The Scenics Return, New Album Coming

09/09/09 4:02pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

The Scenics, the Toronto band who were part of the 1978 Last Pogo punk concert at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern, will release a collection of unearthed studio recordings, Sunshine World, on Oct. 13.

The disc features 13 of the band's tunes and two covers of songs by Tommy James And The Shondells and The Kinks. The Scenics recorded the songs in 1977 and 1978 on four-track recordings with no overdubs, but the tracks never made it onto their 1979 Underneath The Door debut album.

The songs on Sunshine World come from over 300 hours of rehearsal, live and studio recordings that original members Ken Badger (vocals, guitar, bass) and Andy Meyers (vocals, guitar, bass) listened to just a few years ago. No tracklisting for the album has been revealed yet, but you can hear the original mixes of some of the recordings on the band's website.

Meyers and Badger formed The Scenics in 1976 with drummer Mike Cusheon. The Scenics broke up in 1982 after having released their single "Karen" the year before. They reunited last year and played a few shows last year after putting out a live disc dubbed How Does It Feel To Be Loved? The Scenics Play The Velvet Underground. The band's lineup currently consists of Meyers, Badger, Mike Young (guitar, bass) and Mark Perkell (drums).

The band have been working on an album of new material and have recorded 14 songs for it. The disc will likely be released next year.

You can see The Scenics here:

Oct. 13 Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo
Oct. 14 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
Oct. 15 Montreal, QC @ Green Room
Oct. 18 Hamilton, ON @ This Ain't Hollywood