LiveonRelease: The Story of Vancouver's All-Girl Pop Punk Band
In the vibrant music scene of Vancouver, British Columbia, four young women came together in 2000 to form one of Canada's most spirited all-girl pop punk acts. LiveonRelease — a name curiously borrowed from basketball jargon — arrived at a time when pop punk was surging in popularity, and they wasted no time carving out their own energetic corner of the genre.
The band was made up of Colette Trudeau on vocals, Brittin Karroll on lead guitar, Foxx Herst on bass guitar, and Leah Emmott on drums. Together, they crafted a sound that was sharp, youthful, and unmistakably confident — qualities that would help them stand out in a crowded musical landscape dominated largely by male acts.
Their debut studio album, Seeing Red, arrived in 2001 and announced LiveonRelease to the world with immediate impact. The record produced several memorable singles, including Get With It and Emotional Griptape, but it was I'm Afraid of Britney Spears that truly captured public attention. The tongue-in-cheek track earned the band a coveted spot on the soundtrack for the comedy film Dude, Where's My Car?, exposing their music to an audience far beyond the Canadian borders and cementing their status as a band with genuine crossover appeal.
Building on that momentum, LiveonRelease released the EP Fifteen Will Get You Twenty in 2002, featuring re-recorded and remastered tracks from Seeing Red. It was a signal that the band was growing artistically, refining their craft and revisiting their earlier work with fresh ears and ambition.
By 2003, the band returned with their second full-length album, Goes on a Field Trip, a project that showcased notable industry connections. Produced by Peter Karroll and Doug Fury Inc., the album benefited from the executive producing talents of celebrated Canadian artist Bif Naked and was mixed by Shaun Thingvold. The single Let's Go captured the band's signature high-energy spirit and demonstrated a musical maturity that hinted at a promising future.
Tragically, that future was not to be. LiveonRelease disbanded shortly after the release of Goes on a Field Trip, bringing their brief but vibrant journey to a close. Though active for only three years, their legacy endures as a testament to the power of youthful energy, authentic expression, and the enduring appeal of early 2000s Canadian pop punk.
