The Steve Adamyk Band play old-school punk rock influenced by '70s U.K. punk and '80s power pop, with the revved-up energy of contemporaries like
Jay Reatard and
the Exploding Hearts. With a revolving lineup surrounding him, guitarist/vocalist Adamyk cut a series of singles and albums that caught the ear of Dirtnap Records, which signed him in the early 2010s and released a string of tightly wound albums that had the precision of punk (2011's
Forever Won't Wait), the swagger of garage rock (2014's
Dial Tone), and crackling pop songs (2019's
Paradise).
After playing in the Sedatives and
the Million Dollar Marxists, guitarist and vocalist Steve Adamyk grew frustrated working with groups that broke up before they could fulfill their potential, and formed
the Steve Adamyk Band, both as a vehicle for his own songwriting and as a band that could maintain his vision and personality despite occasional lineup changes. Teaming up with
Million Dollar Marxists bassist Davey Quesnelle and Sedatives drummer Dave Williams, Adamyk cut a pair of 7" singles for European labels before they played their first live show in 2010, and two more singles and a self-titled album for
Waterslide Records appeared before the end of the year. In 2011, Adamyk and his band, which now included another ex-Sedative, guitarist Emmanuel Sayer, toured extensively in North America and Europe, played SXSW, and signed with punk label Dirtnap Records, which issued the group's second full-length,
Forever Won't Wait, near the end of the year. More touring ensued before the group hit the studio with producer Paul Granger to work on album number three. Featuring new drummer Dave Forcier -- Williams had moved over to a contributing role, adding guitar and vocals -- Third was a stripped-down punk blast, and the band hit the road again soon after its release. Adamyk and co. upped the garage rock side of the musical formula for the band's fourth full-length effort,
Dial Tone, which was recorded in Oakland with producer
Matthew Melton. Released by Dirtnap in 2014, the record featured new bassist Sebastien Godin of
Sonic Avenues.
By the time of their next album, Quesnelle had been replaced on guitar by Max Desharnais who played with
Sonic Avenues. The new lineup hit the studio in Montreal with engineer Adrian Popovici, welcomed a couple guests on backing vocals (
Colleen Green and
Mike Krol), and made their most produced-sounding album to date.
Graceland was released by Dirtnap in August of 2016. That lineup of the band folded not long after the album came out, and it took a while for Adamyk to regroup. When he did resurface in 2019 with a new album, the power pop-leaning
Paradise, it was with Pat Johnson of
the Acorn on drums and Johnny O of Uranium Comeback on bass. They were joined in the studio by former
Adamyk Band member Dave Williams on vocals, along with producer
Mike Bond. ~ Mark Deming