Pow Wows

The Pow Wows stand among the enduring acts in Toronto's garage rock community, favoring a high-velocity, high-volume sound laced with atmospheric textures that lend their material a buzzing, swampy character along with a psychedelic sheen, distinguishing them from the pack of similar fuzz-driven outfits. Formed in 2010, the trio consisted of Juarez (aka Chris McCann) handling guitar, vocals, and percussion, Rocky (aka Ryan Rothwell) on bass and vocals, and Coz (aka Matt Cosgrove) behind the drums. After establishing themselves as one of the scene's most unrestrained live acts, the band tracked a lo-fi set inside their rehearsal room and issued it on cassette under the title Nightmare Soda. During a gig supporting Pittsburgh garage rock legends the Cynics, the Pow Wows handed a copy of Nightmare Soda to the headliner's frontman, Gregg Kostelich. Impressed, Kostelich arranged for a reissue through Get Hip, the underground imprint he had operated since 1985. While sharpening their stage presence, the group delivered two singles on Get Hip: 2012's "Killing Me" b/w "No. 13" and 2013's "Shock Corridor" b/w "First World Rag." Bruised Tongue Records put out the cassette-only concert recording Bent Out of Shape that same year, after which the Pow Wows became a quartet by adding Screamin' Jay Lemak on keyboards. Their long-awaited second studio album, Broken Curses, arrived in the spring of 2015.