By Tom Westoll
25 years, 25 minutes. Chixdiggit’s new EP is a celebration of the road all jammed into one epic song. A giant shout out to the touring road life, K.J. Jansen, main songwriter of the Calgary band, has more or less turned one of his tour diaries into an album. There are at least 16 places visited in the song, which, at nearly 25 minutes is an attempt at overthrowing NOFX’s “The Decline” as the longest punk song ever recorded.
With Chixdiggit on tour across most of Canada in support of the EP, ironically (or not, I’m not able to actually define irony), they hit Winnipeg on the same day as the venerable San Fran punks whose label (Fat Wreck) has long been Chixdiggit’s record label.
2012 is classic in almost every way that Chixdiggit does things. The album artwork is a cheeky riff on the Rush 2112 album cover done in the standard illustration style we’ve come to expect from them.
The album is full of clever lyrics (attention, Grant Lawrence fans: There is a shout out to The Smugglers) and whoa-oh- oh’s. There are hockey references –of course –, there are love songs (Jansen has been known to say “this is a love song” to introduce every second song at their shows) and there is a solid, steady beat to accompany the wall of distorted guitars played at the standard pace we know and love Chixdiggit to perform at.
Sometimes, when a band releases a new album or does a tour for their 25th anniversary, it feels pretty stale, regurgitated and unoriginal, or it’s a greatest hits album with 3 new studio tracks tacked onto the end. Nobody goes to the concert wanting to hear the new songs. Chixdiggit completely avoids that – I can’t wait to go to the show and hear the new tunes. I wanna sing along to “Du… Dusseldorf!” or “the populace of Calgary is just over a million plus/I still get asked if we would leave but the city has been good to us”.
*temporary flowery language alert* Chixdiggit is the summer of our youth – a perfect and familiar memory of a sunny feeling that we are constantly seeking to have again. It’s what drives us.It does not matter the season or the reason – throw on some Chixdiggit and let’s have some fun.
Listen to 2012 here or stream it below. You can get it here – or hit the merch table when Chixdiggit plays in your city.
Hiii everybody!
Great article FT!
I’ve been busy adulting & sulking over it. Our well pump died & dealing with water became a full-time job. So relieved it’s fixed & an even deeper respect for those who have to haul water!
I hope all is well! (snort)
: )
Good morning! Great article FT!
Good morning!
Listening…
Goooooooooood morning. A few edits I would have preferred to have been left in but it’s yours as soon as I send it to you eh. Thanks for publishing it anyway and sorry it’s …. a week or so later than I had said. Life and stuff.
Canada vs Europe tonight, game 1. Go Canada!
Oh, and check out the amazing poster my friend made for the Sheepdogs for their upcoming CFCR fundraiser gig:
https://www.facebook.com/thesheepdogs/photos/a.388485541883.175259.10638651883/10153946251746884/?type=3&theater
I’d also recommend clicking the youtube link to play the album (it’s put up by fat so it’s ok), that spotify embed playlist doesn’t seem to play it in order, or the whole thing.
@Lucky! Hi darling! It’s been a while. Sorry to hear about your well issues. Man our lives are so different lol.
FT, @6:17, I wonder where the inspiration came from…
http://www.taverntrove.com/beerpics/Old-Style-Pilsner-Beer-Labels-Sicks-Lethbridge-Brewery-Ltd-_41659-1.jpg
Good morning.
@FT I enjoyed reading your write up. Nice one. ” *temporary flowery language alert* ” made me laugh. 🙂
Hi @Samara! How’s it going??
Hi tiffy 🙂 I’m experiencing a period of depression at the moment which is why I haven’t been around much… but I am managing OK. Thanks for asking. How about you? Are you well?
@Samara – oh i’m sorry to hear that. I know that very very very well. Let me know if there is anything I can do. I know that it’s easier said that done, but try and do some exercise. Even if it’s just going for a walk outside with a tea. Exercise is saving my life right now.
I’m doing well thanks. In the process of making some big life changes and it actually feels good. Scary, but good.
Good morning everyone!
Thanks tiffy. I agree. A combination of brisk exercise and muscle relaxing seems to really help me. Our Molly dog gets me outside in the fresh air for cardio and then yoga provides the soothing stretches.
I’m glad the life changes you are putting into action are feeling right. Best of luck! 🙂
@Samara – good! I’m glad to hear that you’re leaving the house. Sounds simple, but can be very difficult.
I went for a run at 7:30am this morning. Two months ago I would have barely scraped myself out of bed at 8:30am to get to work, probably with a mild wine hangover. Crazy how quickly someone can change when the change absolutely needs to happen
@Tiffy, did it feel good to finally leave the house, after all the time you spend indoors?
Cool @Tiff! How far did you run?
@tiffy there have been far too many times when I can’t bear to go out… I spent a few weeks inside one winter. That was a really bad time… but I think I used to ask too much of myself. Like hike 5km, instead of just ‘go for a walk down to the lake’ which is all I tell myself now. Then, if I feel OK when I’m out I keep going, if I don’t, I go home. But I go home knowing I achieved at least a little goal, and that helps.
@Samara … Hope you are feeling better soon. I get it though, I also have had bouts of depression, not fun. What helped me, my therapist used to say… “You believe everything you think?!”. So, in a good way, you can get yourself through stuff, even with downer thoughts, because I tell myself I am not going to believe them.
@Samara – I hope you are feeling better soon! Depression can be a beast, so I’m glad to hear that you’re able to get up and out of the house, even if it’s only for a few minutes a day.
@Justin right on! I hear you about not believing our thoughts. I used to, now I know to just let them come and go and not identify with them. It’s very difficult though… I’m glad you are managing better too.
@Janet thank you. And yes, small victories! 🙂
Well I intended to look outward by visiting the blog and yet here I am ruminating about depression! haha 🙂 I’ll stop now. Thanks for all the support though. You’re all very kind.
samara, you haven’t been “ruminating” (mooooooo!) about depression: you were sharing, being external, almost consulting.
Not the same. Is positive. Really.
benoit, 6:53, well, yeah.
@Samara – EXACTLY. Firstly, I spent all of last winter in bed. I gained a shit ton of weight, which led me to stay indoors most of this summer. So finally i’m like NO MORE. Yes – that’s the key that i’m starting to learn. Don’t put major goals or restrictions. Just do whatever you can do. If it’s only 5 minutes, than GREAT. You went outside for 5 minutes. Maybe tomorrow it will be 7 mins.
@Janet – I ended up battling the rain yesterday and went to a local coffee shop to work. I can’t work from home. I am very much influenced by my surroundings.
@Justin – it’s the couch to 5k app, so it’s part run part walk, but today’s run was noticeably easier!! I went 5 minutes with no stopping. Which is huge for me. According to my app, I did 2.59 miles in 31 minutes, and 1.48 miles of that was running. Not marathon material, but this is like a MAJOR change for me.
@samara – have you ever heard of / read the book “Mind Over Mood”? It is a game changer. If you haven’t, I have it in PDF and can e-mail to you.
@tiffy I haven’t, but it was just recommended to me by someone a couple of weeks ago! Your recommendation makes me think I really should check it out. Would you email it to me? That’s so nice. I’m not sure if I have put my email on our list thing… if not I could post it in a comment and try to be stealthy…
@Benoit thanks for saying that. (07:29)
7:37 I’m a firm believer in that — for many people, probably not for all — simply on the basis that the human brain is complex and plastic (malleable) enough to fuck itself up into conundrums — spirals, dead ends, vicious cycles (or circles); if I’m not mistaken, then it’s complex and plastic enough to be able to work itself out of those knots and self-defeating dead-ends.
Addendum: although I haven’t read the book, I’m going by the title alone…
russ, 6:07 – are/were you a chixdiggit fan before and what’s your take on the new ep? There are some hidden or embedded references in there, kind of like easter eggs, I’m wondering if they come through to the casual listener?
I have found the more I listen to this, the more I like it. I wasn’t blown away the first listen but it’s really grown on me and like most Chixdiggit, by the time you are able to sing along, it’s way funner.
miso ramen
@samara – does your e-mail involve your instagram name and maybe @ gmail?
Tomorrow, on *q*, Tanya Tagaq and that guy Mike from Fucked Up. Candy P. did not say “performing”, however.
also recommend The Voice Of Knowledge by Don Miguel Ruiz
It’s all about the stories in your head, and it’s an easy read
@tiffy sort of… yes to gmail, but it’s samarasavagecreative
@samara – ok great.
I had Chixdiggit’s “Swedish Rat” on my Beer O’Clock playlist! Which I have just remembered and feel the need to say, given today’s post. 😛
@samara – Just sent it.
Samara, I found out from your husband when he was here that I’ve been “saying” your name wrong. Apparently I pronounce it the canadian way.
@tiffy thank you so much!!! It has arrived and I just got tears in my eyes!!! (The good kind… thank you for being so sweet!) All these onions!!! my eyes!!! <3
my hockey team has a locker room playlist, which is pretty much a beer o’clock. I made a couple of can-con picks for it, including a chixdiggit song (I Feel Like Gerry Cheevers (I Got Stitchmarks On My Heart)) and a Priestess song (Ladykiller) that one guy whose musical opinion I value didn’t know who it was and was really into it, so I felt pretty cool knowing I had introduced him to Priestess! Of course, I also selected some Sloan to be on there… hockey rink favourite Money City Maniacs obviously.
@Tom haha, it’s funny that he told you that! Most Canadians say it “wrong”, but I’m used to it now. 🙂
Samara, it was more that he said it during a conversation then I said, “how do you say your wifes name”? and then I said “Oh, I say it wrong!”
I pronounce Samara “wistypoof”. Sometimes “schlingala”.
@Tom Ah OK, that makes sense.
Hey was your hockey game that Old Abe went to at the facility you mentioned a week or two back – the one where there are four rinks and a bar above them? Because if it was I am outraged that he didn’t take any photos of a bar with a view of multiple hockey rinks, that is the most Canadian thing I can think of right now… I have to see one of these places with my own eyes some day.
Benoit LOL LOL LOL 😀
probably the second ‘a’, eh?
I knew someone from S Africa who lived here for a while, named Karin, pronounced car-in, like the thing N Americans are obsessed with
An old skit by I think Radio Free Vestibule, many years ago, called “Working in Québec”, had the protagonist state that his name was spelled (f.i.) “MacDonald”, but that it’s pronounced “Tremblay”.
And that his French is great, but his English is a little rusty, so could he practice by continuing the interview in English?
And on went the skit.
samara, indeed it was, re: the rink/bar. think of it like a curling rink where the clubhouse part is above the ice, looking down. this is like that only it’s a triangle sort of and it’s 3 rinks plus a soccer field. but yeah it’s pretty sweet. The Cooperators Centre in Regina has a similar feature only it’s way newer and nicer. Although that complex has about… 8 rinks? and the bar only overlooks 2 or 3 of them. But it’s pretty sweet, no doubt.
I remember one at the Fringe in Edmonton years ago where they did a learn French skit, and the English guy was making fun of French by throwing out ridiculous phrases for the French guy to translate:
I would gladly trade by rooster for a seal.
Please get my trombone out of the paper clip case.
my rooster, not by…
@krib yes, it’s the second A. NZers say Samara with the same longish ‘A’ sound throughout: SA MA RA. Canadians say it more like: SA ME RA
@Benoit & krib those skits sound pretty funny.
I really like the bit about MacDonald being pronounced Tremblay! 😀
I say it like I am saying Sara, but with an M in the middle, the right way is longer, more open a’s. But a disclaimer – I’m from the maritimes and allegedly my a’s are weird anyway.
@Tom I think one of the reasons I often forget I haven’t met you is because I used to listen to you and Jenelle on your morning show so I’ve heard your voice. I like your accent, and your way of talking/writing.
@Samara – oh you are most welcome!! <3
Good morning everyone,
Busy day, but if I can get through some of this work quickly I’ll come back to chat.
Samara,
It was so nice to see Old Abe and Markgage this pass weekend. Next time, Samara, you should come with them and you could stay here during the conference, I would love to show you our wonderful city. 🙂
@Shonica thank you, what a generous offer! Old Abe and I were looking through all his photos yesterday and there are so many things I’d love to see in person so I think next time I will have to make the trip too. 🙂 Old Abe was really taken by the city. He and markgage had such a good time seeing and meeting R3 friends. It was so kind of TRH to host them.
@Tiff… 2.59 miles is great for 31 minutes! I am glad it is getting easier. It will continue to get easier as well.
News just in (from Tom) first listen to new JKS:
http://exclaim.ca/music/article/john_k_samson-alpha_adept
I love the album art on Winter Wheat…
Re the album art: does Christine (Fellows) paint? I suspect…
Anyone else get an OOPS this page couldn’t be found? (Changes me from you’re posting too fast)
Re the album art: does Christine (Fellows) paint? I suspect…
Oops on my part, repeated comment.
I was thinking that the album art will look like a painting (gee) in the lp format, and like a bathroom wall tile in the CD.
Winnipegger Simon Hughes artwork has been used for album artwork in the pass.
FYI
You can pre-order Winter Wheat and other merch here http://kingsroadmerch.com/john-k-samson/
I found this, about the albums artwork: Layout and Design by Mike Carroll Artwork by David Owen Luca
from the liner notes: https://johnksamsonmusic.bandcamp.com/
I enjoy Simon Hughes’ stuff. He did the cover for Reconstruction Site, maybe Reunion Tour?
Shonica, you might know this but anyone else feel free to chime in – is it possible to find Del Barber & The No Regretzkys “The Puck Drops Here” on vinyl? I’ve only seen the cd and digital options… really would like that one on record.
FT, I’m not aware, but I can see ask someone who might know.
Hello!
Nice review up there Tom. I’ll give er’ a listen later.
I did indeed have a great time in The Peg. Great to reconnect with R3 friends as well as meet Binsy and Tom in person!
Ft,
I have sent a message with the vinyl question.
hello
Well?
Justify your absence.
(guiltguiltguilt)
I’m listening to CKXU Lethbridge. For a change.
no
Dang. A naysayer.
Hey, did you guys know it’s fall now? And that it’s getting chilly out at night? Of course you did, we all did. And yet it wasn’t until today, as I was shivering slightly in my house, that I realized we’re going to want to turn the furnace on soon, and it’s probably long overdue for an inspection and / or whatever kind of regular maintenance furnaces may need. Hope it still works. Hope it doesn’t blow up when I try it.
Nicely done FT. I am enjoying Chixdiggit. I can definitely see how you could get more out of it the more you listen to it. I wasn’t sure at first that I would be able to handle 24 minute long Chixdiggit but it varies enough to keep it interesting.
hi @lou!
I live in a condo, so I don’t have access to heat until the building decides we should have access to heat. Same goes for aircon at the beginning of summer.
Hi Lou! It’s the time of year where I don’t know what to expect from the weather. I went outside to go to work in my fall clothes and discovered it is warm and sunny today and going to 24 C. Good thing I have layers I can remove.
they’re generally pretty sturdy. May make your house smell like an old dusty church basement, though
I need to change my furnace filter
yeah, it’s a challenge at this time of year, especially on the bike. Riding needs protection for stuff like hands and ears, and the wind is that much colder, until it’s above 20 in the afternoon, which is freakishly warm for this time of year
Tiff, technically, I think you get heat and A/C when the gov’t decides the building owner has to make it available.
@tiffyleeson: Yeah, that’s the flipside of it being somebody else’s problem I guess. One apartment I lived in didn’t turn the heat on until… I dunno, long after they should have. We were wearing heavy jackets around the house, and using an electric hibachi as a space heater in the living room. It was ridiculous.
I wonder why my avatar icon isn’t showing up? I can see it down below the comment box. It was the only reason I bothered signing in to my stupid facebook acount. Well screw that then.
I pretty much keep my house just warm enough so pipes don’t freeze. Layers, baby!
I tend to get warm if I think too hard, so I don’t like heat
Well I should definitely buy a furnace filter, anyway. I’m sure when I do I’ll find a 3-pack with 2 filters left in it stuffed in my basement somewhere.
@kirb – I pay for it though, so who knows.
@Loozrboy… Facebook photos don’t work with this commenting system. I don’t know why. Have a WordPress profile works if you want a photo. We want to make user profiles and images much better in the future. But, it is this way for now.
Hey All, btw today I heard a We Are Wolves advertisement for their new album on Indie88, I don’t believe they are on rotation at indie, maybe they’ll start to be.
re: the topic, Chixdiggit were one of the very first Canadian indie bands I was into, way back when, listening to college radio in the days before internet radio. I feel like I might be too old for a 25-minute punk song now, but I guess I’ll give it a listen 🙂
back when indie meant something…
I think the first “indie” band I was into was Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, or maybe Me, Mom & Morgentaler…don’t remember which was first
@Loozr, Or set up your gravatar at https://en.gravatar.com/
@Loozrboy… what @Garf says….
darbar, loozrboy and others – yeah – calling it ONE song doesn’t necassarily attract you to it, but in reality, it’s kind of like 16 songs rolled into the premise of one. The continuity between “movements” (if you want to call them that) of the song keeps it flowing but each part is different. This album is pretty meta in that way. Is that what they say now? Meta?
Speaking of punk…Regina’s premiere punk band The Extroverts have a new album and a small tour. They play this Friday night at the Exchange.
I liked how it flowed and the tempo changed.
I was informed on Saturday by a kid that nobody says whatever I had said anymore. Ha! I told him to give me a phrase to make me cool. I forget what he told me. I will have to think about that to remember so I can be cool again.
wynn, would seem like a waste of advertising/poor marketing team if they play an ad on the station but don’t play the tunes.
Speaking of Indie 88, I saw that they premiered a new Walrus video: http://indie88.com/walrus-feels-premiere/
Check out that band if you’ve not before.
I like Walrus. Believe it or not R3 introduced me to them.
darbar, I believe it.
I didn’t get that link because i pay any mind to what indie 88 does but because walrus posted it on favebook. i appreciate what indie 88 does and it’s in canada’s biggest city, etc, but i don’t listen or follow along.
Huh, for some reason I thought gravatar was just the abstract geometric icon things. Well I’ll have to set that up, then.
Liking the Chixdiggit so far.
Irrefutable, empirical proof that George Bush > Barack Obama, Matthew MacConaughey > Harrison Ford, and Snoop Dogg >> 50 Cent:
http://i.imgur.com/KaVQ491.png
Also Sonya Sotomayor > Carley Rae Jepsen, in case that was previously in dispute.
just watched episode 1 of The Get Down on Netflix the other day. It was pretty cool.
Nolan Ryan? what the heck?!?
@krib: courtesy of the related reddit thread, it appears to be some time after the peak of his career, and uncharitably plotted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q2Ik6xSmGQ
loozr, “uncharitably”??? He’s been libelled! He got it not far from (a little below?) where B.Obama did.
oh yeah, that’s a ridiculous plotting on that picture! it shows it behind the batter. He was right over the plate
A little out and a lot high. Still, I respect anyone who actually gets it to the plate. It’s quite a distance.
Aaaand good morning!
Hello!
Good morning! @FT about the We are Wolves ad, ya I’m hoping they will start playing them. And that it’s a sign.
I’ll have to check out Walrus. Thanks for the recommendation!
G’day!
Tanya T. and Mike from Fucked Up ARE going to do an improv piece on *q*. Interesting conversation with those two artists. (Currently halfway into the second half-hour, for your orientation.)
That could be interesting.
Sorry, I think I was wrong. Unless they’re really unclear on q, it sounds like TT & M (who just did a live interview) are doing an on-stage improvisation, but where and when? It sounds like *not* in the next half-hour, on the show. (I missed parts of the talk, so…)
Hello!
KEXP seems to be on a pledge drive this week…
Any stream/station suggestions for my work day today?
CFCR is a solid choice.
O.A., yesterday I listened to CKXU (Lethbridge) and enjoyed it some. Via iTunes and college/university.
it’s that time of year when most ampus/community stations are doing their fundraising.
and hello…. apparently my “writing” (if you can call it that) is so good it’s the topic two days in a row!
This is a really great show out of CKDU in Halifax – worth checking out for sure.
http://halifaxisburning.com/
Howdy and good morning everyone!
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll check them out!
@Justin, Happy Birthday
Thanks @Garf! It will be a really fun day. I gotta do some research on Royal Canoe for their gig tonight I am going to. Will be total fun.
Happy Birthday Justin G! Have a great day. 🙂
Seems quiet around these parts… I’ll catch up with y’all again tomorrow.
Bye for now.
It’s eerie quiet here today.
did The Purge come through here?
I am home from working a four hour shift and going to the market on my way back.
@justin – Have a most KICK-ASS time at Royal Canoe for your birthday! Wish I was there to celebrate with you and see Royal Canoe. Enjoy!!
the VW folks who stayed with us for a four nights have posted a new video. I insisted they use Canadian music so I was curious to see what they picked. If you are too here is the link
keep listening and watching as there is an unexpected interlude mid song.
there will be another Canadian video soon so I am sending them more ideas …
Thanks for sharing that Morgana
That was fun morgana.
Super cool!
What a life they live hey! We were glad to host them. I am on FB with her now. Any musical suggestions for me to add to the potential soundtrack list?
My tub room seems to have made it to their Instagram feed as well! She sent it to me in a PM on FB seeing as I am not on it.
I am glad you are enjoying watching their video. Of course there are lot’s more from their two years of globe trotting should you wish to experience some more virtual travel.
I think I had suggested Elliott Brood Northern Air already.
I love Sam Robert’s Canadian Dream but it seems more wintery.
@darbar yes, I did add those. Here is where I left it last
https://open.spotify.com/user/cbcradio3/playlist/0mnIiLZ2FtfXxJsfZxlgJP
I was just looking for Aiden Knight’s Jasper but can’t find it …
getting up at 3:40am is not good for me!
Nice list. How about Wheat Kings by The Tragically HIp or some other Hip or Downie song.
It seems Aidan doesn’t have it on Spotify.
Patrick Watson’s The Great Escape.
@darbar … yes! keep them coming!
Royal Canoe – Exodus of The Year
I picked summersault but yes.
wheat kings is too mellow actually.
Right. I forgot about the tempo thing.
Sweetwater by The Matinee
so, anyone heard from Reg? Everything okay with her?
I think this is the first time we’ve had a two-day post on a week day…
Spirit by Wintersleep
is the tub room playlist theme northern-y songs?
how about You Would Never Survive Winters in This Country by the now-happily-married-and-therefore-not-making-music-for-some-reason Maybe Smith?
Regina was just too busy to get one together for today.
Personally, I think more contributors are needed. People should check under that Contribute tab up there at the top.
@krib I met a couple who have travelled in their VW from Argentina to Alaska. Now they are headed across Canada to Montreal then back south. They post about their adventures and I thought they should use Canadian music for the audio in the Canadian segments. So, if you are thinking northern means Canadian then yes. mostly upbeat, travelling Cancon is the key.
Well, Maybe Smith for sure, then
I’d contribute, but I’m not as cool as I think I am…
sorry, I just really chuckled at that. I think it should become the first coined phrase on the new site…
I picked in the woods from maybe smith.
@krib uncool/too cool for school … that is why we are in our basement 😉
Maybe Patrick Watson’s Into Giants or Strange Crooked Road would be a better tempo.
strange crooked road fits their adventures for sure!
got kidney stones? ride a roller coaster!
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.3780771/got-kidney-stones-this-doctor-says-roller-coasters-could-be-the-cure-1.3780892
Hello! I’m late today, we had an off-site work teambuilder thing-y which kept me away from my computer
@krib – I will have to pass that on to my son. It was a 2 month kidney stone adventure for him this summer. If only we had jumped on some roller coasters.
Busy week in Regina but I am not sure how much if any I will get to. Last night was Royal Wood, tonight is TPC/Born Ruffians, tomorrow is Hayden, Friday is Extroverts. I have missed Royal Wood already and have something going on early evening tonight. We shall see…
@Morgana, I thought you might find this interesting
CFCR is in its fundraising mode. FM-phasis. A series of concerts. Hayden coming up – tonight? Andino Suns, Oral Fuentes, Whiskey Jerks on the weekend, which would be good fun. Sadies next weekend
@garfielduk the funny thing is that mr morgana is working on restoring a Beetle … old school non electric. i will share when he gets home from work.
@DarBar… Thanks for the birthday wishes! wish Heck yeah you should come too! To Royal Canoe tonight….