Six-time JUNO-nominated Canadian hardcore punk heavyweights Cancer Bats release “Weird Punx”, a b-side from their critically acclaimed JUNO nominated seventh studio LP, Psychic Jailbreak.
On releasing “Weird Punx”, lead vocalist Liam Cormier had this to share, “We decided to save Weird Punx for its own separate release because we felt it was a strong stand alone track that really tells its own story. Psychic Jailbreak is an album about where things are heading and expanding our ideas, whereas Weird Punx is very much where we came from and what started us on this journey. The track is about growing up in a small town, where you and all your friends just hang out and dream about one day getting out and seeing the world.”
Cormier continues, “The photo for the single is of Jaye and I at a punk show in the late 90s, just young kids not knowing that 20 years later we would be living out our punk dreams that we talked about while skateboarding in parking lots. It is very cool to look back at us being friends when we were teenagers and then meeting Mikey a few years later and that we are all still making music and being the Weird Punx we’ve always been.”
“Weird Punx” is now available through all major digital service providers (click here to listen and purchase) and as a limited edition flexi, which is now available to pre-order here. Limited to 500 copies worldwide, the transparent orange flexi, which will feature a metallic silver foil printed over the top of the grooves and includes a photo zine of photos taken during the bands summer European tour, will be fulfilled on November 2, 2023 when the band returns home from their European tour with Kvelertak.
“Weird Punx” is accompanied by a new video directed by Jonah Landry and shot in both Halifax and Moncton, with some live footage taken from shows in Europe by Del Bremner. In quintessential Cancer Bats fashion, the “Weird Punx” music video is a burst of light-hearted, adrenaline-fueled chaos. Skateboarders tear through streets beside roaring motorcycles and fans mosh to blistering live shows, the video perfectly encapsulates the songs self-described “Hardcore Tailgate”, delivering a wild and unforgettable visual ride.
After a highly successful west coast run as their alter egos Bat Sabbath in support of their Bat Sabbath – Masters of Duality EP, Cancer Bats will be continuing their tour as Bat Sabbath with a slew of dates in Ontario and Quebec in November and December. Kicking off with a show in Barrie on November 20th, the 12-date run will wrap up on December 2nd with a Toronto Show at Hard Luck Bar. For a list of all upcoming tour dates as both Cancer Bats and Bat Sabbath, please visit: https://www.cancerbats.com/
Described as “a sonic assault of abrasive punk, metal, and hardcore” and the album that sees “Cancer Bats doing what they do better than ever”, Psychic Jailbreak received a 2023 JUNO Award nomination in the Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year category. The album follows the band’s critically-acclaimed, commercially successful and JUNO nominated album The Spark That Moves and is the band’s first album to be written and recorded by the current lineup of Liam Cormier (lead vocalist), Jaye Schwarzer (bass and guitar) and Mike Peters (drums), following the departure of founding member and guitarist Scott Middleton.
