The Consumption

Hot Little Rocket is doing a reunion show at Broken City tomorrow. That’s kind of a big deal for me. Those guys were the third(ish?) band I ever interviewed as an aspiring music writer at The Gauntlet, and I have some pretty great memories of seeing them at the Night Gallery and other long-defunct places that remind me I’m getting old.

So, in honour of this auspicious occasion, here’s that old and painfully earnest Gauntlet article. I remember doing the interview at Higher Ground, and being ridiculously nervous and excited that I was talking to a band, even if it was a band that I didn’t know particularly well at the time. I was still just discovering local music myself (outside of punk shows at the Multi, I mean), and the article was half about the CD release and half about encouraging new students to get interested in independent culture. I don’t know how many people it was actually a gateway for, but it definitely worked on me.

Anyway, a few things that make me nostalgic in that article:

• “The album, HLR’s first for Calgary label Catch and Release, and the label’s first under the Flemish Eye imprint…” — remember when Flemish Eye was a Catch and Release imprint, and not a world-conquering juggernaut?
• “One such ally was Aaron Booth, a Calgary ex-pat now residing in Toronto.” — I actually ended up emailing Aaron for a copy of Shecky Forme’s 002, which he kindly mailed me from Toronto. During the interview, Aaron Smelski also encouraged me to bug Aaron Booth about a(n apparently embarrassing) band they were in called Sky Suspended, which I would still love to hear some day.
• “The first, at Carpenter’s Union Hall in Kensington, is an all-ages show featuring plenty of Calgary talent. The next night, the band will play at the Night Gallery…” — Sigh.

And as a bonus, here’s a stream of one of my favourite songs on that album — which I think still holds up as one of the best pop-rock records to come out of Calgary. Enjoy!