The spirit of punk rock

By: Vanessa Polojac

Despite only forming in 2015 Toronto based post-punk band Casper Skulls has already caught the attention of Buzz Records and newspapers like the Toronto Star. The band’s debut EP Lips and Skulls consisting of five tracks including their single “Devotion” will be released on Oct. 28.

Neil Bednis (vocals/guitar), Fraser McClean (bass), Melanie Gail St-Pierre (guitar) and Chris Anthony (drums) all came together because of their deep love and interest for music, including the exploration of punk and proto-punk culture and history.

While lead vocalist Neil Bednis hopes to stay true to the band’s roots, he is eager to explore Casper Skulls’ new direction.

“Me and our guitar player Mel; we were dating. I didn’t have a band or anything and she was interested in playing music so we decided to start a band together. We got Chris and Fraser involved because Chris put out an ad on Kijiji looking for people to play with and we responded to that ad. Chris was friends with Fraser and he invited him to play,” explained Bednis.

In 2015, the band released the songs “King of Gold” and “Mink Coats” which each received critical praise and coverage from Toronto music journalists, but the band noted that they will be heading in a new direction for their first upcoming EP.

“Those songs were very basic but they are both very lyrical. We kept that lyrical aspect to this day. On the EP we kind of explore more with different guitar tunings and melody. The stuff we’re writing now for our full-length album is a lot more inspired by pop music.”

The progression and shift to the sound of their music had a lot to do with the musical influences of the band members.

“When we were starting off we were influenced by bands like Sonic Youth and The Replacements. But now we have been listening to a lot of different genres. I listen to a lot of hip-hop and Mel listens to a lot of classical and ambient music. Recently, I’ve been rediscovering bands I liked in high school like The Smiths and New Order. Those are probably our biggest influences right now,” shared Bednis.

They have already debuted the first single off of their EP called "Devotion." A song that explores what it means to bind you to something whether it’s a person or an idea.

The song previews similar themes on the rest of the EP, which largely references I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp, the autobiography of 70s punk icon Richard Hell.

Casper Skulls also gained some notoriety through some of the hyper-local political commentary that was laced into their songwriting.

The group themselves called the song “Mink Coats” “a bilious eulogy for Toronto’s Rob Ford years.” The band are students of the political tradition of punk-music and culture and students of the genre's signature abrasive sound.

“To be a relevant artist you have to be saying something and saying something of the time. I find that the best music doing that now is hip-hop like Kendrick Lamar… The reason those guys are remembered is because they were saying something political.”

The band will be heading to Chicago, Illinois on Nov. 19 to headline a show at the Downstairs, but not without stopping by Hamilton at the Casbah on Nov. 7.