31, 2003 CULTURE

ROLL UP THE RIM JOB TO WIN!

Oh yea, you all remember it, and you all wait for it in steamed anticipa- tion...Over The Edge’s most fabulous annual contest... Roll Up the Rim Job To WIN!

As usual the rules are simple. Somewhere in this paper, we’ve hidden a pic- ture of the most hideous act of a Rim Job! All you have to do is find this hid- den picture and be one of the first lucky winners to get to the Over The Edge office, and you can automatically draw for a great prize!

There is no skill testing question in this contest, if can breathe, you can roll up the Rim Job and win!

This year’s fabulous grand prizes include:

An Autographed Gob Skateboard!

A ‘Fun Times’ basket from Love and Lace

Baseball Caps from Nettwerk Productions

CDs Stickers Stuff!

So come on in and Roll up the Rim Job to WIN!

"CANADA.

This year’s sponsors:

os 16

The Weakerthans Get Dizzy

Band set to play toga party

By Erika Thorkelson, Gateway

EDMONTON (CUP) - The Weakerthans are a little bit con- fused about what exactly they do. Formed in 1997, the Winnipeg foursome has dabbled in so many different kinds of music, they’re not even sure where they fit any- more.

"Let's say we're just a punk rock band that got confused along the way, and maybe should have stopped being a punk rock band, and maybe should have become another kind of band," says gui- tarist/back-up vocalist Steve Carroll, with a sense of humour as dry as a Winnipeg winter.

"I think that’s what we sound like, maybe. I don’t really know anymore. I can’t tell," he adds. "We

just finished recording this last record [and] I’m a little dizzy with what kind of band we are. We try to be a lot of things. I know we try to represent ourselves in a differ- ent manner that includes all the tastes and desires we have musi- cally. It all ends up being a bit of a jumble — a punk rock band with

ballads, maybe?" The style of the band, which also includes John K Samson

(guitar/lead vocals), John Sutton (bass) and Jason Tait (drums), ranges from the catchy power pop of songs like "Anchorless," to a mournful ode dedicated to the last days of a relationship called "None of the Above."

What strings it all together is their lack of fear about their own

roots. Their first two albums, Fallow and Left and Leaving, are contemplations on everyday life in the prairies that are both daringly universal and touchingly personal.

The influences may seem contra- dictory, but Carroll promises you can expect the same mish-mash from their soon-to-be-released third album, Reconstruction Site. He promises there’ll be "searing revelations, life-affirming moments, sorrow, bliss, some laughs and a good album to abuse substances to or drive soberly through the countryside to."

When it comes down to it, Carroll’s only all-encompassing description of his band is a "rock and roll ensemble that plays music of various styles, and travels the world making fools of themselves in front of large groups of strangers.”

But, it’s no wonder they’re a lit-

tle confused. In the last few years Winnipeg’s become a hotbed of conflicting artistic signals that has created people like maverick film- maker Guy Maddin and activist punk act Propagandhi.

"We are isolated, much like Edmonton is," explains Carroll. "Maybe we’re a little more isolat- ed, I'll venture to say that. We have to create our own entertainment. That’s what we do. Because all these bands, the Rolling Stones, whatever, they don’t come here. You know, bands don’t travel here. Movies don’t come here. Major plays don’t end up here. We’re left to our own resources on the fron- tier, you know?"

The question is, how will they fare this weekend when they play at Grant MacEwan for what's been advertised as a toga party? Carroll has no idea.

"Sounds great and scary,” he

laughs. "That's entirely ridiculous. I look forward to the moment. It presents a whole new set of chal- lenges for the band to go out there and try our best to pretend we're not playing to a room full of peo- ple wearing togas."

And while he himself has never been to a toga party, he has wit- nessed them in the past.

"A friend of mine’s cabin had neighbours who always had toga parties," he remembers. "We'd see them drifting in and out of the bushes at night and it was kind of weird when we were 12."

Hopefully the half-naked bodies in the audience won't prove too daunting for the boys from the cold Manitoba prairies. After all, they always wear parkas out there,

right?