The Pukka Orchestra returns!

The Pukka Orchestra was one of Canada’s great indie bands of the early- and mid-80s, especially their debut “pink” album on Solid Gold Records, which had fans from Peter Gabriel to Tom Robinson.

Unfortunately, just as things were taking off for the band, Solid Gold went bust, dragging all its artists down with it. Soon after that, vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Graeme Williamson developed health issues. He had to leave the band and then died in Scotland in 2020. There was a quick reunion about 20 years ago, but that didn’t last for various reasons.

However, the Pukkas are now back with an 11-track collection of songs entitled Chaos Is Come Again from the 80s and 90s that have been updated, remixed, and remastered in various ways courtesy of a label called Pacemaker. (I wrote the liner notes, too.) Here’s a sample of something new.