New Town Animals were a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

punk rock band based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, best known for their 2001 single "Three Steps Backward".

History

The New Town Animals formed in Vancouver in 1998; band members at the time were Nick "Newtown" Wright on vocals, Jeff "Pop" McCloy and Alex Angel on guitar, Steve "Kicks" Poulin on bass and Chuck Renaud on drums."New Town Animals: Is Your Radio Active?"
''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'', July 25, 2001. Signed to

Mint Records Mint Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based independent record label founded in 1991, by friends and campus radio enthusiasts Randy Iwata and Bill Baker. Mint has put out over 150 releases, several of which have won Juno Awards. Hi ...

, They released their debut 7" single in 2000 before following up with the full-length album ''Is Your Radio Active?'' in 2001. Shortly after the album's release, Renaud left the band and was replaced by Bryce Dunn of

The Smugglers ''The Smugglers'' is the completely missing first serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 10 September to 1 October 1966. In this serial ...

. The band toured across Canada with labelmates Operation Makeout to support the album; in March 2002, they performed at

Canadian Music Week Canadian Music Week (or CMW) is an industry conference and music festival held over ten days in Toronto and Ontario, Canada. History Canadian Music Week began in 1981 and has grown to become one of Canada's largest and most influential media a ...

on a bill that included

Royal City Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

Constantines Constantines is an indie rock band from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. History Constantines was formed in 1999 by vocalist and guitarist Bryan Webb, drummer Doug MacGregor and guitarist Paul Bright, all of whom had played together in the emo band Shou ...

and

Buck 65 Richard Terfry (born March 4, 1972), better known by his stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian alternative hip hop artist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, countr ...

; the show was broadcast live by CBC Radio 2's ''

RadioSonic ''RadioSonic'' was a Canadian radio program, which aired on CBC Radio 2 from 1997 to 2003.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''. ECW Press. . ''RadioSonic'', which aired ...

''. Tracks from the album received substantial radio play on campus and community radio, and "Three Steps Backward" entered rotation on MuchMusic."The Clip List". '' Billboard'', March 2, 2002. The band broke up before releasing another album. Poulin went on to play with The Briefs, McCloy and Dunn joined the Tranzmitors, and Wright later formed the new band The Split-Ups. A 2001 recording of the band performing "Three Steps Backward" on

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

was released on the compilation album ''

Mint Records Presents the CBC Radio 3 Sessions ''Mint Records Presents the CBC Radio 3 Sessions'' is a compilation album featuring live sessions from Canada's CBC Radio 3 network, as well as some from the 1990s CBC Radio 2 programs ''Night Lines'' and ''RadioSonic'' (programs which evolved i ...

''.

References

{{reflist, 30em Canadian punk rock groups Musical groups from Vancouver Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Mint Records artists