The Death of the Saintes

Montreal punk-rock band The Sainte Catherines have decided to split after 13 years together, they announced via Facebook and their website on Wednesday.
“There are hundreds of reasons for why we are disbanding, some of which even our closest friends would not even understand,” said the band on their website saintecatherines.com. “Being part of The Sainte Catherines has recently brought more negative energy to our individual lives than positive. We don’t want to become pale copies of what we once were, trying to hold on to the ‘glory of the past,’ or what little we had. Something we are proud of.”
The Sainte Catherines were the first band from Quebec to be signed to the punk version of a major label, Fat Wreck Chords, and received much acclaim for it. The band reached a cult status from other groups who saw their unrelenting tour schedule, which brought the band through 14 countries, playing over 700 shows.
“What will we miss most about these past years? Things like dumb jokes in the van, stupidities in hotel rooms, eating boiled peanuts while swimming in the ocean, that peculiar look from that unknown woman, and of course… the music. Although the music only seemed to be the pretext to our unique friendship.”
A staple of the punk rock scene in Montreal, The Sainte Catherines will continue to play a few more shows into the new year in Montreal. Lead singer Hugo Mudie will still be releasing music with bandmate Fred Jacques, but the new incarnation of the duo is less punk and more acoustic folk/country.
The Sainte Catherines will surely be missed, as the final statement on their website said what we may all be thinking of them, “All these years seemed to last so long, with the best of times never lasting long enough. It was incredible. It was magical and it was oh so real. Thank you.”
The Sainte Catherines’ remaining tour dates have not yet been announced.

Related Posts