The unlikely story of a bunch of small-town Canadian punks who conquered the global music industry.
After punk found commercial success in the ’90s, with bands like Green Day, the Offspring, and Blink-182, a new wave of punk bands emerged, each embodying the DIY spirit of the movement in their own way. While Southern California remained the spiritual home of punk rock in the early 2000s, an unexpected influx of eager punks from Canada took the world by storm, changing the genre forever.
Drawing on exclusive interviews and personal stories from nine artists of the era, In Too Deep explores how Canada became the improbable birthplace of a new age of punk icons. Covering the rowdy punk rock of Gob and Sum 41, the arena-sized ambitions of Simple Plan and Marianas Trench, the reinvention of the popstar by Avril Lavigne and Fefe Dobson, and the quest to bring hardcore into the mainstream by Billy Talent, Silverstein, and Alexisonfire, In Too Deep traces the evolution of a music scene that challenged notions of who and what should be considered punk while helping to define Millennial culture as some of their generation’s first superstars.
The unlikely story of a bunch of small-town Canadian punks who conquered the global music industry.
After punk found commercial success in the ’90s, with bands like Green Day, the Offspring, and Blink-182, a new wave of punk bands emerged, each embodying the DIY spirit of the movement in their own way. While Southern California remained the spiritual home of punk rock in the early 2000s, an unexpected influx of eager punks from Canada took the world by storm, changing the genre forever.
Drawing on exclusive interviews and personal stories from nine artists of the era, In Too Deep explores how Canada became the improbable birthplace of a new age of punk icons. Covering the rowdy punk rock of Gob and Sum 41, the arena-sized ambitions of Simple Plan and Marianas Trench, the reinvention of the popstar by Avril Lavigne and Fefe Dobson, and the quest to bring hardcore into the mainstream by Billy Talent, Silverstein, and Alexisonfire, In Too Deep traces the evolution of a music scene that challenged notions of who and what should be considered punk while helping to define Millennial culture as some of their generation’s first superstars.
| Published By | House of Anansi Press Inc — Jun 3, 2025 |
| Specifications | 344 pages | 5.5 in x 8.5 in |
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Supporting Resources
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Excerpt |
| Written By |
MATT BOBKIN and ADAM FEIBEL are Toronto-based music journalists whose work has appeared in Exclaim!, Bandcamp, VICE, the National Post, and the Toronto Star. In Too Deep is their first book. |
| Written By |
MATT BOBKIN and ADAM FEIBEL are Toronto-based music journalists whose work has appeared in Exclaim!, Bandcamp, VICE, the National Post, and the Toronto Star. In Too Deep is their first book. |
| Written By |
|
MATT BOBKIN and ADAM FEIBEL are Toronto-based music journalists whose work has appeared in Exclaim!, Bandcamp, VICE, the National Post, and the Toronto Star. In Too Deep is their first book. |
| Written By |
|
MATT BOBKIN and ADAM FEIBEL are Toronto-based music journalists whose work has appeared in Exclaim!, Bandcamp, VICE, the National Post, and the Toronto Star. In Too Deep is their first book. |
“A comprehensive look at a vibrant period in popular music.” — Publisher's Weekly
” —“When it comes to Canadian punk, it’s not being dramatic to claim that the music world is simply a better place for it.” —Tim McIlrath of Rise Against
”“While the U.S. and the U.K. get most of the glory when it comes to punk, Canada was certainly no slouch. In fact, there’s a whole hidden history waiting to be discovered with this book.” —Alan Cross
”“Bobkin and Feibel … display rich storytelling and an ear for dialogue that puts the reader in the recording studio and backstage.” —Michael Barclay, author of The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip
”“This book was exactly what I wanted: a vivid, expansive unpacking of Canada’s raucous aughts.” —Andrea Warner, author of We Oughta Know: How Céline, Shania, Alanis, and Sarah Ruled the ’90s and Changed Music
”“It was beyond exciting that Sum 41 hailed from a small town close to ours. Their success was an inspiration to all of us. When Billy Talent and Alexisonfire broke through, it hammered home the point that geography was not a significant impediment to playing music as a career. It was profound.” —The Dirty Nil
”“Artists like Avril Lavigne and Fefe Dobson had such an influential impact on newer bands like us entering the pop-punk space. The paths they paved inspired us to want to pave our own paths as well.” —Téa Campbell of Meet Me @ The Altar
”“Gob is the only band my parents ever told me not to listen to. Obviously, I did anyway. When Dave Brownsound emerged from that swimming pool shredding [in Sum 41’s music video for ‘In Too Deep’], he made it cool as hell to be awesome at guitar in punk rock. I think that was truly one of the most important moments in guitar history.” —Mike Warne of Pkew Pkew Pkew
”“[In Too Deep] documents Canadian punks launching themselves out of the primordial ooze of the underground and into stadiums around the world. And look, here’s what really matters: there is now a book published by a prestigious, reputable publishing house about Gob. What else could you possibly want?” —Sam Sutherland, author of Perfect Youth: The Birth of Canadian Punk
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