Some day an article will be written about Joel Plaskett that doesn't reference his previous band, the late Thrush Hermit. But this isn't that article. Still, his post-Hermit success and the relative obscurity of most Canadian indie-rock bands before the explosion of the Montreal indie scene in 2004 means Plaskett may be poised to eclipse the fame of Thrush Hermit, at least outside Canada.

Back in 1993, the East Coast Canadian city Halifax was hailed as the "new Seattle" in reference to the scene that spawned Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and a thousand other major-label signings of grunge bands. The "new Seattle" was also sometimes referred to as the "Halifax Pop-Explosion," a tongue-in-cheek reference to the 1917 Halifax Explosion, the largest pre-atomic explosion. I guess you had to be there. Many groups were associated with the scene yet there was no definitive sound. At best, the halifax "Cod-Rockers" were tied together by a shared love of pop and thrashing guitar's, but mostly they shared geography and the interest of desperate major labels.

Out of the many, only four groups remain well-known today: Eric's Trip, Super Friendz, Sloan (who instigated the hype and are the only ones still together), and Thrush Hermit. The latter formed in 1992 fronted by Joel Plaskett and Rob Benvie, a sort of Lennon-McCartney split with songs being credited to one vocalist or the other. Plaskett and Benvie were then joined by Ian McGettigan on bass and a rotating cast of drummers. After signing to Sloan's Murderecord label, Thrush Hermit released their first EP, Smart Bomb. It was well-received, with one Plaskett-penned song, "Hated it" even making it into the less-than-good Kevin Smith movie, Mallrats. Still, many faulted the band's low production 60's garage sound for being little more than Sloan Part 2.

Says Benvie,

I think in the beginning we had a bit of a chip on our shoulders because everywhere we went it was like, 'Hey! Sloan Junior! You guys sound like Sloan. You guys look like Sloan. You guys are just like Sloan except you're smaller.' And to a certain extent that was probably true, but we were also pretty young and pretty impressionable and still finding our direction.

Two more EPs and Thrush Hermit finally cashed in on the major label interest, signing with Elektra in 1996 and releasing their first full-length, Sweet Homewrecker. The album marked more songwriting input of McGettigan and positive critical reviews. It also touted an air of 70's rock nostalgia, helping separate the band from Sloan whose sound recalled music more of lighter 60's acts.