Welcome back to our semi-regular series Hesitantly Ranked where we take you through all the studio releases by some of our favourite artists and pin their own records against each other in a battle royale where only one reigns superior to the rest.

Today we’re revisting the short but sweet 5-album discography by Canadian pop-punk superheros Treble Charger. Is it weird that Treble Charger’s legacy fell on the heels of their early 2000’s hit American Psycho when much of their catalogue is a unique indie rock soundscape that often leans more alternative than it does punk? But that being said and understood, can we ever get over the fact that 2002’s Detox might also be one of the best pop-punk albums of all time?

These Sault Ste. Marie boys are so much more than Wide Awake Bored. Let’s get to our rankings and top picks.

5. NC17 (1994)

Before there was ever Treble Charger, there was NC17. Not just the album – that’s actually what they used to be called before they were signed to an American label and found out there was a band using that name already and were forced to change it. I joke that this name change is what plagued the band in later years, because NC17 is an absolutely killer band name and Treble Charger is something I’m still trying to figure out what it means 20 some odd years later.

Is it like, a car reference? A guitar reference? Should I always keep the knob turned to Treble instead of Rhythm on my Gibson? I’m still not sure.

It’s the album who’s sound is the greatest departure from the band we remember them as, largely in part because of Greig Nori’s much softer approach to his vocals, but it’s still infused with the melody-driven power-pop sensibility that they’d later kick into overdrive.

It’s the band at their most raw, but it’s a clean and solid sounding record with no real flaws. It features the bands original drummer Morris Palter who stayed with them until 1997 and while every once in a while people still kick around that tired old debate of whether or not Treble Charger was better with him than without, to me what’s matters most here as I relisten to this album is that the writing and arrangement of these songs still holds up incredibly strong in 2024.

But, by nature of this series somebody has to come last in this list and that’s where I’m parking NC17 if for no other reason than this band gets better everytime they get back into the studio.

Top Pick: Hint

4. Self=Title (1995)

Self=Title was a critical album for me when I first discovered it. Because I first got into Treble Charger somewhere between Maybe It’s Me and Wide Awake Bored but didn’t really get sucked in until the latter, I had to work backwards to learn about Self=Title and NC17 and the sound took me a little by surprise.

This was the first time I’d heard this type of indie-rock sound and it was so mellow compared to the upbeat and polished pop-punk tracks that appealed to my ears then and it certainly wasn’t what was playing on the radio.

It ended up opening an entire new world and sending me on an incredible journey of discovery into the Canadian 90’s rock scene that I’ve never really left since.

It’s moody, but so organic; That’s a word I have trouble using with most modern rock music which I think is maybe just a production thing – even in this particular corner of the indie-pop-punk-rock scene, Treble Charger albums just sound different to me.

There isn’t a lot of added fluff; no real weird delays or egregious modulation on the vocals that the band uses perfectly on Wide Awake Bored or densely compressed guitars like you’ll find on Detox – it sort of just sounds like you’re in the room with the band as they’re recording it flawlessly live. When the band kicks it up into high gear to get you to dance along, it’s done effortlessly with great drum fills and well timed re-introductions of the rhythm guitar.

When they say less is more, in rock they mean a record like this.

It sounds like Bill is still finding his voice on this album a little bit, a little nasaly and sometimes the vocal processing seems to strategically mask this, but all the pieces are there and getting ready for him to absolutely slaughter fan-favourite “Red” when it’s re-recorded for Maybe It’s Me.

Oddly it also sounds like Greig has settled into his own “Bill Priddle” vocal sound on this album and it suits him just as well as any of the gnarlier approaches he takes in later releases; It’s a big part of the sound that keeps me coming back to this record, I would’ve loved to hear more songs in this vein by the band.

Top Pick: Sick Friend Called

3. Maybe It’s Me (1997)

It’s hard not to put Maybe It’s Me at the top of this 5-part list, it really is. I’m constantly at odds with myself if this is my favourite Treble Charger album or not and everytime I play literally any single song from this record I’m sure that it is.

This is the first time we hear Treble Charger with a really tight polished mix and boy does it ever sound good on them. We’re no longer in the room with them while they’re recording it like we were with Self=Title, rather for the first time we’re viewing them from the third row at Lee’s Palace before the P.A system turned to total shit and we’re like, “Hell yeah, now that’s a band with some catchy tunes!” and some guy leans over as he’s bobbing his head, his Coors Light dripping down his hand as he yells back to you, “They’re from the Soo!” and you smile and nod even though you have no idea where that is.

We’re hearing both Bill and Greig at their best yet vocally, the guitars still maintain their simplicity but they’ve spent a few more minutes dialing in some luscious tones and it’s full of cool little surprises that tell anyone listening that this band isn’t playing around. If at this point in the band’s discography you don’t already think they’re expert songwriters with a sound all their own, it’s unlikely you’ll make that leap in the following two releases which are often regarded by die-hard’s as the band’s weakest efforts, but if you ask me are their best releases to date.

Maybe It’s Me as a whole, though, I will agree is a tough one to beat. Forget sophmore slumps, this junior vasity squad is ready to become state champs.

Alright, let’s figure out our favourite track.

Don’t choose How She Died or Red, that’s sooooo predictable.

Top Pick: Red How She Died Fade Ever She Flows Mercury Smile

2. Wide Awake Bored (2000)

Bet you thought this album was going to be number 1, but you’re wrong!

Wide Awake Bored is the album that undoutbedly stands out in most Canadians mind when they think of Treble Charger. It features the mega hit American Psycho that you’re all so familiar with you’ve already starting humming the chorus just as you read the title; Brand New Low and Business and depending on who you ask, that’s all you even need to know about this band (but they’d be wrong, too).

With Wide Awake Bored we really see the shift from Bill and Greig sharing lead vocal duties to Treble Charger becoming more focused on Greig’s catchy hooks and distinctive first-person storytelling, but it still has what I’d consider some of Bill’s best work like “More’s The Pity”. I’m glad that at no point in this bands discography did they ever shift to an entirely Greig-focused record, but it sure was looking like that was the case right until the end of 2002’s Detox. With such unique lyrical and vocal styles, the combination of these two songwriters is really what made this band so unique and propelled them (in my eyes) to be among Canada’s best bands. This is what keeps these records so interesting, insightful and compelling; the varied perspective and approach to sharing their ideas.

You can remember Wide Awake Bored for American Psycho all you want, but this record is full of lesser known gems that deserve your attention, but these guys will never ask for it.

Top Pick: Wear Me Down (it’s so catchy).

1. Detox (2002)

This might be the only Hesitantly Ranked list that finds the bands discography in order of each release and that’s because I genuinely feel, having listened to these albums more than I can ever recall, that while each album has its own unique flavour and a great collection of songs, these guys got a little better with every release.

Production wise, Detox is top notch. It’s the band at its most polished, but in a way that still fits the vibe and character of Wide Awake Bored and Maybe It’s Me and doesn’t feel overwhelmingly overdone. The guitars are sharper, the lead lines sit perfectly, and it’s full of unique effects that propel the band into an atmosphere all their own. Often times, I catch myself listening to a new pop-punk record and feeling like they lifted the entire character of the production from another pop-punk record – you just never get that feeling from any Treble Charger release; it’s completely its own entity and really in a league all its own.

Just listen to “Drive” and tell me that isn’t the most vibey rock n roll outro you’ve ever heard. Try not to head bang so hard you break your car window when “Hundred Million” comes on. Get lost in in the incredible tones of “Don’t Believe It All” and remember the pettiest argument you’ve ever had with someone while listening to “What You Want”. This album is an asbolute goldmine. Some bands write one song with a catchy hook and they live forever off that one song, never able to recreate it. Treble Charger bleeds catchy hooks – they’re literally not even trying, it just oozes out of them because there’s such a ridiculous abundance of it inside of them. Absolutely disgusting and utterly brilliant.

It was appalling when I found out that the band was taking a hiatus just as this record hit the shelves – they didn’t even tour it! Issues between bandmates aside, I really think this was the last great pop-punk record and it never got its due time in front of an audience. The genre as a whole since then has taken a pretty remarkable decline – at least in the modern radio sphere of it (there’s loads of cool stuff cooking underground) and I don’t think it’ll ever recover until we see the return of Treble Charger.

Top Pick: Drive

So those were our picks, how’d we do?

Where would you rank Treble Charger’s albums?
Who comes out on top?
What song did we foolishly omit in our top picks?
Let us know in the comments!