Plumtree- Flutterboard

Back in the early and mid-90's Halifax was the "hot-bed" of indie-rock talent in Canada. Bands such as Sloan, Super Friendz, Thrush Hermit, the Inbreds and Jale caused a wave of excitement and promise that captured the attention of music fans and opened doors for other East Coast bands in Canada and the US.

One of my favourite bands from Halifax was Plumtree, who released 3 full length CD's and a handful of 7'ers and many appearances on compilations. Plumtree toured extensively across Canada and the US (they only toured in summer months because of university classes) during their 7 year career and I saw the band live four times. I also had the pleasure of talking to guitarist Amanda Braden of Plumtree after a show in Steinbach (30 minutes outside of Winnipeg) back in 2000, we talked about their tour and music and of course got all the band to sign their third CD, This Day Won't Last At All. In case anyone is interested, I recorded the Plumtree shows on my trusty Walkman tape recorder.

I have for your listening pleasure, Flutterboard, a six-song cassette (available only on tape) that the band released a year before their first full-length CD, Mass Teen Fainting came out. It features exclusive songs that are not available anywhere except for an early version of In The Sink. This tape is hard to find and long out of print, but is by no means their quintessential work, I urge you to seek out all of Plumtree's CD's if you love catchy melodies and all-girl vocals. The quality of their sound improves on each release and I consider their final CD, This Day Won't Last At All, their masterpiece. The band broke up in 2000, but Lynette and Carla Gillis are still actively playing music. They formed Bontempti in Vancouver, Bells Clanging and now a new project, Sister with sister Lynette and Ryan Myshrall from Local Rabbits.

PLUMTREE Flutterboard ep (1994)
1. In The Sink
2. Let's Hope There's A Heaven
3. Hey! Whiskers!
4. Depp
5. Festooned
6. Good Time To Tell Me