The Viletones and Teenage Head may have grabbed the slimelight, er, limelight on Toronto’s early punk scene, but in a just world the Scenics would have been basking in it right there beside them. Thankfully, though, there actually is a bit of justice in the often unforgiving world of rock ’n’ roll: Via a spate of recent reissues and an ongoing reunion that produced the 2012 album Dead Man Walks Down Bayview, the Scenics are finally getting some notoriety outside their native city. And on September 27 they’ll pay an unexpected to visit to a city in our region—Beacon, where they’ll rock it up at Quinn’s.
I first encountered the Scenics back in the mid-1980s, by way of their two cuts on the soundtrack of the seminal 1978 documentary The Last Pogo. The Velvet Underground influence—always a good thing—was unmistakable, although the mechanized stuttering of “Sunshine World” pointed to an avant sensibility that was outside of rock. (Relating to the former inspirational source, the group released an entire album of VU covers, How Does It Feel to Be Loved?: The Scenics Play the Velvet Underground, in 2008.)
The archival Sunshine World (Studio Recordings 1977-78) came out in 2009, and features the “hit” signature track “Do the Wait”:
The Scenics and special guests TBA will perform at Quinn’s in Beacon, New York, on September 27 at 9pm. Donation requested. For more information, call (845) 202-7477 or visit https://www.facebook.com/QuinnsBeacon/?fref=ts.
