you'll always have a friend in us.

fest weekend was pure magic, as always. beau navire, on the might of princes & especially snowing (!!!) were incredible for us to witness as a band so deeply influenced by all of them in equal measure. that cake toss is forever burned into our brains.

special shout out to piri reis for flying all the way out from malaysia (!!!!!!!) to deliver a perfect set while still jet-lagged. on top of all that, we got to see our wonderful friends in bloom dream again—416 x 305 forever. thank you to alaskan for an absolutely tremendous kick-off to the weekend (alex kolanko's absence notwithstanding lol). we're very tired & very sick (COVID blows), but we're very, very happy. it almost feels silly to describe fest in such mythical terms every year, but it really is like that. thank you to everyone who played a part in it. <3

art by kai.

on to our main order of business: we have a track out on this year's new friends fest tape-only comp that came out last weekend. for those of you keeping track at home, that's 3 in a row that we've contributed to, even though we technically weren't a fest band this year. nepotism gets the goods once again.

the track in question is a live recording of us performing at saint stephen's for terry green's LP release show last summer (thank you to our good friend marcelle for this). toast was still getting over some sort of illness i can't recall the details of, so ryan & willa stepped in for vocal duties that night; this track features just ryan. it is perhaps not as dazzling a contribution as debuting a new song would have been ("scrappy" is a soft word for it), but we're trying real hard to save those for later...

that being said, we really like the recording, and we feel it captures a lot about what this band has represented until now.

art by kai.

the real excitement here is the plethora of other amazing music present on this thing. every track is either exclusive for the comp or a preview of an upcoming release. there's brand new songs from mt. oriander, drought & life, future split songs from drive your plow & piri reis, a brand new version of a saddest landscape song (keep yr eyes out for an LP coming soon, apparently), and a frankly insane korn cover by the hirs collective. it's got everything.

you can listen to our track above & buy the tape here or here if you'd like. we think it's absolutely worth your time.

that's all for now—expect some proper show announcements within the next few days. be good, stay strong, take care of each other.

love,

boxxy 

summer update + next shows.

sorry about the lack of posts lately—everyone is very busy these days.

flyer by kai.

we played a very fun show with a bunch of friends last weekend that we only posted about in the sidebar here (whoops). we're working on something with our wits that you'll hear about down the line. as well, to the guy that tried to buy a shirt from us: we found some more smalls & mediums. :)

the benefit show in kitchener went on as planned at emmanuel united church and raised a bunch of money. thanks to our dear friend willa of public seating diy & body nest fame for organizing an amazing night, and thanks to everyone who came out to support. <3 <3 <3

flyer by kai.

some sad news to share: the caution children had to drop off the NFF pre-show that we're playing this week. we're all very gutted, but folk heroes alaskan have kindly stepped up to replace them. this one's gonna be a rager—we highly recommend attending. tickets can be bought here.

our schedule for the rest of the year:

• july 31st @ collective arts (tkaronto) w/ alaskan, and always & treehouse of horror (6:30 p.m./19+/$15 with NFF '25 ticket, $25 without)—buy tickets
• august 19th @ the study room (kitchener) w/ emma goldman (details t.b.a.)
• september 11th @ ??? (tkaronto) w/ ??? (details t.b.a.) 
• october 31 @ ??? (tkaronto) (details t.b.a.)
• november 1 @ ??? (details t.b.a.)
• november 2 @ ??? (kitchener) (details t.b.a.)

spirit desire (kai's other band) released a bunch of new songs over the last month or so—check those out if you like good music.

flyer by kai.

speaking of good music: willa is also putting on a killer fest in kitchener this september. we're not playing, but we will certainly be in attendance. if you're local to toronto, consider catching the train up for a crazy bill. congratulations alone is more than worth it.

that's all for now. we're still working on new music... you'll hear about it whenever we're ready.

love,

boxxy 

nff '25 pre-show + summer schedule.

a couple of shows to announce. firstly—we're playing a crazy pre-show for new friends fest this year.

flyer by kai.

the caution children are a bucket list band for us. they are your favourite band's favourite band. do not miss this.

secondly—a benefit for trans people taking place in kw. the venue has been changed; we'll update here once we know where to.

flyer by willa.

updated summer schedule:

• june 7th @ the arcade (tkaronto) w/ paperhats & computer (7:30 p.m./all ages/$15/p.w.y.c.)
• june 28th @ t.b.a. (kitchener) w/ body nest, human form, sullen, gutmachine & one more lane (7 p.m./all ages/$20/p.w.y.c.)
• july 19th @ the baby g (tkaronto) w/ terry green, hundreds of au & our wits that make us men (7 p.m./19+/$25/p.w.y.c.)
• july 31st @ collective arts (tkaronto) w/ the caution children, and always & treehouse of horror (6:30 p.m./19+/$15 with NFF '25 ticket, $25 without)
• august 19th @ the study room (kitchener) (details t.b.a.)
  

some other important news: our dear friend jazz has officially joined the band on second guitar. we played our last 2 shows with her and we already sound 10 times better. <3

 her & kai have also started a new band (zuzu bailey). they're playing their first show tomorrow opening for i.o from b.c. at dystopia. try & catch it if you're around.

flyer by kai.

that's it for now. keep fighting for what's right.

love,
boxxy

show flyers + new merch.

our next grip of shows have been formally announced; here's flyers for all of them.

flyer by kai.

flyer by kai.

flyer by kai.

we've also got a new t-shirt up for sale—they're expected to ship around mid-to-late may. locals can buy here to skip the shipping & arrange pick-up, everyone else can head to bandcamp. help us pay for recording some new songs!

that's all for now. free palestine, fight for trans liberation, and fuck anyone else who says otherwise.

love,
boxxy

spring + summer show schedule (so far).

thanks to everyone who came to our last pair of shows—gear still exploded but we pressed on as usual. i believe we raised around $400 at lowther for palestinian youth movement's toronto chapter, and saoirse dream ruled. this world is cursed, but life ain't so bad sometimes.

excerpt from the march 2025 issue of shapeshifter.

boxxy @ 84 lowther avenue by prim.

boxxy @ 84 lowther avenue by prim.

boxxy @ 84 lowther avenue by prim.

no real information or flyers yet, but here's a look at our next 4 months or so:

• may 17th @ t.b.a. (tkaronto) w/ treehouse of horror & underwater basket weaving (details t.b.a.)
• may 21st @ t.b.a. (tkaronto) w/ imy3 (details t.b.a.)
• june 7th @ the arcade (tkaronto) w/ paperhats & computer (details t.b.a.)
• june 28th @ t.b.a. (kitchener) (details t.b.a.)
• july 19th @ the baby g (tkaronto) (details t.b.a.)
• july 31st @ t.b.a. (tkaronto) (details t.b.a.) 

most of these aren't set in stone yet, but hopefully everything works out. kai will be gone on vacation for most of april & may so we're on ice until the trees have leaves again. still writing, still recording—we'll keep you posted.

 

love,

boxxy

first shows of 2025.

hi! it's been so long.

flyer by kai.

flyer by ben gomes.

flyer by kai.

we've been hibernating through the winter but we have a couple of shows coming up in the next few weeks—maybe even some new songs if we get ourselves in order. we promise our gear won't explode this time around. our schedule right now is as follows:

• february 28th @ 84 lowther ave. (tkaronto) w/ fool's blood (first show), we could go on tour, eric spinelli (MTL) & goond (7 p.m./all ages/$10/p.w.y.c.)
• benefit for palestine relief funds, details t.b.a.—this place is small, show up on time if you want a good spot
• march 4th @ expo vintage (tkaronto) w/ saoirse dream (PDX) & 666.pastel (8 p.m./$20/p.w.y.c./n.o.t.a.f.l.o.f./19+)
• buy advance tickets here
• june 7th @ t.b.a. (tkaronto) w/ eudaemon (MN) & computer (details t.b.a.)

most of our energy has been put towards writing. we hope you'll all get to hear the results sooner rather than later. for now, we've still got tapes & 7"s for sale here & here in addition to sonic boom & emissions.

 

more updates when we have them.

 

FREE PALESTINE.

 

love,

boxxy

farewell to ryan + last show of 2024.

ya know, i thought blogging was gonna be easier than this, but i've made it much more difficult than it needs to be. lots happened over the last month. let's talk about it!

emissions with bloom dream.

our 7" as a staff pick at emissions!

some of our releases spotlighted at emissions!

new ho king with bloom dream.

new neon.

post-gig dinner at owl! <3

thee WEEKEND OF VALOUR with bloom dream was real sweet—you better pray they come back again soon. we love our new best pals! 305 x 416 forever. <3

we played the respire release show the other night at the church and it was (predictably) tremendous. thanks to everyone who came through, we'll post photos if/when we get them. we played a couple of new songs that we have saved for something longer next year and we're very excited about them. as well, it was our last show for the foreseeable future with our beloved cellist, banjo ryan! ;_; they're moving out to ottawa at the end of the month, but not before one last dionaea spouse gig:

ryan's playing a farewell set of sorts alongside parallel play at st. luke's united church this friday to raise funds for the international coalition for human rights in the philippines. please consider attending if you can.

flyer by kai.

aaaaand finally—we've got one last gig for the year coming up in a few weeks. we return to everyone's favourite worst nightmare prison on the 7th with a frankly absurd roster of bands—body nest's proper debut (members of please don't crash & blood wraith), mauling (london powerviolence), heavenscoldhands (montréal metalcore), lice (brampton bully music) & the almighty REALITY DENIED (niagara's finest). hardcore! thanks to gonz for putting this together; we better see ya there.

that's all for now. 'til next time...

love,

boxxy

~

p.s.

 

soybomb is getting evicted at the end of november—there will be one last show on the 30th. animal faces, big brave (drone set), they grieve & piper maru will be playing. $25/p.w.y.c., all ages, doors at 7. you need to be there: don't fuck it up.