TOTAL NEWS #8
9MILLION/PLUTO'S KISS RECORD RELEASE, KING'S COMMAND WEEKEND, BRUO
Sup everybody, thanks for tapping in to yet another Total Supply newsletter. Much has happened since we last spoke and you’re gonna hear all about it. First of all, as per usual, thanks for everyone’s patience on your webstore orders. I’ll have everything caught up by the end of next week when I return from the King’s Command east coast weekend. Norm is working on the Canadian and International orders from the Total Supply Toronto office, so if you’re waiting on one of those you should have tracking shortly. With that being said, we’ve got some more new stuff in the store to check out.
There are some leftover Pluto’s Kiss shirts from the record release show - one by Beanmash and one by Dewey, who else would you expect? Primarily larger sizes left for both of these. I’m historically bad at predicting what sizes will sell and as it turns out, it was a big night for smalls and mediums. We’ll make more of those next time.
We put out two new tapes since our last newsletter, both of which are in the store and ready to ship. A note on these two releases:
TSR-021: ZERO - “Demo II” — Zero is a band from Welland, Ontario that has been around for more than a decade now. You’d expect a second demo to come shortly after a first demo, but there’s truly nothing stopping you from putting one out ten years later. Our friend Bo of Total Supply’s BFD (formerly Climbin’ Aboard Records CEO) asked if we were down to put out new Zero songs and it was a very obvious yes, as we’ve always been down with the band. Three tracks of fast posi HC in the vein of Wide Awake and Follow Through. Learn a bit more about Zero in the fact sheet they made, seen below.
TSR-022: WMD - “Demo #2” — Representing Detroit HC, WMD is back again to follow up the widely-acclaimed “Demo” with… can you believe it… DEMO #2. My god, what a title. Since I’m in the band, I can give a little bit of inside baseball about this release. The first tape was written and recorded in full by vocalist Mike Moynihan before putting a full lineup together. Once WMD had played a few shows, we started jamming some new ideas and Demo #2 began to take shape. As a result, this new batch of songs is a representation of the full band. Getting this all tracked and mixed in less than a week before Bad Beat took off for Japan was a bit hectic, but we got it done. All that needed to happen next was me bugging Dewey at midnight every night about the art and we were good to go (thanks Dewey, you’re goated). Anyway, if you like the first WMD tape I’m sure you’ll be this one too. Tapes are in the webstore and we’ll have them at our upcoming shows, which are 12/11 in Hamtramck, 1/31 in Grand Rapids, and 2/21 in the Detroit metro area at an event to be announced soon… a family affair, if you will.
The PK LP, hoodie, and tee that were on preorder are all in-hand and now shipping as well. If you ordered any of these, as mentioned above, we’ll be caught up on shipping by the end of next week. Thank you again for being patient and understanding that there are only so many hours in the day and they can’t always be dedicated to packing orders.
GIG REVIEWS
In the last issue, we previewed a few upcoming shows, so now I can provide a brief recap.
TOTAL SUPPLY LIVE #5: Perhaps the best use of $5 in a very long time. About 75 paid at Refuge on a Friday night is pretty damn good in my book. Rev No Fun, a Sissy Boys side project, kicked the show off and experienced a comedic string of technical difficulties. One amp didn’t work, then the other amp didn’t work, then there was a broken guitar string, then the backup guitar was tuned to E Flat… you get the idea. Fortunately, Dom can work a crowd and kept everyone entertained throughout all this adversity. Self Interest played next and had many a mosher going off. However, if anyone from the band are reading this… no more Invasion by RJs. We, as a scene, must put that one back on the shelf. Great set as usual though, looking forward to seeing what this band does next. King’s Command was next and Tristen (the new guy) had to hand his bass off as the Breakdown cover was sprung upon him and he was not tasked with learning it. Method of Doubt played last and sounded excellent, giving us a couple cuts from their new EP “TOTAL SOUL IGNITION” that we here at Total Supply are massive fans of. All in all a great night, thanks to everyone who came out.
MIL-SPEC “SANDWICH EP” RECORD RELEASE: One of my favorite EPs of the year, the self-titled 12” from Mil-Spec came with a record release show to match. Held at the Lithuanian Hall in Toronto’s downstairs, the show started with a Total Supply power hour of Sold Short, One Track Mind, and BFD. OTM played a couple new songs from an EP they swear is almost done being written. Method of Doubt was up next and got a huge reaction (well deserved). They always do well in Toronto from what I’ve seen. RZL DZL played next and I actually can’t remember when I saw them last, but I still knew every word and everyone was loving it. Bad Brandon (Guitar Thug) told me recently that they hadn’t played Toronto since maybe 2007, nearly twenty years ago, if you can believe it. I think part of what is wrong with hardcore these days is that there are people who mosh to RZL DZL as if they’re seeing Kickback. Chill out. Allegedly, “Music for Babies” is coming soon, but who can really say. Underdog next, their first time playing in Canada in the band’s history. Perfect set, true unity in the pit, people skanking to Mass Movement, legitimately historic experience. I expected nothing less, but you never know with reunion bands. Underdog far exceeded everyone’s expectations. “This song’s about a fate worse than death… it’s called The Vanishing Point.”
Lastly, the reason for the event, Mil-Spec. Something I love about this band is how much consideration they give their record release shows, making them can’t miss events. I’m always thrilled to hear them fit Who is Who into the setlist, one of my all time favorites in the catalog. To close their set, they played the full six minute and fifty-two second version of When the Music Ends, complete with auxiliary vocals, guitar, and percussion. The venue staff eventually started turning the lights on as the show was running late, but the music still did not end. Live footage from Ethan below, check it out.
KING’S COMMAND GOES EAST
As I’m writing this, I’m somewhere in New Jersey in the King’s Command/The Sissy Boys van, headed towards NYC to play the first of a three-gig weekend with Steamroll. I’m not sure if any of our subscribers are local to these cities, but here are the fliers if so.
I’m looking forward to catching Frothing Mad on the first two - one of the best new bands of the year. Just this morning, From Within put up preorders for their demo on a beautiful shade of yellow vinyl, cop that while you can or regret it forever. The Philadelphia show being a matinee is a huge, we’ll be outta there before dinner time. This is going to sound insane, but I have never been to any of these cities before, so any and all recommendations are appreciated.
We made some King’s Command tapes for this run with both of their tapes combined. Two for the price of one if you think about it. They’re out of 50 and any leftovers will be available at our table at FYA in January.
Expect a full recap of the Steamroll/King’s Command/The Sissy Boys weekend in the next issue.
9M + PK JOINT RECORD RELEASE
Last weekend, droves of music enjoyers made the trek to Toronto’s east end to celebrate the self-titled LPs from 9Million and Pluto’s Kiss. This was the first show held at East End United Church and none of us knew what to expect going in. To paint a mental picture, in the church’s basement is a basketball gym with overlooking platforms on either sideline. You walk in at street level, go down one main set of stairs, hang a left, go down a few more stairs, and then find yourself in the main area where the merch was set up. There are two staircases that lead to either baseline of the court and another smaller platform on the opposing sideline filled with seats.
This description may seem unnecessary, but I want to describe the space to give you, our dear reader, an idea of just how packed it was on Saturday night. The court was filled shoulder to shoulder, the merch-area platform was filled with people at the railing watching from above, the other platform just the same. Everywhere you looked, there were bodies. Leading up to the show, we were hearing presale ticket counts and I was thrilled to hear it was halfway sold out, assuming we would get a few more people paying at the door and have a solid turnout. Maybe thirty minutes after doors opened, I got word that the show was sold out and nobody else was being let in. For those keeping score at home, that’s more than 600 people through the door of the East End United Church.
As I approached the venue, I noticed a lot of regular-looking people with children lined up outside. Turns out, The Nutcracker was being performed in the upstairs auditorium before our show — one hell of a double feature. This was a tough act to follow, but the gig got kicked off by friends of the label CHRISTINE playing their very first show. You may recognize their bass player from the record release cover of the 9Million LP. Having a country act open things up was a nice way to ease people in. The band sounded excellent, very impressive for a first gig. They had some t-shirts with a phone number on them which turned out to be their friend who was unaware of the bit. Watching him receive phone calls and look confused was pretty hilarious. I get the impression that these guys have a lot of friends, because people kept asking me if there were any more Christine shirts, which there were not. I’d say they should print fifty more next time.
DAMBE from Brampton was up next and the dancefloor was getting insanely active. People were kicking up proverbial dust on the basketball court, which was covered by a somewhat nonslip protective layer. Dambe sounded awesome, they’re super tight live, and I’m looking forward to seeing them again. We’re all excited about the influx of newer Toronto bands and clearly the scene is too, because their set got a crazy reaction. You can pick up a cassette of their debut EP from Endnote if you act fast, I’m sure they won’t last long.
This was truly one of the most mixed bills of all time. Right after people were done beating ass to Dambe, we shifted gears completely. SO PERFECT was up next and I’d been looking forward to this set since the last time I saw them. Not only are all of these guys one of my favorite hangs, but man they can really write a hook. They played most of their newest EP “…Same Diff” along with a handful of LP tracks. You’re missing out if you haven’t listened to them yet, truly one of my favorite bands making music right now. I just learned that they play in C Standard which seems insane, but they do have some riffs that remind you of Helmet, so it actually makes sense. I’ve been telling them to switch everything to E Flat because a.) that’s the best tuning and b.) this style of band just makes sense a half-step down. They’re working on some new songs that will be out in the new year but for now, please enjoy the music video for “Come Hang” from their aforementioned EP.
The genre whiplash continued with DEAR EVANGELINE playing next. I’ve seen them a couple of times now and I’m always legitimately blown away by how good they always sound. People showed out for them as they always do, it was another highly-active pit situation. This style of hardcore isn’t one that I usually gravitate towards, but I love watching Dear E every time I’ve seen them. Highly talented band at every position. They all wore funny t-shirts as an added bonus, my favorite of which read “This Is What an Awesome 10 Year Old Looks Like”. Next time, I hope one of them is rocking the “Insert Cheesy Bread” shirt.
The night pushed on and it was Pluto’s Kiss time next. As a member of the band, I don’t want to go on about ourselves too much, but I would like to express gratitude on behalf of PK for everybody who came out to celebrate our LP release. Having worked on this record since the start of 2025, it was incredible to see it all come together the way that it did on Saturday. There is honestly nothing cooler than seeing friends who are never in the pit become activated (shout out to Looch). The video below is proof.
Finally, 9Million played to close things out. I’ve talked about their LP many times before, but it’s truly some of my favorite music to be released this year. Maybe I’m biased because these are some of our closest friends, but I’d feel the same way even if I didn’t know any of them. They just returned from a tour that was almost four months long, spanning all of the US and Europe, and the band sounds tighter than ever with all of those shows under their belt. People were crowd surfing, throwing beach balls, it was a movie. Straight up, I can’t believe the song “The Trick” every time I hear it. Another video from Ethan below, audio by Micah, put this on your TV and crank that shit up.
This was one of those unforgettable type gigs we’ll talk about forever. Huge thank you to Greg NDY for setting it up, to Micah for running sound, to 9Million for joining forces with PK for the occasion, to all of the other bands who played, and to everyone who came out. I’m glad this venue exists and can’t wait to go back. SHITmas is being held there this year on 12/27 and I’m fairly certain More Reality 2026 will also be held here. Don’t miss either one.
BRUO FROM TOKYO
We never know where the next Total Supply band is going to come from. This time, that place just so happened to be Japan. Next week, we’ve got TSR-023 coming your way and it’s BRUO from Tokyo. Their first tape came out last year on Fired Stomp Records and this followup is, in their own words, inspired by Negative Approach and classic Boston HC through the lens of Japanese HC.
As luck would have it, just days after they connected with us, they played a gig in Tokyo with our friends in Bad Beat. An impromptu international Total Supply link up. Turns out, one of the guys in Bruo actually booked the show. Hardcore truly is such a small world. This one goes live on streaming platforms on 12/9 and tapes will be available later in the month with a couple other new releases.
That’s all for this one. If you’re catching any of the King’s Command shows this weekend, come say what’s up. We’ll be at FYA Fest in January peddling our wares and escaping the grim Michigan/Ontario winter. If you’re within driving distance of Detroit, mark your calendars for February 21st and plan on attending a stacked gig. Later!
