Get hauled away by The Perps
Local blues rockers unleash Tow Truck on an unsuspecting public
John Kendle

So, The Perpetrators last album was titled The Gas and the Clutch. Its latest disc is called Tow Truck.

What sort of grease-monkeying theme are Jason Nowicki, Ryan Menard and Chris (Mama) Bauer perpetratin’ here?

“The thing about the name is we had a contest on our website,” explains Nowicki, who mostly sings and plays guitar with the band (though they are known to switch instruments quite regularly).

“This guy — Kirby Paul from Whitefish Bay, Ont. — wrote in and suggested Tow Truck and we kind of needed a tow truck , in a way, after The Gas and the Clutch.

“The gas and the clutch is all about the balance you need to get your car going. But with that album it kinda got away on us, there was a little too much gas burning and we were squealing tires too much. We kind of broke down in a way, so a tow truck’s the solution.

“There was Heather (band manager Shaw), Ryan, me and Chris and we all liked the name right away. But we didn’t know why.

“Just sitting and talking about it, (Tow Truck) just took on that meaning. The band hasn’t been this healthy for a long time.”

That’s not to say The Gas and the Clutch was a bad record. Far from it. The group’s 2005 effort earned The Perps a 2006 Juno nomination, a 2006 Maple Blues Awards nomination and actually won them a 2006 Western Canadian Music Award.

No, it wasn’t the record wasn’t the problem. The band’s state of mind was the thing that overheated after the album’s release, especially after Nowicki and bassist Menard split with drummer Scotty Hills. It wasn’t until stick-swinger Mama Bauer came on board permanently that The Perps began to feel like they were hitting the right balance again.

“We were playing with different guys, gigging constantly, four or five nights a week, and we got an e-mail from Mama,” Nowicki says. “He said he was up for the job, especially the touring and that last part really caught our eye. We didn’t even think we were gonna be able to find a drummer in Winnipeg.

“We both knew but we didn’t know him. We’d heard he was a great guy but didn’t know how great until we went on tour with him. Now it’s fantastic.”

While Menard and Nowicki, both 33, have played in blues and roots bands all their musical lives, Bauer, 34, comes from the other side of the fence. With Stagmummer and then the late, great VaGiants, Mama grew up in indie rock and has recorded with the likes of Steve Albini and Garth Richardson.

Luckily, Bauer fit The Perps like a glove, both onstage and off. By February 2006 he was a permanent member and the band was happily writing songs and looking forward to recording.

Tow Truck is the end result of those sessions. Recorded at Bedside Studios in August and December, the 15 tracks (one’s a hidden, album-closing jam) were co-produced by the band and Bedside owner Len Milne. One listen is all it takes to realize that Tow Truck is a raucous blend of Hound Dog Taylor with the razor-sharp rawness of the best rawk and blooze.

Talking about the album — which will be launched with a three-night gig April 13-15 at the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club — Nowicki looks as excited and happy as a kid at a birthday party. For him, the recording represents another, even bigger step in the life of the Perps.

“We’ve just come off a great tour, Chris isn’t ‘the new guy’ anymore and we have a brand new album. Life is pretty good right now and we’re so excited that we can’t wait to make the next record,” Nowicki says.

When The Perps do unleash Tow Truck this weekend, they’ll be joined by numerous musical guests. Saskatoon group The Sheepdogs will open on Friday and Saturday nights, while Nowicki says Sunday’s show will be more of a Perps jam.

“It’ll be just off the hook, debaucherous rock ’n’ roll fun,” he grins.

We’d expect nothing less.