The Pukka Orchestra was a Canadian ‘new wave’ band based in Toronto, Canada in the 1980s and 1990s and became an important and revered contributor to the ‘Queen Street’ music scene of that era. The core of the band consisted of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Graeme Williamson and guitarists/co-songwriters Neil Chapman and Tony Duggan-Smith. They had a Top 40 hit in Canada with a cover of Tom Robinson/Peter Gabriel’s “Listen to the Radio” and other singles “Cherry Beach Express” and “Might As Well Be on Mars” received widespread FM radio play. The group previously released two albums, an EP and several singles, and won a CASBY/U-Know Award (CFNY 102 The Edge) for ‘Most Promising Group’ in 1985.

Their new album, Chaos Is Come Again, is a collection of updated, reworked, remixed and remastered tracks that are now being widely released (March 22, 2024) for the first time. The original, basic tracks were made available only to friends and local fans in the 1980s/1990s. These new Chaos Is Come Again recordings were posthumously finished in 2023 by The Pukka Orchestra co-founders Neil Chapman and Tony Duggan-Smith after the death of Graeme Williamson. The liner notes for Chaos Is Come Again were written by Alan Cross and capture the impact the Pukkas made on the 1980s national music scene. As Alan summarises it, “Even though (the origins) of these eleven tracks date back more than 40 years, it sounds as good as anything released today. In other words, the music is pure Pukka, no matter how you want to define it”.

Here is what the national critics were saying about the Pukkas in the 1980s:

“Pukka’s tunes tend to focus on what might be termed the underside of human existence, but with sophisticated twists – absurd vignettes, moments in time, odd swatches of emotions, dark secrets, existential barbs.” – Daryl Jung, NOW

“This is a wonderful, original, bright, intelligent, and tasteful work that owes nothing to any trend or prevailing style.” – Greg Quill, Toronto Star

“Pukka Orchestra is exciting because they are intelligent without being pretentious as well as original and extremely entertaining – a rare combination indeed.” – Andrew Dreschel, The Hamilton Spectator

“Pukka Orchestra are making an unforgettable impression on the Canadian music scene. Much of their material is indisputably unique.” – Grant MacGillivray, The Daily News, Halifax

“What makes Pukka Orchestra exciting is that, unlike almost any Canadian band that has emerged in the past four or five years, it is not absorbed, either consciously or unconsciously, with American or British models.” – Liam Lacey, The Globe & Mail

“That a Canadian band this clever, principled and fun can get a decent record deal is cause for celebration in itself.” – Alan Kellogg, The Edmonton Journal
“Cherry Beach Express has been given the kind of exposure many record company publicists would gladly spend the night in the slammer for.” – Jim Hurcomb, Ottawa News