V/A Hipsville 2026 A.D. LP
With no thanks to PAT BOONE, this comp is a hit! Inspired by the Toronto outsider garage rock event Welcome to Hipsville and comps of the yesteryear like Pebbles and Back From the Grave, it features ten tracks of fuzzy garage punk, rockabilly, and surf, with most paying homage to relics from the past. Toronto’s KEWPIE DOLLS and THEE TERRIBLE THREES, along with the USA’s East Coast rippers DRACU-LAS and the OUT-SECT, cook up their trash-and-bash takes on classics, with the OUT-SECT’s version of the MAKERS’ “Do What I Wanna” being the cream of the crop, so good that I had to turn the needle back and listen twice. Elsewhere, you’ve got legends like the ICHI-BONS and BLOODSHOT BILL doing what they do best. One look through the liner notes and accompanying zine will prove evident that this is more than just a compilation. It’s a well-penned and planned-out love letter to Canadian garage rock. Toronto rules and has always been a favorite city of mine for punk and garage, and anyone interested in the latter would find this as a great starting point. There are more names, bands, and dates listed than I could mention, and it will take multiple views to digest it all. I love to see this level of detail and fun put into a project. Well done.