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Music

Cold Warps

COLD WARPS at Parts & Labour (1566 Queen West), Wednesday (June 13), 11 pm, $12 or NXNE wristband, nxne.com and at JangBang (430½ College) on June 14, matinee, 416-961-8424, free.


Cold Warps describe themselves as “Joey Ramone beating Paul McCartney over the head with songs about science fiction, teenage apathy and summer love.”

Indeed, the Halifax/Ottawa band’s brand of feel-good pop-punk is equal parts bratty fuzz and sweet melody, evoking youth, sweaty mosh pits and underage drinking. (See their just-released video for Hang Up On You.)

Their handful of releases are cassette and 7-inch only.

“We like cassette and vinyl because they seem more tangible,” explains lead singer Paul Hammond. “I haven’t bought a CD in close to six years now. And we figure if we’re going to the trouble of releasing physical objects, we may as well make them nice, desirable and collectible.”

Their newest is the 7-inch Slimer, recorded in the basement of Dog Day’s Nancy Urich and Seth Smith and released on their label, Fundog. Hammond and Smith, who also run the screenprinting company Yorodeo, handled the artwork and packaging.

“The cover is a fold-out of Mick Jagger oozing slime,” Hammond says. “Real highbrow art. Both songs are sort of a change for us. Weirder, darker, creepier, even a little slower. But we still shove some good pop moments in there.”

As for the live show?

“It moves at about twice the speed of the recorded stuff, so you don’t have to wait around all night being like, ‘Are these guys still going?’ No, we’re already finished. Ryan [Allen] and Lance [Purcell] are already getting pizza, and Dom’s [Taylor] outside prank-calling his boss from a pay phone.”

music@nowtoronto.com | twitter.com/nowtorontomusic

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