Hamilton, ON

Your life will change the first time you hear Simply Saucer. Criminally under-recognized, Simply Saucer were working in parallel to some of the best art-rock innovators of the late ‘60s through the ‘70s without any direct relationship to the scenes that fostered these musical revolutions. Almost by kismet, the band tread proto-punk, early psych and kraut-leaning jams while escaping the scrutiny of the Stooges and Velvet Underground-obsessed music press. That’s about to end. With a slew of reissues, a novelised biography and a triumphant return to the stage, Simply Saucer are poised to wake you up to an important slice of once-untold Canadian music history—an emerging theme in the 2017 edition of Sled Island.

Photo: Pete Day