Return of the Leisure Terrorists- Toronto's Indie Dream c. '94

12/08/2023

05/05/2023

So for the last while (2 years?), my friend and yours, Owen Keenan , one-time front man of Wilder / Orange Near and before that of Toronto indie neo-psych-rock legends Circle of Ill Health, has been back at the creative mill illustrating a very cool SF comic called Brute. Along with creator Preston Squire and colourist Brooke Newhart, they're Kickstarting for the their third full issue. This is a great read with fantastic art, people, don't miss out on getting behind a fantastic local project and getting your own little slice to take home!!

Brute - The Galactic Misadventures of Rose & Brute, via

Star Wars, meets Beauty & the Beast, in an epic all-ages series about flawed characters on a journey of self-discovery and redemption.

13/06/2021

Zoon is First Nations, Toronto resident and music polymath Daniel Glen Monkman. The album "Bleached Wavves" is one of last year's best and a shoegaze classic, imo. I don't know if he knows much about Leisure Terrorists but, rest assured, the torch is in very safe hands, indeed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdMD_uWZFs

“Bleached Wavves" produced by Daniel Monkman & co-produced by J Riley HillArtwork by Danielle RobertsVideo Directed by John Smith: http://strangeprocess.comI...

08/05/2020

Wilder, Kensington Market, 1994

Wilder; Kensignton Market, Toronto 1994

08/05/2020

Wilder; Kensignton Market, Toronto 1994

06/05/2020

Listen!

Listen to Leisure Terrorists

06/05/2020

06/05/2020

Courtesy of Owen Keenan

06/05/2020

Courtesy Owen Keenan and Davy Love.

04/05/2020

A Tuesday Weld ca. Spring/Summer '94 at either the Horseshoe or Sneaky Dees(?).

04/05/2020

Videos online now!

04/05/2020

Wilder performing For When You're Mine, April 1994, Leisure Terrorists release party at Lee's Palace.

04/05/2020

Parts Unknown peforming New Rome Falling, April 1994. Leisure Terrorists release party at Lee's Palace

04/05/2020

Earthmen peforming Hang, April 1994. Leisure Terrorists release party at Lee's Palace

04/05/2020

Neck peforming Floral Dress, April 1994. Leisure Terrorists release party at Lee's Palace

03/05/2020

Back in the 90s, every little local music scene wanted to be the next 'it' location, dreaming of getting that sound that came from their neighbourhood out to the world. That was the kind of sonic cameraderie that inspired us to start Theta State Recordings in Toronto in '93. For a bunch of typically nonplussed Gen X kids, everyone got excited with the notion of working as a collective, bypassing the corporate music-money-media complex..

It didn't work all that well, as a business plan or world takeover strategy, but we produced and released a great compilation CD, Leisure Terrorists, with thirteen great bands from Toronto and surroundings, and inspired some other wide-eyed musical creatives to launch their own salvo at the music biz.

Above all, it was about the sounds and the songs, and the friendships formed around a particular aesthetic. None of the bands really sound alike, but everyone involved know how to meld melody, meaning, and texture in a way that seizes mind and body

Skip ahead the quarter-century plus. A few of our cohort continue to make their careers in the Toronto music scene, carrying on that same esprit that permeates the sounds on Leisure Terrorists. And it's high time to bring a bit more of that back to this city's sound. And so, we're happy to re-launch Leisure Terrorists in digital download form. We hope you like what you hear.

28/04/2020

Hear the sound of young Toronto, circa '94, ONLINE NOW on your preferred purveyor of swinging sounds.

Listen to Leisure Terrorists

28/04/2020

28/04/2020