Redeemer (Wheat Chiefs album)

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Redeemer
Studio album by Wheat Chiefs
Released July 4, 1996 (1996-07-04)
Recorded 1992, 1994
Genre Alternative rock
Label BangOn Records, Hom Wreckerds Music
Producer Marek Forysinski, Dave Ogilvie, Vinnie Gatti

Redeemer is an album from the Canadian punk-influenced alternative rock band the Wheat Chiefs. The album is a collection of songs from three separate recording sessions held between 1992 and 1994, and was released by BangOn Records, a subsidiary of the Canadian label Cargo Records, [1] and the band's own Hom Wreckerds Music imprint. It is the only official release by the Wheat Chiefs.

Punk rock is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in 1960s garage rock and other forms of what is now known as "proto-punk" music, punk rock bands rejected perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent record labels and other informal channels.

Alternative rock is a style of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. In this instance, the word "alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream rock music. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style or simply the independent, DIY ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music. At times, "alternative" has been used as a catch-all description for music from underground rock artists that receives mainstream recognition, or for any music, whether rock or not, that is seen to be descended from punk rock. Although the genre evolved in the late 1970s and 1980s, music anticipating the sound of the genre can be found as early as the 1960s, with bands such as The Velvet Underground.

The Wheat Chiefs were a Canadian melodic rock band with punk rock influence formed in 1990 in Edmonton, and later relocated to Vancouver. The group featured several members of SNFU and one from Jr. Gone Wild. They released their only album, Redeemer, in 1996, before disbanding two years later.

Contents

Background and recording

The Wheat Chiefs formed early in 1990 by guitarists and twin brothers Marc and Brent Belke after the demise of their previous band, SNFU. Their first recording session came that June, when they cut a demo tape at Technical Difficulties Studio in Edmonton. [2] Two of these songs would later appear on Redeemer in re-recorded form. [2] The band circulated this demo among record executives, to no avail.

Marc Belke is a Canadian musician and former radio personality. He played guitar in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and The Wheat Chiefs, and sang lead vocals in the latter. He was later an on-air personality with Rogers based in Victoria, British Columbia.

Brent Belke is a Canadian guitarist and composer. After playing in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and The Wheat Chiefs between 1981 and 1998, Belke began a career composing music for film and television.

SNFU band

SNFU is a Canadian hardcore punk band. They formed in 1981 in Edmonton, and relocated to Vancouver in 1992. The band has released ten full-length albums and have been a formative influence on the skate punk subgenre. Their work has on occasion been included in rankings of the best Canadian music.

Bassist Trenth Buhler and drummer Dave Rees quit the band in early 1992. [3] With new bassist Rob Johnson and drummer Ed Dobek, the group recorded numerous tracks later that year with producer Marek Forysinski, including seven that would later appear on Redeemer. [3] The band recorded "Joe Murphy", a song about the Edmonton Oilers hockey player of the same name with producer Dave Ogilvie later that year. [3] In 1994, the band recorded "Everything" and "Redeem" with Rees returning as a guest drummer, producer Forysinski, and engineer Vince Gotti. [4]

David Rees is an American-Canadian musician and television editor currently based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Rees played drums in the punk rock band SNFU and the alternative rock band Wheat Chiefs, and served for a time as the touring drum tech for Bad Religion.

Robert Arthur Johnson is a Canadian musician currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He played bass guitar in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and the Wheat Chiefs, in addition to recording his own hip hop and hard rock music in various incarnations.

Edmonton Oilers hockey team of the National Hockey League

The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Despite receiving an offer from Mercury Records in 1993, [3] the Wheat Chiefs had not signed a record deal. In 1996, they decided to release a selection of recordings as their debut album. [4] Forysinski oversaw the final mixing process. [4]

Mercury Records record label

Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. In the United States, it operates through Island Records; in the UK, it is distributed by Virgin EMI Records.

Release

The band signed a distribution deal with Cargo Records, [4] who had previously released two SNFU records. Redeemer was released in 1996.

Cargo Records was a Canadian independent record label and distributor, active in the 1980s and 1990s. Based in Montreal, the company both released albums directly as a label, and distributed albums on behalf of many other small independent labels, making it one of the largest and most influential Canadian record companies of the alternative rock era.

The Wheat Chiefs filmed a promotional video for the song "Refuse". The video was directed by Mina Shum, a noted Canadian filmmaker and girlfriend of guitarist Brent Belke. [1] The video was nominated for a Pacific Music Industry Association award and received modest airtime on MuchMusic. [1]

Mina Shum Canadian television director

Mina Shum is an independent Canadian filmmaker. She is a writer and director of award-winning feature films, numerous shorts and has created site specific installations and theatre. Her features, Double Happiness and Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity both premiered in the US at the Sundance Film Festival and Double Happiness won the Wolfgang Staudte Prize for Best First Feature at the Berlin Film Festival and the Audience Award at Torino. She was director resident at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. She was also a member of an alternative rock band called Playdoh Republic.

Reception

The album received little attention, but was received well by critics who reviewed it. SNFU biographer Chris Walter describes the album, packing a "solid wallop," as commercially viable although it did not chart. [1] In a positive review for Drop D magazine, critic Paul Watkin praises the album's melodicism and the Belke brothers' "cool guitar work." [5] A writer for Discorder magazine praised the album for its "singalong" appeal and likened the material to that of the Doughboys and Big Drill Car. [6]

Track listing

  1. Refuse
  2. Twist This Around
  3. Theme Song
  4. Joe Murphy
  5. Redeem
  6. Neighbors
  7. Crawl
  8. Hard 2 Love
  9. Everything
  10. Rock and Roll Makes Me Party On MTV and the Radio In the USA

Credits

Personnel
Recording and production

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Chris Walter. ...What No One Else Wanted to Say. Vancouver: GFY Press, 2014, pg. 156
  2. 1 2 Walter 108
  3. 1 2 3 4 Walter 119
  4. 1 2 3 4 Walter 155
  5. ↑ "CD Review: The Wheat Chiefs, Redeemer". Drop D magazine. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  6. ↑ Discorder Magazine, September 1996, pp. 21
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