sledisland2025

22Jun2025

CKXU at Sled Island 2025: Day 4

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy_salsa

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

I LOVE YARBO

Yarbo are an “aggressive rock” band from Saskatoon that I have had the pleasure of seeing a few times now and even playing a few shows with them along the way. So what is “aggressive rock”? As far as I can tell it is some mix of screamo, breakdowns, and some gnarly riffage. This sound is fully realized on their latest album “Husband” which came out just at the end of 2024 and was without a doubt one of the best releases of 2024.

Their gig at the Palomino was presented by CFCR, Saskatoon’s community radio station (sick) and featured a whole smattering of bands from across Saskatchewan. The Garry’s were closing the show, yes The Garry’s. I need everyone right now to listen to Kong Money by Yarbo then throw on The Garry’s. Yeah, that’s a pallet cleanser. Regardless, Yarbo are amazing and you should give them a listen and keep your eyes on their social because these fellas are road dawgs and are probably playing a show near you soon.

Chinese Medicine

This Toronto based punk band has too much fun on stage! The vibes are so high the entire time they are on stage, between the energy their music creates to the hilarious jokes being thrown around by the front woman during breaks in the set; Chinese Medicine is totally infectious. They are a very aware band, with many songs about gender identity, LGBTQ+ rights, and capitalist greed, they channel this energy back into the music however and it creates an immediacy that aligns their message with their sound and creates what I can only assume is the best medicine from China. They were too fun, my favourite kind of band to catch at Sled!

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

LVL Collective

Ok this is where the night got interesting for me. Context: Braden and I were looking for something to do after not getting into Otoboke Beaver (we were late and probably smelled horrific), I got on the Sled Island guide and found out there was a rave just a few block from where we were staying. This was our introduction to LVL Collective. The three gnarliest DJs Sled could find hailing from Vancouver, celebrating Indigenous Peoples day. Who doesn’t love raving with some social awareness? The tunes were sweet though, lots of experimental bass and half-time feels. I thought it was a perfect end to my Sled Island experience. Where in years past I would be at the big headliner show, this year I dove deeper trying to find something I wouldn’t find again or at least trying to find something like that. This is why LVL Collective were awesome, they delivered on the alternative, they pushed Sled’s boundaries and gave me some bangers to thrash around to one last time.

Sled Island 2025 has been incredible. I would like to thank all the volunteers, bands, audience members for coming together to make something truly unique to Alberta and Canada each year. My favourite festival bar none. On behalf of Kort, Braden, and all of CKXU thank you Sled Island!

Photos by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

Words by Jeremy Collier

21Jun2025

CKXU at Sled Island 2025: Day 3

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

Day 3 at Sled Island was wet. Wet with fun, wet with RAT distortion pedals, and it was pouring rain too, I guess that was also pretty wet. I (Jeremy) was playing the PERRA gig at Loophole right in the middle of the day, which kinda killed my flow because I wasn’t able to venue hop like we had been for the last 2 nights. Regardless, the show at Loophole was amazing and I was even able to make it around to a few other spots in the city. But the night started at Loophole…

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

Medusas

The riot grrrl wave is still alive! Medusas brought a crazy energy to kick off the night with straight-ahead riffs and rhythms that punished their audience into a frenzy of ferocious feminism. They did this really fun thing to start some of their songs, where they would talk their way into the riff and song. “Lemme guess you listen to Dystopia? F*cking poser.” That line is what kicked off one of their tunes and it made me absolutely bust a gut. Their sense of humour permeated the music and just brought such an amazing vibe to the beginning of the gig. Sadly, I had to duck out before the end of their set to get ready for my own but the Medusas ripped!

Pinball, 1973

Pinball, 1973 opened up The Mummies gig downstairs at the Palomino and laid down the hottest emo set Calgary has ever done seen. I had seen those boys play once before late last year and I was surprised when the set they played last night sounded almost entirely fresh to my ears. Pinball just had a new single come out this week called ‘The Beer Song” which is also what closed the set, I am in love with the new tune and the cheery, dancey vibes of Pinball, 1973. Long live instrumental emo rock!!!

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

Jed Arbour

Seeing this band at the Loophole is a long time coming. I first saw Jed Arbour three years ago at the #1 Legion opening for Low on a Wednesday night to kick off a Sled Island weekend. I was so enthralled by their performance that I became an instant fan, they were able to blend post-rock with so many other inspirations that it was beautiful. They also had such a positive disposition on stage, it was totally infectious!

Last night however was a different beast. Now sporting a 4-piece look. The band handed out lyric pamphlets which was tri-folded and generally depicted the 3 “acts” of their performance. They didn’t have a set list, more of just a song, obviously there were ebbs and flows to it but they went full Dopesmoker and it was beautiful. Tears were shed, and Jed was able to deflate and re-inflate the room at will. The absolute control they showed over the crowd at Loophole was legendary. I have no idea when they will play next or if they will release this song (titled “Soft with Rot”), but keep your eyes peeled for whatever Jed Arbour does next.

Photos by Braden Hood (@spicy__salsa) and Kort Woycheshin (@flamesgrain)

Words by Jeremy Collier (not cool enough for a professional insta)

20Jun2025

CKXU at Sled Island 2025: Day 2

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain

Sunglaciers

Sunglaciers kicked off the gig with a psychedelic serenation of post-punk grooves and blissful melodies which blended harmoniously with the late-evening audience vibes. This full band harmony has been achieved through an arduous tour schedule that they completed in support of their 3rd album, Regular Nature, which took the band all the way through North America, coming down the west coast and coming back up via the east coast.

The band pushed sonic barriers with their performance; their second guitarist spent the majority of the songs creating a pillowy cloud of sustained reverb that echoed across the Legion’s pool tables and out into the C-Train station. Sunglaciers played a great set that set the night into perpetual motion. Go listen to their latest record Regular Nature!

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy_salsa

Truck Violence

This set was probably my most anticipated of the entire weekend. If you are not aware, Truck Violence is a 4-piece “punk” band from Montreal that has been making some serious noise not only at their shows across the country but also off the hard work they put into their last record Violence, which was released last summer. The band is full of infectious grooves straight out of a sludge song, but the band is compromised by this full-bodied post-hardcore energy. This energy is critical, and mostly harnessed by their unhinged frontman only to be spwed onto the audience when most needed.

If I could only highlight one thing of their performance it would be their collective restraint within their songs. Multiple times throughout the set, the band would break into a more stripped back backing track which gave the frontman this fabulous foundation to drop some poetry on the audience. It created such an amazing and affecting set on the whole, as if Truck Violence weren’t just playing songs but communicating months or years of trauma to the entire audience.

Motherhood

Hailing from much further east than Montreal are the incredible art-rockers Mootherhood of Fredrickton, NB. Immediately, what jumped out at me with their performance was the inspiration points the band was drawing from. I was getting hints of Albini-era Pixies, some funky surf rock, and then some driving hardcore rhythms to tie everything into a cacophonous ball of noise. This sonic blend of styles was aided immensely by their power trio band composition. I said it yesterday and I will say it again today: power trios have the SAUCE. Especially at Sled, something about the Sled Island curation team, they can just pick banging trios, what can I say?

Something I know for certain is that Motherhood have a kicking record out called Thunder Perfect Mind, my favourite thing about the record might have to be the lyrical subject matter of the tracks. The bassist introduced one of their songs around the middle of their set as “a journey through the sky with detours after talking to the magical and mystical clouds that circle us constantly”. That’s hard. Check out their groovy yet heavy tunes!

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain

Family Man played hailing from Montreal, QC gave the feedback lovers a run for their money at the Legion. This band had the most electric facial expressions the entire set, there was not a moment that you didn’t know how they were feeling. Blistering riffs in the blistering heat was all I needed on a Thursday night.

Tropical F*ck Storm

This just in, the forecast for Sled Island is officially calling for a Tropical F*ck Storm. Seriously though, this supergroup of Melbourne musicians blew me away. This is the most energy I’ve seen in a room so far this week and they kept the crowd moving for the entire duration of their hour-long set. With experimental punk music growing in popularity TFS is a perfect example of making the genre their own while staying true to its roots.

TFS also brought some of that classic Australian heat to the Legion. There is no way that venue was anything less than an oven once TFS hit the stage; it was disgusting, it was glorious. It was slick with sweat and sticky with beer. To attend this show was everything for me, not only is it one of my all-time bands but to catch them in an immaculate venue somewhat close to home is a dream come true. I also guess that last night was an album release show of sorts as well, TFS’s new record Fairyland Codex came out today, June 20th. I think we heard some new songs? But I cannot be certain because I was too busy being thrown around the mosh pit all set.

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

Photos by Kort Woycheshin (@flamesgrain), and Braden Hood (@spicy__salsa)

Words by Jeremy Collier, Braden Hood, and Kort Woycheshin

19Jun2025

CKXU at Sled Island 2025: Day 1

HAPPY SLED 2025! CKXU is thrilled to be back in Calgary for another great iteration of Sled Island which is filled with an amazing collection of eclectic bands; from Mineo Kawasaki to Tropical F*ck Storm. Also new for this year at Sled, CKXU has a new photographer assisting Kort in getting all the spicy flicks and tight angles, everyone welcome Spice (Braden Hood)! But our night was spent at The Palomino…

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain

CAT PISS is synth punk band straight from Calgary Alberta. They played upstairs at the Pal and were the first band we got to see at Sled. It was hard to see a band that good as our first set of the week as they blew everyone away. The vocalist brought a level of intensity and emotion that perfectly complimented the atonal guitars and powerful drum machine beats. Though the crowd was dancing in place, in the right context this is totally a moshable band.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain

Fulfillment

This was a classic Sled Island performance. All of us had zero idea who Fulfillment were, we know now they have an amazing debut record that was released just last month and judging from their performance last night that they are the tone masters! The guitarist wielded this gorgeously abused custom axe that ran into a gain machine of an amplifier, it was so pure and added so much flavour to the energy Fulfillment created. Some musical MSG if you will.

Fulfillment rocks as a power trio and they are all the better for it. They are able to whip their songs into a frenzy of atonal chords and thundering, driving bass lines all backed up by an open-handed drummer channelling some serious Billy Cobham energy in his fills. All in, Fulfillment was a fantastic set to kick off Sled Island for us personally and the Palomino audience on the whole.

Photo by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain

Non-Ultras

Lethbridge local legends brought the classic new wave sound to the palomino summoning a spell on on concert goers to cut a rug. They played in the basement of the pal which had incredible sound and is an optimal venue for a band like that. One of the members uses an Electronic Saxophone to create luscious synth melodies that sometimes dips into the low end to add some more power to the very funky baselines. All being said getting to see a band from Lethbridge play sled and have a crowd that receptive brings a tear to my eye.

Photo by Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

Computer is very cool. Alright everyone pack it up!

No seriously though, this band blew me away. They feature the classic 2 guitar, bass, and drum composition but their fifth member is ripping a tenor saxophone through what I can only assume is a spaceship of effect pedals because the dimensions added through that saxophone may as well be extra terrestrial. The other band member I want to highlight is their drummer, this dude was shredding the whole set. Odd time? He holds it down. Breakdown? He broke it down. Backbeats? He backed them. Guy was nuts. Bottom line.

After the set finished I was quick to look up these guys and see what is what. I was surprised they did not have a full length out, now obviously there’s nothing wrong with not having an album out but Computer’s sound was very conceptual in a way that would really draw the music into being released as an album. Enough speculation though, you can stream Dissolution Use, Computer’s new single everywhere now! And keep you eyes on them for what comes next because we may have Western Canada’s next Black Country, New Road.

Come back tomorrow to check out what we got up to on Thursday night!

Photos by Kort Woycheshin, @flamesgrain & Braden Hood, @spicy__salsa

Words by Jeremy Collier, and Kort Woycheshin