Madmen is Jonah's solo hardcore project.
Liner Notes of Mixtape 4 (By Mike Haliechuk):
Jonah doesn't really have access to current events and media for some reason, so in 2009 while the show Mad Men was ripping up the Neilson charts (do these even exist anymore?) and women's’ Facebook status updates everywhere, he formed a one man band, also called Mad Men. Eventually some one will clue him in about the TV show, and he will watch it, right after he finishes watching The Wire and Thirty-somethings. Anyways, besides all that, Mad Men (the band, not the award winning, ubiquitous, hit TV show) is some pretty ripping stuff, his seamless tribute to the glorious anvil headed hardcore of the great lost years of the middle 1980s (i.e. right before he was born). He was gonna call this song (Wax World) “Wayne's World” but I advised against it, for obvious reasons. Jonah responds: “1st Mad Men Demo was recorded June, 2007. 1st Mad Men TV episode aired July ’07, haha, so there.”
Despite his rightful claim to the name, Jonah's "Mad Men" was shortened to "Madmen" at some point around 2010; the two demo tapes issued prior prior to that are under the name Mad Men, later releases are Madmen.
Discographied below are the following vinyl releases:
- ''Madmen / Bootleg'' (12")
- ''Suspiria'' (7")
The tapes and a compilation get a mention too...
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"Madmen / Bootleg" 12"
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| Sleeve - Front: Generic white sleeve, with glossy sticker |
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| Sleeve - Back: Photocopy track list / images pasted over centre hole. Some copies have the photocopy as a loose insert |
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| Vinyl: Blank labels... |
Stats:
Side I: Too Hot / No Mind / The Neighboorhood / Square Glasses / Counterfeit Traitor
Side II: Madmen, The Awakening / Wax World
Released: 2010
Label: Not on label
Matrix A: 85870 -1A EW26
Matrix B: 85870 -1B eW26
Pressing Info:
Test Pressings - 10
First Press - 500 copies, some have alternate sleeves - see pictures further down.
Notes:
Demo Tapes: The vinyl bootleg combines the material from the first two Mad Men demo tapes, plus an additional track.
Side 'I' contains the first demo, orginally released as a cassette in 2007:
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| Demo 1 (Image from Discogs) |
Side 'II' has the second demo, consisting of two tracks, originally released as a cassette in 2008, plus additional track "The Awakening".
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| Demo 2 (Image from Discogs) |
The material from both demos plus the additional track were also compiled on the "TWO AT A TIME PLUS ONE" cassette (2009)
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| TWO AT A TIME... Cassette (Image from Discogs) |
"The Awakening" (The additional track on the bootleg and the third casette)
Fleetwood Mac: According to Rumours, the bootleg 12" was actually released before the "Two at a Time..." cassette. It's not clear at this stage, how the bootlegger got hold of the additional track before it was released, or why the dates of the releases don't tie in with this fact, but the rumours came from a reliable source, so let's not be pedantic.
Quietus Review Feb 15 2010: Come early 2010, this 12" turns up in various keen distros: white label vinyl in a plain white sleeve with a tracklisting glued on the back. Official word is that it's a bootleg, but given Fucked Up's obtrusive approach to verifying the 'official' nature of some of their releases, smart kids reckon this might be Jonah's doing after all. If you're reading this and silently decrying it as irrelevant wild goose chase collectorscum anti-marketing-dollar hypeman bullshit, shame on you – what kind of monster would deny maladjusted men with low self-esteem the chance to feel part of an exclusive club? Anyway, this record bangs hard: constantly threatening to be tuneful but mostly sticking to the splattery chaos of metal-flecked 80s icons like Die Kreuzen and Void. Side two ups the weird a mite, slathering reverbed vocals and martial drumming over the turmoil.
In both style and aesthetic, Mad Men could be deemed 'mysterious guy hardcore'. Seriously? The scare quotes – that is an actual thing? Sort of, yes. It describes some bands with identifiable commonalities, which is generally how subgenres are constructed; it just doesn't exist outside of a few messageboards. (At this point – also thinking of 'hypnagogic pop' and 'wonky' here – annoying people seems to be as good a reason as any for inventing your own name for a basically unnecessary genre.)
Commodity Fetishism:
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| Alternate Sleeve # 1 - Front White on black artwork - sheet pasted onto generic sleeve |
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| Alternate Sleeve # 1 - Back (As above) |
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| Alternate Sleeve # 2 - Front Gold on black artwork - sheet pasted onto generic sleeve |
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| Alternate Sleeve # 2 - Back (As above) |
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| Test Press Sleeve - Front: Black on white artwork pasted on |
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| Test Press Sleeve - Back: Black on white artwork pasted on |
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| Test Press Dust Sleeve / Vinyl: Black & white collage artwork pasted on. White hand-written label. |
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| Test Press Dust Sleeve / Vinyl: Black & white collage artwork pasted on |
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| Sleeve - Front: (First press) |
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| Sleeve - Back: (Second Press) |
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| Sleeve comparison: Top: 1st press - Fold out sleeve on glossy card. reverse is blank. Bottom: 2nd press - Pocket sleeve on matt card. Back of sleeve is same artwork as first press |
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| Vinyl: Left: 1st press with small spindle hole Right: 2nd press with punch-out hole |
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| 1st Press Insert: Lyrics & credits, photocopied on A4 red paper. Single sided - reverse is blank. |
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| 2nd Press Insert - Front: Lyrics & credits + string vest printed on glossy paper |
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| 2nd Press Insert - Back: Manly |
Side A: Suspiria / The Italian Flag
Side B: The Myth
Released: 2011
Label: Slasher Murder 009
Matrix A: U-64937m-A MURDER-009 Ⓤ
Matrix B: U-64937m-B MURDER-009 Ⓤ
Pressing Info (Thanks to Matt Bickle @ Slasher Records)
20 Test Pressings
300 First press
400 Second press
Notes:
Printing Errors: The ''first press" sleeve and vinyl were actually printing errors; the intention was for the record to have the punch out centre hole and matt pocket sleeves.
French Connection: Sleeve artwork by Ryan Hogan of Montreal Band Omegas. Jonah gets production credits on their "Sonic Order" 7"
Italian Job #1: Suspiria is a cover version of the title track of a film score for the cult Italian horror film of the same name.
Commodity Fetishism:
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| "Pre-Release Sleeve" (Front) Sold at a show before the proper sleeves were available? TBC |
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| "Pre-Release Sleeve" (Back) This one's housing a Test Pressing |
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| Test Pressing: Hand written labels - ''Uomini Pazzi" |
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More Notes:
Italian Job #2: At the time of writing (July 2015), the only Madmen track that dosen't appear on a Madmen cassette or record is a cover of "Odia", originally by Italian punk band Tiratura Limitata.
French Connection #2: The Madmen version appears on the compilation "City Limits - Down And Out In Toronto & Montreal", which was released on Chris Colohan's High Anxiety label and is gives a snapshop of a particularly symbiotic sector of the Toronto & Montreal scenes.
Most of the recordings are exclusive to the comp, Jonah recorded a lot of the tracks on the 'Toronto' side and closing the circle, Yannick Sarrazin of Omegas recorded a lot of the Montreal ones.
Chris talks about these things in THIS interview on EXD Radio; it's a pretty great listen and includes some nice insights into Jonah's work!
