Ten Greatest Chixdiggit Songs (1993-2005)
It’s not that your favourite band sucks, it’s just that they could probably learn a thing or ten from Calgary’s lords of pop-punk, Chixdiggit!
I Should Have Played Football in High School (Humped demo, 1993)
Those speedy, sarcastic hooks pack a lot of hummable angst.
Best Hung Carrot in the Fridge (Best Hung… 7’’ 1995)
It’s kinda intriguing how much of the best pop-punk wrestles with questions of masculine identity (just sayin’).
Great Legs (S/T, 1996)
Sure it’s a song about a bodacious babe but like so many early Chixdiggit songs it’s also about KJ Jansen’s mother (not about her legs, you understand, but about her disapproval of the owner of said legs).
[I Feel Like][Gerry] Cheevers [Stitch Marks on My Heart] (S/T, 1996)
Sharp extended hockey metaphor and sing-along backing vocals plus the most bewildering use of square brackets in typographical history.
20 Tines (Born on the First of July, 1998)
A longing ballad of unrequited love and a girl with “one of those phones” (and if you think someone’s mom is going to turn up, you’ve been paying attention).
Nobody (Born on the First of July, 1998)
Y’know Calgary’s most famous musical exports tend to be country or folk bands, befitting it’s cowpoke reputation and Chixdiggit do have a subtle country underpinning, both lyrically and melodically. Hence why this cover of the 1981 disco-country hit “Nobody” by Sylvie sounds a whole lot like a band original.
My Dad vs. Paul McCartney (From Scene to Shining Scene, 2000)
It’s no surprise that KJ’s mom liked Paul best (this Apple didn’t fall far from the tree) but who know his Tanya Tucker lovin’ dad (who finally gets his due) was once targeted by Macca in a case of mistaken identity?
Spanish Fever (“From Scene to Shining Scene”, 2000)
Metallic flamenco with an oi-ish chorus and witty couplets – perfecto!
I Remember You (Pink Razors, 2005)
Brilliantly detailed recounting of a romantic triangle (of sorts) that actually documents the third wheel’s spleenectomy.
Earthquake (Pink Razors, 2005)
For a band pretty adept at the mid-paced numbers, Chixdiggit can still wallop out these sort of high-velocity, ultra-catchy numbers that I’m sure Fat Wreck-Chords honcho Fat Mike makes a contractual obligation.
