Gender Poutine’s Whatever Dad is grimy and as muddled as the mind of the lost, lethargic and frustrated souls running free in their EP. They want to love and be loved back.

Gender Poutine- Whatever Dad

by Dillon Price on February 20, 2016  Genre: Garage, punk  Release date: February 22, 2016  Number of Tracks: 4  Label: Sweety Pie Records, Shake Records Bandcamp Page   Rating:  Edmonton, Alberta’s Gender Poutine has released their second EP Whatever Dad via Sweety Pie Records and Shake Records. The EP consists of four fun-filled garage-punk tracks. Each track has a consistency of resonating…

The Wunderbar is gunna get a dose of the outback Wednesday night as Sydney’s Julia Why? pops in for a visit. A delightful barrage of post punk shoegaze garage rock, Julia Why? is ripping across the country in their first Canadian tour as a band to promote their first LP, Wheel.

The three piece has been playing together for about two years and is a result of vocalist/guitarist/bassist Julia Wylie’s initial solo project. With the help of Mathew Frederiksen also on bass, guitar and vocals and Peter Beringer on drums, the trio is picking up the pace on their touring schedule as well as operating an independent label out of Sydney called EXXE.

When I chatted with Wylie on the phone last week, she explained the progression from solo artist to forming the band and the label, saying, “I think it just came about because I got sick of playing by myself. It’s a lot more fun when you’re with other people. Also, I think my taste in music kind of evolved. I started listening to different kinds of music. I lived in this share house in Sydney, which is kind of where the label started. All the people that lived there were involved with a different kind of band. I think it all just came together. Then, I met Pete, and we started making different music as a natural thing, just soaking up everything and writing what I write.”

Wheel was released in March of this year and has been receiving high praise from reviewers in Australia and North America. The 8 tracks on the album are chock-full of gritty, fun grunge which I’m highly anticipating to be translated into a noisy, enthralling live show.

Wylie’s vocals are raw and enchanting at the same time, which may be why a reviewer at the recent Canadian Music Week in Toronto mentioned that the band was the “least polished, but the most punk” artist they caught during the event. Wylie summed up her experience playing the showcase saying, “Canadian Music Week is very professional and artists are there to take their music to the next level, I guess. It was very eye opening. I know what the reviewer meant in the sense that we weren’t trying very hard. That’s what we do. We’re just having fun and seeing what happens.”

Julia Why? have been enthusiastically listening to Edmonton’s Gender Poutine, who they’ll share the stage with at Wunderbar, while on the road in preparation for the show. Wylie is looking forward to checking out our musical community, quipping, “from the music I’ve heard from Edmonton, it seems that we’ve kind of got the same idea about music, and I think it’ll be fun to come and hang out. I’m excited to see you guys play as well.”