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Toronto post-punk trio Bike Thiefs have shared their new single “Hockey Dad,” which follows 2017’s Lean Into It and 2015’s These Things Happen All The Time.
Produced by Josh Korody (The Dirty Nil, Dilly Dally), “Hockey Dad” takes drug addiction and mixes it with character-driven humor and spring-loaded punk. Bike Thiefs’ rip-roaring guitars portray the urgency of the opioid crisis, while the band’s darkly comical observations hold a mirror up to the personality-related side effects of addiction. They paint a picture of an addict who’s grown more and more washed up as time goes by, even though their addiction has given them a false sense of confidence. “As far as I’m concerned I’m John Rambo until noon,” sings lead vocalist/guitarist Marko Woloshyn matter-of-factly from the perspective of a hockey dad who “crushed dreams and Coors Light.” It’ll make you laugh, cry, smirk, pogo and rally your local politicians to invest in concrete solutions.
Woloshyn explains the song’s inspiration:
“Hockey Dad” is about a friend dealing with drug addiction. It’s heartbreaking to see how polarizing, and frankly exhausting the experience for them (and the people that surround them) can be. They vacillate between feeling like they’re king shit of asshole mountain or a has-been hockey dad trying to hold on to any semblance of past success. You watch as the drugs at times gives them the confidence to spin plates and hold court in crowds of strangers. At other times you watch the crippling anxiety start to dig paranoid foxholes into the middle of their box-spring. It feels like a tired topic, but there’s an opioid crisis in North America, an inordinate amount of high functioning alcoholics and people being hand-fed pharmaceuticals as a band-aid solution to an incomprehensible depression. Maybe not a new idea, but maybe that’s why it’s still important.
Listen to “Hockey Dad” and see Bike Thiefs’ upcoming tour dates below.
Bike Thiefs Tour Dates:
October
04 – Windsor, Ont. @ Phog Lounge
05 – Grand Rapids, Mich. @ Green Acres
06 – Chicago, Ill. @ Subterranean
07 – Des Moines, Iowa @ Vaudeville Mews
08 – Oklahoma City, Okla. @ Blue Note
09 – Austin, Texas. @ Hotel Vegas
11 – New Orleans, La. @ Saturn Bar
12 – Athens, Ga. @ Caledonia Lounge
13 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Masquerade
14 – Charlotte, N.C. @ Milestone
15 – Washington, D.C. @ Slash Run
16 – Baltimore, Md. @ Milkboy Art House
17 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Gold Sounds
18 – Boston, Mass. @ O’Brien’s
19 – Burlington, Va. @ The Monkey Bar
20 – Montreal, Que. @ Turbo Haus