Thrush Hermit

Halifax, NS's Thrush Hermit always lived life to the max, so it's little surprise that their career retrospective is an epic, no-holds-barred onslaught of unreleased and classic material from one of the most talented and prolific outfits of the '90s. Primarily overseen by Joel Plaskett, the six-disc/two-DVD set contains every commercially available Hermit album, EP or single, plus 41 unreleased recordings that literally span a lifetime. From their early teens, in bands like the Hoods and Nabisco Fonzie, Plaskett, Ian McGettigan and Rob Benvie were in it to win it, jamming and honing their chops together, progressing full-on from guitar geeks-to-Gods. With the eventual addition of drummer and elder Cliff Gibb, they went from Sloan's baby brother band to crafting their own identity and infectious spirit. Chronicling all of it with remarkable candour, on record and prescient video, The Complete Recordings is an astonishing, lovingly rendered, warts-and-all view of Thrush Hermit, one of the finest (and most fun) indie rock bands to ever come together and blow people's minds.