Martin Force

A first column in which I look at the current landscape of bandcamp alternatives and how to DIY punk music online. ...

BOOT (or B.O.O.T. ?) is a bit of an Ottawa supergroup. Ska Jeff (needs no introduction) joins Will from GERM ATTAK (and countless other bands) to provide the rhythm section. The guitarist Greg was also in a local-secret screamo band in Montreal in the 2010s called KALE (it was better than you're thinking). Normally I wouldn't be that excited about another band influenced by the current Oi!/skinhead trend, especially with a name like BOOT. But... BOOT is good! There are the simple guitar melodie...

First, this is the best sounding DEADBOLT recording so far. I've seen DEADBOLT a lot but it's rare that their live sound lives up to how hard this recording sounds. Maybe we need to get Seb a second guitar cab? I feel safe in saying that DEADBOLT has finally slotted into the power vacuum left by GAZM and formerly occupied by OMEGAS. Few bands can straddle Montreal's punk and capital-H-hardcore scene without being trapped by whatever current trends are stagnating each one at any given time. Soni...

I was handed this demo tape at the recent Search For The Sun festival in Montreal. It's dark anarchist crusty punk. It reminds me of earnest political early 2000s crust. The lyrics The first song ends with group vocals chanting "Can you small the oil seeping from the spoiled ground?") but musically it's not as melodic. These demo songs are pretty straight forward, unrelenting pots-and-pans d-beat, no breakdowns or octave leads. But there is an acoustic/clean guitar intro to the last song. Maybe...

Inside Front was essentially a early/proto Crimethinc zine from the 90s, put out as late as 2003 (back when Crimethinc was really punk)....

I came across this zine in a distro in Lille, which is quite close to Brussels where the zine is based. Crash-Test is zine of anarchy and punk, with many contributors. It was one of my best discoveries of tour....

Full disclosure, I actually recorded this demo in 2023. TENSER was a band with a bit of a false start that shared the same practice space as me. They formed pre-COVID, as early as 2019, initially as a guitar-bass-drums unit searching for a vocalist. Actually, now that I think about it they asked me to sing as well, but I guess I didn't have time. The pandemic derailed the band's full formation, and although they started practicing again eventually the search for a vocalist took a long time. The...

DEMO FEST is back for 2025 This time brought to you by The Counterforce! The short version: * Spend October + November recording a new punk demo and submit it to DEMO FEST * Submission deadline is December 1st * Release day is December 21st Never heard of DEMO FEST? In 2020 during the height of Covid-19 lockdowns in Montreal, DEMO FEST 2020, brought together hundreds of punks and friends recorded a new demos during the Fall and everything was released by DEMO FEST on the Winter Solstice...

Intro Few things in punk bother me more than when Facebook or Instagram are the only ways to find out about shows. For the past decade I've tried many different online and offline projects to provide alternative ways for Montreal punks to promote and find out about shows. I started with a flyer blog (I think), and for many years I did an e-mail list with monthly show listings. For a while there was a monthly print version too. I helped with a telephone hotline. And I've printed and handed out t...

Happy May Day and happy birthday to The Counterforce. I started this project one year ago today, on May Day, to help recognize the anarchist alignment of The Counterforce. In the first year we have had over 100 contributions, collected in 5 print issues (with a 6th coming later this month). Our digital distro has grown to include zines besides our own, and all these zines are printed and distroed by punks all over the world. It's a small network but it's growing! I've personally printed and dis...

If you follow what's new in contemporary crust, you will have heard of Montreal's PORTAL TOMB and their Last Frost Demo released on Sore Mind last year. I started a Signal group with Aíne and Ava to chat about the band. ...

Recently I was in NYC and stopped by Peace Of Mind HQ where I was gifted a few of their recent releases. Willow filled my bag with copies to take home, exclaiming "we don't care about making money, we just want to put our friends bands and get their music out there." Besides the LOVE AND COMPASSION tape, everything I was given has not yet been reviewed here. So, I present a roundup review: MMI - Imminently Perilous To Life Demo Tape As of writing, the newest Peace Of Mind release. Opens with ...

In this guide, I will try to explain what the Fediverse is, why it's cool for punks, give a practical how-to on getting started with Mastodon, and lay out some dreams for the future....

January 2025 marked Maximum Rocknroll's 500th "Issue". The print run of MRR ended with Issue #432 in May 2019, but online "Issues" are still published on the Maximum Rocknroll website. Every months-worth of reviews are still batched together on the site and given an issue number. Print issues have also had all their reviews digitized on the site and organized by issue. If you didn't know, you should check out their archive of reviews! I've been working on this quietly for a few months, but in h...

JETSAM are a drum + bass + vocals powerviolence three-piece from Montreal. In the few short years they've been active, JETSAM have played shows in nearly every corner of the local scene. Recently, they went on their first small tours out of the Toronto-Montreal-Quebec City corridor, and if you haven't heard of them already I expect you will soon. Jack (vocals, they/them) and Neon (bass, she/her) answered my questions by e-mail in January 2025. Martin Force: What is the story of JETSAM? How did ...