DAY ONE OF CANADIAN BANDS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Modernettes are an underrated and forgotten band from the golden age of punk. Their EP Teen City was released in 1980, right about the time of the second wave of punk bands from Vancouver, which seemed like a great time for this band to put their music out there. But for some reason, they just didn’t seem to stick like D.O.A. and Subhumans. This Vancouver or White Rock based punk/power pop group didn’t release an album until 1996. A local based record company, known as Zulu Records, released a 20 track compilation of most of their material. (good on you Zulu). This bass-driven, harmony-laden pop punk band really draws a lot of comparisons to The Ramones, which is quite understandable if you ask me.

The bands original line-up consisted of John “Buck Cherry” Armstrong on guitar, Mary Jo Kopechne, John’s ex wife, on bass guitar and John “Jughead” McAdams on drums. I heard John Armstrong played a few shows as Modernettes a few years back, Mary Jo lives “10 hours North of Prince George” and raises “exotic” cats, and Jughead is now in a Celtic band somewhere. The track posted above, Barbra, will make you smile for the rest of the day (and here it is in visual form).