On the weekend my sister, Andrea, and I braved the East Side for a punk rock show at The Rickshaw Theatre to see LA’s Militarie Gun. The show was part of their 20 songs for $20 dollars tour. Amazing value for a live show in 2026, no doubt, but they also 3 other bands with them. Great night of punk and grunge, and noise, and shoegaze.
I was there to see Militarie Gun (my sister says the “ie” spelling is cute). But really enjoyed all the band son the night. Militarie Gun brought their buds Dazy along to open. Shady Nasty was part of the show from Sydney, NSW. And just before our headliners, it was Kitchener, Ontario sibling grunge-shoegazers SoftCult.
Both my sister and I like their sound. Heavy at times. Pretty at times. Big sweeping epic songs. I think they describe themselves on their instagram as “evil Cocteau Twins.” I love it.
Softcult has been banging out songs for a half dozen years at this point (and were in a pop-pink band before called Courage My Love) with more than few seeing moderate success on streaming. They released their debut full length back in January called When A Flower Doesn’t Grow.
“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.” That perspective threads through the album’s ten tracks, which explore cycles of oppression, abuse, and conformity, while championing the courage it takes to break free.
“The truth is, nothing can thrive in an environment where it is stifled,” lead singer-guitarist Mercedes Arn-Horn reflects. “We can’t flourish in environments that are oppressive. We need the world around us to be an environment that encourages us to grow.”
My sister Andrea having a really fun time at Militarie Gun, October 10th 2026 at The Rickshaw Theatre
The Killers are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their sophomore record Sam’s Town with some remastered vinyl and a 7″ Singles Box set.
Time is a funny thing. I remember when Sam’s Town came out back in 2006 and feeling like, “hey this isn’t more Hot Fuss!” But now Sam’s Town has become one of my favourite Killers records. “Read My Mind” and “When You Were Young” are the two singles I consistently go back to. If I am on the radio and need to slot in a Killers jam, it’ll usually be one of those two.
My love of vinyl collecting has waned with time (and maybe the economy and not having tons of extra cash to spend on wax) BUT if I were to get involved with any of these Killers reissues I’d probably be into this 7″ Singles box set.
The box set is limited edition! Not a thing I care too much about, but if you’re a collector, that could matter. I just think 7″ singles are fun. Impractical, but fun. When I do get into the beers I like “DJing” 45s. Very active way to listen to music. The box set has all the Sam’s Town era jams; “When You Were Young,” “Bones,” “Read My Mind,” “For Reasons Unknown”) with their respective original B-sides. It also includes a bonus fifth 7” with “Peace Of Mind” on the A-side and “Read My Mind” (Like Rebel Diamonds Mix) on the B-side.
Gotta get after a Friday in old Vancouver town. Trivia tonight at Train Wreck Brewing in Port Moody and a ton of Earthquakes and Crewe soccer. I’ll leave you with a link to an old interview I did with Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci Jr back in 2009 in Victoria’s Save-On Foods Memorial Arena. Fun show, great dudes, and this blog post went moderately viral (for me) back in the day.
Heyo everybody. It’s been a minute since I’ve jumped on the old Morning After Show blog. Music blogging is something I have done for a lot of years going all the way back to the times before the word “blog” was a thing. Then blogs stopped being a thing and I slowly faded away. But I will say, I did enjoy it and I’m having a bit of a back-to-the-basics kinda moment in my life so here we are. I also like how music blogging keeps me exploring new music and also engage with my idiot email inbox which is still flooded by new music PR hype. Thank you for sending it, I ignore 99% of the emails. I don’t think that will hurt anyones feelings though because I reckon most are just AI hallucinations anyway.
Alight. new music time. Death From Above 1979 announced their 6th LP and a new song, the title track, “Private Lives.”
On the way to soccer practice with my youngest we rocked the new song then went down the DFA algorithm. I loves me some DFA as that amazing You’re a Woman, I’m A Machine record came out in 2004 when I was a baby radio DJ. We played the heck out of that album on The Zone in Victoria and I have such a warm nostalgia for it. My 9-year-old loving DFA’s music the first time he was experiencing it made for a rocking drive to the soccer pitch. Of all the songs, he wanted a repeat play of “Private Lives.” (and also loved “Little Girl”)
Little dude asked me, “what is Private Lives” about? Luckily for me, I DID read my email the other day and was able to basically recite the PR; “The song ‘Private Lives’ is a declaration of privacy in an era of overexposure. We are compelled, often by one another, to share our most intimate moments and quietest thoughts. To what end? More often than not, to be part of a cheap consumer feedback loop. Ultimately though, it’s just a ripping rock song with maniacal riffs!” the band explains. “Our new 10-song LP, Private Lives, represents a renewed commitment to the pure industrial magic of electricity. We’ve never been able to do anything halfway. Much like Kim Bodnia’s dance performance in the video for the lead single, it’s all or nothing for us.”
Death From Above 1979 will be heading out on tour again in 2027. When they roll through Vancouver in March it’ll be at The Vogue Theatre. ALL AGES. Maybe I’ll have to bring the little dude.
Death From Above 1979 2027 Tour Dates:
02/02 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
02/04 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory San Diego
02/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
02/06 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory Orange County
02/09 – Ventura, CA @ Ventura Music Hall
02/10 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
02/11 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
02/24 – Waterloo, ON @ Maxwell’s
02/25 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
02/26 – London, ON @ London Music Hall
02/27 – Ottawa, ON @ The Bronson
03/01 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Beanfield
03/02 – Quebec City, QC @ Imperial Bell
03/03 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
03/05 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
03/06 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
03/07 – Washington, DC @ Howard Theatre
03/08 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Music Hall
03/15 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
03/17 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
03/18 – St Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
03/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
03/20 – Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theatre
03/22 – Red Deer, AB @ Bo’s Bar & Stage
03/23 – Edmonton, AB @ Midway
03/24 – Calgary, AB @ Palace Theatre
03/26 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
03/27 – Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom
03/29 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
03/31 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
I’ll leave you with a shitty iPhone picture of the last time I went to see Death From Above 1979 at the Vogue in November of 2024. it poured rain that night! Of course.
Here is a picture of our youngest. Coral was telling me that he loves sitting by the window to eat his snack! I love this picture.
My family moves over to Vancouver at the end of the month and I can’t wait. My work is shifted a little later in the day so I’ll get to be a stay-at-home Dad for the first half of the day. My wife is taking a few months off before trying to hustle a job so we’re pretty excited for the summer.
The hardest part of this move is missing out on the little things everyday. My weekends in Victoria fly by and as anyone with kids will tell you, “they grow up so fast!” I remember with Madelyn I’d roll my eyes when the veteran parents would say that. But you know what, it is true. If you’re having a kid, or one day you might…that is a true piece of lore from the parents before you. Anyway, trying to live my life and each day like your instagram feed, but at the same time, kinda wishing days to go by so we hit the end of the month and get this summer fired up all together.
OK music… bah bah bah dear diary…
One of our favourite British 90s grungy throwbacks here at CFOX, Wolf Alice, have a new record on June 22nd called My Love is Cool (Dirty Hit Records). We know and love Wolf Alice from their radio song “Moaning Lisa Smile,” (and their amazing set at The Biltmore back in…March?) now we have another listen from the album, “You’re a Germ.” When I was a snot-nosed skid growing up in Coquitlam, people called me Germy. Neat.
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Back on the Borns train. “Seeing Stars” is getting some active play on my new playlist. He’s got the line thing through the “O” on his name, I don’t know how to make that with my Canadian keyboard.
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and doesn’t this Crystal Fighters song sound like a jingle for a TV commercial? Catchy as fuck. I know, I’m blogging a 2-year-old song, but whatever…feeling it with this sunny hot weather in Vancouver.
Wolf Alice has a new single. “Giant Peach.” Whoa…it’s a ripper. New record is called My Love is Cool. It comes out on June 23rd.
Singer Ellie Roswell says of the song, “It’s about a love affair with the city (London). It’s a song to dance to, but also a song to lose your shit to.”
Thank you for finding my blog. If this is your first time visiting I would like to invite you to check out my weekly podcast called Capital Rock City. Capital Rock City is a weekly audio podcast I create that features some of the fine music of Victoria and points in and around the capital.
If you enjoy the show, please consider sharing the link with a friend and subscribing to the podcast. You can subscribe by using this RSS feed or by searching ‘capital rock city’ in the iTunes store.
The show begins with a taste of an interview I did with Mother Mother lead sing Ryan Guldemon. We’ll get a couple chances to see this Quadra Island native (now living in Vancouver) on August 15th at Cumberland’s Big Time Out Festival and then here in the city in late September at Rifflandia. Ryan and I mostly talk about how I completely fail at interpreting their music. good times.
The Paper Cranes have a new record called ‘Chivalry’s Dead’ and they be celebrating its release with a pair of CD release parties. July 17th here in Victoria at Lucky Bar (Racoons in support) and then the following night, July 18th in Vancouver at The Biltmore.
I got an email from my man crush Eric Thompson at A TV. Eric has a son and he is the drummer in the band Great White Shark. AND it turns out I know the lead singer. He was in the band Something Better which I have featured before on Capital Rock City (I thinkon the podcast I make a mistake and confused my notes. I said that Great White Shark was Everybody Left… and that is wrong, they were Something Better).
Finally, a song from the band Everybody Left. What a groovy track.
That’ll do it for this week’s Capital Rock City. Thank you for spending your time exploring new indie rock with me and I hope you’ll not be a stranger and introduce yourself in the comment section and make a point to subscribe to the podcast.
The above picture has very little to do with what’s about to happen in this post, I just thought it was a pretty album cover. The band is called The Rural Alberta Advantage and their record is new and mega-hyped by the internets. I am sure I’ll buy it sometime over the next couple weeks, so I’ll let you know what I think about it then…
The point of this post is simple really. Madelyn got her tiny little baby hands on Coral’s phone today and somehow managed to call me during my show. if you want to hear cute baby banter; you can by…
and remember kids, SUBSCRIBING to the podcast on iTunes is the only way to fight a wild fire in Australia! The cute little koala bears thank you for it. Or heck, why not RSS Feed this bitch direct from The Zone!
Skies Kill are one of my new favourites. Danny Peters from the group emailed me three songs earlier this week and I gave them all a solid listen. The band is still developing their sound and maybe there are parts I’d tighten up, but the basic genesis of the music is wonderful to my ears. The lead off track that I played on CRC, “Exhaust Fumes” is one of my stand-out picks because a lot happens in less than 3 minutes. It is almost two songs with a long soundtracky end.
Crown The Wolf bring the Fu Manchu fuzz rock to Victoria and maybe you’ll come see them at Evolution Nightclub next Thursday, March 26th!
Adam at Sonic in Deadmonton has to yet to fail in exporting something mighty from the Champion Rock City… the hockey team might suck, but the music is wonderous.
Now Adam might not own a scarf, but I do, so I care what Pitchfork has to say about The Faunts. Actually, I don’t believe Adam doesn’t own a scarf, hypothermia is a clear and present danger in Edmonton any time of the year… maybe I should send him one?
Next I talk to Wynn Gogol. Wynn operates 1 Ton Studios in the Quadra Village. He recorded Something Betters music! Nice.
