A Final Christmas Memento from the Pointed Sticks!

Word on the street is that Vancouver's reunited Pointed Sticks may have played their final gig, and they are ready to call it quits. Today, one of my favorite bands, I was blissfully unaware of their existence in their original 80's days. Sometimes its so crazy--it's as though there was some invisible cultural border fence separating America from all these fantastic Canadian bands. I'm discovering great Canadian bands, new and old, and I'm completely shocked by my ignorance.

Well thanks to the good folks at Sudden Death Records, the Sticks' early output is mostly covered by their reissuing of  Perfect Youth their lone studio album, and the indispensable compilation, Waiting for the Real Thing. Out of Luck is one of my all time favorite songs. What was once rare music is now readily available. I recently bought a copy of the Pointed Sticks comp released by Zulu Records, but I lucked out--that one seems a little pricey these days. Their 2nd album, Three Lefts Make a Right is another worthy collection of music, that I recommend highly.

But since it's Christmas I wanted to share with you something I stumbled on accidentally. The Pointed Sticks posted complimentary MP3's of two Christmas tunes a few years ago. Well, they pressed a  nifty 7" single with the two holiday songs that they were selling at their final shows.

Well it turns out that they did not sell them all. If you are a Pointed Stick fanatic or maybe just plain Christmas crazy, you can get a copy without hiring a sled team and heading due north.

La-Ti-Da records (latidarecords.com) has a number of said Christmas single, with the songs Power Pop Santa & Xmas Time Again. Both exemplary Christmas songs, with a festive Christmas package cover and green vinyl. Very cool. They have some other cool things for sale, like a 7" single by the Tranzmitors.


Though possibly gone but probably not to be forgotten, The Pointed are also rumored to be releasing a third studio album in the near future, entitle Missed The Bus. I'm hoping that they ultimately decide to be like the Clean, and reassemble once in a blue moon, record a bit, do a few gigs, and go back to civilian life. If they call it quits entirely, there will probably be a national day of mourning in Japan!
In any event, if you don't know their music, I urge you to check them out--Waiting For the Real Thing belongs right next to your well-worn copy of Singles Going Steady.