THE UNOFFICIAL CMJ PARTY

"...serrated pop songs, a matrix of repeating themes that suggest an architecture not unlike that of a haunted house."


Playboy Manbaby is the party anthem of the impending zombie apocalypse.

Chris Hudson: Bass
TJ Friga: Guitar
David Cosme: Trumpet
Robbie Pfeffer: Vocals
Chad Dennis: Drums
Eryn Wise: Important


With infectious smiles, big personalities, cowboy boots and crinolines, this feisty female trio could have stepped right out of 1960's Nashville. Coming together with extraordinary energy and bringing a shine to every space they fill, Dirty Dishes play both covers (From Dolly Parton to Joel Plaskett) and shiny new originals in this tasty blend of country, folk, bluegrass, roots and gospel. Featuring Suzy Wilde, Lisa Olafson and Alison Porter (joined by Henry Heilig and Jay Boemer), you'll love Dirty Dishes for their down-home music, tight harmonies and irresistible charm.

Hot off the press, Dirty Dishes' third album, "And Stay Out!" features 11 brand new tracks, beautifully recorded at Canterbury Studios in Toronto and mixed by Danny Greenspoon.


Nonsense wants to thank you for being you. Not the you that uses your senses but the you that doesn't listen to you. Or anyone else for that matter. That's the nonsense we want to be. Where are am I? Oh yes, so we want you to be you, unless the your the you who is blue, cheer up. Listen to nonsense.


Magnet School formed in 2005 in Austin, TX

With a distinct Indie Rock style that stands alone in a sea of underground music, Magnet School's unique tunings and approach to songwriting have earned them a place in Texas & Worldwide as a class act. With an EP, an Album, and UK 7" Vinyl release under their belt all with stellar reviews, Magnet School has garnered lots of attention and cred on the Indie Rock scene. From being chosen as a Buzzcatcher band by Spin Magazine in Dec 2007 for their amazing debut album "Tonight we drink...," to touring the UK/Europe in Sept 2008, and being included on Shifting Sounds sampler disc for the Midem Festival in Cannes, France 2010 - they have turned heads in many places around the Globe.

Magnet School are now recording their 2nd full length album and have interested labels in the US, Europe, UK, and Australia. Great things ahead for this 4 piece Texas Axe driven outfit.

Albums in order of release:

1) Crush EP - Self release by VA Productions 2006
2) Tonight we drink... Tomorrow we battle the evil at hand" - Released by Arclight Records in USA & Canada - Nov 2007 & released in Europe by Bertus June 2008
3) Mysterious 7" Disc - Released by Shifting Sounds/London, UK - Feb/Mar 2010
4) Fur & Velvet (Digi 7") - Self Release by VA Productions 2013

* New album coming down the pipe... stay tuned!


Strange Wilds is a musical power-trio from Olympia, Washington.

There are three members: Allen, who plays drums; Sean, who plays bass; and Steven, who sings and plays the guitar. There is also a freight train, several buzzsaws, a banshee, and some heavy, heavy Pacific doom-and-gloom up in the mix.

The group formed in 2012, when Steven met Sean while Sean's band from Boise was playing a gig in a house where Steven lived. They became friends, and several months later Steven called Sean, who had just relocated to Olympia for college, to form the band. They were called Wet, and gigged around the West Coast as a four-piece. Allen was added as a full-time member in 2014 after a line-up change, and the band changed its name to Strange Wilds to release a 4-song EP and tour immediately. Sub Pop came calling, and signed the band last fall. The band is now set to release its full-length debut, Subjective Concepts, July 24th, 2015.


Chomp is comprised of members of Cloud Nothings (Joe Boyer and Jayson Gerycz) and Total Babes (Chris Brown).


The embryonic stage of NEEDS consisted of a burning desire by BeatRoute editor Glenn Alderson to be in a band with Sean Orr, local cynic and noodle dancer. When one incarnation of the band folded, Alderson called in the big guns. Heavy hitter from Gang Violence Bobby Siadat, You Say Party's Derek Adam and Orr's bandmate from Taxes, the venerable Al Boyle (WPP, Hard Feelings, and Rotting Hills).

The immediate energy and experience became palpable, and the band ambitiously booked their first gig as an impetus to write songs. The resulting tension culminated in an implosion of creative forces. Blood was shed. Lines were drawn.

Calling on their past influences, the group invokes feelings similar to the first time you heard Nation of Ulysses and Big Black, or that time you discovered the Wipers. NEEDS call on the mighty lords of DC; They pillage the record bags of Trash Talk and Fucked Up; They kneel before fuzz and distortion… Pay heed to the gods of avarice.

Recently the group lost drummer Bobby Siadat to a little thing called WEED* and guitarist Al Boyle has embarked on a mandatory life mission to Toronto. The two members have been replaced by Devin O'Rourke and Colin Spensley of the band Eeek!

Sensing the volatility of the energy they have sparked, the boys have already recorded five songs with Jordan Koop at the Noise Floor in Ladysmith, BC. With a seven-inch release on its way shortly.


Montreal band Solids went to school with bands from the 90s, like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and Superchunk. Formed by Xavier Germain-Poitras (guitar) and Louis Guillemette (drums), the duo has understood that melody never shines as much as when it is forced to fight its way through many layers of distortion and feedback effects. A first EP released in 2010, Generic Dogs, already united fans of chaotic choruses under the banner of their intense rock. A 7" (Fog Friends b / w Blown Out) and a split 7" created with Toronto band Animal Faces have confirmed Solid's reputation: a rare duo able to reconcile punks, rockers and metalheads. Blame Confusion, recorded by Adrian Popovitch at Mountain City Studio (We Are Wolves, Sam Roberts, The Dears, etc.), is the band's first full-length album and will be available on October 8th.
Whether playing on stages of majors events such as South by Southwest, Osheaga, POP Montreal and The Fest (in Gainesville, Florida) or in some packed and humid decrepit basements, Xavier and Louis sweat blood because they don't know any other way of making music. Solids is somehow a gift for all those who never feel as alive as when they're submerged in decibels!


Crosss offer up anthemic drone, dark angular post-punk, Barrett-esque witchery, and garage riffs galore, with the underlying proto-drone influence of Sabbath, and other early metal.
Crosss was formed in Halifax in 2011 by Andy March (guitar/vocals). Now joined by Kris Bowering (drums) and Nick Gajewski (bass), Crosss have toured across Canada and the US throughout 2013 and 2014.
Priding themselves on an undeniable live show, Crosss demonstrate prodigious drumming, extended guitar improvisations, and vocal melodies that haunt the listener long after.
A relatively unique and artful blend of influences, Crosss sound like a dark torrential storm gathering while an old crow crones, circling UFO's, or a funeral parade for some forgotten god.