Simply Saucer

Formed in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1973, the quartet Simply Saucer brought together Edgar Breau on lead guitar and vocals, Kevin Christoff on bass, Neil DeMerchant on drums, and Ping Romany on electronics. Drawing from earlier rock sources that included the Velvet Underground, early Pink Floyd, and the Stooges, the group fused these elements yet attracted little attention beyond its immediate surroundings. Multiple changes in personnel and musical direction followed until the band dissolved by the close of the 1970s, leaving behind only fragmentary live tapes and a handful of basement studio tracks cut by Bob and Daniel Lanois. Although the Lanois brothers later rose to prominence as leading producers, the period’s sole tangible trace appeared years afterward on a Fistpuppet/Cargo reissue that gathered the original Lanois sessions together with live recordings made atop a downtown Hamilton shopping mall. Almost three decades later, the members reconvened for a 2007 reunion show at the Casbah in their hometown and entered the studio once more to complete Half Human, Half Live for the Sonic Unyon label.