Thread by @doctorow

When I was a young teen, I was obsessed with the Toronto music scene, which is hilarious, because I was too young to get into any of the clubs where it was taking place, like the legendary Larry's Hideaway (believe me, I tried).

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But I would obsessively note the names of the bands whose handbills were wheatpasted up and down Yonge Street and scour the bins at Sam the Record Man for their self-produced EPs and then play them over and over.

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Some of those bands were...not good.

But I was absolutely obsessed with one band: Parts Found in Sea, whose name was taken from a newspaper headline about a plane crash (!). They were a damned hardworking act, playing - it seemed - every weekend at Larry's.

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Since the Napster era, I have been periodically scouring the web for MP3s of the band, for sale, for free, whatever. I just wanted to hear them again.

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Sometimes you revisit the music of your youth and realize that what made it good was that your own lack of sophistication - you didn't have the context to make the comparisons with other bands, didn't know that you were hearing a weak imitation of something amazing.

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I feared that must be the case with PFIS: the fact that none of their music was available might mean that it just wasn't very good, and hadn't stood the test of time.

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Then I discovered Stevy Zong's Youtube video of a live PFIS show at Larry's Hideaway and hearing that music again only renewed my ardor for the band. I also learned the name for their genre: "Darkwave."



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(It was also great to see them perform live, at last! The band was dissolved and Larry's was out of buiness by the time I was old enough to get into the club)

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Inspired by that video, I bought a "Seat of the Writing Man," one of my favorite EPs by the band, on Ebay, and asked my friendly neighborhood archivist, @SidFudd, if he'd rip the vinyl for me, and he very kindly did, sending me the tracks last night.

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And the band is every bit as good as I remember. I mean, just fucking great. Especially the Frank Lippai's bass-playing, which is just...wow. As far as I can tell, Lippai is living in London, Ont now, running something called "Artisans Almighty," but that's all I've got.

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Frontman Steve Cowal graduated to a semi-famous Canadian band, Swamp Baby, and was featured in Bruce McDonald's "Hardcore Logo," but I can't find anything he's doing these days.

m.imdb.com/title/tt011648…

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The EP really showcases some spectacular talent, right down to the engineering by Ken Friesen (who is still working: kenfriesen.com).

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And while some of Cowal's lyrics are a little over-the-top emo, the songs are beautifully constructed, these long, jam-band-ish tracks that have two or three movements apiece, transitioning through different moods. They must have been amazing to dance to at a club.

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I just couldn't keep this disc to myself. I've uploaded it for your listening pleasure, but only for 24 HOURS. Tomorrow morning (Pacific), I'll be deleting it. I figure that strikes a balance between celebration and misappropriation.

archive.org/details/pfi-s-…

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But if anyone out there is looking to reissue some wonderful audio unobtanium, they should track down the band and get these tracks into the stream of commerce.

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