iSound

If the saying “you can’t stop progress” has negative connotations, then Edmonton, Alberta’s Choke is an exception to the rule. Not that we’re associating Choke with real estate development or tearing down orphanages to build shopping malls, but if you compare Choke at their inception 10 years ago to where they are today, it’s like going from the ricshaw to a Concorde jet. Let’s just say in this case it has been progress for the better.

Snapshot of 1994: four suburban refugees are jumping around the stage. The singer is shaking the mic like an aerosol can, and the bassist can barely keep his balance as he thrashes lumber around like a maniac wielding a chainsaw. The embryonic Choke was a skate-punk’s wet dream of so-cal speed and rationed stop-starts (appropriately timed for knee-bent jumps). Edmonton couldn’t get enough, and neither could Choke.

Almost as quickly as the band formed, the decision to play as much as possible would be established as an unsp...