Watchmen Releasing New Songs, Documentary

09/23/09 2:08pm

by Trevor Morelli (CHARTattack)

If you're a fan of plaid button-up shirts, bad mohawks and all things '90s (Full House, anyone?) you'll be excited to hear that The Watchmen are putting out some new songs.

It's been a full year since the Winnipeg rockers played two sold-out shows at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern and they're doing it again on Sept. 25 and 26.

"We were quite shocked at the response last year when we announced one show and it sold out pretty fast. We didn't know what to expect because we hadn't played together with the original lineup in almost eight years", says drummer Sammy Kohn. "I think it's close to being sold-out again."

The band are also releasing three brand new songs on Sept. 25 to coincide with the reunion-ish gigs. You'll be able to download them for free at the-watchmen.com. Kohn believes digital music is a great way to go these days.

"We've got three great songs in the can right now and one of them is the oddest and heaviest we've ever recorded. It's a very unique song," he says. "When we originally played the shows last year, we thought we wanted some new material to add to the mix and not just cash in on nostalgia."

A new documentary called The Watchmen – All Uncovered is also in the works. Kohn has acted as the band's archivist over the years. He's collected around 30 to 40 hours of backstage and recording footage that will be incorporated into the doc.

"About a year ago, we were approached by (Winnipeg filmmaker) Reil Munro," Kohn explains. "He's a long time fan, and he approached us about covering the Toronto shows last year, but it morphed into something greater. So he's not only been recording the shows since last September, but there's also my footage and around 2,000 pictures as well."

Expect to see the documentary available online around the end of September. Kohn says The Watchmen aren't planning to do a full-length album yet due to other family and career commitments, but he believes everyone is genuinely excited to be playing together again.

"It's not really in the cards for any of us to sort of get in the van and do a tour for three or four months, but it was easy for us to get in the studio.

"We'd like to continue to write as a group and we're taking a bit of a different approach. We're leaving doors open to play some shows and we'll also be writing new music for ourselves and for anyone else who cares."