Stretch Marks - Who & What? - The Complete Studio Recordings

Tracks

		Track Name	Length
	1	Who's In Charge
	2	Force Fucker
	3	Dogs World
	4	Barren Cities
	5	Sik Pleasure
	6	Professional Punks
	7	What D'Ya See
	8	Time In Black
	9	Another Tragedy
	10	Family Affair
	11	Turnbuckle Stomp
	12	Lookin' For Danger
	13	Preacher
	14	Deaducated
	15	No Answers
	16	Tomorrow Will Be Better (If There Is One)
	17	Just a Game
	18	No Freedom
	19	Bad Moon
	20	Foreign Policy
	21	Old Man Understand
	22	Not Your Decision

Photos

Videos

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Information/Write-up

Every single studio recording by the original lineup of the Stretch Marks. This is the first time that most of these songs (20 of the 22) have appeared on CD. A deluxe 24-page booklet, packed with unseen photographs, posters and artwork, with liner notes from Pages Of Rage editors Chris Walter (GFY Press) and Matt Vinet (Stretch Marks' manager). The previously-unreleased song, "Not Your Decision", broadcast once on CBC's Brave New Waves and never heard again! All songs carefully remastered by Craig Boychuk

Stretch Marks emerged at the height of Winnipeg’s early-1980s punk explosion, a brief but decisive moment when the city became one of Canada’s most uncompromising hardcore strongholds. Alongside Personality Crisis, Stretch Marks were widely regarded as the scene’s most disciplined and outward-facing band—fast, organized, and relentlessly committed to taking western Canadian hardcore beyond provincial borders.

The band consisted of vocalist Dave McCombe (a.k.a. Dik Savage), guitarist Bill Jackson, drummer Kelly Jackson, and bassist Mark Langtry (also known as Sikby and Mark Stretchmark). Drawing heavily from the speed and austerity of early American hardcore—particularly the Minor Threat school—Stretch Marks combined that sonic template with lyrics shaped by Cold War anxiety, Reagan-era geopolitics, and a sharp intolerance for inauthenticity within punk itself. Just as important was their sense of humour, which became a defining part of both their image and live performances.

More organized than many of their peers, Stretch Marks took early control of their output by forming their own imprint, Headbutt Records. Their debut release, the six-song EP Who’s in Charge (1983), was recorded at Mid Ocean Studios with Mitch Funk and Richard Duguay involved in the production orbit. The EP captured the band in its most feral form: short, explosive songs that lashed out at nuclear paranoia (“Barren Cities”), political brinkmanship, and what they viewed as hollow posturing within the punk scene (“Professional Punks”), offset by flashes of absurdist humour such as the barking-chant anthem “Dogs World.”

By 1984, Stretch Marks had evolved into a tighter, road-hardened unit. Their full-length album What D’Ya See was recorded in July 1984 at Track Record in Los Angeles, engineered by John Carter, and released through Better Youth Organization (BYO) with Canadian licensing via Headbutt Records. The album documented the band at peak velocity—brutal, precise, and unrelenting. Tracks like “Time in Black” and “Deaducated” became guaranteed pit-starters, while songs such as “Another Tragedy,” “Lookin’ for Danger,” and “Preacher” revealed a growing interest in dynamics and structure without sacrificing intensity.

One of the band’s most enduring calling cards was “Turnbuckle Stomp,” a rousing hardcore tribute to AWA professional wrestling that quickly became a fan favourite. Wrestling imagery ran deep in the band’s aesthetic, epitomized by their booted, circle-dancing cartoon alligator mascot—an emblem of Stretch Marks’ ability to balance aggression with self-awareness and satire.

Touring was central to the band’s identity. Armed with their EP and LP, Stretch Marks toured extensively across Canada and the United States, playing everywhere from sparsely attended garages to large Southern California auditoriums. These years on the road established them as tireless ambassadors of western Canadian hardcore at a time when few bands from the region were regularly crossing borders.

Beyond their core releases, Stretch Marks also contributed key tracks to scene-defining compilations. “Foreign Policy” appeared on BYO’s Something To Believe In, while “Old Man Understand” surfaced on Psyche Industry’s It Came From the Pit, further extending the band’s reach within the international hardcore tape-trading network. The band also recorded a session for CBC Radio’s Brave New Waves, which aired once and then disappeared from circulation for decades.

In later years, the full scope of Stretch Marks’ recorded output was finally assembled on Who & What: The Complete Studio Recordings, issued by Sounds Escaping. The collection brings together the Who’s in Charge EP, the What D’Ya See LP, both compilation tracks, and the previously unreleased Brave New Waves recording, newly remastered from original sources. The release is accompanied by a 24-page full-colour booklet featuring a detailed band history by Chris Walter, reflections by longtime manager Matt Vinet, and a wealth of previously unpublished photographs by legendary punk photographer Doug Humiski.
-Robert Williston

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