Q107 Homegrown Album Vol. 2 was the second in a series of at least 15 annual compilation albums put out by Q107 to showcase Toronto-area bands. I've picked up about a half-dozen of them over the years and, generally speaking, they've been pretty dismal. So I was pleasantly surprised when Volume 2 turned out to have some pretty good tunes on it...

Vol. 2 was released in 1980, and as a result most of the songs on the album are more influenced by punk, pub rock and new wave than the synth-pop and hair metal that make up a lot of the later '80s volumes. "Coming To Get Ya," by the apparently short-lived Dawson City (they'd already broken up by the time this compilation was released), is a sturdy pub rocker with an AC/DC feel to it. "Acid Rain" is ecologically-minded roots reggae by Truths and Rights, a still-active band that currently includes two former members of Big Sugar (a group I have many fond, beer-soaked memories of), and "Fighter Plane," by Rex Chainbelt, is a jittery Feelies-influenced tune. Lastly, "Rockit Trip" by King Rockit is a kitschy new wave number with kind of an Adam Ant/Gary Numan thing going on.

Coming To Get Ya - Dawson City
Acid Rain - Truths And Rights
Fighter Plane - Rex Chainbelt
Rockit Trip - King Rockit