In some ways, the Halifax punk band The Graboids isn't that different from the subterranean worm creatures from Tremors that form its namesake.
Just as those snakey grubs stubbornly rammed the walls of Reba McIntyre's bunker, so this foursome---Adrian Bruhm, James O'Toole, Michel Ungurain and Brian Carson---seeks to break through the usual punk tropes with songs about getting fat, alcoholism and the rarity of passionate local music supporters. "It's just a fun punk record," O'Toole says of the debut self-titled EP. "We don't want people to take it too seriously."
The Graboids were spawned last summer from the remnants of Bruhm's last band, Dunce Club. "It ended and I was like, 'I'm not done!'" says Bruhm. While at work at Reflections during Rockin' 4 Dollars, he was impressed by the emergence of tight-knit bands that had seemingly come from nowhere--- "Just a bunch of buddies getting bands together." Inspired, he assembled a new band comprised largely of his friends.
"It's the best of both worlds," he says. "I know these guys are competent, but we also hang out on weekends."
He's made a good choice. Anyone who's seen the band during its cluster of gigs at house parties or at Gus' Pub (where the EP will be released on Saturday) knows how easy it is to be ensnared by its energy and catchy ditties. A highlight is "I Got a Gut," where Bruhm bemoans "too many drunken trips to Needs/too many late-night poutines."
"I was trying to write another song, and I looked down and thought, 'I'm fuckin' fat,'" Bruhm says of the song's genesis. "It's true---I'm at King of Donair every Friday night. They know me. They call me Mr. Poutine Man."
While O'Toole is right---the EP is a funny, tight, punk record---one song in particular, "Kids," feels emblematic of a music scene in flux, where the all-ages kids have all grown up and bands rely on the devotion of those around them.
"It's about people who still have the heart to go to shows, sing along and have a fun time," says Bruhm. "It's about people who still give a shit."
