The Diodes

In the first wave of Canadian punk (yes, there was such a thing!), the Diodes really stood out! A great band that I had the pleasure of seeing (opening for the Ramones in Chicago, if I remember correctly, though I could easily be wrong).
They definitely had the Ramones-type of punk down - fast, heavy guitars yet still melodic and they even had the occasional guitar solo!
On this, their first album (I haven't heard any others, but I know that they did release more than one), they open with a terrific, high-speed version of "Red Rubber Ball" and the second to the last song is their other cover, "Shapes of Things To Come", which is also super! So, you know that they had the right influences, too!
"Child Star" is a hilarious and off-color song about Buffy from the TV show Family Affair od'ing! The chorus is impossible to get out of your head - "Mr Bill Mr Bill, I took some pills, Mr French Mr French, I'm really tense"!

The rest of the songs are all cool, catchy, fun, melodic and really have a sound of their own. I'm not sure what it is - the singer's voice is certainly unique, but the sound of the band is definitely different from the pack!

Absolutely highly recommended for anyone who digs early poppy-punk!