Reviews for the new album from The Rebel Spell are starting to dribble in! Here's one from Punk News...4 stars out of 4 stars...the album is out on Harvest King Records, Not Yer Buddy Records and Rebel Time Records...

Perhaps the quality I value most in traditional punk rock, at least in terms of its limited sonic spectrum, is when I can hear a true sense of urgency in a song. Bands that are able to make me feel like a freight train is about to fly off the rails and crash through my stereo speakers are often among my favorites. The Rebel Spell are one of these bands who deliver that sense of urgency with their frantic, hard-nosed, no-bullshit punk rock. Hailing from Vancouver, they embrace the DIY ethic and are one of the rare bands left in today’s landscape of old-timer reunion shows and colossal destination festivals who you might find playing at your town’s local dive bar for five dollars. After being won over immediately by a live performance in one of these said dive bars, I picked up their 2011 effort It’s a Beautiful Future and having been waiting for the new album to drop ever since.

Hoping The Rebel Spell would continue to use much of the same sound heard on their last record, I was more than pleased as soon as I hit play on Last Run. Crunchy riffs, fast beats and booming vocals take charge of the listener’s ears on a ride through 12 modern, punk n’ hardcore rippers that send messages along the likes of social change, routing for the underdog and not backing down. The title track begins with a piano intro and then transforms into one of the hardest hitting songs I’ve heard in a while with its chorus of “Don’t blame the wolf, don’t blame the seal, if it will help you can blame me!” The bangers keep coming with “Pride and Prejudice”, “Ten Thousand Years” and “All This Costs”, showing a good level of technical prowess that would likely get the nod from fans of Strike Anywhere or A Wilhelm Scream. The band also shows a bit of range in the later portion of the record. The mid-tempo track “I Heard You Singing” presents some uplifting vocal harmonies that I wasn’t expecting at first, but continue to dig more each listen. Deciding to push the five-minute mark with a punk song can often be a mistake, but the group tackles “The Tsilhqot’in War” quite well; lyrics describing events from the 1860’s battleground hold my attention to the point where I forget the song’s run time. The album closes with one more ripper called “Fight For The Sun” that ferociously brings the rumble to the very last note.

In an era where the DIY ethos of punk rock as been a bit diluted with legendary bands from the 1990’s heyday of Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords deciding to come back (or in some cases deciding to never leave), it can be tough for some of us to find new bands who really bring it. I don’t like lo-fi garage rock. I’m not into acoustic solo projects. For me, when I discover a band like The Rebel Spell it is something special. Efforts from bands this true to what punk rock is about deserve a higher than average score, even if they never get featured on the latest Warped Tour compilation. Last Run delivers everything I want a punk rock album to be in 2014 and is without a doubt contending for top spot on my year end list.

The good folks at Dying Scene were kind enough to include us in the Number 4 spot of their brand new feature "15 DIY Punk Labels That You Should Be Paying Closer Attention To"! Huge thanks to Dying Scene! Here is what they had to say about us...

4. Rebel Time Records

Who: A small collective of folks, based in Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo, who came together out of a shared love of left-radical politics and punk rock.

Where: Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario (Canada)

Genre Focus: Street Punk and Oi!

Most Recent Releases From: Born Wrong, Action Sedition, Spanner, The Class Assassins, The Rebel Spell

Latest Release: Section 4

Catching up with co-owner Rebel Time Randy:

What Makes Rebel Time Records Unique: “Rebel Time Records is one of the few North American record labels dealing specifically in politically-charged, socially-conscious, rabble-rousing political punk rock. And, notably, for the most part, the bands on the label are Canadian. We like to say that we (and the bands on the label) are all about “having a laugh and having a say.” As one reviewer noted: ‘Rebel Time and their artists always fight the good fight [and] speak of things that most if not all of the major labels are afraid of…’ Bottom line is, we deal in songs of protest and resistance/songs of love and rage and, hopefully, we’re helping to spread a message that is inspirational, incendiary and insightful/inciteful!”

What’s Next for the Label: “We should have the new album “In No Fit State” from Irish outfit Section 4 in our hands shortly…just fantastic anti-fascist Oi!/Ska/Reggae. Hoping to bring this band across the pond at some point! Also coming out in the next month or so is the newest record, “Last Run,” from The Rebel Spell. So stoked for this record!! The Rebel Spell will be criss-crossing Canada in October/November and then heading back to Europe early in the new year. Further down the road, we’re planning to put out some new and (possibly) old material from The Fallout. Classic straight-up, stripped down political punk rock out of Toronto. Patty from Brutal Youth/Class War Kids recently joined the band on bass. We’re also looking forward to working further with Montreal’s left-radical streetpunks Action Sedition and Bristol, England’s militant ska-punks Spanner. Some of our bands, including Spanner, Action Sedition, The Rebel Spell and The Fallout will be featured on a downloadable compilation that will be out late October 2014. The compilation is a benefit for our good friends at Bristol Antifa and it’s being compiled by one of our favourite labels, Riot Ska Records.”

Rebel Time Webstore

We are stoked to announce that the latest record from The Rebel Spell is now out and about!!

The record (and CD) is called "Last Run" and it's being released here by Harvest King Records, Not Yer Buddy Records and Rebel Time Records.

Lots more info to come, but, for now, head on over the to The Rebel Spell's Bandcamp page and give it a listen!

The band is also heading out on a cross-Canada tour this month! Tour dates, so far, as follows:

Tour dates:

10/11 Vancouver, BC - 333
10/14 Williams Lake, BC - The Limelight
10/15 Prince George, BC - The Croft
10/16 Grand Prairie, AB - Breakers
10/17 Edmonton, AB - Wunderbar
10/18 Saskatoon, SK - Vangelis Tavern
10/19 Regina, SK - The Club
10/23 Sault Ste. Marie, ON - TBA
10/24 Ottawa, ON - TBA
10/25 Montreal, QC- Fatal
10/26 Saint-Hyacinthe, QC - Bar L'anti
10/27 Sherbrooke, QC - Bar le Saloon
10/30 Moncton, NB - Claudes House on Lester Street
10/31 Halifax, NS - Far Away House
11/03 Charlottetown, PE - Baba's
11/04 Montreal, QC - TRH-Bar
11/05 Peterborough, ON - The Spill
11/06 Oshawa, ON - The Atria
11/07 Kitchener, ON - The Outpost
11/08 Toronto, ON - The Bovine Sex Club
11/09 Hamilton, ON - This Ain't Hollywood
11/09 Hamilton, ON - Fundraiser Afterparty
11/10 London, ON - The APK
11/12 Barrie, ON - TBA
11/14 Winnipeg, MB - The Windsor
11/15 Brandon, MB - TBA
11/16 Calgary, AB - Lord Nelson's
11/17 Lethbridge, AB - Moose Hall

Hey! Just a heads-up that we are currently working, feverishly, on a brand new website!

We hope to have the new site up and running sometime in October, so, please stay tuned.

In the meantime, please check out our updated Bandcamp page, it now has all our releases!

As well, stay up-to-date with everything Rebel Time Record's related at the We Want Rebel Music blog!