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D.O.A. - Treason

Posted by Matthew Barlow | Apr 30, 2020 | Music, New Music, Reviews

"Vancouver’s D.O.A. practically invented hardcore punk away back in the early 80s. Vancouver never gets its due as one of the most important punk cities after London and New York. Away on the Upper Left Coast of North America, deep in the rainforest, Vancouver produced a whole raft of punk bands from the UK3RK5 to Young Canadians to Subhumans to the Pointed Sticks to The Dishrags. SNFU eventually relocated to the Terminal City, joined by bands like NoMeansNo, Mecca Normal, The Hanson Brothers, and by the 90s, Vancouver’s underground punk scene was vibrant (this was also my time in the scene), with bands like the Real Mackenzies, Facepuller, D.B.S., and a whole bunch more.

Most of these bands imploded, exploded, or simply faded away. Gerry ‘Useless’ Hannah of the Subhumans was a member of the Vancouver 5, who called themselves ‘urban guerillas’ with leftist politics who carried out a series of bombings, mostly in British Columbia that led to Hannah spending five years in prison. NoMeansNo (who were my neighbours in East Van) eventually just retired. But D.O.A. are still flying the punk flag after originally forming in 1978. Joe ‘Shithead’ Keithley is the only original member of the band, having been joined by bassist Mike Hodsall and drummer Paddy Duddy when he revived the D.O.A. name from the mothballs in 2014. Keithley is almost old enough to collect his Canada pension, and here he is making music as relevant and as vital in 2020 as he was in 1981, when D.O.A. released one of the seminal hardcore albums, Hardcore ’81."

Read the entire review HERE.

D.O.A.'s Treason: Potent and Timely, plus a new video with Mayor Mike Hurley!

"DOA's new album Treason has Joe, Mike Hodsall, and Paddy Duddy - the fiercest lineup of DOA of the 21st century - continuing to mine the sweet spot they found on Hard Rain Falling and Fight Back, making tight, fast, lean-and-mean, guitar-driven political hardcore without frills or false steps. There's a savage version of "Fucked Up Donald" which is easily the most welcome-and-appropriate reworking of "Fucked Up Baby" since the days of "Fucked Up Ronnie." There's a revamp of "Just Got Back from the USA," one of the catchier tunes from Fight Back, and another song about corruption in the Trump regime, "All The President's Men." (Almost all of the political songs are directed at the current situation in the USA, with even "Wait Til Tomorrow," about the plight of refugees, taking in US treatment of them, talking, for example, about children ripped from their mother's arms on arrival in the USA). And there are plenty of killer licks from Joe, like the one behind the title track, "It's Treason," which, at 1:42, is the second-shortest song off the album ("Fucked Up Donald" is 1:11). If I had Chain Whip's 14 Lashes around, it would be fun to compare the runtime, to see which album presents a full hardcoremeal in the shortest amount of time. Treason is a fast, fun, gut-punch of a record...

...and it even breaks new ground, which is impressive for a band that's been around over forty years: Paddy Duddy takes the lead vocal for a song about the experience of playing in DOA ("It Was DOA") which is the funniest self-referential DOA song since Wimpy wrote "Big Guys Like DOA" some decades ago (if you missed that, it's at 23:52 on this rip of The Black Spot; as someone constantly hoping for 3XL t-shirts at shows, and often being disappointed, I was kinda delighted to discover someone had written a song along these lines. BTW, Joe, if you're reading this, I still want a 3XL "repent you fucking savages" War on 45 t-shirt!). Keithley wrote the lyrics for "It was DOA," and plays himself in the song, but it's narrated mostly from the point of view of a long-suffering DOA member. Fun to see that Joe is comfortable poking fun at himself: "I’ll only give you five bucks a day/ but if you’re any good, you’ll get a raise in pay/ Your bed’s all ready on the floor of the van/ if you need to take a piss, just grab a beer can.”

Read the entire review HERE.

Burnaby's punk-rock councillor unveils COVID-19 anthem.

"Joe Keithley has made a career out of breaking the rules. But during the COVID-19 crisis, the punk-rock legend thinks we need to follow them.

So, the DOA leader, and Burnaby city councillor, has written an anthem to inspire people to do just that.

It's called We're All in This Together, and Keithley has recorded a video of him playing it with Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley. Recorded by Burnaby staff on the steps of the Shadbolt Centre, it's been posted to YouTube.”

Read the entire review HERE.

Rock and Roll will never die on D.O.A.’s ‘Treason’

"If you’ve felt the need to indulge in a little political ranting lately, D.O.A. is here to help you scratch that itch, with their 18th studio album, Treason. The fun starts with the cover, a nifty collage that has our beaming president, eyes blocked out by the album’s title in cut up letters, Sex Pistols’ style, surrounded by his merry men: Putin, McConnell, Jong-un, and Giuliani, all having a laugh themselves. No doubt at our expense.

They would be “All The President’s Men,” as it’s put in the album’s rollicking opening track, which has Joey “Shithead” Keithley bawling out “The president was never on your side!” — as if you needed a reminder. From that point on, it’s a (mostly) breathless race to the finish, in this eight-track album that runs all of 17 minutes and 30 seconds. It’s a true punk rock assault, a set worthy of the Ramones (though they would probably have been able to squeeze in another eight songs)."

Read the entire review HERE.