WILL
DEAFEN FOR FOOD:
A Short, Turbulent History of The Pariahs
par'iah,
n. Member of a low caste; (fig.) social outcast; ~-dog, yellow
vagabond dog of low breed in India. - The Concise Oxford Dictionary.
One astute
music scribe called them "a loud, sweaty, beer-spilling
experience" while another likened them to that scene
in Dazed and Confused in which drunken kids drove around a
small Texas town throwing bowling balls through people's windshields.
They've survived grunge, metal, punk and guitar pop by remaining
largely oblivious to them while having just a wee bit in common
with all of them. They worship at the temple of Steeltown-bred
bar bands but their souls wear jean jackets with AC/DC scrawled
on the back in magic marker. One has lost teeth in an onstage
collision, another has lost fingers on a table saw and yet
another has twice been mistaken for a homeless person.
The Pariahs
came together in Kingston in 1989 and moved to Toronto two
years later. Then somebody left and John joined. Then somebody
else left and Staci joined. The ensuing years have seen them
share stages with a veritable who’s who of the Canadian
music scene (as well as an ever-increasing list of other wasters,
luminaries and legends to be) including the likes of The Headstones,
The Tragically Hip, Therapy?, Junkhouse, The Deftones, Forgotten
Rebels, Elevator, The Sinisters, The Guess Who, Rusty, Teenage
Head and The Ramones. YES, THAT'S RIGHT, THE FUCKIN' RAMONES!
1995 saw the release of The Pariahs' debut album Home is Where
You Hang Yourself (title cribbed from Mordecai Richler); their
sophomore effort Mouthful of Headache was released in January
of 2000.
The Pariahs have long since earned props in the Toronto indie
community for their eccentric marriage of punk energy and
arena-rock histrionics, and their recent signing to Neil Leyton's
cool-as-fuck Fading Ways label will finally see their albums
available across Canada and Europe.
Their
most recent recording, the inexplicably self-titled “The
Pariahs” album, shows categorically that this band of
stalwarts continues to rock harder and faster – even
as their veteran status proceeds towards certain senility.
Over the
course of twelve years and three independent CDs, Mike, Bonz,
John, Staci and Loaf have managed to refrain from killing
each other, but you might not be so lucky. They're The Pariahs.
They're not going away.
Sorta like herpes, only louder.
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