Chastity's new album 'Suffer Summer: a review

By Will McGuirk

At the core of what Brandon Williams, aka Chastity, does is community. He is a dissolver of differences and a gatherer of commonalities. From his days as a hometown Dungeon kid to his present release ‘Suffer Summer’ his intentions seem to be, more than seems to be, to be honest, to bring the disparate and perhaps the desperate together. 

His notorious DIY barn shows in north Whitby (his hometown) were icons of that idea. Those gigs were country backyard shenanigans with Metz, K-Os, as well as local Durham Region bands Mary + Adelaide and Wooly. At a gig in TO I saw him perform, he brought on Alexisonfire for the encore and they carried him on their shoulders, a happier kid I don’t think I have ever seen. Heroes as pals, does it get any better.

He also once took over the Whitby Courthouse Theatre for a gig with Dizzy, and once again it was an intimate collection of folks who became friends by the end. He has the knack. His songs too have that knack.

The new album ‘Suffer Summer’ on Dine Alone, also is a gathering; Williams welcomes in. He has co-writes with Stefan Babcock of PUP on a couple of tracks , David Mitchell from Gulfer plays bass, and Dallas Green of City & Colour duets with him on “Vicious Circle,” a co-write with his wife Linnea Siggelkow, aka Ellis.

Chastity’s desire to reach-out, work with, blend, blur, applies to the sounds too. It’s hard to pigeonhole this kat in a rock ‘n roll genre. Even if one could it says more about the reviewer than the review but either way here goes, showing my age - Williams is adventurous an artist as Robert Smith of the Cure, an act I would lean into for Chastity on the basis of a previous track, “The Girls I Know Don’t Think So” from the album ‘Home Made Satan. Williams is as willing to play around with expectations and challenge his audience, to challenge himself, but, although Chastity has the melodic sensibility of Smith he also has 30 years of something else; and what that is is bands he has seen in-person, in dark clubs, small clubs, within the camaraderie of the audience, in the sweaty connections of the mosh-pit, and that is what Chastity is at his core and somehow within all the noise, all of the punk, all of the pummelling, all of the thrash, all of the suburban angst, all the orchestrations, all the righteous rage that there is on ‘Suffer Summer’, it is the innate empathy for others that carries this album. There’s a humanity in this music that, again, showing my age, I can only recall feeling in the Clash and Fugazi, and Broken Social Scene, and even BSS is two decades ago so what do I know, but I know it when I hear it and I hear it in Chastity.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic Local Edition: Tania Joy, Ellis, Meghan Patrick, Andrea Ramolo, Bob Bryden, and Slow Death Lights

By Will McGuirk

But first. . .

Stacey Laforme is a poet and Chief of The Mississauga's of the New Credit First Nations.On May 28th 2021, he composed the poem 215/Reconciliation as an emotional response to the discovery of 215 unmarked graves at the residential school in Kamloops ,BC. The poem has been set to music by Kevin Hearn and Josh Finlayson, ( members of The Secret Path Band) . It was recorded and mixed by Kenny Luong . Please go to DownieWenjak.ca to get involved and help build a path towards cultural understanding and reconciliation. The National Residential School Crisis line is: 1-866-925-4411 ( support for residential school survivors and their families)

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"Who I Am” is about all of those honest unspoken fears that make us who we are, and at the end of the day I am comforted by the sum of my parts," - Tania Joy

“DUST is about the fine line between human connection and toxic attachment. It’s about our human longing and addictions. . . to things. . . to each other. . . and about the acceptance that we are truly mirrors for one another in this life. We all have our poison, which I believe must be embraced without judgement. And we all need love." - Andrea Ramolo

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Slow Death Lights · Slow Death Lights - I Wanna Be Somebody (feat. Chris Holmes)

Slowcity.ca: Why did u choose Wasp to cover? 

Andre Skinner (SDL): “I chose to cover WASP because my musical influences were were strongly forged with metal bands such as Motley Crue, Maiden, Ratt, Twisted Sister and especially WASP back in the mid 80's. I bought WASP's self titled tape at A&A Records back in 1985 as a 10 year old and the opening track 'I Wanna Be Somebody' REALLY stuck with me over the years. That album played a strong role in making me decide on a music career and a young man and Chris Holmes was always a MAJOR rock hero in my books.

SC: when you reached out for the ask what was the discussion? 

AS: “With setting up the guest appearance, I tracked down Chris Holmes management via FB and simple asked if he would be down with cutting a track with us. Catherine Homes (Wife and Manger) quickly got back to me asking about the band and the song saying she would play it for CH over the weekend and would get back to me. Three days later, I received an email with good news! I pretty much freaked out at the news. . . I thought for sure it would be a no go since (first off) it's a WASP cover and CH famously doesn't get along with Blackie (the songwriter), and secondly because it was generally a major long-shot of an ask. I had cut the original lead guitar and solo which was sent to CH as a reference, once again sending my nerves for a ride knowing CG would hear it. CH cut the lead guitar tracks at his home studio in Cannes France and did a killer job. He was also gracious enough for a couple of phone calls about production. He and his wife are first rate people!”

SC: is this a one off or do you have further plans for covers or with Wasp?

AS: “This is a one off. I want to explore more covers down the line of other artists. (one per album would do just fine) and continue exploring the guest appearances by big artists as it adds great content to our PR rollouts.”

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Ellis, Missy Bauman, Soccer Mommy, Minuscule, Picastro, Harrow Fair, 100 Mile House and Real Estate,

By Will McGuirk

Sometimes we have so much to consume, so much to take in, so much media to see and hear that it becomes difficult to take a breath on a song, never mind trying to digest any of it, and we are slowcity.ca, we encourage you to sit and digest what you took in first, better for your overall health, but even we can feel the need to keep up, to dip in, and in and in again into the stream and then along comes a voice which just stills you regardless, slows you, slows your heart, slows your head, and one can sit on the bank, beneath a tree and watch the whole thing stream by with eyes closed..

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“I want the record to feel like a relic from the past that’s been damaged and degraded with age, because it kind of represents the problems that I've developed as I've grown up, and how they've changed me.”  - Soccer Mommy
Soccer Mommy is playing Wednesday Apr. 8 at the Phoenix in Toronto ON.

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"The song is a recognition of the difficult work any relationship can be but what can happen when you take that leap. Even when the future isn’t clear. Hope starts here. No courage without fear." - Harrow Fair

Harrow Fair is playing Saturday Apr. 18 at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto ON.

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100 Mile House, photo by Jessica Fern Facette

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“I was asking myself a lot of uncomfortable questions throughout the process of making this album. Wondering if being an artist is irresponsible or selfish, particularly with the world in the state that it’s in, particularly as a parent of young kids.” - Martin Courtney