My main man, Johnny D, has erected this 26-song monstrosity of Toronto rock as a homage to an abandoned warehouse and the rock n’ skating vagrants who called it home for a number of years. Sure, the rubber factory ended up meeting it’s fiery demise by the very people who helped create it, but the music has survived in one cleverly named cultural treasure chest of high octane, gasoline-streaked, dog n’ pony mayhem.

Bottle of Smoke is, for all pretenses, a family affair. It could have been called the Cactus Vella, Jason Dwyer, and Chris MacDonald show, seeing as how these guys appear in six, five, and three different bands each, respectively. And we’d be remiss to excuse Johnny D., who plays in two bands himself, namely Dogs and The Insultilators. But hey, since when is a scene not a scene, ya know? And there’s still plenty of other rotten roll to sift through, including unhealthy helpings of punk, screamo, and straight up cinder block riff rawk. Highlights on this one include perennial Hero favs “To the Cliff” (Goat Horn), R’NR (Cheerleader 666), “Cutthroat” (Maximum RNR), and “Butterball” (Flashlight Brown), and some new and worthy blood, “Mayday” (Sinkin’ Ships) and “Nowhere Too Fast” (Downbelows). The only thing that could have made this kick ass compilation supremely more ROCK is the inclusion of Red Light Rippers, Crash Kelly, and Damn 13. But we’re not gonna let a little oversight like that stop us from rockin’, are we friends? I didn’t think so.