It’d certainly be easy for Lowest of the Low to rest on their laurels, content with their status as much-loved leading lights of the Canadian rock scene for over 30 years. The Toronto-based band was inducted into the Canadian Indie Rock Hall of Fame in 2008. LOTL built a faithful following and a very full dance card on the strength of their joyous live shows, where they perfected their mix of clever wordplay, razor-sharp hooks and airtight harmonies. In 1996, 2000 and again in 2005, Chart Magazine honoured LOTL’s 1991 landmark debut album, Shakespeare My Butt, with spots in the top 10 of the Top 100 Canadian Albums of All Time. The debut became the best-selling independent release in Canadian history at the time. In 2008, Lowest of the Low was inducted into the Canadian Indie Rock Hall of Fame and earned Gold certification for Shakespeare My Butt. This group is made of sterner stuff, preferring to look forward with genuine passion, commitment and energy. That is dramatically reaffirmed with the sixth Lowest Of The Low studio album, Welcome to the Plunderdome, released in Oct 2023 via Sonic Envy Music/Warner Music Canada. This is the sound of a revitalized band dedicated to the cause of delivering melodic yet muscular rock with a deep social and political conscience, one sadly lacking on the scene today. It is six years since bassist Greg Smith (The Weakerthans) and guitarist/vocalist Michael McKenzie joined core members Ron Hawkins (vocals, guitars), Lawrence Nichols (guitars, vocals, harmonica, keyboards), and David Alexander (drums), and frontman/principal songwriter Hawkins couldn’t be happier at how this unit has gelled. “Not since the early days of The Low 1.0 has the band felt so tight as a unit, all cylinders firing in the same direction,” he stresses. “It is just a great hang. Everyone has the freedom to play what they want to play and arrange together, and in our regular Monday rehearsal sessions we are now writing songs together. We go ‘let’s just fuck around and act like teenagers!’” The first advance single from the album, “Hey Kid (You Got Soul!), has already been viewed over 300,000 times on Youtube, and the album is their highest-selling album next to the classic Shakespeare My Butt.” Most of the 12 tunes on Welcome to the Plunderdome were written specifically for the album, but a couple of highlights on a record devoid of lowlights have fascinatingly early origins. “When The Boot Comes Down” dates back to 1983, when teenagers Hawkins and Alexander were in Social Insecurity, dubbed a Marxist punk rock band by Ron. He states that the cut “fits perfectly on this record as it’s about what are you going to do with this turn to the right.” The short blast of sonic fury delivers the message perfectly. By his count, Welcome to the Plunderdome is Hawkins’ 20th album in a discography encompassing Lowest Of The Low, Ron Hawkins and The Rusty Nails, The Do Good Assassins, and his solo releases, the latest of which, Trash Talkin’ At The Speed of Sound, came out in May 2023. “I guess 220 songs means I’ve been working,” he observes wryly. Ron pledges that Lowest of The Low remains his top priority, with another group album well under way. Good news indeed. Long may they plunder!
•
Toronto alt-roots band Lazarettes are a Toronto music collective featuring Chris Tait, Bryce Thomas, producer/drummer Adam Warner, Richard Peirce and Chris Monster playing no-depression alternative rock with twang and heart. The songs are sharp, and incise and the band brings four-part vocal harmonies to driving songs about class warfare, modern romance and causes from the left. Their latest record features appearances from Vince Nicholson, Dee Horvath (Sour Landslide), David MacKinnon (Fembots) Duncan MacKinnon and Ron Hawkins (Lowest of the Low). Spring 2025 brought new single "Knock Is At The Door”, the first taste of their new album, the Ron Hawkins-produced Sweet Misery.
You may also like the following events from Sonic Hall:
Also check out other
Music events in Guelph,
Entertainment events in Guelph,
Workshops in Guelph.
