Popcanon

PopCanon was an eclectic rock band that existed in Gainesville, Florida from 1995-2001. Although the band included a horn section and was contemporary with many third wave ska groups, they did not play ska music and always insisted that they should not be categorized as a ska band. Rather, they alluded to their influences by describing their sound as "noisepopavantpunkidiotrock."

During their 6-year span, they toured extensively in the Southeast and as far north as New York City. They released five albums and were included on several compilations. Their albums were released on their own label, Tritone.

History

In the summer of 1995, Ned Davis needed an opening act for his group Planet Ten, to perform at a benefit for the Civic Media Center, a local alternative library. Planet Ten also included drummer Blue Lang, as well as horn players Don Undeen and Alyson Carrel. Through a friend Davis was introduced to singer-songwriter M. David Hornbuckle, who had recently moved to town from Birmingham, Alabama. Hornbuckle gave Davis a rough demo tape he had recorded earlier that morning, and Davis was sufficiently impressed.

The following week, Hornbuckle opened for Planet Ten at the Civic Media Center benefit. Planet Ten had a second show later that night at a coffeehouse called Insomnia. The first show had gone well, so Davis asked Hornbuckle if he'd like to come along and open the show again and added, "Blue and I will back you."

With Davis on bass and Lang on drums, Hornbuckle played his second set of the night, taking only a few seconds between songs to quickly describe the chord changes to his new backing group. The band was a hit, and the mold for a new group was forged. The trio played a handful of shows under the names Hornbuckle and Satanbuckle.

Soon, Davis expressed an interest in playing lead guitar in the new band instead of bass. Through mutual friends, they found Michael Murphy to play bass, allowing Davis to switch to lead guitar. As a quartet, the band changed its name to the Semantics and release a 9-song demo tape called "Some Antics by the Semantics."

Within a few months, Carrel and Undeen had joined the group, bringing along Lorien Carsey on violin. At that point, Davis was beginning to bring in songs he had written, as well as arranging horn and string parts for the new players. In addition, Davis and Hornbuckle began writing songs together.

In 1996, after a dispute with another band that laid claim to the name "the Semantics" the group changed its name to PopCanon. During that year, they recorded the album "The Kingdom of Idiot Rock," their first release on CD and the first to receive mass distribution and reviews. They released the new album in 1997 on the weekend of a massive Fall music festival in Gainesville called the Alachua Music Harvest.

Shortly after the release of that album, Blue Lang and Lorien Carsey both quit the band. Lang was replaced on drums by Robbie Copeland, a young drummer from Orlando.

For the 1998 Alachua Music Harvest, PopCanon released an EP of songs by or about other Florida bands called "PopCanon Covers It Up," including covers of bands such as The Causey Way and Squeaky. Later that year, the band also released a full-length album of outtakes and joke songs called "Pricksongs and Descants."

In December 1999, PopCanon released their final album "D'art," which includes their (arguably) most popular song "Arthole."

By 2001, Hornbuckle made plans to move to New York to pursue a writing career, Carrel was considering going to law school in Chicago, and Murphy had already moved to San Francisco, though he returned to Gainesville regularly. The band played its Last Show Ever at Common Grounds in Gainesville, April 2001. Fittingly, Common Grounds was in the same location as Insomnia, the coffeehouse where the band played its first show. Filmmaker and actor Alex Fernandez videotaped this show and conducted numerous interviews with the band during the week preceding the show. He his currently in the process of creating a documentary about the band.

PopCanon reunited briefly for a show in 2002, but to date has not performed publicly as a band since then.

Albums

"D'art" (1999), Tritone Music

Track list

01 Things About Which
02 Impossible
03 See You
04 Arthole
05 Make Reference
06 Mina Loy
07 Owed To a Weasel
08 Hey Hey Hey
09 Ballyhoo
10 I've Got a Theory
11 Ironica
12 CaliMariAchi
13 Lights Out
14 The Composition: Brainstroll

"Pricksongs and Descants" (1998), Tritone Music

Track list

01 Little Green Men
02 Cult of Mary
03 Silly Putty
04 Tin Can
05 Double Jointed
06 Penis Envy
07 El Gordo
08 The Shower Song
09 Suitcase
10 I'm So Squeaky
11 I Stole A Mantra '99
12 Parking Garage
13 Up the Junction
14 Eddie's Teddy

"PopCanon Covers It Up" (EP - 1998), Tritone Music

Track list

01 Snell
02 War Machine
03 Curse of Clang
04 Thank You God
05 Bitch/Dysfunctional Riot Grrrl
06 Give it Up for the Percussionist
07 The Hungry Wolf

"The Kingdom of Idiot Rock" (1997), Tritone Music

Track list

01 PopCanon Fight Song
02 Ice on the Sidewalk
03 Merimble
04 Wanda Tinasky
05 The Reason
06 Valentine's Day
07 René René
08 Fishbee Island
09 Bloomsday
10 Labyrinths
11 Too Many Mikes
12 Code Name: Snossage
13 Treasure of the Temple
14 Robert Coover
15 The Curse of Clang

"Some Antics by the Semantics" (demo - 1995), Tritone Music

Track list

01 Punk Rock Loser
02 Things About Which
03 Applying For Your Job
04 Astral Projection
05 Little Green Men
06 I Stole a Mantra
07 Alternative Lifestyle
08 Onion Man
09 Paradigm Shift

Members:

M. David Hornbuckle - vocals, guitar
Ned Davis - guitar, vocals
Michael Murphy - bass, vocals
Alyson Carrel - trombone, cornet, vocals
Don Undeen - saxophone, vocals
Robbie Copeland - drums
Blue Lang - drums
Lorien Carsey - violin

Links

* http://web.popcanon.com -- PopCanon official website