4BPM
With a sincere focus on creating roots in the musical community of Southern Alberta, screamo five-piece 4BPM have made a name for themselves over the last three years, both for fostering the all-ages and DIY scenes from which they came, and for their intensely energetic live shows. Check out their latest EP To you, someday for a taste of the emotional chaos they’ll be bringing to Sled.
Pnoom
With noisy feedback and jagged riffs that sound straight from Thurston Moore’s nightmares, Pnoom has been lighting up Montreal’s music scene with distortion and verve since 2019. Released on gloriously clear cassette tapes last fall, their debut album ENERGY captures a band existing in the flux between shoegaze, alternative crunch, and psychedelic dreams.
schoolyard
Sounding like some hidden nugget off a Sub Pop compilation, schoolyard (or SKLYRD) creates an irresistible alt-punk racket that is riding the line between noise and melody. Want proof? Check their latest record, welcome to the club, which rattles between total punk stomp chaos and sweet acoustic arrangements. For anyone who already misses METZ!
Taxa
Andrew Morrison and Hieg Khatcherian (Deadsure, Damages) launched Taxa in 2012 to blend their love of noisy punk with driving indie rock. With Daniel Fedak on shared guitar and vocal duties along with Dan McVeigh on drums, the group is inspired by the discordant sounds of Unwound and the feedback-drenched howls of Sonic Youth.
Chinese Medicine
BIPOC/trans-fronted post-punkers Chinese Medicine blend ’80s new wave with a heavy pour of queercore. Their sound bursts at the seams with fury and grit while thrashing through themes of otherness, corruption, and trans identity. They were listed #3 on CBC Music’s “9 2SLGBTQA+ Canadian musicians to listen to in 2023.”
About Sled Island:
Sled Island is an annual five-day independent music and arts festival in Calgary, Alberta that brings together a community of music, comedy and art with nearly 30,000 attendees in multiple venues across the city. For more information, visit SledIsland.com.
Upon entering a festival venue, the passholder agrees to being photographed, filmed or recorded in that venue, and agrees to the publication, reproduction, distribution and broadcast of all photographs, video or other recordings of the passholder’s voice or likeness without further notice or compensation in any publicity, advertisement or other publication carried-out by, or on behalf of, Sled Island and in perpetuity in any manner and media whatsoever, including print, broadcast or internet.
Everyone has the right to feel safe and included at Sled Island. All festival attendees must abide by Sled Island’s safer spaces and inclusion policy and agree to the code of conduct, which can be found at SledIsland.com/SaferSpaces.
Sled Island acknowledges Calgary as the traditional territory of the Blackfoot and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Ĩyãħé Nakoda First Nations, including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Goodstoney First Nations. Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 and 6).
