Happy Kreter

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and that is very much the case with Vancouver’s Happy Kreter. He was a member of pseudo-punk band Gob, but quit just as they were getting ready to hit "the big time” and decided that his future lay in professional wrestling. He joined Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling, and as Strife, did all manner of terrible things using thumbtacks and barbed wire. Now he’s decided to return music again but as a sensitive singer-songwriter who just happens to be a drug-free, tee totalling vegan. And he does a pretty good job too. Paradigm Lost was sneaked out towards the end of last year without much fanfare and that’s a real pity because it deserves at least a quick burst of activity from a brass section. His punk days are long behind him, these days sounding more like a cross between Pedro the Lion and Joseph Arthur. While the songs are good, it really helps him out a lot to have a full band backing him because just a simple acoustic guitar doesn’t really help him stand out from the crowd, particularly on an ill-advised cover of "Stand By Me.” When joined by his pals though, the material takes on a whole new dimension and that’s where Kreter really excels, especially on the wonderful opener "The Furthest Reaches.”