From the ‘hood: 10 of my fave albums by 10 of my fave Vancouver bands

By Steve Newton

When you’ve covered the Vancouver music scene for as long as I have, you realize there’s a lot more to it than Loverboy and Bryan freakin’ Adams.

Art Bergmann Sexual Roulette (1990) The hero of Vancouver’s alternative music scene really hit his stride on his second full-length album, telling insightful and thoroughly rockin’ tales of desolation and disease that only a street-level view can afford.

She Stole My Beer Sparks Off the Guardrail (1992) Back in the early ’90s She Stole My Beer was the original party band to see in the Greater Vancouver area–including Whistler. 25-year-old singer-guitarists Tom Taylor and Chad Chilibeck wrote some mighty catchy jam-rock tunes, driven along by two drummers, Allman Brothers-style.

The Spirit Merchants Don’t Need Much (1994) Guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Steve Dawson and fiddle ace Jesse Zubot have been fixtures on the Vancouver roots scene for decades. Back in ’94, at the ages of 22 and 20 respectively, they seriously impressed with a bayou-flavoured mix of funky blues and Cajun boogie.

The Matthew Good Band Last of the Ghetto Astronauts (1995) Before he signed with Polygram and started selling hook-filled platinum albums, Coquitlam-raised Matthew Good released a low-budget indie disc–bolstered by the killer opening track “Alabama Motel Room”–that made him a star in Vancouver, with the rest of Canada soon to follow.

Odds Nest (1996) Hitting their artistic stride, the former house band at the Roxy (as Dawn Patrol) outdid the previous year’s impressive Good Weird Feeling with a startling collection of irresistible jangle-rockers and bittersweet pop ballads.

Age of Electric Make a Pest a Pet (1997) AOE’s two sets of brothers from Saskatchewan–Todd and John Kerns and Ryan and Kurt Dahle–reunited for a cross-Canada tour in 2017, delivering thoroughly rocking versions of MAPAP tracks like “Remote Control”, “I Don’t Mind”, and “Don’t Wreck It”. You can’t keep a good song down.

Limblifter Bellaclava (2000) Most of Bellaclava—just like Limblifter’s 1996 self-titled debut—is short, catchy, to-the-point power pop, the kind that gets under your skin and then makes a quick detour to your subconscious (which it pops out of every now and again, causing you to hum the melodies of tunes like “Polaroid” and “Bullring” whether you want to or not).

Rez Rez (2006) Rez may be the finest guitar-based instrumental-rock CD ever to come out of Vancouver. The adventurous music on display–world-class originals that echoed the jazz-rock stylings of Jeff Beck–was performed by guitarist Scotty Hall and drummer-keyboardist Phil Robertson. (Sadly, the uber-talented Hall–who was often found grooving to the choice tunes playing at his longtime workplace, Neptoon Records–succumbed to esophagal cancer in May of 2006).

Pride Tiger The Lucky Ones (2007) Former members of Vancouver metal bands 3 Inches of Blood and Goatsblood and thrash-punks S.T.R.E.E.T.S. hooked up to form a heavily melodic, dual-guitar rock ‘n’ roll band that wore its Thin Lizzy influences on its sleeve. And y0u know that can’t be bad.

Ladyhawk Shots (2008) Distributed by the Indiana-based Jagjaguwar label–which is also home to Vancouver psych-rock superstars Black Mountain–Shots! saw Kelowna transplants Ladyhawk winningly meld the ragged guitar glory of Neil Young & Crazy Horse with the alternative stylings of ’90s indie-rock.

To read over 100 of my interviews with local Vancouver musicians since 1983, go here.