Artist: The Wet Spots, Album: Wake Up With The Wet Spots, Song: Fightin' A War

"I'm fightin' a war and I'm fightin' a war in my head."  The Wet Spots were a punk rock band from Hamilton, Ontario.  They formed back in the eighties and had an indie, cassette only release, entitled, Urinal Diaries, before this album in 1988.  They were Pat Havoc, Danger Dave, Mo De Lon and Dug Illegal.  Wake Up... was produced by Mickey DeSadist, lead singer of the Forgotten Rebels.  The band released the album with Problem Children Wrekords label.  The Problem Children were another punk band from the "Hammer".  Unfortunately, there isn't a lot written about the band in order to piece together a timeline for their discography.  They had another release that followed this album called, From Beer To Paternity, which included a few songs from the Wake Up... release.  Unfortunately, it doesn't include this cool track, Fightin' A War.  The album, Wake Up... is not widely available today.  At the time of this blog, I couldn't find any copies available online.  However, From Beer To Paternity, is available from Itunes.  Some of the original members of both the Wet Spots and the Problem Children are in a new band called the LeT dOwNs and they played in Hamilton last month at the annual Joe Strummer Tribute show.  You can follow them on their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wet-Spots-original/.  You can hear the song, Fightin' A War, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJSOEZCsi84).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Artist: The Villains, Album: Life Of Crime EP, Song: Urban Skins

The Villains were a ska band that formed in England originally.  They moved to Canada and during their first live performance in Vancouver, they were promptly arrested and sent to a local prison for working without a visa.  They were released on the condition that they voluntarily leave the country or be deported.  Rather than doing either, they found a management company that foresaw profit in the band's recent publicity and helped them fill out the appropriate paperwork to remain in the country.  From there, the band tore up stages coast to coast with their energy and humour.   They formed their own label and in 1980, released their debut EP, Life Of Crime.  It only had 4 tracks and one of them was a cover of Sam The Sham's Wooly Bully.  Urban Skins is a standout from that release that can be purchased on Itunes.  The band would release a followup album with Attic Records in 1983 and changed their sound slightly to appeal to a larger, more pop oriented audience.  The experiment failed and by 1986, the members stopped touring and recording together.  However, there appears to be some life emerging from the Villains camp recently and you can follow them at http://www.myspace.com/thelegendaryvillains.  You can hear the song, Urban Skins, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug2_Kdhtosg&feature=related).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Artist: SenseAmelia Project, Album: Trip Down Little Road, Song: The Cause

The SenseAmelia Project was a band from the east coast of Canada.  Nova Scotia by way of Newfoundland perhaps.  They were a 7pc band consisting of singer songwriter, Amelia Curran as well as band members, Willy King, Caleb Hamilton, Jude Pelley, Johnathan Edwards, Chris Cookson and Kevan Corbett.  Trip Down Little Road was their one and only album which was released in 2001.  It did well regionally and garnered them some nominations, accolades and awards in the Maritimes.  They would also tour Eastern Canada in support of the album.  Amelia had released her first solo album the year before and was making a name for herself musically already.  Following this release, she has continued her solo career and has released three more albums to date.  Her latest release in 2009, won the Juno for Best Roots & Traditional Album Of The Year, beating out artists such as Bahamas (see blog 1/22/11) and Corb Lund.  She is currently signed to indie label, Six Shooter Records.  You can follow her at http://www.ameliacurran.com/.  You can hear the song, The Cause, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohHdUROMoS0&feature=channel_video_title).  The debut album isn't widely accessible today.  You can purchase a copy from Fred's Records online store which is based in Newfoundland (http://www.freds.nf.ca/artists/SenseAmeliaProject.html).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!