The four parts that comprise Sharp Ends are no strangers to Calgary's storied punk scene. Among many other projects, drummer Mike Bressanutti has performed with the Pine Tarts and Wil, and he and vocalist Chris Zajko were crucial members of the post-punk garage menace, The Ostrich. Bassist Dan LaPlante cut his teeth in a number of bands, most notably The Pants Situation, while Daniel Christiansen played in post-hardcore mainstays like Draft Dodgers, as well as some one-off performances with The Corta Vita and Wire's Colin Smith.

With Sharp Ends, all four members have taken years of experience and translated it into raw, passionate energy. Speaking with Zajko on the phone, it’s clear that the band's functionality as a unit is central to its manic, intense dynamic.

“There's not too much conceptualizing,” he explains of the band's creative process. “I think that's the thing about chemistry — if you can find it, its pretty self-evident. There's no need to talk about it too much.”

Sharp Ends' sound, a snapshot of vintage post-punk heard through a menacing garage-punk filter, translates into a messy, raucous live presence that can be overwhelmingly intense. Though often considered to be mild-mannered, Zajko is known to lose himself onstage. It's a true spectacle, but he insists it isn't forced. “On a good night it’s like I'm not really conscious of what is happening,” he explains. “Things just seem to happen on their own.”

While his outbursts are admittedly cathartic, Zajko explains that they serve a much deeper role. “I can't speak for the other guys, but for me, it’s just something I have to do at this point in my life. It's a biological function, not a choice. I liken it to breathing... you don't do it to be hip, you do it to stay alive.”

That desperation to perform comes, in part, from the fact that he came to the game late. “Around high school, I listened to really terrible industrial music like Nine Inch Nails,” he recalls. “Then what happened was a friend of mine was listening to the Stooges and garage-y punk stuff. At first, I didn't like it, but then I just became obsessed with it. I didn't get the idea of being in a band until I was probably 18. The idea became more and more important, until I would wake up in the morning and go, 'What do I do to be in a band?'”

While all four members achieved moderate success with previous projects, they've been drawing attention across the continent with the Sharp Ends releases. To date, the group has put out 7-inches with Alberta labels Pizza Records and Mammoth Cave, as well as a high-profile single with Chicago's HoZac Records. It has also appeared on a Volar Records compilation alongside fellow Canadians Defektors, O Voids and other acts. Still, its biggest achievement is — or will be — the band’s upcoming self-titled album on Los Angeles label Kill Shaman.

Comprised of entirely new material, the 10-song long-player is the band's most raw, most animalistic material to date. While LaPlante and Bressanutti's sturdy rhythm section anchors the tracks, Christiansen's inimitable guitar work paints the tracks with busy, frenetic riffs. While the garage and post-punk influences remain intact, aspects of ’70s punk and psychedelia rear their head as well. All the while, Zajko's versatile voice is both melodic and ferocious.

On its own, the album is a true accomplishment for the group, but band members hope they will open the floodgates to more touring across North America. With more touring, of course, will come more of the band's patented live intensity.

“When we're on it, and we play really intensely, we do an energy transfer and people get into it whether they want to or not,” he explains. “It's like infecting them with rabies or something. That's the goal, in a metaphor: to infect the audience with rabies and turn them into rabid animals.”