Armed and Hammered

Lore & Background

Armed and Hammered played their first show on June 7, 1989. By the end of 1990, they had independently released a collection called Promoting Peace To Violence 89-90. Their 1991 demo tape, Fully Loaded, included songs from that collection. The band's early lineup included members from local acts, but by 1991, guitarist Hardcore Dave and bassist Kieran Plunkett had replaced earlier members.

In 1995, Armed and Hammered performed at the Molson Amphitheatre (now The Budweiser Stage) for a festival benefiting people living with AIDS. The festival was broadcast live across Canada and rebroadcast the following day; Much Music removed the band's performance from the rebroadcast and replaced it with an R.E.M. video. The band's line-up continued to change through the 1990s, with guitarists and bassists coming and going, including Kurf, Rick Giroux, and Cindy Beattie.

After Mopa Dean left in 2000, the group became mostly inactive, playing only a handful of gigs before their final shows in early 2003. They reunited for a set in support of GBH in July 2010 and reformed in May 2012. The band is still performing and recording, releasing a four-track split with Vulgar Deli in February 2021.

Reader's Guide

Armed and Hammered's significance lies in their persistence within the Toronto hardcore punk scene, emerging from the Bunchofuckingoofs lineage and maintaining a DIY ethic across decades. Their 1997 album It's About Fucking Time achieved independent chart success in Canada, and their 1995 Much Music ban controversy highlights tensions between punk authenticity and mainstream media. The band's extensive discography of cassettes, EPs, and compilation appearances documents the evolution of Canadian hardcore punk. Their frequent lineup changes—including members who played with The Varukers, The Restarts, and other acts—reflect the interconnected nature of the punk community. The band's 2012 reformation and continued activity into the 2020s demonstrates the enduring appeal of their raw, politically charged sound. Their inclusion on compilations like Dead on the Road - Songs Without Keyboards and Living in Fear helped preserve their legacy within the broader punk archive.

Did You Know?

• Armed and Hammered's performance at a 1995 AIDS benefit was removed from a Much Music rebroadcast.
• The band's debut full-length album, It's About Fucking Time, spent time in the independent charts in Canada.
• Mopa Dean formed a band called The G-Men in 2002, and they played at least one gig with Armed and Hammered on November 15, 2002, at Sneaky Dee's in Toronto.
• The band reunited in May 2012 and released a four-track split with Vulgar Deli in February 2021.

Roots in the Bunchofuckingoofs Underground

Armed and Hammered emerged from the raw hardcore punk ecosystem of Toronto, Ontario, specifically out of the Bunchofuckingoofs scene that had been brewing since the early 1980s. The band was originally put together by vocalist Mopa Dean—who also played bass for Masochistic Religion—alongside drummer Kyle Peek. The earliest incarnation of the group also featured guitarist Lamo, bassist Philphee Saunders, and Thor Hammersen, a member of Bunchofuckingoofs. Their very first live performance took place on June 7, 1989, marking the start of a long and turbulent run. By the close of 1990, the band had accumulated enough live material to independently issue a 17-track cassette compilation titled Promoting Peace To Violence 89-90. Eight tracks from that collection carried over onto their 1991 twelve-track demo tape, Fully Loaded. By that point, the original trio of Lamo, Saunders, and Hammersen had already been swapped out for guitarist Hardcore Dave and bassist Kieran Plunkett, signaling the band's first wave of personnel changes.

The Kumbaya Festival and the Much Music Controversy

In 1995, Armed and Hammered found themselves at the center of a notable Canadian music controversy. The band performed at the Kumbaya Festival, an event held at the Molson Amphitheatre—now known as The Budweiser Stage—that was organized to raise funds for people living with AIDS. The concert was broadcast live to audiences across Canada, and Much Music scheduled a rebroadcast for the following day. However, when the time came for the repeat airing, the network removed Armed and Hammered's set entirely and substituted it with a video of R.E.M. The band publicly claimed they had been effectively banned from the repeat performance. This incident stands as one of the most pointed examples of a hardcore punk group clashing with mainstream Canadian television, and it underscored the band's commitment to playing for causes they believed in, even when the broader music industry chose to distance itself from their image. The controversy also highlighted the tension between underground punk culture and the commercial broadcast landscape of mid-1990s Canada.

A Churn of Guitarists and Bassists

Armed and Hammered's history is defined as much by the constant rotation of its instrumentalists as by its music. After the original trio of Lamo, Saunders, and Hammersen departed, the band cycled through a remarkable succession of guitarists and bassists. In 1992, Big John and Dorian Wilde stepped in for Hardcore Dave, a lineup that would appear on split EPs with both Suckerpunch and Oppressed Logic, as well as tracks on the Raw Energy Records compilation Dead on the Road and the Ransom Note Recordings compilation Living in Fear. Dorian Wilde exited in 1994, replaced by Kurf. Bassist Kieran Plunkett left for the UK, where he toured with The Varukers and formed The Restarts; he was succeeded by Rick Giroux, who in turn was replaced in 1997 by Cindy Beattie, a former member of Suckerpunch and The Heatseekers. In 1998, Kurf departed and former Abalienation guitarist Mark Dickinson took his place. By 2000, Dickinson had returned to the United States, and vocalist Mopa Dean left the group, with Jaww singer Doug McLarty filling in. The band played only a handful of shows before going quiet in early 2003.

From Debut Album to Ongoing Reunion

Armed and Hammered's debut full-length album, It's About Fucking Time, was recorded across 1996 and 1997 and released on CD through Obese Records. The record featured both Rick Giroux and Cindy Beattie on bass and included re-recorded versions of numerous songs from the band's earlier cassette and EP releases. It also managed to chart on independent Canadian music lists. That same year, the European label Subvert & Deny issued a four-track EP called More Punk Rock Than You, extending the band's reach beyond North America. After the 2000 release of the Negative Aspects of Positive Thinking CD and the band's subsequent inactivity, Armed and Hammered resurfaced in July 2010, playing a set to support English hardcore group GBH at the Mod Club Theatre in Toronto. A full reformation followed in May 2012, and the band has continued performing and recording since then. In February 2021, they released a four-track split EP with Vulgar Deli on Coke Dick Records, and their tracks have continued to appear on Canadian punk compilations as recently as 2023.