THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
HOLLY CULP
Arts Editor
Comic book punk rock is kind of a mouthful.
Nonetheless, that is the category that up and coming local punk band, Lady Deathstryke, has fashioned for themselves. And rightly so.
The name Lady Deathstryke, as certainly some of you know, originates from the X-Men series after the (foxy) supervillan determined to kill Wolverine. The name is also punk rock as fuck.
The band started out as a wish on behalf of bassist Luke Brisebois. You always imagine bands coming about after years of members moving from one group of musicians to another until they find the right combination. In this case, Brisebois — who had wanted to start a band for a while — simply asked friend and long-time punk rocker Dan Smolinski (formerly of Shackleford) to help him out. Add drummer Clint Flamand and voila, you have Lady Deathstryke.
“[Brisebois] asked me to start something up and ever since then it has been a dream come true for little Luke,” said Smolinski. “Clint and I have been playing music for nearly a decade now and we embraced the idea of having someone just starting out be the fuel of the band. Every practice is fresh and full of energy as Luke pushes us to not be so lazy.”
The whole production is fairly uncomplicated. You’re not going to have a difficult time nailing down the genre like you may find with experimental indie rock bands. This is punk music.
“We write punk rock songs about comics and girls mostly,” said Smolinski. “Sometimes a song will sort of spew out from a personal experience but I also have this strange tendency to write from a third person perspective where I take someone else’s view and satirize it. It can be very Randy Newman in that aspect, unfortunately. The songs are fast and upbeat. We’re all very basic players and we’ll likely keep it that way for as long as the band endures.”
The Saskatoon punk scene has joined forces with Lady Deathstryke to help usher in their new EP. Their release party will include Saskatoon staples such as Auld Beak, The Quitters Club and Night Danger.
As for the artwork, local comic book aficionado Don Sparrow is responsible for the vintage comic look of Lady Deathstryke’s I Can’t Stand to be With You.
“He did a tremendous job,” said Smolinski. “The end result is exactly what we asked for and we couldn’t be happier. In turn we’ve been very heavily embraced by the comic scene in the city. I think everyone is a little curious to see what exactly comic book punk rock sounds and feels like. They’ll get that chance on Saturday.”