Plumtree

The Halifax punk-pop quartet Plumtree were formed in 1993 by Amanda Braden (vocals, guitar), Nina Martin (bass), and sisters Carla and Lynette Gillis (guitar and drums, respectively); all four girls were in their mid-teens at the time. They released several singles and recorded a full-length album, Mass Teen Fainting (the album title was taken from the liner notes of a Bay City Rollers album). Despite the bandmembers' varied musical tastes — which ranged from blues and R&B to heavy metal and new wave — Plumtree's cohesive and decidedly punk sound garnered a music achievement award from Canada's YTV in 1996. In September of that year, Martin left the band to go to school; she was replaced by Catriona Sturton. One year later, Plumtree released Predicts the Future, which hit the top of the Canadian college radio chart — and whose second track, "Scott Pilgrim," later inspired a successful graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Third album This Day Won't Last at All followed in 2000, although the band said farewell by July of that year.