Since moving to Winnipeg just last summer, LTW’s Chris Hearn has seen and heard quite a few great local artists who are part of a thriving scene. A new one for you to check out is pop-punk band Dangercat!
Iâve been sitting here editing and posting articles online and doing various computer work, and all the while have been listening to Dangercatâs âWhere Iâll Beâ album which was released last May by Winnipeg based Newform Label. I believe Iâve listened to it about 5 times in full at this point. This is good, good stuff and Iâm enjoying the heck out of it! Right from the start, it sounded like a familiar old friend, and like an album that I already knew well.
Lately, Iâve been listening to, writing about or dealing with all kinds of music that is NOT punk. So, itâs nice to get back to listening to something a little more ‘punked up’ – it makes for a bit of a comforting change. And what a band to bring a person back to the genre! They are impressive representatives.
Again, like many other punk bands Iâve written about over the last year, they arenât exactly reinventing the wheel. This is straight-forward, simple and good 90âs style Fat Wreck Chords soaked pop punk. âWhere Iâll Beâ is honestly one of the best pop punk albums I listened to this year. They are excellent at what they do and deserve to be noticed.
The first time I heard about Dangercat was at a showcase of music videos from Manitoba Music during the Nuit Blanche event here in Winnipeg held in September. That night, they had videos playing on the IMAX theatre screen downtown and live performances from bands. Dangercatâs video for the title song of the album just cracked me right up! I thought it was such a good idea. Punk puppets doing party punk things at a punk house show with Dangercat. I like it. I like puppets, what can I say. This was cool. It hooked me in.
Dangercat has been around in one form or another since 2007. The current line-up is Keith Dueck on guitars and vocals, Ryan Roemer on bass and Dylan James on drums. That was only solidified in 2011 however. They have a split EP with Everyone Everywhere and an EP called âHead in the Cloudsâ. And, they now have their full length out. So, theyâve been busy! Keith does the song writing as well, and according to their website âSinger Keith Dueck cuts out the filler and writes what he knows, that family and friends matter more than possessions, and the working class struggle.â Well, okay then. There you have it!
So, now that I know of Dangercat and really dig them I now want everyone else to know about Dangercat because they are rather infectious with their catchy, hooky, loud, sing-a-long anthems. This is a virus you want to haveâ¦the Dangercat pop punk virus. Itâs one of those fun viruses that lift you up and make you feel good as opposed to the kind that will kill you.
Thus far, I havenât seen them live, but they seem to be playing shows fairly regularly around town so chance are good that Iâll be checking them out soon. Iâve heard good things thus far, not that I am surprised in the slightest.
Check out Dangercat on Facebook and twitter and you can pick buy their music on their bandcamp page. They also have their own official webpage at www.dangercatband.com.
Words by Chris Hearn. More writing by Chris on Louder Than War can be found here.
