark tracks, and sarcasm into Lou Reed‚s more hopeful tunes; in a way, they expose deeper meanings to the songs, while maintaining a seeming reverence for the original material. Pretty gutsy for 1977. While the Scenics naturally had a sped-up pub rock sound typical to the era, on their Velvets covers, show themselves to be smart and willing to take risks, even with the songs of legends. At a time when covers were an excuse for punk bands to tear down, The Scenics were rising above.
4/5 stars Mike Wood Music Emissions
Can-Punk
Sun Rating: 3 out of 5
If you remember the band, you were probably a fan of ‚70s Toronto punk. And if you recognize the title, you must dig The Velvet Underground too. Which makes you a prime candidate for this oddity -- 10 noisy, wiry and inspired VU covers the T.O. outfit taped at gigs and practices from 1977-81. If (like us) you‚d like to hear some originals, stay tuned for their next archival release.Darryl Sterdan, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Edmonton Sun.
"An impressive set of VU interpretations from this legendary Toronto new wave/no wave/punk band that existed from 1976 to 1982-- perhaps as important as Simply Saucer in the annals of the Canadian music underground. THE SCENICS were contemporaries of Pere Ubu, Television, the Talking Heads, etc., and this is the first in a series of releases and reissues of Scenics material. Recorded live in a number of trashy Toronto punk dives between 1977 and 1981, it's an album of Velvet Underground covers that actually manages to evoke the VU‚s classic cacophony of studio sound." alternative music.com
"Hard to believe that this is actually an essential record, but it is. The Scenics were a Canadian Punk band circa 76 and they recorded a lot of their shows. Over their five or so years as a band they covered 10 Velvets songs, and hearing these high intensity, innovative, sincere, lo-fi recordings is magnificient. There is more room in Velvets songs than you‚d imagine. This ends with an epic cacophonous ‘ Sister Ray ’, but it‚s the more subtle transgressions on songs like ‘ I‚ll be your mirror’ and ‘beginning to see the light’ that make this a must have." Roctober (Chicago) issue #45
"The Scenics were apparently heroes of the Toronto new wave/punk scene in the late 1970s. To inform us of this fact, they have released this collection of Velvet Underground covers recorded at mysterious, long-lost Toronto venues between 1976 and 1980. They do a decent job with the material, imbuing Lou Reed‚s songs with furious sound and alluring grit, though this could simply be a result of the primitive recording quality. Either way, it seems strange for a purportedly groundbreaking band -- especially one that, according to a quote from its press material, "had two of New Wave‚s most striking songwriters" -- to vouch for its legend with an album of another group‚s material. For those of us unfamiliar with the glories of late- ‚70s Toronto, this CD fails to make the case that the Scenics were ever anything other than a particularly creative cover band." Michael Lawson, National Post. Daily Disc: February 12, 2008,
"Kicking off like a frayed electric shock, How Does It Feel To Be Loved quickly immerses the listener into a warm frenzy of fuzzy energy. First formed in 1976 by Andy Meyers (guitar/vocals/bass) and Ken Badger (guitar/vocals/bass), the Scenics were one of the most intrepidly inspired bands of the Toronto new wave/punk scene. Although their sheer originality wasn’t always easily embraced, the Scenics stuck it out for six years before disbanding in the early ’80s. They now return with a full-length collection of Velvet Underground covers recorded live between 1977 and 1981 in Toronto. At their inception, the Scenics were fuelled by the sense of rampant possibility that the oncoming new wave scene carried. Meyers credits this with the fact that there wasn’t enough media in place to provide new music 24/7 and as such, this album is rife with the inventive fervour that drove the Scenics. Although these are classic Velvet Underground songs, from “Waiting For My Man” to “Here She Comes Now”, the Scenics have made this into something that is all theirs. Jangly, inverted pop aesthetics and wild mood swings of feverish noise dominate these ten tracks, making How Does It Feel To Be Loved an abrasive wash of harmonious distortion.
What made you decide to release a covers album now?
Meyers: It is kind of funny, because our songs were one of the strong points of the band, but we did do a lot of Velvet Underground songs. The simple structure allowed for you to take it down almost anywhere you wanted. We didn’t really feel differently about the covers and our songs. They were some of our songs as well as far as we were concerned.
What state were these recordings in? Did you have to do a lot of mastering on them?
Meyers: They were remarkably good to start with. They were recorded live with a two-track. You can hear all the instruments, but you can also hear great atmosphere. There’s a real sense of being there, which is very direct and powerful.
Does the feeling of the Scenics being outsiders 30 years ago still apply to the band today?
Meyers: We were absorbing the same influences as everyone else, so at the time we were just being ourselves. We were responding to what we liked, who we liked, and being who we liked. And that’s all I’m really concerned about. We’re just continuing to be ourselves now at this point. Exclaim Magazine, Liz Worth
In the grand tradition of musicians covering their favourite bands comes a collection of live tracks recorded throughout Toronto between 1977 and 1981. How Does it Feel To Be Lovedcompiles five years of Hogtown’s Scenics unleashing various renditions of beloved Velvet Underground ditties in every hole-in-the-wall imaginable, from the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern to the now-defunct Beverly Tavern, with even a few basement recordings. Interestingly, many of the songs, such as “Here She Comes Now“,New Age,” “Waiting For My Man” and “Sister Ray,” are slightly more upbeat and rockin’ than VU versions. They’re also tighter, performed by accomplished musicians, as opposed to the instrument carrying art scenesters that created them. The end result is surprisingly palatable to non-dedicated VUfans and proves the Scenics innovative in their own right, tweaking elements here and there, adding their own twist as true artists should. Factor n the low-fidelity recording techniques and How Does It Feel To Be Loved is impressive even three decades after its original recording. (Dream Tower). Exclaim Mag, May 08. Keith Carman
LIVE NXNE
‘After having to choose between Teenage Head‚s show at Dundas Square and the Scenics, both scheduled for NXNE at 9pm on Thursday night, I decided to head out to see the Scenics at Rancho Relaxo... Having missed the Scenics last time they were in Toronto, I have to say I wished I hadn‚t! The show was full of intensity and they not only sounded great, but put on a great performance, too.’
Liz Worth. author of "Treat Me Like Dirt"
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
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“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
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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:
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.