The Weakerthans might hate Winnipeg but I have to say I’m continuously impressed with the music that comes out of the city. Take Tunic, for instance, who are bringing an onslaught of provincial noise to Beerland tonight, alongside local faves XETAS and Super Thief. The group was new to me but I’ve had their tour single “Sandpaper” on loop, punctuating my daily ritual of social media self-loathing with bone saw guitars and barking declarations. Tunic have the feel of a tundra-set snuff film, wrong and brutal but impossible to turn away from even as you ponder when they’ll set their murderous sonic sights on you. Super Thief and XETAS are different kinds of heavy, less angular and more devoted to ’90s hardcore than ’80s Chicago shit, but that should only serve to make this bill a full buffet of brutalism.
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Nick Hanover got his degree from Disneyland, but he’s the last of the secret agents and he’s your man. Which is to say you can find his particular style of espionage here at Ovrld as well as Loser City, where he mostly writes about comics. You can also flip through his archives at Comics Bulletin, which he is formerly the Co-Managing Editor of, and Spectrum Culture, where he contributed literally hundreds of pieces for a few years. Or if you feel particularly adventurous, you can always witness his odd .gif battles with his friends and enemies on twitter: @Nick_Hanover