I Want You More Than Leprosy

Of all the Canadian pop-punk bands who went for the brass ring, got all wimpy, and wiped out hard, Punchbuggy is practically my all-time favorite. That's not saying much, I know, but I'm a sucker for any good, anthemic rock song that has a cool-sounding chorus, which is something that Punchbuggy's got going on in spades with songs like "Make It Up To You" (from 1998's "My Norwegian Cousin") and "Same" (from 2002's "The Great Divide"). I think Punchbuggy even won a song contest with "Same," and as a prize got to tour Europe or make a video or something. Or maybe I'm thinking of "Lucky Me, Lucky You", which appeared in the movie "Freddy Got Fingered". Either way, that's The Great White North for you, where Alan Thicke's career is the measuring stick for success and catching your big break means getting to be in a movie with Tom Green.

If you're wondering how the heck does Punchbuggy rate while the Doughboys aren't gettin' cut any slack around here, well, that's just how it goes sometimes. Maybe it's because Punchbuggy had a better sense of humor, though that doesn't mean I'll be looking to buy any Posehn records soon, either. In any case, "The Great Divide" is Punchbuggy's big sellout album that didn't sell, and while a couple of the songs here are a lot more "indie rock" than "punk", Punchbuggy could still write an awesome pop-punk hook when they wanted to, and "Same" is still smooth as hell.




Punchbuggy -

"Same"

"Kids Say"

"Want You More"

"Lucky Me Lucky You"

"The Great Divide"

(these files are now listen-only)