Plumtree

In 1993 four mid-teen musicians in Halifax assembled the punk-pop quartet Plumtree, with Amanda Braden handling vocals and guitar, Nina Martin on bass, and sisters Carla Gillis on guitar alongside Lynette Gillis on drums. The group issued multiple singles and completed the album Mass Teen Fainting, whose title originated in the liner notes of a Bay City Rollers release. Although the members’ listening habits spanned blues and R&B through heavy metal and new wave, Plumtree maintained a tight, unmistakably punk approach that earned them a music achievement award from Canada’s YTV in 1996. That September Martin departed to pursue her studies and was succeeded by Catriona Sturton. Twelve months afterward the band issued Predicts the Future, which reached number one on the Canadian college-radio chart; its second song, “Scott Pilgrim,” would later serve as the seed for Bryan Lee O’Malley’s popular graphic-novel series. The third album, This Day Won’t Last at All, appeared in 2000, yet by July the members had already announced the group’s dissolution.